2010
RMIT University
Le Hoang Mai
MEDIA PLAN
HONDA EV-NEO ELECTRIC
SCOOTER
Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Introduction to the media plan:
This is the media plan written for Honda EV-neo scooter, which is launched for the first
time in Vietnam, specifically in Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi. While Honda’s electric
scooters are new to Vietnamese, made-in-China electric scooters dominate the
marketplace. To sell this product in Vietnamese market, Honda has to enhance brand
equity. Brand equity is enhanced when consumers become familiar with the brand and
hold favorable, strong and perhaps unique mental associations about the brand (Chiity,
Barker & Shimp, 2005). To achieve this, an IMC campaign should focus on:
1. Public relations to operate activities to argue brand image
2. Advertising to create massive awareness towards the product.
3. Personal selling accompanied by good services will convince customers to
buy the product.
4. Last but not least, direct marketing activities, such as portal mail, can be
used to support other promotional tools.
Based on the Vietnamese’s buying habits which usually follow seasonal demand, the
one-year advertising campaign is divided into two focused periods: new school year
and Lunar New Year with media budget of US$ 120,000 – US$ 200,000.
A. COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES:
The advertising campaign is run from 4th October 2010 to 3rd October 2011 in Ho Chi
Minh City and Hanoi.
 Brand awareness: to raise 80% brand awareness (Honda electric scooter is a
eco friendly vehicle) of target audience in first 4 months (from 4th October 2010 to
23rd December 2010) by launching advertising on the Internet, magazines, social
networking sites, and sponsoring HotVteen contest.
 Brand attitude: to achieve 20% of the target audience will place Honda as one
of the most preferred brands among a dozen of other existing brands in 3 months
(from 24th December 2010 to 27th February 2011).
Focused period 1: Lunar New Year (from 30th December 2011 to 2nd February 2011)
Vietnamese people usually have the habit of go shopping at the end of the year. During
Tet holidays, teenagers will want to go out with friends independently so that the
category might be increase. Also, parent might buy the product as a present for their
children after a long hard-working year.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
 Category demand: to achieve 30% of target audience would want to buy the
products.
 Increase sales: to increase 15% target audience would buy the product by
running sales promotion and personal selling at stores.
Focused period 2: New school year (from 28th July to 3rd October)
In this period, students have to go to school so that category demand will increase and
parents might buy the product to satisfy such demands. Advertising which is near the
time of buying demand is more appealing to consumer’s decision.
 Category demand: to achieve 30% of target audience would want to buy the
products by operating Honda festival and actively promote via various vehicles.
 Generate sales: to achieve 30% of target audience buy the product by running
sales promotion and personal selling at stores.
B. Promotional Tools:
Advertising, Public Relations, Personal Selling, Direct Marketing and Sale Promotion
works together to increase the effectiveness of the IMC campaign.
1. Advertising: advertising is run for the initial six months of the advertising
campaign to raise the awareness toward the brand and product among target
audience
 As Honda is a mature brand in Vietnam and achieves trust among customers,
advertising is an excellent means of increasing brand awareness and
enhancing brand’s image as well as consolidate brand equity.
 Advertising is not only used to provide information to consumers but
persuade and entertain viewers by exposing colorful illustration of product’s
characteristics via visual element on both television (Belch & Belch, 2009),
print media or the Internet and sound effects on television and the Internet.
 Advertising as a tool to support marketing program can be used to promote
details about a special event organized for customers or personal selling
services.
 Advertising can encourage viewers to take action by dialing to the contacts
provided on the advertisement to ask for advice from personal selling (Clow &
Baack, 2007), since electric scooter is a high involvement product that
requires comparison among alternatives before purchasing.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
2. Public Relations: Because assessing and managing a company’s reputation is
as important as promoting its products, Pr helps the company to develop positive
public image via working in collaboration with the media and organizing
customer-panned events.
 Specifically, public relation department can send out the messages in form of
press releases and hold press conferences to highlight the operation of the
company as well as its positive, image-building activities.
