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HANOI UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
ANALYSIS REPORT
BEELINE
COMPANY SITUATION ANALYSIS
Lecturer: Mr. Trần Tuấn Anh
Tutor: Ms. Phạm Thị Phượng
Students: Ngô Thị Mai Hương
ID: 0904000039
Nguyễn Thanh Tuyền
ID: 0904000092
Trương Công Tuấn
ID: 0904000091
Tutorial 2 – BA09
Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to analyze the situation which has a great impact on decision
making of the whole Beeline VN marketing plan. The situation analysis includes some
investigations of company, environment, competitors, customers, brand and SWOT.
Being the leading telecom operator in Russia and other Eastern European countries,
Beeline extents their brand to a prospective marketplace which is Vietnam
telecommunications market. Beeline VN is a new telecom service provider which was
launched on 8th July, 2008 with the mission of helping customers enjoying their
communication all the time and trying to upgrade its service quality and customers’
caring services. Beeline VN’s objectives were to attain 2% to 4% market share in 2009 in
the short run and to become top telecom operator in Vietnam in the future. Before
deciding to run the business, Beeline VN had to take notices of many environmental
factors affecting market namely demographic, social/cultural and technological elements.
In the country of more than 86 million citizens (2009), majority of which is young people
who are in need of using mobile phone everywhere and every time, Beeline can take
advantage of this promising market segment to offer its products. Beeline, however, has
to face up with challenges raised by young-age users’ culture which is not persistently
loyal with any service providers in such a long time. By the way, with the rapid
development of mobile network technology, Beeline VN is able to apply advanced
devices to serve customers at their best and gain a sustainable number of loyal
subscribers.
Becoming the 8th operator entering Vietnam telecommunications market, Beeline VN has
to compete with other 7 service providers, two of which, Mobifone and Viettel, are the
biggest rivalries in the business battle of taking the market share. Mobifone is one of the
first mobile operators launching in Vietnam which is superior in customer service and
promotions for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers whereas Viettel, though is the
junior compared to Mobifone, can attract a great number of new mobile users by offering
many inexpensive packages as well as promotions. However, there are still some
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complaints existing about network coverage quality of Mobifone and dissatisfied
customer service of Viettel. Not only does Beeline VN encounter direct competitors in
the same field like Mobifone and Viettel, but it also has to fight for the market share with
service providers for other products launched via the Internet.
It is evident that Beeline VN is one of the most famous brands in the world marketplace
with its superior value bringing to all customers based on their preferences and financial
ability. In order to take up a large number of young users who were in favor of
inexpensive mobile service, Beeline VN developed Big Zero package (product) with the
lowest price of VND 0 from the minute 2 and many other back-ups (price), which could
satisfy completely its target customers. Additionally, appropriate marketing strategies of
getting attention from publics through mass media (promotion) and selling products
though mobilized stands (place) were those leading to an impressive success of Beeline
VN in 2009 and many years predicted afterwards.
Besides all the analyses above, a SWOT analysis is also conducted, with the purpose of
bringing a general view of all the features, including internal and external, of Beeline
VN. Beeline VN holds obvious strengths and opportunities of being a brand with a strong
and firm base - a brand well-known all over the world, the sufficient finance and
capability for a jump-start in the Vietnam market. Nevertheless, there are a number of
weaknesses existing and some threats which are major concerns for the company. Being a
new comer of the market, Beeline VN started off with limited network coverage, low
network service quality and had to face the dominance of the market from three big
competitors: Mobifone, Vinaphone and Viettel. The unpredictability of changes in taste
and usage of customers worry the company as well.
