Chiến lược sử dụng ngôn từ và phi ngôn từ trong tiếp thị của pepsico việt nam một nghiên cứu giao tiếp giao văn hóa

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
University of Languages and international Studies
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

Graduation paper

Strategic use of verbal and non-verbal
cues in marketing by PepsiCo Vietnam:
A study of Cross Cultural Communication

Supervisor:NGÔ HữU HOàNG, Ph.D
Student:PHạM THị VÂN ANH
Year of enrolment: QH2009

Ha Noi, May 2013


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

CHIẾN LƯỢC SỬ DỤNG NGÔN TỪ VÀ PHI NGÔN TỪ
TRONG TIẾP THỊ CỦA PEPSICO VIỆT NAM:
MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO TIẾP GIAO VĂN HÓA

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: TS. Ngơ Hữu Hồng
Sinh viên: Phạm Thị Vân Anh
Khoá: 2009-2013

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013


ACCEPTANCE PAGE
I hereby state that I (Phạm Thị Vân Anh, Group 09.1.E22), being a
candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of
the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper
deposited in the library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper
deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and
research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the
librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper.

Signature

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is my pleasure to thank those who made this thesis possible.
The very first and most profound gratitude I would like to dedicate to
Dr. Ngơ Hữu Hồng, my supervisor, for his tireless guidance, elaborate
comments, and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop
an understanding of the subject.
Secondly, I would like to thank two of my classmates, Nguyen Thanh
Huyen and Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy for giving me invaluable advice for my
research.
The heartfelt gratefulness is always devoted to my beloved family, my
sister and my best friend, whose care and encouragement have been my

indispensable reliance during my four academic years as well as my working
time on the study.
Fourthly, this thesis would not have been possible without the
enthusiastic participation of my friends, who gave me easy access to the
survey.
Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported
me in any respect during the completion of the study.

Phạm Thị Vân Anh

ii


ABSTRACT
PepsiCo is one of the leading companies in the soft drinks, snacks and
food marketplace. As considered as the corporation which has the most
successful and suitable strategies, PepsiCo is the object of a lot of research.
However, they just have been focusing on economics fields and business.
Therefore, this is the first project which study on marketing strategy of PepsiCo
interm of the Cross Cultural Communication through verbal and nonverbal
cues used by the Corporation.
The paper begins by reviewing the current literature on Marketing,
Verbal and non-verbal cues, and related studies. The investigation then
analyzing and defining the specific verbal or non-verbal cues used by PepsiCo.
This study also involved the participation of consumers of two generation – the
young and the old, who have used this products and see it every day. The
feelings of the consumers about the products demonstrate how much the cues
are understood and how they work.
The results of the study indicate that 1) Marketing strategies built based
on non-verbal cues which are price, image, and endorsements are much more

effective in Vietnamses market; 2) Cultural factors should be considered first
by producers because of such great affection in controlling consumers buying
behavior.
Based

on

those

research

results,

the

researcher

gave

some

recommendations for marketing strategies of PepsiCo Vietnam in particular
and other beverage brands in Vietnam‟s market in general – where they should
focus on and what can be neglected to minimum Culture shock and maximum
profits.

iii


Table of content

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

i

ABSTRACT

ii

TABLE OF CONTENT

iii

Part 1: Introduction

1

1. Rationale for the study

1

2. Aims and objectives of the study

2

3. Significance of the study

2

4. Methodology

3

4.1. Data collection instruments

3

4.1.1. Case study

3

4.1.2. Questionnaire

3

4.2. Data collection procedures

5

4.3. Data analysis methods and procedures

6

Part 2: Development

7

Chapter 1: Literature Review and Theoretical background
1.1. Literature review

7

1.2. Theoretical background

8

1.2.1. Verbal and non-verbal cues

8

-

Verbal cues

8

-

Non-verbal cues

8

1.2.2. Marketing and marketing strategies

11

-

Marketing

11

-

Why marketing?