 Since most consumers strongly favor the concept of green marketing, the
development and promotion of products that are environmentally safe (Clow
& Baack, 2007), Honda’ electric scooter as an eco-friendly vehicle can take
this opportunity to create social events matching the target audience’s
interest as well as achieve positive public responses towards brand image.
Honda also can differentiate itself from the competitors along green lines
such in a way that it can become a competitive advantage.
 Public relations can enhance company’s image, obtain brand name
recognition, and develop close ties with vendors and customers (Belch &
Belch, 2009), Honda can sponsor an event, which makes sure to attract key
customers to attend as well as make them feel familiar with the Honda and its
electric scooter.
3. Personal Selling: As Honda electric scooter is a costly product that offers a
permanent use, consumers will want to compare quality, price and design among
alternatives before purchasing.
 Sales people might influence customers’ final decision of since they help
customer clarify the need and assist the information by providing facts about
the electric scooter and emphasizing its benefits.
 Moreover, personal selling involves two-way, personal communication
between salespeople and potential customers, whether face-to-face, by
telephone sales person might be a representative for the company when
directly communicating with customers at stores (Clow & Baack, 2007). Sales
person’s enthusiasm accompanied by good maintenance services can help
the company receive customers’ positive responses.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
4. Direct Marketing: Direct marketing activities support and are supported by other
tools in an ICM campaign.
 Direct marketing can combined with advertising to increase the repetition of
advertising arguments by inserting flyers inside the telephone bills.
 Public relations activities can employ digital techniques, such as e-mails and
Facebook invitation, to generate immediate feedback and response to
promote details about up-coming events.
5. Sale Promotion: To meet the communication objective as creating brand
awareness, enhancing brand image, we can offer store premiums. In addition,
during two focused periods when target customers have the highest level of
category demand, there will be discounts to boost sales. Moreover, sales
promotion provides extra value or incentives to the sales force, the distributors or
the ultimate consumer and stimulates immediate sales (Belch &Belch, 2009).
C. Media objectives:
Purchase„s characteristic and buyer‟s behaviors:
Characteristics
Honda EV-electric scooter
Purchase frequency
Infrequent
Tim spent planning the purchase
Considerable
Time and effort spent shopping
Considerable –comparison shopping
Are price and quality compared
Yes
Price level
Mid to high
Importance of price
Often very important
Importance of brand
Yes
Because this is a long purchasing circle product with high price that requires prior
comparison among alternatives, media objective need to be focused on reach during in
the introduction stage to create awareness among target. Also, people do not tend to
buy the product anytime, low frequency is appropriate during the campaign, except for
sale seasons.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
However, it is a need to achieve higher frequency level to maintain top-of-mind
awareness during two focused periods when buyers have a demand to buy an electric
scooter, such as new school year and Lunar New Year.
Frequency planning matrix:
Factor
High (1)
Brand maturity New
Product
New or low
awareness
awareness
Competitive
Very aggressive
category
Average (0)
Low (-1)
Total
Product in the market 2-
Product in market 5+
-1
5 years
years
Average awareness
Strongly established
1
leader
Some spending but your
Little spending. Your
product is on par
product has over 50
1
percent share
Advertising
New campaign/
campaign
message
Type of
Short-term
response
promotion
In second year
Has run for 2+ years
1
Mix of promo/ product
Long-term product
-1
Total
1 incremental + 1 base level = 2+ frequency level
(Adapted from: Kelley & Jugenheimer 2008)
Therefore, media objectives will be:
1. Achieve a minimum reach level of 80% with teenagers and youth aged 16-24 during
three introductory months (from 4th October 2010 to 13th December 2010).
2. Maintain at least 50% reach during one-year campaign.
3. Maximize frequency during 1st focused period (Lunar New Year 30th December 2011
to 2nd February 2011)) by setting 2+ frequency per day to obtain audience preference
towards the product, and initial sales.
4. Maximize frequency during 2nd focused period (New School year from 28th July to
3rd October) by setting 2+ frequency per day to force sales, when sales promotion is run.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
D. MEDIUM & VEHICLE SELECTION FOR EACH CHOSEN
PROMOTIONAL MIX TOOL:
Honda electric scooters with its benefits and price do not aim to reach mass audience.
