Marketing 4.0 with Vietnamese small and medium enterprises
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
IN VIETNAM IN THE CONTEXT OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0
MARKETING 4.0 WITH
VIETNAMESE SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
Tran Thi Hien,
Academy of Finance
Abstract:
The 4th industrial revolution or industrial revolution 4.0 has been developing strongly in
the world and directly affects Vietnam. The far-reaching influence of the industrial revolution
4.0 has brought many changes to the way businesses and operations, including marketing. The
development began with a marketing perspective of 1.0 with products playing a central role in
marketing 2.0, focusing on customers and developing into marketing 3.0 with a focus on the
values that businesses can bring for customers. And for the present time, with the rapid growth
of the internet and technology, people connect with each other more broadly and the concept of
“flat world” becomes clearer, marketing has shifted to marketing 4.0 phase. With the Marketing
4.0 period, customers can reach the top of “self-affirmation” according to Maslow's demand
tower. Changing and adapting to the new trend is the inevitable issue of enterprises including
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0.
The paper focuses on clarifying the marketing nature of 4.0, the trend of marketing 4.0,
the difficulties that Vietnamese SMEs are facing when implementing this activity and proposing
some solutions to improve marketing 4.0 for SMEs in next time.
Key words: Marketing 4.0, digital, SMEs, ecommerce
MARKETING 4.0 VỚI DOANH NGHIỆP NHỎ VÀ VỪA VIỆT NAM
Tóm tắt:
(CMCN 4.0) đã và đang phát triển mạnh mẽ trên thế giới và ảnh hưởng trực tiếp tới Việt Nam. Ảnh
hưởng sâu rộng của cuộc cách mạng công nghiệp 4.0 đã mang đến cho doanh nghiệp nhiều thay đổi
trong cách thức kinh doanh và hoạt động, trong đó có hoạt động marketing. Sự phát triển được bắt
đầu với quan điểm marketing 1.0 với sản phẩm đóng vai trò trung tâm tiến đến marketing 2.0, tập
trung về khách hàng và phát triển thành marketing 3.0 với sự tập trung về những giá trị mà doanh
nghiệp có thể mang lại cho khách hàng. Và với thời điểm hiện tại, với sự phát triển vượt bậc của
internet và công nghệ, con người kết nối với nhau rộng hơn và khái niệm “thế giới phẳng” trở nên
rõ ràng hơn, marketing đã chuyển sang giai đoạn marketing 4.0. Với thời kỳ Marketing 4.0, khách
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hàng có thể chạm đến tầng cao nhất “sự khẳng định giá trị bản thân” theo tháp nhu cầu của
Maslow. Việc thay đổi và thích ứng với xu hướng mới là vấn đề tất yếu của các doanh nghiệp trong
đó có doanh nghiệp nhỏ và vừa (DNNVV) trong bối cảnh cuộc CMCN 4.0.
Bài viết tập trung làm rõ bản chất marketing 4.0, xu hướng của marketing 4.0, những
khó khăn mà DNNVV Việt Nam đang gặp phải khi thực hiện hoạt động này và đề xuất một số
giải pháp hoàn thiện hoạt động marketing 4.0 cho các DNNVV trong thời gian tới.
Từ khóa: Marketing 4.0, công nghệ số, doanh nghiệp nhỏ và vừa, thương mại điện tử
1. Introduction
The digital revolution for society in general and Marketing in particular, has created a
fierce race among businesses (Leeflang et al., 2014). Previously, there have been many basic
studies on the impact of digital revolution on marketing. However, most of these documents
have only studied the consequences (theory and practice), the impact on business methods and
the turnover of enterprises, the result of the emergence of channels, electronic media and the
increasing popularity of data. Under the influence of the transition to e-commerce, previous
marketing concepts have revealed many drawbacks and become increasingly inconsistent with
the current digital age (Kotler et al., 2017). The concept of marketing 4.0 appears on the basis of
maximizing the information technology platform, connecting, optimizing profits for businesses,
as well as meeting the increasing demands of consumers.
As a developing country of Southeast Asia, Vietnam is in the transition phase to a digital
economy. Being evaluated by experts with great potential for e-commerce, with high and
continuous growth from 2015, to 2018, Vietnam e-commerce has a growth rate of over 30%
(According to the Association of Merchants) along with a large population and internet access
rate of over 70%, Vietnamese enterprises in general and SMEs in particular are facing great
opportunities for business development, cooperation with foreign partners and international
economic integration.
2. Nature of marketing 4.0
According to Philip Kotler - the father of modern marketing: “Marketing is a form of
human activity to satisfy their needs and desires through various forms of exchange.”