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction..........................................................................................................1
II. Company analysis...............................................................................................1
III. Environmental analysis.....................................................................................3
IV. Competitor analysis...........................................................................................5
a. Direct competitors....................................................................................5
b. Indirect competitors................................................................................9
V. Customer analysis...............................................................................................9
VI. Brand analysis....................................................................................................12
VII. SWOT analysis.................................................................................................15
a. Strengths...................................................................................................15
b. Weaknesses...............................................................................................16
c. Opportunities............................................................................................17
d. Threats......................................................................................................17
VIII. Recommendations and Conclusion...............................................................18
Appendix...................................................................................................................a
References.................................................................................................................b
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I. Introduction
Vietnam is in the process of worldwide integration and, hence, a promising market
for different industries to exploit. These days, when demand for using mobile is
increasing more than ever, domestic mobile telecommunication networks are
extremely good at doing such work. Not only domestic networks, but overseas ones
are also attracted by Vietnam market. They have made much effort to gain the
precious market share. GTEL Mobile, the leading integrated telecommunication
operator in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, aims to provide GSM/EDGE voice and
data services to cover all Vietnam with over 86 million people (General Statistics
Office, 2009). And GTEL Mobile has used “Beeline VN” as the brand-name to
launch in the Vietnamese Telecommunication market.
In our assignment, we aim at analyzing Beeline VN situation. At the beginning, we
would like to give a comprehensive look at Beeline VN Company with its missions,
goals and objectives. What are the external factors that may affect the whole company
position, then? After giving the answer for this question, we start to focus on
competitor analysis with their strengths and weaknesses. The fourth important part of
the analysis on Beeline VN is customer analysis which is shown clearly below. After
all, we make analysis on how they can develop and get their brand to be famous and
reliable as well. Finally, concrete SWOT is conducted on the basis of Beeline VN
mobile telecommunication network.
II. Company analysis
According to its official website, Beeline is a big
mobile telecommunication network operating in 9
Eastern Europe and Central Asia countries and
regions with more than 60 million active mobile
subscribers. It was estimated to lie in top 100 most
valuable brands in the planet and top 10 most
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valuable names in the telecommunication market with a value of around USD 8.9
billion in 2009.
When it came to Vietnam in 8th July 2008, Beeline VN is the brand-name to present
in the Vietnamese Telecommunications Market under the corporation of Vietnam’s
GTEL Corporation and VimpelCom. Besides being a business enterprise purely, it
works as the international combination, aiming to bring Vietnamese people a new
trend and style in telecommunications industry.
Stated clearly in the company’s website, Beeline VN set its mission, goal and vision
as the guidelines for its actions.
Mission
- We aim to help people to delight in the pleasure of communication as well as always feel free
anytime & anywhere.
Our values
- Constant improvement quality of services
- Innovations support
- Respect and trust for employees and partners.
Our goal
- To become one of the major players in Vietnam developing business in line with worldwide
standards.
Vision
- To become a leading, world class service provider in Vietnam.
In the process of conducting such important mission, goal and vision, July 2009 is the
official time to introduce Beeline VN, international mobile network, with slogan
“Live on the bright side” and package “top inexpensive” named “Big Zero”. This
package had the method of “unique” charging fee that charged zero price (VND 0)
after minute 1 for all on-net phone calls. The first package was followed by an
amazing package in the telecommunication market in March 2010 named “Big and
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Kool”. Additionally, Beeline VN has other packages such as: Big Save, Bonus+, etc.
The innovative services have brought Beeline VN the first-step success.
III. Environmental analysis
a. Economic
Vietnam’s average income per capita is around USD 1,200 (vneconomynews, 2010)
and it is listed among the countries that has low and middle-income. In general, with
the use of mobile network which is common and popular, Vietnamese can afford their
mobile subscribes. However, there is a difference between social classes, lower-salary
people tend to prefer inexpensive networks with much discount packages that suit
their income, while this is contrary to higher income ones.
b. Demographic
According to statistics of General Statistics Office from 2008, 25.6%, 68.6% and
5.8% of population are between 0-14 years, 15-64 years, and 65 years and over,
respectively. The segment of market share for young people is the biggest one. The
number of students and youth using SIMs ceaselessly increases with high demand,
especially young couples. However, they tend to change easily in their taste and
preference in their consumption.
c. Natural
Three-fourth of the area of Vietnam is highland and mountain, while only one-fourth
is delta and lowland. This is one of the concerns for network coverage level, as it is
more difficult for mobile network companies to overall cover the country.
d. Technological
Mobile network technologies are supposed to be advanced and change constantly, and
they are in the progress of converging to meet the customers’ demand of broadband.