Based on target segmentation, parents are potential buyers while teenagers and youths
(16-24) and boomers (60-70) play a role as imitator, buying influencer, and potential
users. Because different age groups can lead to differences in media consumption, we
choose the Internet as the main media to spread the advertisement widely to
teenagers and youths. In addition, advertising embedded in a movie, newspapers,
teenage magazines, out of home vehicles, sponsorship and direct mail will strongly
support to reach parents and unreached youths, at the same time, achieve higher
frequency during two focused periods (sale periods). Rational for medium, vehicles
selection and general timeline for each vehicle are detailed as follow:
1. Sponsorship & Event:
Sponsorship: Honda will sponsor for HotVteen contest hold by VTM magazine. This is
an annual contest that attracts a great number of high school students in HCMC and
Hanoi. During the contest, candidates will practice social activities related to
environmental protection. They will use Honda electric scooter to travel around the city
do voluntary activities such as, collecting yellow leaves in a park, planning trees. It looks
like a promotional show in forms of contest’s activities. Taken pictures and clips will be
shared on social networking sites such as Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, and Blog. At the
final ground, there will be a music show that gathers lot of celebrities and tickets are
required. It looks like a flyer designed for Honda electric scooter on the tickets’ back side.
Timeline: Late September to middle November.
(Reproduced from:
6 Hotvteen, n.d.)
Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Honda festival: The main purpose of the festival is to introduce electric scooter to the
citizens. We benefit from the pre-existing reputation of Honda to attract target publics
come to the event. During the festival, there will be certain activities to stimulate people
to experience an electric scooter. We use direct mail via Honda’s databases (refer to
direct marketing section below), street teams and table tents (refer to out-of-home
vehicles section) to invite target publics to join the festival. Details will be promoted
through all social networking sites, and other websites that ad are placed. We also
conduct a lucky draw to present the product for the luckiest person of the night. In this
way, we can obtain the press coverage while creating awareness among citizens. After
the show, we offer promotional products such as T-shirt, key ring, or raincoats for
participants.
Timeline: Sunday 4th September 2011 (promotional activities before up-coming new
school year to generate sales)
2. Internet Marketing and Advertising on the Internet:
Internet is used as the main medium to pitch the advertising messages and
communicate with potential customers.
(Reproduced from Comigo Nettizens, 2010)
According to Vietnam Internet Network Information Center, 22.5 million people in
Vietnam were using the internet by the end of 2009, representing 26% of overall
population.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Among the cities covered in 2010 NetCitizens study conducted by Cimigo, the highest
penetration is measured in Hanoi, where 61% of population have accessed the internet
already. In HCMC, internet has been accessed by about 48%. This is to indicate that
Internet is appropriate medium to approach as many target customers as possible to
follow the reach objective.
(Reproduced from Comigo Nettizens, 2010)
In Vietnam, internet users surf the Internet very frequently. Nearly 90% of Internet users
access the internet more than once a week and about 70% use it daily. The frequency of
internet usage is higher in Hanoi and HCMC compared to other cities. In this way, we
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
can increase the number of the advertisement’s repetition to further achieve the
frequency objective. (We can also increase awareness towards the brand among both
potential consumers and non-users.)
(Reproduced from Comigo Nettizens, 2010)
(Reproduced from Comigo Nettizens, 2010)
In Hanoi and HCMC, young people among 15-34 spend time on the internet. It means
we can reach our target audience by using the Internet.
Search Engine:
 Aim at both parents and teenagers as long as they’re internet users and have the
habit of searching information.
 Timeline: During the campaign.
(Reproduced from Comigo Nettizens, 2010)
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Another feature of the Internet is its search capabilities. Consumers are increasingly use
search engine to find out the information about various products as well as search
products online and then travel to the real store to examine and make purchase.
Google AdWords helps us connect with potential
customers who are looking for products and services
like us. We will pick up the keywords related to Honda
electric scooter and choose how much we'd like to
spend on each click on the ad. It means that we pay
Google only when a search engine user clicks on the
link and visits our product’s web page. Next, the textbased ads will appear in search results and on
Google's content network based on our bids for
keywords.