In business activities, marketing includes a lot of business activities aimed at maximizing
customer satisfaction, which is the way businesses use to attract customers to buy and use their
products, thereby increasing profits and value for businesses. In the past, in the research process,
researchers often offered two points of view: traditional marketing and modern marketing. In this
article, the author studies marketing activities according to the development process like the 4.0
industrial revolution.
* Development stages of Marketing
Marketing 1.0: taking products as a center, this period focuses on products, how to create
products and how to sell them. Marketing will revolve around 4P (Product, Price, Place,
Promotion).
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Marketing 2.0: this period, marketing takes customers as the center, how to identify the
customers of the business to sell the products in the best way. Customers have more knowledge,
more understanding, and higher demands. Therefore, in Marketing 2.0, sales depend on
customers more than Marketing 1.0.
Marketing 3.0: focus more on the value that a product, a business brings to customers, to
society. Marketing 3.0 sees customers not as a passive entity but as a person complete with the
mind, heart and spirit along with their concerns about the value of life and issues of the
community where they are living. Marketing 3.0 focuses on marketing and branding through
cultural and social activities.
Marketing 4.0: addressing a well-grounded approach to drive customers from
recognizing to supporting business brand with digital technology development trends.
Marketing 4.0 proposes the adaptation of businesses to the changing nature of customer
behavior in the digital economy with the 4.0 industrial revolution with four elements being
addressed everywhere, in all areas: Internet of Things; Cloud; Big data; Artificial intelligence;
Automation. They are a powerful tool for marketing in a digital age. Marketing 4.0 believes that
the convergence of technology will eventually lead to a convergence between digital marketing
and traditional marketing. So what is Marketing 4.0?
According to Kotler and his partners (2017): ―Marketing 4.0 is a marketing approach
that combines online and direct interactions between businesses and consumers, mixing styles
and practical values in the process of branding and, most importantly, the mutual
complementarity between machine-to-machine connection and person-to-person contact to
enhance customer engagement with the business.”
* New marketing 4.0 features:
The first point mentioned in Marketing 4.0 is the ability to connect. Connectivity
consists of 3 levels. The first level is mobile connection, internet connection. The second level is
connecting the customer experience between online and offline. The Internet has become an
indispensable part of today's life and people are present almost parallel in the online and real
world. That gives users the desire for a unified and consistent experience, regardless of whether
online or offline. The third level is the ability to connect between people. These three levels are
fundamental factors that completely change the nature of the market.
The second new point is the shift from traditional 4P model (product, price, place,
promotion, media) to modern 4C model:
+ Co-creation: Based on the knowledge, needs and experiences of the consumer
community, creating a source of information for businesses. This factor is most visible in
technology companies. These businesses rely on the experience of selecting useful information
so they can save their research resources.
+ Currency: This is an extremely flexible factor, for example Grab or Uber, valuing each
trip at different times, depending on the needs of the market. If ‗demand‘ is greater than
‗supply‘, the price will increase or vice versa. As we may know, the cost of retaining old
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customers is always lower than the cost of new customers, which is interesting in the Currency
pricing model.
+ Community: New products are created based on the access to the needs of the
community and the social trend, so consumers will be more receptive. This community will
create new, first users and spread to other communities.
+ Discussion: Based on the discussion of customers, it is also a product channel for
businesses. Customers who discuss and share experiences about products for those around them
are also advertising channels for businesses. Customers in marketing 4.0 have the right to
participate in all stages from product design to pricing and communication for the product.
A new highlight in marketing 4.0 is the model of customer purchase process. In the
past, we used the AIDA model to describe customer journeys with Attention, Interest, Desire,
and Action. Later, AIDA model was developed into a 4A model, including Aware, Attitude, Act
and Act again.
In the current trend, with the development of information technology, artificial
intelligence, internet and mobile devices, model 4A is no longer suitable because the nature of
the market has changed. Accordingly, Marketing 4.0 proposed a new model, Model 5A with
elements: Awareness, Appeal, Ask, Action, Advocate.
Figure 1: Model 5A - Customer purchase process
A special feature of 5A model is that it no longer has a funnel form as tradition,
whereas this model works quite flexibly with the change of purchase process in the model.
With the current wide connectivity, customers' purchase journeys are no longer right in the
order of the model.
Quick connection with the community through the media has a direct impact on the
customer buying process, creating a new score in marketing 4.0, compared to traditional
marketing. Specifically:
+ During the attraction period, customers not only give their subjective opinions about
products but also are affected by the general opinion of the community about that product.
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+ In the recommended period, if traditional marketing is aimed at stimulating customers
to continue using the product, marketing 4.0 is directed towards customer satisfaction, then
customers themselves recommend using products to relatives or spread in the community.
+ Forums and communities on the internet make it easy to share shopping experiences.
Since then, the process of Ask - Act - Advocate has a great influence on increasing or decreasing
the reputation of the brand.