More and more new technologies are introduced such as 3G, 4G, etc., and different
networks are ready to get involved in a severe competition.
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With the developing trend as well as further reaching integration, the appearance of
difference service brands from domestic and overseas enterprises diversifies and
richens the Vietnam market’s overall atmosphere. Customers, then, have a great
number of available options to choose, which suits their interests and affordability.
e. Social/Cultural
Most customers are attracted by special offers; so if any mobile network does not
have new distinctive and beneficial discount policy, then customers are likely to
leave.
Vietnam mobile network industry apparently illustrates the challenges in customers’
loyalty with trademark. This is not supposed to be high and there is an existence of
new users from young customers. And it is not a closely guarantee when a new
mobile network successfully launches products and retains certain subscribers.
Service providers of mobile network constantly offer sale promotions which are
rather attractive to draw customers and widen their market share. In general, large
trademarks in mobile telecommunications field have gained fixed position in the
market and customers minds for the past years.
f. Legal/Political
Vietnam government has opened policies to both domestic and overseas investors in
respect to mobile telecommunication network. However, it has decided to limit
foreign shareholders to 30% stakes. The government has made much effort on
checking SIM card registration details to increase the reliability of information and
database. A recently passed law, Decree No 25 claims that any company owning
more than 20% of a telecoms company will be limited to no more than a 20% stake in
any other phone company (mangdanluat.com, 2011).
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IV. Competitor analysis
a. Direct competitors
In recent times, Vietnam has become a potential market for many mobile telephony
companies. The high level of network penetration creates a harsh competition among
service providers which require them to upgrade their technology and enhance their
service quality. Taking the first step into Vietnam’s telecommunications market,
Beeline VN has to confront with 7 telecom service companies namely Mobifone,
Viettel, Vinaphone, S-Fone, EVN Telecom, Gtel Mobile and Vietnamobile.
Obviously seen lately, Mobifone, Viettel and Vinaphone are the top service providers
in Vietnam which occupy almost all market share whereas S-fone and EVN Telecome
witness a decreasing trend in the number of mobile subscribers. Vietnamobile, on the
other hand, is in the same position of new operator as Beeline VN. Therefore,
Mobifone, Viettel and Vinaphone are the biggest competitors to scramble for
customers with Beeline VN. In this report, we only focus on Mobifone and Viettel
which are two largest and most well-known service providers in Vietnam’s
telecommunications market.
1. Mobifone
a. Strengths
At the end of 2009, Mobifone owned 35 million mobile subscribers nationwide which
accounted for 41% of the market share, according to the official publication of
Mobifone (2009).
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Pie chart of market share – Quarter I 2009
Moreover, Mobifone was selected as one of the best mobile operators in three
consecutive years (from 2005-2008). Aiming to maintain their position beyond the
influence of Beeline VN in the market, Mobifone has adopted to numerous marketing
strategies which are apparently similar to the strategies of Beeline VN.
+ For prepaid subscribers: First of all, Mobifone brings out a prepaid starter kid price
of VND 65,000 with core balance up to VND 120,000 in comparison with VND
100,000 in the past. This strategy is quite similar to prepaid promotion of Beeline VN
for all mobile users. In addition, Mobifone continues to release MobiQ Student which
is a new call package for students in all universities and colleges in order to attract a
great number of students who prefer calling and texting at low price. Using this
package gives many benefits for students in their whole college life such as VND 99
for short message within network, VND 1,180 for intra-network call, VND 1,380 for
external network call and VND 25,000 for free uses each month. It is obvious that
MobiQ Student is the direct rivalry with “Big & Kool” package of Beeline VN whose
target customers are teens aged 15-24.