(Reproduced from Cdmweb,2010)
Key words suggestion:
Using Vietnamese as key words will help the customers to easily find out the information
through search engine. It should be concise and popular, such as “xe may dien”. “Xe
dap dien” will also work well because electric scooter and electric bicycle have similar
function and target segmentation.
Banner on News Websites:
 Aim at parents and young adults
 Timeline: throughout the campaign but it is more intensive during 2 focused periods.
1. New school year: Parents consider buying vehicle for their children to start a new
school year.
2. Lunar New Year: in Vietnam, it tends to be the end of semester one in the beginning
of Tet holiday. First, parents also consider offering gift to their children who achieve high
mark in school. Second, Vietnamese have a habit of buying new things for the next year.
VN Express: VnExpress belongs to the “News” category of websites. According to
Alexa website ranking (2010), visitors to this site spend approximately 59 seconds on
each page view and a total of sixteen minutes on the site during each visit. VnExpress's
monthly Alexa traffic rank is 3 in Vietnam. Relative to the overall population of internet
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
users in Vietnam, its audience consists of both high- and
low-income men aged from 35 to over 65 (Alexa, 2010).
VnExpress also has the contextual advertising which
allows the advertisement to appear on the most relevant
section, which suits the advertisement topic (VnExpress,
2008). Specifically, Honda’ electric scooter advertisement
will be placed in the “xe may” (motorbike) section and “hoc
duong” (education) section.
(Adapted from VNexpress, n.d.)
24h.com.vn
Contents: entertainment, education & job,
technology.
24h.com.vn also has contextual advertising so
that the ad will be placed in “Motorbike” section
98.5% access users living in Vietnam
5.6 million visitors per day.
(Adapted from 24h.com.vn, n.d.)
(Reproduced from 24h.com.vn, 2010)
This chart shows that single people
There is 57% parent visiting 24.com.vn
prefer to visit 24h.com.vn to VNexpress.
Source: Nielson Research 2010
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Based on these statistics, we will push advertisement on 24h.com.vn during 2 focused
periods because parents will consider buying the product at that time. On the other hand,
we also place the advertisement on Vnexpress.net to reach young adults during the
campaign to maintain the effective level of reach.
Tuoitre.vn
Content: provide information in various
fields: Economy, Politics-Society, Culture,
Entertainment and Lifestyle.
Daily visitors: 4.3 million
Weekly page view: 30.015.568
(Google Analytics, n.d.)
(Adapted from tuoitre, n.d.)
Banner on teen community‟s entertainment-oriented websites:
 Aim at teenagers
 Timeline: during the campaign.
 Link to reach and frequency objectives: We can reach the target many times because
they access the internet and visit these websites everyday.
Kenh14.vn: Kênh 14 as an entertainment-oriented
website provides updated general information for
teenagers and young adults (13-25 years old).
According to Alexa, Kenh14.vn is particularly highly
ranked in Hanoi (#11)
Monthly page view: 172,561,793
Monthly visitors : 21,343,058
Geographic penetration:
North areas: 55%
Southern areas: 25%
(Adapted from kenh14, n.d.)
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Mp3.zing.vn
Online entertainment in Vietnam is dominated by
Zing. Zing is the most preferred website for nearly
all kinds of online entertainment, such as listening
to and downloading music, and gaming. Alexa
estimates that 62% of the site's visitors are in
Vietnam, where it has attained a traffic rank of 4.
The ad will be placed in mp3.zing.vn, particularly
in “playing music” section to capture attention.
Youths (15-26) are the main audience of mp3.zing.vn.
(Adapted from mp3.zing.vn, n.d.)
Nhaccuatui.com
The website is one of the biggest music sites in
Vietnam which allow visitors to download the songs.
Some of its significant features are simple and easy
to use. Users can share their favorite play list to
friends via blogs and other social networking sites
such as Facebook.
Weekly page view: 75,000,000 (Google Analytics)
(Adapted from nhaccuatui, n.d.)
The major visitors are among 16-18 years old. There is nearly 50% of total visitor in
HCMC.
