Vinamilk's Marketing: Strategies, Roles, and Channels

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Vinamilk's marketing strategies, particularly focusing on its approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the role of marketing within the company, emphasizing its importance in understanding customer needs, tracking trends, and building brand value. The report details Vinamilk's marketing responsibilities, including innovation in packaging and the development of strategic marketing plans. It explores the relationship between the marketing department and other departments such as sales, distribution, and manufacturing, highlighting the customer buying process and the significance of distribution channels in reaching consumers. The report also discusses Vinamilk's distribution channels and the launch of new products like Vitamilk, incorporating Lactofrrin and vitamins, to meet the evolving market demands and enhance customer health during challenging times. The conclusion stresses the importance of adapting marketing strategies to current circumstances to maintain brand presence and customer engagement.

Background
Vinamilk company was established in Ba Ria in 2008 with main products are
milk and dairy products
At a time when the Covid-19 epidemic has seriously affected production and
business activities, many businesses have chosen to cut all costs, from staff
salaries to advertising and marketing costs to maintain business operations. Most
businesses in this difficult period choose to save and cut all resources as much as
possible, but with marketing activities, is it right to cut costs at this time?
Businesses need to accept the situation, and the only thing they can do in this
context is to give reasons why customers love the brand, how to make the
product different. Specifically, with the promotion of advertising during the
epidemic season, Vinamilk needs to emphasize that it is very important to
remind family members to drink milk to increase resistance. Advertising is just
at the right time and suitable for the situation, so that the coverage of the
business is larger and has a great influence in the minds of users.
The role of marketing
 Getting Started with Marketing :
Marketing plays a role in the business strategy of the business. In a broad sense,
all business activities of an enterprise are marketing activities from forming
ideas to implementing production and sales of goods. The advertising,
promotion, pricing, or distribution of a product are the basic functions for the
sale of that good.
Therefore, the Marketing Department plays an important role in advancing an
organization's business and mission.
 The 6 responsibilities of marketing departments :
1. Listening to customer needs
to get closer to the clients and listen in order to find out what their needs are.
2. Track trends and monitor competition
Similar to the previous point, it’s important to know the position of the company
regarding the market and the competition. That's why from marketing, you must
watch the competition to learn what they do best or to identify their mistakes in
order to avoid falling into them.

3. Work and brand values
The marketing department is responsible for creating and disseminating images,
messages and ideas.
4. Innovate
Vinamilk's packaging is constantly improving to help prolong the product's life
cycle in order to give customers a new, eye-catching, optimistic and convenient
feeling when using. Especially on the holidays, it is necessary to add appropriate
motifs.
5. Define strategic marketing plans
The most cost-effective strategies are those that are planned for the long term.
The marketing strategy has calculated all risks through the pandemic and has a
solution to recover
That's why you shouldn't cut down on marketing. That will bring short-
term benefits but will seriously affect the long-term
6. Communicate with the rest of the company
A company is a chain of members pursuing a common goal: to fulfil its mission
and maximize its profits, while respecting the principles of business ethics.
A chain is as weak as its weakest link. It doesn’t matter that the commercial or
production department are doing an impeccable job, if the marketing
department fails, the entire company will fail and the efforts of other
departments will be in vain.
Marketing relationship to other departments :
1. Sales, Communication, customer service, marketing department

Business system has the role of transforming customer psychology to lead
customers to the final stage of purchase and repurchase.
In the business system including sales department, media department, marketing
department, service customer department. Then marketing is the most important
center.
5 steps in the customer buying process.
 Stage 1: Problem Recognition.
Communication department Communicating that “during the pandemic, milk
is a great product for health” changes buyers from no need to need
 Stage 2: Information Gathering.
Building online sales channels, and promoting advertising to help customers
easily access and search on e-commerce platforms
 Stage 3: Evaluating Solutions
Customers choose to believe in the brand, the role of communication, believe in
the product, the role of marketing, so the role of marketing is to advertise and
promote the product.
Example: Why a branded handbag that looks very "fragile" can cost hundreds of
millions of dong, dozens of times more expensive than a bag made of genuine
leather of the same size, function, very beautiful, very durable but just different
brands? Why does a cup of Starbucks coffee cost many times more than a cup of
strong, delicious, high quality Vietnamese coffee? Due to the physico-physical
benefits. That's thanks to marketing.
 Stage 4: Purchase Phase.