12

-

Marketing Strategies and Marketing Activities

13

1.2.3. Verbal and nonverbal cues in marketing

iv

16


Chapter 2: Strategic use of verbal and non-verbal cues in marketing by
PepsiCo Vietnam
2.1. Verbal cues used by PepsiCo

18

2.1.1. Slogans

18

2.1.2. Songs

21

2.2. Non-verbal cues used by PepsiCo

22

2.2.1. Design

22

2.2.2. Endorsement

25

2.2.3. Price

26

2.2.4. Distribution

26

2.3. The combination of the two elements

27

Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions
3.1. Findings

30

-

Brand awareness

30

-

Key factors

31

-

Advertisement

32

-

Price

33

-

Promotion campaign

34

-

Slogans and logos

34

3.2. Further discussion

35

Part 3: Conclusion and Indications
1. Major findings of the research

37

2. Implications

38

3. Limitations

40

4. Suggestion for further studies

40

REFERENCES

42

APPENDICE

45

v


Part 1: INTRODUCTION
1.

Rationale/Reasons for choosing topic
Trade today is becoming global thanks for technological improvements

in transport and communication. And globalization becomes inevitable to any
business, from electronics, technology to cosmetic and food. Globalization has
changed the nature of business activities, from focusing on the producing the
best products with the most reasonable prices, enterprises have to shift their
focus on the market. Simply because they want their customers to believe and
buy their products instead of their competitor‟s. In order to do that, enterprises
have to better understand the demand of the customers, need to advertise better
about their products, and to build long-lasted relation between their brands with
their target customers.

Because of above reasons, marketing plays an

increasingly important part, especially in this modern economy. Almost all

major corporations are actively involved in marketing their products beyond
their original homeland borders. The main challenge that almost all the
companies have to face is: the cross cultural marketing and how to do it.
The cross cultural marketing strategies including verbal and non-verbal
cues can create the impression or cause culture shock. For example, when
advertising underwear, the clips/images with the man/woman wearing only
underwear can be very normal and acceptable in American and Western
countries, it will be refused or even fined and banned in Vietnam and other
Eastern Countries because of violating the traditional values.
Having a high personal interest in PepsiCo‟s productions, the researcher
decided to develop a study on Marketing strategy of PepsiCo Vietnam to
provide an in-depth understanding of the Strategic use of verbal and non-verbal
cues in their marketing activities. Moreover, being a double-major student –
who can work both in economic and language fields, studying on this topic can
help researcher to get the necessary knowledge for the future job. Also, it

1


ishoped that this thesis would be a useful source of reference for further studies
on related topics.

2.

Aims of the study
Knowing how successful the marketing strategies of PepsiCo is, the

researcher decided to carry out the study with the first aim to find out what
strategies which include verbal and non-verbal cues are. The second purpose is
to throw a light on how effective Pepsi uses those in their marketing strategies

to attract Vietnamese customers. Finally, from the picture of current issues, I
hopes to propose some suggestions for others companies

In brief, this study would seek to answer the following questions:
1) What are the marketing strategies of verbal and non-verbal cues and
How PepsiCo Vietnam uses them?
2) What is attitude of Vietnamese consumers toward the strategies?

3.

Significance of the study
This study firstly provides the general knowledge about the verbal and

non-verbal cues in marketing, then to indicate the key to success of PepsiCo
Vietnam‟s marketing strategies in the competitive beverage market in Vietnam,
and how they combine Cultural factors and economic. The knowledge is also
believed to be necessary for future jobs of double major students as the
researcher – who is educated both economy and language in the background of
globalization.

2


4.

Methodology

4.1.

Data collection instruments

This is descriptive analytic research.For the collection of sufficient

reliable and valid data for this, researcher used a case study approach and used
direct and structured observation and questionnaire as the main data collection
methods. This chapter serves as a report on those procedures.

