Company Analysis:4 Ps Marketing Analysis
Product– Sabeco Brewery is best known for its bottled and canned beers. Itsmost popular
canned and three most popular bottled beers are:
•333 Export (330 ml canned, 5.3% alcohol by volume)
•Saigon Export (355 ml, 4.9% AVB)
•Saigon Lager (450 ml, 4.3% AVB)
•Saigon Special (330 ml, 4.9% AVB) (Vietnam Travel & Living Guide)
Cans of 333 Export beers are their best seller in the budget market segment while Saigon
Export is a strong mid-range seller. In 2012, Saigon Lager and Special (a.k.a. Short
Saigon) were launched in hopes of capturing lost market share in the premium segment
from VBL’s Heineken brands (Vietnam Times 2013).
Price– Beer in Vietnam tends to be inexpensive by Western standards. For instance, one of
Sabeco’s premium bottled beers, the Saigon Special, sells for between 14,000-15,000 VND
(70-75 cents). Sabeco’s price ranges from 13,000 VND to 25,000 VND (60 cents to $1.20
per bottle) (Santos 2011). Canned beers tend to be priced more competitively, since 333
Export cans compete on price against other domestic and imported beers.
Promotion– Current industry regulations limits domestic breweries like Sabeco from
spending more than ten percent of total income on its marketing campaigns (Vietnam
Times 2013). This advertising spending limit places the company and other domestic
breweries at a grave disadvantage against foreign competitors who have no marketing
spending limits. Sabeco is promoting its Saigon Special and Saigon Lager as lower priced,
premium brands to compete directly with VBL’s Heineken brands. Actually, Sabeco has a
history of not spending much on marketing its brands (Vietnam Investment Review 2013).
Place – Although Sabeco has factories throughout Vietnam, it is more popular in South and
Central Vietnam than in the North.Rivals Habeco and South East Asia Brewery share the
largest market share in the North (Vietnam Times 2013). Having small breweries
throughout the country greatly reduces transportation costs, expands their distribution
system and gives them a competitive edge over brands that are only brewed in a few
locations.
Cultural Forces
It is not surprising that Sabeco is most popular in South and Central Vietnam, but less
popular in the North. After all, it was originally a French company and even its name
reminds consumers that it originated in Saigon, the capital city of South Vietnam during
the civil war (Vietnam War) that the North finally won in 1975 (CIA 2013). As a result of
this history, SABECO’s Saigon Lager, Saigon Export, and Saigon Special brands may