High school and university students are
the two major groups of visitors.
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(Reproduced from: Advertise, 2010)
Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Official website: Provide official information about the product and details of
promotional activities.
Social Networking sites: The main task is to build relationship with customers and
publics. Remain dialogs to get public’s feedback and enhance brand image
Using Facebook as a tool in an IMC campaign can achieve
many benefits. Facebook allows for long-term relationships,
encourages interaction and build brand image in a friendly
manner. People will be able to “like” our page with a single click, without leaving their
home feed. We can push details about the events and relevant information on Facebook.
Popularity:
This chart indicates that Facebook is the most popular social networking sites in Vietnam
which achieves 47% total social networks users.
Enormous reach to specific target audience:
(Reproduced from: facebackers, n.d.)
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Based on Facebook statistics for Vietnam updated daily on Facebakers (2010), there are
54% facebook users in 18-24 age group that fit to our target segment.
The ad will be place on facebook. At there, when
viewers click on the banner, it will links to the
product’s official website. Due to advertising
expense costs per click, it is flexible for us to set
daily budget, which depends on the whole amount
(s2facebook,n.d.)
Importantly, sale promotion (discount) and
information about Honda festival will be embedded
on the banners to capture attention and
(Adapted from facebook, n.d.)
encourage them to visit our website, and join the festival.
YouTube is popular for movies. We can create video series on
YouTube and links to other core sites, such as official Honda electric
scooter’s website, Facebook, Flickr, and Blog. Videos series might be
the short clips that we advertised in cinema during Tet holidays. HotVteen activities
using electric scooters are also uploaded. In this way, we can demonstrate the product’s
features without broadcasting on TV.
Flickr owned by Yahoo offers everyone free account. It also links to
YouTube, Facebook and weblogs, such as Yahoo 360 Plus!. We
can share interesting and marketing relevant photos from social marketing or sales
events on Flickr.
Social Press (Bloggers): We can educate people about the environmental issues, such
as global warming, pollution that are connected to the purpose of product creation. We
can achieve both two-way communication with publics and create awareness towards
electric scooters. In Vietnam, there are many blogger whose opinion is very influential
among teenage netizens. The majority of those bloggers’ readers are teenagers and
young adults.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
This chart shows that Yahoo 360 plus is the most popular website used for blog in
Vietnam among teenagers.
Because social networking sites are free, we will push the information on some popular
sites in Vietnam such as Yahoo 360 Plus, My.opera.com, Zing and Multiply.com.
Although teenagers do not use blog but they still follow and observe the current events
by visiting some famous bloggers’ pages.
3. Branded advertisement:
Product Placement: we can get our product, brand name, shown within the content and
context of a TV show or movie. Since the product’s appearance seems natural, most
viewers would not consider it is advertising. In the movie, associating brands with
particular actors, films or contexts is associate a brand with congruent lifestyle or usage
situations. They incidentally set trends and create a high level of awareness for our
brand and product. Of course, viewers can’t avoid seeing the products as long as it is
their favorite show or movie.
 Mischievous Ghost:
This is not only a comedy movie but a touched story written about a group of teenagers
and a literature writer. The movie is mainly recorded at school and city side in HCMC.
The movie’s actors and actresses are celebrities who are very well-known in teenage
community such as Wanbi, Truong Quynh Anh, Elly Tran, Tim and Thien Minh (they are
all singers and teenage models). Interestingly, this is the first 3D movie produced by
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Thien Ngan Film Company, a private studio in Vietnam. It is promising to be a big hit in
2011 Tet holidays. (Movie’s Information are gathered from Dantri, 2010)
In the movie, Honda electric scooter will be arranged to appear as the vehicle that the
main characters use to ride to school and travel around HCMC. There will be some
scenes that match the creative concept in order to promote distinct features of Honda
electric scooter.
 Timeline: 2nd focused period (Lunar Tet holidays)
4. Print Media:
(Source: Mindshare “Vietnam media landscape”, 2008)
This chart shows that there is high level of reading habit in HCMC and the following is
Hanoi.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
Attitudes towards ads in publications
Read as usual is the most common in all markets. Readers still read the advertisement
(Source:
Media Habit
Survey”,
2007
in stead of ignoring it. The
mainMindshare
task is to “effectively
place
the ad
to capture their
attention.