Building policies for customers and agents: this is the most important role,
customers will make decisions as soon as the product is discounted, buy 2 get 1
free, incentives ...
 Stage 5: The Post-Purchase Phase
Survey customer satisfaction to adjust service properly with customer insight to
sell next time, research products sold on old customers
As such, sales and customer service are only a part of marketing. Marketing, on
the other hand, has a broader and broader vision, and plays a leading role. Sales
is the need to follow the path that marketing has outlined.
Marketing driving the company's revenue.
2. Distribution Department
The important of Distribution :
Marketing works with the Distribution department to make sure the products
get to the point of purchase so that consumers can buy them.
From a marketing’s opinion, a distribution channel is a set of independent,
interdependent businesses and individuals involved in the movement of a
product from producer to consumer. A company’s channel decisions directly
affect every other marketing decision.
Distribution decisions can sometimes give a product a distinct position in the
market. The choice of retailers and other intermediaries is strongly tied to the
product itself. Manufacturers select mass merchandisers to sell mid-price-
range products while they distribute top-of-the-line products through
specialty stores. The firm’s sales force and communications decisions depend
on how much persuasion, training, motivation, and support its channel
partners need.
Functions of Distribution Channels :

Distribution channels perform a number of functions that make possible the
flow of goods from the producer to the customer.
Channels provide time, place, and ownership utility. They make products
available when, where, and in the sizes and quantities that customers want.
Distribution channels create efficiencies by reducing the number of
transactions necessary for goods to flow from many different manufacturers
to large numbers of customers in 2 ways :
The first, Wholesalers and retailers purchase large quantities of goods from
manufacturers but sell only one or a few at a time to many different
customers. Second, channel intermediaries reduce the number of transactions
by creating a variety of products in one location–so that customers can
conveniently buy many different items from one seller at one time.
The transportation and storage of goods is another type of physical
distribution function. Retailers and other channel members move the goods
from the production site to other locations where they are held until they are
wanted by customers.
Distribution channel of VinaMilk company :
Distribution through traditional channels: independent distributor and
provinces, city,…
Distribution through modern channels: (supermarkets, convenience stores...)
with two smaller types: Type 1 is the channel of larger supermarkets such as
Big C, Lotte, Metro,…
Type 2 is small supermarkets like Circle K, Vinmart,... These supermarkets
place orders
Manufacturing Department
• The function of marketing is to research and identify currents market trends.
• Collecting market information • marketing and production can make
necessary changes to increase its profitability as well as productivity
 Anticipating the demand of the pandemic, Vinamilk has launched the milk
product Vitamilk. Milk contains Lactofrrin. In addition, the product also
contains many vitamins such as vitamins A, C, E and selem minerals to

create the best resistance. Along with that, is the appearance of 5 Nucleotides
system… All to create a healthy immune system, optimal resistance
Thereby, helping people have the ability to prevent diseases by external
agents, especially skin diseases, respiratory diseases as well as digestive
diseases ...
Conclusion
Because business is always changing to match the actual circumstances
and needs of customers, before the impacts of the external environment,
businesses are forced to accept reality, take advantage of strengths, ignore
eliminating weaknesses, boosting marketing activities and keeping good
brand coverage with users, are essential factors to help businesses
overcome difficulties in the current period. In particular, it is necessary to
devise reasonable marketing plans because this is a great time for
customers and businesses to interact, connect and share with each other.