+ For post-paid customers: In May 2010, Mobifone offered a new promotion for their
post-paid subscribers by allowing customers to call 10 minutes but charge only 1
minute to Mobifone, Vinaphone and VNPT fixed call network in the whole nation.
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This strategy is somehow related to “Big Zero” package that Beeline VN currently
has applied which let subscribers call free from minute 2 to minute 20.
b. Weaknesses
Except for MobiQ student package, other call packages of Mobifone are of high
prices compared to other telecom service operators such as Beeline VN or
Vietnamobile. Mobifone charges up to VND 1,380 for intra network call whereas it is
only VND 99 for “Big & Kool” of Beeline VN and VND 930 for V-biz of
Vietnamobile. Additionally, though Mobifone guarantees to their subscribers about
upgrading network cover quality, many customers still complain that they meet
trouble with Mobifone network especially in time of full service.
2. Viettel
a. Strengths
Established in only 4 years (2007), Viettel
Telecom could assert their position in
telecommunications market with 45 million
subscribers and profit of VND 10,000 billion
(vietteltelecom.vn, 2009). This success mainly results from effective marketing
strategies of Viettel to appeal a huge number of new customers. Viettel releases a new
starter kit for prepaid subscribers with the price of VND 65,000. So as to acquire the
market share from other telecom service providers like Beeline VN and Mobi, Viettel
has launched a new package targeting on university students which competes directly
with “Big & Kool” of Beeline VN and “MobiQ” of Mobifone. Viettel announces that
this is the most beneficial package which includes lowest call and texting charge level
in this operator (VND 1,190 for an intra-network call and VND 100 for a message).
On the other hand, post-paid users also gain many benefits from Viettel promotion
such as giving free calls for some minutes, receiving gifts or dialing for prizes.
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b. Weaknesses
After obtaining a large number of subscribers, many customers have complaints about
problematic customer services and infrequent promotions from this big telecom
provider. Prior to that time, Viettel gave 100% bonus for each top-up regularly. Till
now, it takes 2-3 months for users to receive bonus from Viettel. Besides, Viettel
seems to provide vague information about time using bonus account with restricted
time to call and text. Lately, Viettel has given sorry for their customers because of
error and unqualified top-up cards (diendanviettel.vn, 2011).
Each service provider has their own strategies to capture their brand positions in
customers’ mind. To identify the position of Mobifone and Viettel brand, the
two-dimensional map is constructed which makes effort to explain the different price
and quality strategy of the two biggest telecom operators.
High Quality
Beeline VN Viettel Mobifone
Low price High Price
Low quality
It is obviously seen that Mobifone attempts to perceive their brand value as quality
and good service though price reflection is a bit high. Meanwhile, Viettel memorizes
in users’ mind as the low price service providers. Beeline VN virtually has the same
brand position as Viettel while this operator try to assert their image with a good
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customer service, high perceived quality but lower price of product range compared
to Viettel’s commodity.
b. Indirect competitors (substitute products)
21st century is the new era of technology and fast development of the Internet. There
are many services via the Internet worldwide which are provided by many giant
corporations namely Yahoo! and Skype. They offer video calls, email, instant
messaging and mobile blogging; information services, search and alerts;
entertainment, ring tones through the internet with noticeably low price. The fact is
that there is wide variety of service providers who can take advantage of the internet
to extent their network to mobile users apart from Yahoo! and Skype. Therefore,
Vietnam telecom service providers need to take a close attention to these substitute
products that many corporations can propose.
V. Customer analysis
Having a thorough view on the customers, the trend and style in their purchase and
consumption behaviors is crucial to any business, especially a new comer like Beeline
VN. In order to achieve that, market segmentation and research on purchase decisions
of customers are of great importance.