Magazines: We choose magazine for many reasons. First, magazines allow us to reach
particular target audience with high-quality presentation. Its features such as flexible
design options, prestige can satisfy our creative messages embed in form of pop-up
advertisement. Magazines may sit on a shelf for months and be reread many times. Our
target can read the magazines ad at their leisure; they can study the information
presented in the copy. This makes readers think and feel the product.
Teen magazines:
 Aim at teenagers
 Timeline: during the campaign.
Almost students in HCMC and Hanoi have a habit of reading teenage magazines every
week. They usually read the news and discuss with friends after class. In this way, brand
awareness will be spread widely among readers.
VTM: VTM’s target audience is between 14-24 age groups which is also Honda eclectic
scooter’s target segment. VTM as a weekly magazine published every Monday offers
wide range of teenage topics, such as education, lifestyle, fashion, entertainment, Sport
and Technology.
Readership: 135000
Circulation: 45000 (75% is published in HCMC at all vendor sales and bookstores)
Target Audience: 135000 x 75% = 101,250
Full-right page: 18,513,000
CPM = 18,513,000 : (101,250 : 1000) = 183 per thousand
(Source: marketingvietnam.net.)
HHT 2!
Target: teenagers and youth (15-23)
Circulation: 169,000 (published every 1 and 15 each month)
Readership: 135000
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
(Source: tiepthiquangcaocuaban.vn)
Muc Tim vs HHT
Name
Muc Tim
Hoa Hoc Tro
(published every Monday)
(Published every Monday)
Contents
Teenage issues, education, education, music, movies,
fashion
Audience
Circulation
13-18 years old
145,000
200,000
Ad Space
Color full page
(right side)
Price
20,000,000
21,000,000
CPM
138,000
105,000
(Source: tiepthiquangcaocuaban.vn)
Cost consideration between Muc Tim and Hoa Hoc Tro:
They are the most popular teen magazines among Vietnamese teen communities.
Because they have similar contents and target audience, the advertisement should be
placed on one of these magazines to save budget. We consider this comparison. It costs
138,000 to reach 1000 readers via Muc Tim while it is paid 105,000 to reach 1000
readers for the same advertisement. So we choose Hoa Hoc Tro to reach the teenage
readers.
Newspapers:
 Mainly aim at parents
 Timeline: during 2 focused periods.
 Link to frequency objectives: Initially we place
banners on news websites to reach parents.
Second, we aim to achieve higher frequency by
adding advertisement on newspapers.
Based on Neilson Research upon reading habit
of Saigon teenagers, this graph shows that major
teenagers prefer to read Tuoi Tre newspapers to
Source: Nielson Research
“Your Consumers from Head to Toes” (2007)
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
other publications. Advertised on Tuoi tre, we can reach both parents and youths.
Thanh Nien (Daily newspaper)
Tuoi tre (daily newspaper)
Contents: Politics – Society, Economy,
Contents: Politics – Society, Economy,
Education, Lifestyle, Technology, Health,
Education, Lifestyle, Technology, Health,
and hot issues.
and hot issues
Circulation: 468.000
Circulation: 500.000
Color Full page: 37,000,000
Color full page: 39,000,000
CPM:
CPM:
37,000,000 : (374,000 : 1000) = 98,000
39,000,000 : (500,000 : 1000) = 78,000
per thousand
per thousand
(Source: marketingvn.net)
(Source: Quangcaotuoitre.vn)
Cost consideration between Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre newspaper:
Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre are the two biggest national newspapers that gain trust among
Vietnamese readers. Because these newspapers provide information for mass audience,
the cost is much higher than other print media. It is a need to place the ad on one of
these newspapers because major Vietnamese parents (especially fathers) usually read
news on Tuoi Tre or Thanh Nien. We consider this comparison. Although Thanh Nien
newspapers are published 80% on total copies in HCMC, it is paid 78,000 VND to
reach 1000 readers via Tuoi Tre while Thanh Nien requires 98,000 for the same ad to
reach 1000 readers. So we should choose Tuoi Tre to reach as many as possible within
efficient cost.
