Consumer behavior on trongbow

Vietnam is reported to be one of the highest beverage-consuming markets. According to the EU-Vietnam Business Network, the consumption of beverages, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in Viet Nam witnesses a significant rise with an annual growth rate of 6%, which was estimated to increase by an average of 11. 8% in 2022. Among all the categories of beverages, alcoholic beverages are the largest category with more than 70% of the total beverage retail value. Based on the Manufacture of beverages report conducted by VietnamCredit, with the highest figures in spending on alcoholic beverages recorded in 2019 at about 4. 6 billion liters consumed, Vietnam has appealed to be a potential market for both foreign and local investors. Alcoholic beverages are generally classified into various types of drinks. Among them, cider is widely considered one of the most promising lands that the giants in this industry should carefully take into consideration. Cider is a low alcoholic beverage made from apple juice by the alcoholic fermentation of apple juices, pear juices, and other fruit juices. The alcoholic content of the beverage ranges from 1. 2% to 8. 5% ABV. Recent years in Vietnam have undergone an emerging increase in the cider segment. In the study carried out by VietnamCredit, besides wine and spirits production, revenue accounts mostly on Cider, Perry, and Rice Wine with the growth rate estimated to reach around 4% in 2020. Of all the outstanding players in the cider market in Vietnam, it is undeniable that Strongbow, which first appeared in November 2015, is the most successful brand to leave its mark on customers. Prior to Strongbow’s launch, Bruntys and Magners have already given cider the largest distribution and promotional push in Vietnam. Other brands available are mostly in venues catering to foreign nationals such as Rekorderlig and Westons. Despite the encouraging data gathered in the total market, there is a challenging problem that cider brands have to deal with, especially in countries where this category of beverage still remains rather new such as Vietnam. A majority of Vietnamese consumers misunderstand cider for beer. In many cases, they consume a bottle of cider without having any awareness about what cider is. Therefore, it is essential for the players in the cider industry to come up with a timely solution for this problem. II. Brand overview 1. Heineken The story of HEINEKEN began in 1864 when Gerard Adriaan Heineken purchased a brewery known as De Hooiberg in Amsterdam. In the next nine years in 1873, the young Dutch entrepreneur renamed it Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij NV (H. B. M) and started his family brewery with the core value: the purity and excellence of the beer is the first priority. The year 1886 witnessed the introduction of an A-yeast which is the key to Heineken’s characteristic taste and it is now still the signature ingredient in the production of Heineken. Since its foundation 157 years ago, undoubtedly, the Dutch brewing company has become the second-largest global market share in the beer industry. Moreover, Heneiken products are currently available in 192 countries with 167 breweries across over 70 countries. 2. Strongbow a. Background Strongbow Cider was originally manufactured by H. P. Bulmer in England in 1962. It is named after the nickname given to one of England’s greatest knights, Richard De Clare, who was well-known for his heavy reliance on archers within his battles, as well as for his keen interest and legendary skill with a bow and arrow. With over 100 years of cider-making experience combined with modern technology, H. P. Bulmer, a subsidiary of HEINEKEN N. V, is today the world’s largest cider-maker. On 12 November 2015, Heineken officially launched Strongbow cider in Vietnam, which marked the beginning of its journey to fulfill the taste buds of customers in this emerging market. With a wide range of creative recipes with delicious taste experiences including Gold Apple, Red Berries, Dark Fruits, Elderflower, and Honey, Strongbow offers people a pleasant, refreshing texture with a balance between acidity and sourness, followed by sweet softness, and a very long finish. Due to a lower level of alcohol at about 4, 5% and a unique flavor derived from the fermentation process, Strongbow has recently grown to become a trendy alternative to traditional alcoholic beverage options among the young. c. Objectives Develop a perception of the brand as a refreshing, light alternative to beer as well as an easygoing alcoholic beverage helping to chill and relax amidst the suffocating urban life. Increase volume sales and market share to become a market-leading brand of the cider category in the global market in general and in the Vietnam market in particular. By making