Criteria
To begin with the market segmentation process, criteria for segmenting must
be identified. A market segment is based on several possible criteria,
including geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavior. For the sake
of simplicity and time effective, demographic will be chosen as a criterion for
segmenting. The reason is that demographic factors are the most popular bases
for segmentation and they vary closely with the consumer wants and demands.
Profiles of segments
To have a broad view of how Beeline VN segmented its market, the following
table is conducted to provide the main characteristics of each segment. Only
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the first segment, which is the most notable and potential is included. The
other segment is provided in the appendix.
16-22
years old
1. Measurability
This segment includes mostly the young people, who are students in
high schools and universities. The population of Vietnam falls under
this category is around 13 million people, according to the statistics
of the General Statistics Office (2009). The number shows that, this is
a sufficiently large proportion of the Vietnam population, which is
potential for companies to aim to.
2. Accessibility
The segment of young people is always easy to reach and serve. The
young generation is active and dynamic, and they tend to appear
everywhere. Schools, university campuses, shopping and
entertainment centers, etc. are where young people are easily seen. As
a result, Beeline VN focuses on such places to offer promotion events
to gain their attention.
3. Substantiality
As mentioned earlier, the segment of young people is very much
potential to Beeline VN. Students and pupils are those who have little
or no money, most of which comes from their parents’ allowance.
Therefore, they cannot afford high-cost mobile services.
Nevertheless, the demands of those for mobile services are quite high,
due to the needs of communication, information-searching, and last
but not least – style. Accordingly, this segment is still considered
substantial and beneficial if companies provide cost-attractive
services and high-frequency promotion to gain the market share of
these people. Yet, this segment has a disadvantage is that youngsters
tend to change unpredictably in their tastes and preferences. Hence, it
requires constant adjustments and development from the companies
as well to cope up with such changes.
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4. Actionability
Realizing the potential of young-age segment, effective programs
have been designed by Beeline VN to attract the young customers.
The most outstanding action taken by Beeline VN is the new
distribution method: mobilized stands. Around 3000 SIM retailers
were set up, including a great number of mobilized stands. These
stands are easily seen everywhere on the streets, with the eye-
catching yellow and black stripes, to promote and sell directly to
customers. In addition, the advertisements appear on television with a
high frequency. All of those are proven to be effective, as the wave of
yellow and black from Beeline VN hit the young generation, students
kept telling each other about the cute yellow chicks in the
commercials, about how shockingly cheap the service of Beeline VN
is, etc.
From all the information above, it is clearly seen that the market segment of
young people (from 16 to 22 years old) are the most potential. Hence, Beeline
VN itself determined from the beginning that its target customers are the
young generation, who are lively, active and dynamic, just like the image that
the company has built for its brand: friendly, active and bright.
Purchase decisions
A customer might have different types of purchase decisions for a particular
product, including routine response behavior, limited problem solving and
extended problem solving. For mobile service provider, however, customers
tend to have a limited problem solving, as only some information for the
product are sought. The preference for the brand comes from a general trend
of the market, where people tell each other about which brand to choose, how
good it is, etc. Little information comes from customers’ own research but
comes from other factors that affect their decisions. Consequently, to be able
to gain attention of customers, information should be actively and directly
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delivered to them, not by providing information publicly and wait for
customers to look for it. In the case of Beeline VN, the company applied this
well. The TV ads can be seen every day with a high frequency, promotion
events are regularly taken place, mobilized stands set up to provide
information on the streets and school campuses, etc. All of those actions are
for the purpose of providing information directly to customers.