5. Out-Of-Home media:
Table tents: It is used for special events, such as Honda festival and promotions
targeted towards high school students. They may be placed on tables in dining halls,
student unions, and other student facilities. Size may vary. Al though approval from the
individual university may be required, we can reach the most specific target audience.
We only pay for printing expenses and negotiate with restaurant’s upper managers.
 Timeline: the 1st focused period
1. Fast food chains: Fast food is now becoming popular in big cities like HCMC. Since
teenagers and families are the major consumers of fast food restaurants, if the
advertisement placed here, both potential users and buyers can discuss together.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
KFC is the most popular fast food restaurant in Vietnam. There are nearly 15 restaurants
in HCMC and more than 10 in Hanoi.
Lotteria has about 10 restaurants across HCMC. In Hanoi, it is not as popular as KFC
but also run more than 5 restaurants.
Pizza Huts:
2. “Trà sữa” houses (milk tea): Students tend to go to milk tea houses after class
together. They play game, discuss and talk a lot there. We not only gather attention but
also discussion towards the product.
-18 degree Milk Tea House which consists of about 10 stores across HCMC attracts a
large number of teenagers.
Feeling Tea as mature brand name in Hanoi consists of nearly 6 stores. If -18 is popular
in HCMC, Hanoi students love to go to Feeling Tea.
Stickers: It is also used for promotional activities before Honda festival and sales
promotion during 2nd focused period. Stickers will be wrapped round bicycle saddles. To
avoid target’s negative response, it is also easy to unhitch. It might rise curiosity and
amuse teenagers with creative design.
 Timeline: the 1st focused period.
1. Bookstores‟ parking areas: Teenagers as well as students usually go to the
bookstores to prepare for their up-coming new school year. We can also promote for
Honda festival on flyer’s details.
Fahasa comprises approximately 15 bookstores in HCMC and 10 stores in Hanoi.
Phuong Nam Stationery operates more than 8 bookstores in HCMC.
Top 5 most popular exercise activities
Sources: AC Nielson research “Your Consumers from
Head to Toes” (2007)
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
2. Swimming pools‟ parking areas: Besides studying, teenagers also find the ways to
practice healthy exercise. Among many places, swimming pool is one of the most
popular choices due to its affordable price and youth’s summer activities (.
3. Fast food restaurants and milk tea houses‟ parking areas are also appropriate. If
it placed again, we might achieve higher frequency.
At Cinema: The demand for entertainment, such as going to cinema in particular,
remains high.
(Source: Mindshare “Vietnam media landscape”, 2008)
Nearly 20% young consumers (15-24 year old) go to cinema per month
As the habit of teenagers in HCM and Hanoi, “cinema” is still one of the most common
choices among weekend activities. There will be an increased number of teenagers and
young adults going to cinema during Tet holidays.
Galaxy Cineplex and Megastar Cineplex are chosen due to its popular reputation,
especially its 3D movies that create a trend and attract publics.
 Timeline: The 2nd focused periods (Lunar New Year)
1. Elevator Doors: To work in collaboration with branded advertisement (product
placement in Mischievous Ghost), advertisements are wrapped on the elevator door to
capture the audiences’ attention. Mainly aim at teenagers. It is also useful if a family
hangs out together.
2. On-screen: A video clip ad is shown before the movie gets started.
Purpose: This is the time Honda electric scooter aim to obtain target preference towards
the product and drive initial sales so that higher level of frequency is required.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
This kind of advertising has the similar characteristics like broadcasting the TVC. The
audience will be fascinated by both auditory and visual senses. It is not only cheaper but
also can limit the number of clutters.
Wallscapes
These super large posters are located on sides of high buildings, accommodating
unusual creative sizes & shapes. It is highly visible to both vehicular & pedestrian traffic.
Significantly, because there is “Nguyen Hue Flower Street” located on Nguyen Hue
Boulevard during Lunar New Year holidays, wallscapes will be place on front side of
Sanwa Tower to capture target’s attention.