4.1.1. Case study
Case study is specially chosen because of it allows an in-depth study of
the target phenomena in a single case, with all the „common and unique
features‟ (Bell, 2010, p.9)1. Furthermore, as the aim of the study is to find the
effects of using verbal and non-verbal cues in marketing, case study is most
suitable for indicating the key of success of PepsiCo Vietnam‟s marketing
strategies in the competitive beverage market in Vietnam.
4.1.2. Questionnaire
A descriptive research methodology was used for this study and survey
as an important tool for collecting and analyzing information from selected
individuals about themselves. The term „survey‟ is commonly applied to a
research methodology designed to collect data from a specific population, or a
sample from that population, and typically utilizes a questionnaire or an
interview as the survey instrument (Robson, 1993). The reason that researcher
preferred using questionnaire to interview methodology is that: questionnaires
are less expensive and easier to administer than personal interviews; they lend
themselves to group administration; and, they allow confidentiality to be
assured (Leary2 - 1995). Robson (1993) also indicates that surveys are
extremely efficient at providing information in a relatively brief time period at
low cost to the researcher.

1

Judith Bell: university lecturer, head of department and vice principal in colleges of further education;

as a senior counsellor and course team writer for the Open University.
2

David E. Leary, University professor, Ryland Hall 320, University of Richmond.

3


The process of this data collection involved the participation of both
young and old consumers. Personal information of all participants was kept
confidential and anonymous for ethical reasons.
Young people are the target customer of all beverage brands in general
and of PepsiCo in particular. Because of the limit of time and convenience,
students in ULIS, VNU was chosen. Older consumers will be the neighbor and
the acquaintances of the researcher, because of knowing that the old are always
hesitate to do something like questionnaire, I want to take advantage of my
relationship to ask them to do it.
The same types of questionnaire were used for different groups of
participants during the survey. The aim of this is to understand the differences
in thought of the two generations, and to understand the choice of target
consumers of PepsiCo.
Beside handout, researcher also created an online survey and used social
network to send it to friends. (With the support of Google Form3, work became
easily. Google automatically created a statistical of the survey for user to easily
manage. After being filled by anyone, the statistical will be automatically
updated. Counting and calculating are no longer necessary). The results were
beyond the researcher‟s expectation. Because of knowing the importance of
this process toward researcher and not taking too much time, many people were
willing to do the questionnaires, even with the most enthusiastic behavior.

The questionnaire began with a brief explanation of the research topic
and a request for some necessary personal information. On the rest pages, the
researcher proposed a combination of both open-ended and close-ended
questions; even some questions were designed as checkboxes type that allow
participants to choose more than one answer - to facilitate the comprehension
of the collected information and data analysis.

3

Google Forms is tool to help users plan events, send a survey, give students a quiz, or collect other

information in an easy, streamlined way.

4


4.2.

Data collection procedures
The procedure of data collection could be put into two phases as

follows.
Phase 1: Preparation
In this phase, the researcher managed to 1) design the questionnaires; 2)
pilot the questionnaires and the interview questions with 2 students – the
researcher‟s classmates; 3) make adaptations and finalize the design of data
collection instruments and 4) set up schedule for collecting data.
Phase 2: Disseminations of questionnaires
The questionnaire for the young
ULIS students chosen were researcher‟s Economics classmates. The

questionnaires were handed out to the students at the beginning of the class
time, and all members in the class were informed that they are being asked to
participate in a research study. Then they were provided an explanation of the
purposes of the research and the expected duration of their participation
Confirmation of confidentiality was also made so that the students would be
more willing to state their opinions in the questionnaires. The students were
encouraged to look quickly at the questionnaires and questions for clarification
were encouraged to be raised. Then the researcher suggested the classes finish
the questionnaires in their break time and would directly collect all the papers.
The questionnaire for the old
The questionnaire was delivered to researcher‟s acquaintances in the
weekdays evening. The researcher also explained clearly the purposes of the
research and its importance and asked for the help. The questionnaire was
recollected in the next day.

5


4.3.

Data analysis methods and procedure
The collected data supports the last research question: “What is attitude

of Vietnamese consumers toward the strategies?” It was first classified
according to the type of consumers. The young‟ responses were considered
first. The Old‟s responses were analyzed in comparison and contrast with the
young‟s responses.
The questionnaires had already been divided into sections from the
design stage basing on the criteria of key factors in the marketing strategy of
PepsiCo. Therefore, it was convenient to classify the information gathered.