VI. Brand analysis
Following international Beeline, brand core values of Beeline VN, which captured in
customers’ heart and mind, are close and ready to help customers (friendliness),
easily-used products (simplicity), fascinating and inspiring support for interest of
clients (positive emotion and effectiveness). The product life cycle with 3
distinctive stages is conducted to clarify brand performance of Beeline VN currently:
1. Product development: Taking the first step to Vietnam telecom market, Beeline
VN recognized that they had to make their product outstanding in order to attain the
market share from big operators like Mobifone, Viettel, Vinaphone. Hence, Beeline
VN had to face many challenges of a new direction to newcomer. With the idea of
differentiation, Beeline VN generated their initiative by providing Big Zero package.
2. Introduction: Big Zero Package was the most shocking
product due to their lowest price of VND 0 from minute 2
in the market at that time. This package immediately
created an intra network calling trend in young people who
were target customers of Beeline VN. With a cute image of
little chickens and their saying: “What is hot?”, this slogan
became familiar with normal sayings of Vietnamese people
until now. In order to confine their image in people’s mind,
Beeline VN enforced their marketing plan by creating
“Black and Yellow Stripped Circle” wave with TV commercials of yellow chickens
dancing hip-hop.
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3. Growth: After one month participating in the market, Beeline VN was rapidly
accepted by marketers and customers and gained 78% of CBI (Consumer Behavior
and Insight) (Phuong Trinh, 2009), Beeline VN gained 1 million subscribers around
Vietnam and this figure was about to increase rapidly from this time till now. After
successfully gaining a great number of subscribers for Beeline VN, Big Zero package
stopped offering on March 8, 2010 in order to concentrate on promoting for new
package “Big & Kool” (2010). Until July 10, 2010, Big Zero came back with a new
image of Big Zero Refresh (tuanminhbeeline.com, 2010) and provided more benefits
for subscribers.
It is evident that marketing plays a main role in deciding the success of Beeline VN
strategy. Beeline VN recognizes that they aim to enhance their brand following
sustainable development based primarily on 4Ps marketing orientation. The 4Ps
model, which includes product, price, place, promotion, is applied by Beeline VN in
the process of organizing and operating the company and especially when it generates
idea for new products. Our report will stay focus on Big Zero package.
Product
Beeline VN was established at the time that telecommunications market in
Vietnam was full of opportunities and prospects with over 86 million citizens,
among which were high level of young people who were engrossed in low price
and high-quality services. Prior to that time, customer service was not the main
concern of telecom providers. Therefore, in order to overcome obstacles raised by
other operators, Beeline VN was successful instantly when launching Big Zero
package which was known as the cheapest package on the market giving
customers more chances to talk and share emotion freely.
Price
According to the official price plan of Beeline VN, with Big Zero package for
prepaid users, it has charged customers VND 0 for on-net calls from minute 2 of
talk and VND 1,250 for 1st minute and from 21st minute; VND 1,350 per minute
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for calls to other networks. Local SMS to Beeline VN numbers is only VND 250
and VND 350 for SMS to other networks. This was the cheapest package in GSM
this time, even call charge for other network was 20-30% lower than other
operators in GSM (dantri.com, 2009). This price plan can satisfy a large
proportion of Vietnamese people who are in need of low-price and reliable mobile
service.
Place
So as to attract consumers and create comfort for them to purchase product,
Beeline VN conducted a quick and simple distribution plan to bring products
directly to buyers’ hand. Distribution network of Beeline VN included over 3,000
SIM retailers with thousands of mobilized stands following International Beeline
standard which was designed to convey Beeline VN’s image, messages as well as
products to customers. This is the first time in Vietnam’s market that an operator
has provided this creative and innovative type of selling network which is
convenient for customers to buy a new SIM from Beeline VN. Normally, to buy a
SIM from other providers, customers have to come to official stores which are
sparsely distributed. This is a new marketing strategy that can successfully and
quickly access target customers in short period of time.
Promotion
The purpose of promotion is to communicate effectively with customers and help
them recognize the messages and image of a brand. Beeline VN has created its
characteristics of black-and-yellow striped circle and aimed to assert their brand
by many advertising campaigns in order to yield the most productive interaction
with potential customers through TV ads, print media, PR, promoting events, etc.