use of the combination of several current platforms, Strongbow attempts to increase consumer response, brand awareness, and brand loyalty as well. d. Customer The target segmentation chosen for this report is customers whose age ranges from 18 to 24 years old. The majority of them are students from various universities across the country who have no or a low level of disposable income. Moreover, since the target customers of Strongbow are people of all genders, we make an effort to follow this in order to acquire precise information and insight about their purchasing habits. There are several reasons why we would like to choose people in the mentioned segmentation to study more about them. First of all, due to sharing the same patterns in age, it would be more convenient for our team to understand their insights and carry out an appropriate research method. Secondly, it is irrefutable that there would be a number of challenging problems for Strongbow when penetrating the group of middle-aged customers who are not interested in sweet taste in drinks. Therefore, if Strongbow can establish a tied connection with those between the ages of 18 and 24, it can benefit from the loyalty of this group of consumers in the foreseeable future. 2. Strongbow speaks to drinkers through the “Chill” platform. The act of enjoying oneself after a long day is chill, the act of relaxing, drinking, talking with friends, is chill. As observed from the insight of customers, it is surprising that the “Chill” lifestyle has been existing among young people for a long time; however, there has not been any name for such lifestyle yet. Grasping that opportunity, Strongbow came up with a marketing strategy in order to be the first one to find a way to call out its name. The first step of the campaign was the sponsorship for the collaboration between Den Vau and Min in an MV named “Bài này chill phết”. By effectively and smartly applying the method known as brand storytelling, Strongbow successfully portrayed a motivational story gravitating towards young customers who are consistently filled with stress and pressure, and try to look for a time to enjoy themselves, relax, and rejuvenate after a long day. Throughout the music video, from a very small detail such as a Strongbow’s iconic apple to a fairly clear one like a car with the logo Strongbow all contributed to delicately remind customers of the product as well as the connection between it and the feeling of chill. Thanks to the deep understandings of the target audiences, this campaign brought Strongbow to significant success, including the Top 1 position in Youtube Trending only 24 hours after the release. To continue the success story, in 2020, Strongbow once again utilized the music platform with the campaign named “Cứ Chill Thôi”. The outbreak of the Coronavirus, as well as the lockdown policy, put a stop to the gatherings of young people, which resulted in a significant number of boring moments. Hence, with a view to spreading a positive message, the brand marked the beginning of this campaign with a music video called “Cứ Chill Thôi”. The brilliant repetition of the similar technique to the previous MV did not create boredom but helped to establish a tied relationship between the two pieces of music and emphasize the “chill” message among customers. With the joyful melody in collaboration with the cozy theme color, “Cứ chill thôi” brought the audience to a really chill space where they are surrounded by the optimistic energy. For that reason, it is unsurprising that this campaign also came to a successful end with a large amount of encouraging achievements such as the gold and silver awards in MMA Smarties Vietnam 2020. Throughout the two remarkable campaigns, undoubtedly, more and more young customers get access to the chill platform resulting in the rapid speed in spreading such catchphrase among them. Such situation proves that Strongbow, to some extend, has successfully made a connection between its product and the chill lifestyle. The additional evidence can be obviously observed from the focus group discussion. When being asked to describe Strongbow in three words, a majority of interviewees in the focus group were likely to come up with the word “Chill’. Some of the specific responses would be “When I think of Strongbow, I find that it is fairly chill. ”, “Perhaps, it would be “Just chill! ” because I have just watched the two MVs and there is a bus which has such line on it”, and “. . . It is a little bitter at first, after that, since Strongbow is an alcoholic drink, it brings me the feeling of chill…. ”. In conclusion, it is undebatable that the success of the owner of the Chill platform mainly depends on its deep understanding of the customer insight together with the clever way of bringing the chill lifestyle to the target customers.