Data collected from the questionnaires was then synthesized and illustrated by
diagrams.
The above method and procedures of data analysis were useful that they
helped the researcher obtain rich data. From such data, results were found out
and will be presented in the other chapter – Finding and discussion.

6


Part 2: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter

1:

Literature

review

and

Theoretical

background
1.1.

Literature review
As considered as the corporation which has the most successful and

suitable strategies, PepsiCo is the object of many researches. Many studies
have been conducted on many aspects of the marketing strategy. For example:

In the research “Pepsi across cultures: analysis and cross-cultural
comparison of Pepsi websites” by Alexandra Chirkova (University of
Gothenburg, Sweden, May 2011), the author pays attention to the analysis of
marketing via Internet. The thesis touches one side of possible cultural
reflection on communication in a business sphere and marketing – web design.
After finding the differences between the web pages for Pepsi in different
countries which are related to the cultures, he drew conclusion that PepsiCo
pays attention to the most expressed cultural traits and through them
differentiate websites.
In „PepsiCo: International Marketing Report‟, a group of researcher
from Benedictine University (Chicago, 2009) analyzed international marketing
strategy of PepsiCo based on foreign market indicators, such as GDP, Import
Tariffs, Political risks, Infrastructure, tax rates and competitors, etc. Three
countries chosen are India, Japan and China for specific illustration. In each
country, PepsiCo has specific strategy that makes them become more and more
successful.
About the role of Nonverbal and verbal communication in business, the
research “Nonverbal communication: a serious business advantage” seems to
be adequate. Experts agree that the combination of gestures, postures, clothing,
7


colors can support or interfere with verbal message that a person or a business
delivers.
After learning previous study as mentioned above, I found that although
Pepsi has been studied, they are just only in economics aspect while mine is
about the combination of Cultural factors and economy, which is not
overlapped with anyone.
1.2.

Theoretical background

1.2.1. Verbal and non-verbal cues
A cue is a signal of something or a reminder of something. It brings to
mind something from past knowledge or previous experience that provides a
framework of meaning that can be used to interpret the sign. The concept of
cueing is very important to visual communication because much of past
experience is filed in memory as a visual element. In other words, while cues
can and do work on the semantic level for certain types of information,
perceptual psychologists focus more on the tremendous role of visual imagery
in the cueing process based as it is on experiential knowledge (Moriarty,
2001)4.
As we know, communication includes 2 main elements: verbal and nonverbal cues
Verbal cues
Verbal cue is something that you can figure someone out based on what
they said, or how they said it. Verbal cues are used widely because they
represent the most common way to communicate and the easiest way to
understand the speech of any person.
Non-verbal cues
Oxford Advanced dictionary defined Non-verbal cue as the perceptual
information communicated in a social exchange by signs accompanying the

4

Moriarty, P. Nanostructured materials: Reports of Progress in Physics 64, 297–381 (2001)

8


words used in speech. Such cues include body language, tone, inflection, and

other elements of voice, dress, etc. Patti Wood, a body language expert and
author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and
Charisma5 says nonverbal cues include “all the communication between people
that do not have a direct verbal translation.” They are “body movements, body
orientation, nuances of the voice, facial expressions, details of dress, and
choice and movement of objects that communicate.” Time and space can also
be perceived as having nonverbal cues. Darlene Price (2012)6 says “Simply put,
nonverbal cues include all the ways you present and express yourself, apart
from the actual words you speak,” she also adds. “And they are critically
important at work and in business because perception is reality.” – because
how we say something is more impactful than what we say.
The importance of nonverbal cues in the business world has not been
studied extensively, but it only makes sense that it can have a strong impact on
any communication in our daily life in general and in business in particular –
where people always have to satisfy others for their benefits. Nonverbal cues
can help a business owner to get a message across, or to successfully interpret a
message received from another person, or to deliver hidden message to another.
For example, when seeing your partner crosshis arms, it implies
resistance. "People might just be cold, but the stereotype is that they aren't
listening," explains Ronald Riggio, director of the Kravis Leadership Institute
at Claremont McKenna College. Or when someone place a hand under the
chin, it can be understood that a decision is being made. Don't oversell if
someone looks interested afterward, but if you spot negative signals, bring up
your second-best idea--stat. Another example is a barrier. Personal space is
sacred in Western business culture, so back off if clients put up a barrier, like a
purse, says Carol Kinsey Goman, president of Kinsey Consulting Services:
5

Patti Wood (2012). Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma.