Additionally, Beeline VN has established brand visibility by designing their
symbols, logo, and slogans on its mobilization stands besides ads on signboard or
billboard.
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VII. SWOT analysis
Beeline VN is affected by both internal and external factors. These factors will be
looked at thoroughly through the following SWOT analysis.
a. Strengths
Although Beeline VN is a new player in Vietnam market, the company possesses
a number of strengths, which are major advantages that it has over other
competitors.
Company’s image
Beeline VN belongs to one of the most powerful brands in the world with
more than 16 years of experience and over 60 million active subscribers,
covering Russia, CIS countries, Cambodia and Vietnam. In 2009, Beeline
brand was included in BrandZ’s top 100 most valuable Global Brands
ranking and was named as one of the 10 most valuable telecommunication
brands in the world. Furthermore, Beeline is a leading name in the
telecommunication industry of Eastern Europe. In Vietnam, Beeline VN is
known as the brand with lively and active images, which are exactly what
the company wants to bring to Vietnamese customers: friendliness,
brightness, effectiveness, simplicity and positive emotions.
Finance
Beeline VN has a strong financial base, which is a must for any company.
Before Beeline VN took it first step in Vietnam, the domestic mobile
service market was dominated by 3 big companies: Mobifone, Vinaphone
and Viettel. Therefore, in order to gain the valuable market share, Beeline
VN has to have a sufficient financial budget to offer a great deal of
promotions and sales to attract customers.
Capability
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Beeline VN is a strong and modern business model, which has a clear and
well-organized structure. Furthermore, the management board and the
staffs are professional and highly qualified. In terms of technology,
Beeline VN is a brand under the agreement of Vietnam’s GTEL
Corporation and Vimpelcom, one of the leading integrated
telecommunications operators in Eastern Europe and Central Asia;
therefore, it inherited the latest and most advanced technologies and a
well-built network infrastructure. In addition, GTEL Mobile has also
cooperated with different branded Telecommunications companies all
over the world such as: Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, Comverse,
Avaya and Comverse & IBM to deploy its GSM network.
Another plus of Beeline VN is the diversity in the value-added services it
provides. The services vary from basic to advanced, connection to
infotainment (information and entertainment), such as Koolring,
ZeroSMS, NightTalk, ZeroTalk, nice number change, etc.
Realizing these strengths, Beeline VN must maintain and foster them. An image
of liveliness and activeness is already a good choice, Beeline VN should finance
its budget to promote and attract customers base on this image, alongside with
improving and expanding its range of value-added services.
b. Weaknesses
Besides all the strengths, there still exist a number of weaknesses of Beeline VN.
First and foremost, as mentioned earlier, Beeline VN is a new comer in the
telecommunications and mobile service market of Vietnam. Hence, it is obvious
that the company lacks the needed experiences in a volatile market like Vietnam.
Additionally, also due the young age of the brand, Beeline VN network covered
only 3 main cities: Ha Noi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City when it was first
introduced. At the moment, Beeline VN network is covering only 80% of
Vietnam territory (en.beeline.vn, 2011) and the service quality is limited. As a
result, customers still feel doubtful when choosing Beeline VN. In order to
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overcome this, the company must develop the coverage area and improve the
quality of the network service, which are exactly what Beeline VN is doing.
c. Opportunities
The market of Vietnam contains a great number of opportunities that a new
company like Beeline VN must grasp in order advance and develop.
The most obvious opportunity is that Vietnam is country with a large population
of 86 million (General Statistic Office, 2009). More and more people use mobile
phones, and it is an inevitable trend as mobile phones and cost of service are
getting cheaper and the living standard is increasing. According to the statistics of
the General Statistics Office (GSO), the number of mobile numbers until March
2011 is 157.6 million (more than half of which are inactive subscriber and people
with more than 2 numbers), increased by 31.9% in comparison with the same
period of last year. As a result, Vietnam market is potential for Beeline VN to
increase its number of subscribers significantly.