6. Direct communication channels:
As Honda is a mature brand in Vietnam, customer databases are already generated
through previous Honda campaign. Databases that characterize customers by areas of
interest consist of people who are interested in specific products and buy those products
from Honda. By gaining more customer information from sources like customer services,
technical services, sales force contacts, previous customer events, such as Be-Unik
contest, a more complete picture of the target may emerge, helping us identify potential
customers.
Database marketing saves money because it allows us to focus more on specific target.
We only contact with customers who likely to buy, not everyone in database. The
reputation of Honda can increase the possibility that recipients will read the
advertisement inside the portal mail.
If we use teen magazines and sponsorship to reach the users (teenagers, youths), now
we choose direct marketing via portal mail to approach parents, who will make the
payment. Portal mails are used to invite potential buyer and user to come to the Honda
festival.
 Timeline: Before Honda festival which will be occurred in 4th September 2011.
Street teams: Also referred to as brand ambassador advertising, street team members
can wear branded clothing, distribute invitations ticket to the Honda festival or
promotional items and engage the consumer on a personal level.
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
7. Sale promotion:
Discount: After creating awareness among target audience, discount program will be
run to generate the first stage of sales. In the first focused period (New school year),
when the category demand is higher than ordinary days, discount will stimulate sales.
Details about discount program will be promoted via multi channels including
newspapers, magazines, websites and social networking sites.
 Timeline: New school year: from 5th September 2011 to 3rd October 2011.
Premiums at store and Honda festival: The best promotional products are going to
be ones that people use every day. Customers will get free water bottle or T-shirt after
purchasing. Customers might wear those promotional products while riding the electric
scooter around the town. Products’ users as known as students will use water bottle at
school. So it is helpful to spread the brand name to other students.
 Timeline: During the campaign
8. Personal Selling:
Retail Selling: Customers buy Honda’s products at Head Exclusive Authorized
Dealers (HEAD), which are operated throughout the country. In HCMC, there are about
50 HEAD’s stores (Honda website, n.d.). At there, salesperson assists the customer until
the sale is finalized. Salesperson will provide details about the discount program.
 Timeline: during the campaign
E. Advertising media schedule:
According to Belch and Belch (2009), company would like to keep their advertising in
front of consumers at all time as a constant reminder of the product and a brand name.
However, with Honda EV-neo electric scooter, teenagers and youths are major potential
users while parents are potential buyers. Based on the media consumption and buying
habit of each group, schedules of each vehicle will be organized as follow:
Flighting method:
 Entertainment-oriented websites, teen magazines are used to reach
teenagers and youths who are ready to initiate a category need at anytime. Each
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
websites and magazine will support each other to reach as many targets as
possible. It is continuous schedule as the whole to remind targets of the product.
 Product placement, cinema ads, wallscapes are used during Lunar New Year
to make the target audience place Honda as one of the most preferred brands
among a dozen of other existing brands.
 Table tents, stickers, and Viettel datapost are effective when used to support
other promotional tools during the 2nd focused period. Before Honda festival,
which introduce sales promotion season for the up-coming school year, table,
stickers and datapost is used to raise awareness toward the festival and invite
people to come to the festival.
 Newspapers, news websites aim to reach parents only when they have a
demand to buy the product. Lunar New Year and new school year are two
periods that parents consider to buy a new one for their children. In this way, cost
paid for mass media will be reduced.
 Continuity is applied for Search engine because people have a habit of
searching information about the product before they want to buy. Search engine
should be ready to adapt this habit.
Finally, all vehicles are mix together to be a continuity schedule for the whole
campaign in order to remind targets of the products and achieve “top-of-mind” position
when targets want to buy one product in the category,
F. Advertising Budget:
Cost
Percentage
Internet
US$ 72,000
37%
Magazines
US$ 81,200
42%
Newspapers
US$ 30,000
15.6%
Out-of-home
US$ 7,948
4.1%
Product placement
US$ 2,560
1.3%
Total
US$ 194,000
100%
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
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Honda EV-neo electric scooter – Media plan
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