New World Library.
6

Darlene Price & Kevin Wilson (2012). Well said: Presentations and Conversations that get

results.Amacom publisher.

9


"I've seen many managers and salespeople who didn't pick up on that cue and
they lost the deal." Or in selling, an area where the nonverbal actions can make
or break a deal. People are unlikely to want to buy from a sales person who
refuses to make eye contact, who has poor posture, who lacks energy, and who
seems unconvinced about the products and services represented.
On the other hand, nonverbal communication can also send signals that
interfere with the effective presentation or reception of messages. "Sometimes
non-verbal messages contradict the verbal; often they express true feelings
more accurately than the spoken or written language," Herta A. Murphy and
Herbert

W.

Hildebrandt

noted

in

their

book Effective

Business

Communications7. In fact, studies have shown that between 60 and 90 percent
of a message's effect may come from nonverbal cues. Therefore, it is important
for business owners and managers to be aware of the nonverbal messages they
send and to develop the skill of reading the nonverbal messages contained in
the behavior of others.
There are three main elements of nonverbal cues: 1) appearance (design,
image), 2) body language and 3) sounds.
(1)

In normal business, appearance is the way people dress. It

conveys message, affects attitudes - even emotions" according to Murphy and
Hildebrandt. For example, a speaker's clothing, hairstyle, use of cosmetics,
neatness, and stature may cause a listener to form impressions about her
occupation, socioeconomic level, competence, etc. Similarly, such details of
products can affect buying habit of the customer. The one with good design,
color and friendly materials is preferred. For instance, in producing a kind of
beverage, producers have to consider something that is good for health; easy to
hold and preserve; with appropriate color (colors also plays a part in
communication; such as red can increase one‟s blood pressure, respiration rate

7

Herta A. Murphy and Herbert W. Hildebrandt (1991). Effective Business Communication (6th Ed.).

New York: McGraw-Hill.

10


and heart beat while blue is calming color; therefore, colors are carefully
chosen in advertising); and can be recycled.
(2)

Body language, and particularly facial expressions, can provide

important information that may not be contained in the verbal portion of the
communication. Facial expressions are especially helpful as they my show
hidden emotions that contradict verbal statements.
(3)

Finally, the tone:it is not what you say but how you say it –

positively and actively or indecisively and hesitantly? It is also important to
note that perfume or other odors contribute to others‟ impressions, as does
physical contact between the speaker and the listener. Silence, or the lack of
sound, is a form of nonverbal communication as well. Silence can
communicate a lack of understanding or even hard feelings in a face-to-face
discussion. In advertising, sound means songs. Is it a song with fast beat and
strong rhythm – to bring young and active feeling; or is it a song with slow and
gentle rhythm – to imply peace?

1.2.2. Marketing and marketing strategies
Marketing
There are many definitions of marketing. According to Business

dictionary, Marketing is the management process through which goods and
services move from concept to the customer.
Kotler and Armstrong (2010)8 – two marketing teachers found that
Marketing is the social process by which individuals and organizations obtain
what they need and want through creating and exchanging value with others.
Another definition by Board of Directors of American Marketing
Association is: Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for

8

Philip Kotler (born 27 May 1931 in Chicago) is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of

International Marketing at theKellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "He is the
father of Marketing Management" says Ashutosh Rathi.