Moreover, Vietnam is a country with a young population. The market segment of
young people like students is highly developing, hence very much potential.
Beeline VN with the image of friendliness, activeness, brightness suits this
segment very well, therefore it is a great opportunity for Beeline VN to focus on
and benefit from the market segment of young people in Vietnam.
d. Threats
Besides the great variety of opportunities, Vietnam market of mobile service
brings about a great deal of threats to any new entrance. Beeline VN is no
exception, as it has to deal with the following threats.
Competitors
Before Beeline VN entered, the mobile service market is already
dominated by three big providers: Mobifone, Vinaphone and Viettel and
the market is virtually saturated. In 2009, when Beeline VN was
introduced, there were already 80 million mobile numbers, most of which
were of Mobifone, Vinaphone and Viettel. We can clearly see that the
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major part of the market share belongs to these three big providers.
Consequently, these companies will do all they can to retain and prevent
their market share from falling into new comers. Further information
regarding Beeline VN’s competitors’ actions has been discussed in the
competitor section. The fierce price competition of the providers will
require companies like Beeline VN to fund more on different promotion
campaigns, service improvement and price optimization – the company
must accept loss for a long time in order to gain the market share.
Customers
The fact that the young people being the target market segment of Beeline
VN also brings threats to the company. People like students, teenagers
always change, always follow new trends, making this market segment
inconsistent and unpredictable, which is a challenge for Beeline VN to
keep up with the changes.
VIII. Recommendations and Conclusion
In conclusion, we have demonstrated a detailed situation analysis of Beeline VN.
Although Beeline VN with many attractive packages such as Big and Kool, Big Zero,
Big Save, etc. has potentiality to gain an essential market share in Vietnam
telecommunication network market, it still needs more endeavor. Beeline VN when
initially introduced in Vietnam market, it had competitive advertisement as well as
promotion and gained a great number of customers, especially students. These days,
however, Beeline VN seems to be silent in the market. Less people use and decide to
use it, and large mobile networks still control the market due to the concern of
quality. Therefore, Beeline VN should firstly increase their mobile network quality
with stronger network coverage with lower cost for customers in order to compete
with its strong competitors. Besides, the company ought to widen the network
coverage level to the whole country so as to approach more customers in different
regions. If this level is limited, so does the success. Moreover, Beeline VN should
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plan an appropriate strategy, which can help them get rid of the bad reputation from
former failed networks like Vietnamobile and HT Mobile.
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Appendix
Customer segment: 22-30 years old
22-30
years old
1. Measurability
This segment consists of people who have just graduated from universities or
have been working for a short time. According to the statistics of the General
Statistics Office, the population of Vietnam falls under this category is around 11
million (2009). This segment obviously has a higher purchasing power than the
young-age segment, since they have income from their jobs.
2. Accessibility
This segment can be reached most easily by the internet and TV commercials. It
is apparent that most of the time these people spend on working in the offices,
the rest of time is for relaxing at home. So providing information for these
customers through internet and TV commercials are most effective.
3. Substantiality
Thanks to higher income, or higher purchasing power, customers of this segment
are willing to spend more for services. And as mentioned earlier, the population
under this segment is quite large, which is potential in terms of quantity.
Nonetheless, a major obstacle for any new comer in the mobile service provider
market is that people from this category are less willing to change their numbers,
due to the fact that their existed numbers are used for business purposes and they
do not want to change. Therefore, the segment of 22-30 years old people is less
profitable than that of young people.
4. Actionability
This market segment is more difficult to apply promotion programs or any value-
added services to gain attention. To solve the problem of unwillingness to
change numbers, a possible solution is to provide the changing number service,
which allows customer to replace and choose their number to their own
preferences.
a
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b
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c