11


creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value
for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (October 2007).
In conclusion, we can think of marketing as a bridge from the producer
to the consumer.
Why marketing?
After researching and analyzing the history of marketing, the economists
claimed that Marketing was born first and foremost to effectively support to
commerce activities, consuming products, handling difficulties and risks that
enterprises have to face as well as identifying the chances, and help them have
the most effective business solution.
Marketing has a very important function, which is connecting all the
activities of the enterprises to the market. Marketing directs the leaders to

answer 2 questions:
(1) Does market need or buy the entire products that the Enterprises
produced?
(2) With the price that the Enterprise tend to sell, do the consumers find
it affordable?
By that, Marketing ensure business activities of the Enterprises to follow
market orientation, regard market, demand of the customers as the strongest
support for all the business decisions.
In general, as far as I know, Marketing shows to the enterprises the
following basic elements:
 Who are the target consumers? Where do they live and buy goods?
Male or female? Young or old? How much do they buy and why?
 Which type of goods do they need? What are the features? What
about packaging and price? Why do consumers prefer those features
instead of others? Comparing to other competitors, what are the
advantages and disadvantage of our products? Are there any changes
necessary?
12


 How about the price? Is it reasonable? When and where and how
much should we increase or decrease the price? To whom?
 How can we let customers know, buy and love the products? Why
should we use this method instead of others?
 Do we need after-sell services? Which services are easy to provide?
...
In brief, the reason why we need marketing is very simple - it exposes
people to the product and the brand. Marketing let people know why they need
your products. However, marketing is not only a function in business activities,
it is also loadstar for all activities of the enterprises in finding out, meeting and

satisfying the demand of the customers. Without marketing, you will lose brand
visibility, and even clients you had in the past may forget about you. How
many brands do you still remember in spite of not seeing it for a long time?
How many brand you still use in spite of knowing others which is better?
Because of this, people sometimes consider marketing as “advertising”.
In fact, Advertising is a single component of the marketing process. If
marketing is a pie, advertising is one of the slices of that pie.
Marketing strategy
Marketing strategyis a process that can allow an organization to
concentrate its resources on the optimal opportunities with the goals of
increasing sales and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage - Wikipedia
We can easily understand that: A marketing strategy is the result of
decisions which are made about how a particular product or service will be
promoted to its target customers.
Standing on a fork of shares – brand – products, or at the cross of
product – price – distribution – promotion, which direction Enterprise will
follow? It is really a difficult question for all the businesses. But a clear and
appropriate Marketing strategy will help them to direct their necessary
activities with the minimum cost and maximum effects.
13


Enterprises who have good Marketing strategies will have some
following advantages:
 Understanding market and target customers, knowing what they
need, what enterprises have and what to change to be better
 Having chances to sell and promote
 Understanding competitors and gradually launching appropriate
strategies
 Systematically developing, easily managing budgets and evaluating

the effects at the end of each period.
 Timely having plan when market changes
Marketing strategy activities
A marketing strategy includes the coordination of four elements called
4Ps‟ of marketing:
(1) Product
“Product” refers to the particular goods and services you offer to the
customers. It relates to what they need.
There are elements associated with the products that attract the
customers: the way it is packed, quality, features, options, services, warranties,
design, and brand name.
Customer research will be a key element for a company to offer a product
that appeal to customers and avoid mistakes.
(2) Price
Price refers to how much you charge for your products or services.
Many small businesses begin their business with the bargain pricing to
create impression. However, it may be a disadvantage if customers think that
your price signals low quality. So that, pricing strategy should base on
following tips:
 Price should be set according to the product demand of public.
14


 Price should be that which gives the company maximum revenue.
 Price should not be too low or too high than the price competitor is
chargingfrom their customers otherwise nobody will buy your product.
 Price must be keeping the view of your target market.
(3) Placement (or distribution)
Placement refers to how the products get to the buyers
There are many kinds of channel used to get products to the buyers:

retail stores, e-commerce, on-site, door-to-door, etc.
The choice of distribution way much depends on the customs of
customers in the country you set up the business. Such as, in the western
countries, people spend much of their time shopping online or watching
programs like Best-buy on TV, e-commerce will work. In contrast, in some
Asia countries where people prefer traditional stores/market, direct sale is
better choice.
(4) Promotion
Promotion is an attempt to influence.

Promotional activities are

designed to inform, persuade, or remind the market of the firm and its products
and ultimately to influence consumers‟ feelings, beliefs, and behavior - Wenfei Uva (2001),Smart Marketing9.
This part refers to advertisement and selling promotion (promotional
education, publicity, and individual selling). Promotions might include free
samples, coupons, contests, incentives, loyalty programs, prizes, and rebates.
Channels of promotion: commercials advertisement on TV/newspapers,
leaflets, billboards, „word of mouth‟.

9

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dept. of Applied Economics and

Management; Uva, Wen-fei L. Smart marketing [electronic resource]: a compilation of Smart
marketing articles, November 2001-November 2003

15

1.2.3. Verbal and nonverbal cues in marketing
As studying above on definition of marketing strategies and four elements of
them, we can easily indicate that:
 Verbal cues in marketing refers to Slogan, songs, promotion campaigns
(oral advertising)
 Nonverbal cues in marketing refers to Image of the product (design),
images used in advertising, price, and location.
In business in general and in marketing in particular, those cues do not
separate, they even combine and mutually support each other to bring
effectiveness to producer.

16


Chapter 2: Strategic use of verbal and non-verbal
cues in marketing by PepsiCo Vietnam
PepsiCo is a world leader in convenient snacks, foods and beverages,
with revenues of more than $39 billion. The company consists of PepsiCo
Americas Foods (PAF), PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB) and PepsiCo
International (PI).
PepsiCo Vietnam was established in February 1994, when the US
Embargo to Vietnam was lifted marking the phenomenal entrance of PepsiCo
into this new market. Just hours after, Pepsi Cola and 7Up products were
available to the first few thousand local consumers in Hochiminh City.
Officially, PepsiCo teamed up with International Beverages Company (IBC) –
a well-established local joint venture to manufacture and distribute Pepsi-Cola
and 7Up products in Vietnam. In April 2003, the company became a 100%
foreign owned entity – a new entirely run subsidiary of PepsiCo Worldwide
and the name PepsiCo Vietnam (PIVN) was used officially.10
The company‟s diverse product portfolios including Pepsi Cola, 7Up,

Mirinda, Aquafina, Sting, Twister, Lipton Ice Tea, and Poca are widely and
deeply distributed to Vietnamese consumers from the five operations branches
located across Vietnam.
Over time, PepsiCo Vietnam has not only successfully operated in
compliance with its corporate's world-class standard and the local regulations
as well but also sustain its market leadership position driven by impressive
growth. In addition, PepsiCo Vietnam also receives widespread recognition for
its social contribution and tireless fosterage and support of the welfare of the
community via active involvement in related activities and events.

10

Statistics in 2012

17


So far, PepsiCo Vietnam has not only managed the local Vietnam
market but extended to cover the entire Indochina including Vietnam, Laos,
and Cambodia.
Although Pepsi has modern producing system, traditional flavorthat is
100% natural, low in sodium, caffeine-free, and still maintains the flavor of its
original cola, which is very suitable with Vietnamese taste, the marketing
strategy is the key that has created the awareness of Pepsi to the customers and
gets the great amount of sales as present. Pepsi know and understand the
philosophy: “Know – Like – Believe and Buy” of Vietnamese consumers, and
then apply supporting tools such as advertising which takes full advantage of
verbal and non-verbal cues, effectively and creatively.

2.1.

Verbal cues used by PepsiCo
Mentioning Pepsi brand, people think about young and active spirit.

Although PepsiCo has over one hundred years history, that spirit still penetrate
deeply throughout the entire Corporation, from young color of logo, from the
famous slogan “The Choice of a New Generation” to fashionable and eyecatching design products for the young, active promotion campaign, teenager
brand ambassador and aggressive marketing strategies of outstanding young
management team.
Among the products of PepsiCo, Pepsi is the most outstanding ones
because the Corporation began and got the successful with this product – which
is preferred by the young all over the word. Coming to Vietnam, the young
nature of the cola drink rapidly catch up with the life of Vietnamese young
people, the generation is strongly developing with country in the renovation
period.
2.1.1. Slogan
Leading advertising companies always know to use language. Finding a
special slogan for brand is the right way to build unique image of the products
18