* Some trends are and will develop in marketing 4.0
VR technology application (Virtual Reality)
Technology era 4.0 is a race to "turn virtual life into reality" of businesses. VR
technology brings 3D experience to allow users to describe environments emulated through
specialized software applications, displayed on a computer screen or through a virtual reality
glasses to answer customer questions and provide the most realistic experience for viewers who
seem to be in the same space.
In real estate, for example, customers often cannot imagine what their apartment will look
like when looking at catalogs and applying VR technology in marketing as a solution to help offer
products more effective. Currently, many Marketers have applied this technology in creating
convenience for customers to experience the space of restaurants, hotels, resorts, museums, and so
on. This technology solves customers' questions and brings high efficiency for business.
Big Data - Customer portrait type marketing 4.0
Big Data is an area in the 4.0 industrial revolution. Big Data is an extremely useful
source of data that directly affects the development of Marketing 4.0. The main benefits that Big
Data brings: cutting costs, reducing time in customer object research, increasing development
time and product optimization, and assisting people in making decisions .
Big Data provides data that you can analyze your customers' preferences and habits,
thereby, indirectly helping businesses bring their products to the right customers. This source of
data comes from the actions of customers when accessing the website of the business.
For example, when you shop on eBay, Amazon, and so on, this page will give you
suggestions about products related to the product you are actively seeking. You search for
sportswear, suggested products on your screen are jogging, sports water bottles, sports shoes,
and so on.
Big Data is a huge and extremely diverse data source, businesses will depend on their
needs and choose the most appropriate and effective exploitation direction. And if you do not
"draw" their portraits, you will not have an effective marketing strategy that greatly affects your
budget and business performance. Please answer the following questions: "Which product fits
any audience, e-commerce channel? Which time is the message?‖. Big Data will help you follow
customers and draw their portraits to choose the most suitable exploitation direction.
GDN - Display advertising
Google Display Network (GDN) is a network of Google Ads advertising partner websites
such as Youtube, Gmail, Lazada,, Zing.vn and so on. GDN ads are advertisements through
images, documents that appeared on Google's partner websites.
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+ Advantages: GDN is the largest advertising network in the world; Up to 90% of web
surfers; Affirming brand reputation; Hitting the customer psychology with selections by area,
interests, age, and so on; Being selected where your ad will appear (you can choose a website
group or advertising website).
+ Benefits: Reaching potential customers: attracting the attention of potential customers
through advertising products and services on websites with related topics. Reaching billions of
internet users with attractive ads and meeting the needs of users. Easily control the websites you
place advertising banners and advertising messages. Website partners link with Google in a
variety of fields, geographies or languages. In Vietnam, we have websites linked with Google
such as Dan Tri, Tuoi Tre, Zing, VTC, webtretho.com and so on which have high brand
reputation.
3. Vietnamese small and medium enterprises with marketing 4.0
In any country, even a country with a high level of development, SMEs also hold a very
important position in the economy. SMEs create jobs, stabilize the economy, form and develop a
dynamic business team, exploit and promote the local resources. In Vietnam, according to the
General Statistics Office, as of 2017, the number of SMEs accounts for 98.1% of the total
number of enterprises. Newly established enterprises are diversified in the fields of jobs, flexible
business activities and have many innovations, in line with the current digital technology trend.
However, SMEs in Vietnam still face many difficulties such as lack of capital, technology,
human resources; weak governance capacity; limitations in accessing market information and so
on. In particular, in marketing activities, SMEs also keep the backward thinking, afraid to
change, do not research and capture market information in a sensitive manner that leading to
goods produced are not consumed; cost of marketing is large without bringing effective for
businesses.
In the marketing age of 4.0, while large-scale enterprises have the ability to optimize 5A
cycles, SMEs in Vietnam face difficulties in all 5 phases.
- The first phase - Aware, at this time, consumers also know very little about brands so
they often receive information about products in a passive way. As a fledgling enterprise, the
scale is not large, less ability to advertise the brand widely, the expectation of passive
identification from potential customers is not really feasible.
- The second stage – Appeal, consumers choose to stay in the memory of the most
impressive brands and are easily dominated by this attraction. Because of limited capital as well
as thin resources, it is difficult for businesses to deliver a message to attract customers, and do
not dare to spend money on expensive transmission channels to impress.
- The third stage - Ask, when consumers actively research on products. However,
because of the lack of a professional advertising channel, it makes SMEs more likely to fail to
persuade and gain customers' trust.
- The fourth and fifth stages are Act and Advocate. This is the time when potential
audiences really become customers and even join group of loyal customer businesses. Due to the
lack of comfortable and easy shopping experience, businesses often fail at the recession stage.
In fact, most Vietnamese SMEs do not have a specialized department to focus on
marketing, advertising, marketing to enhance their image and brand. Some businesses also invest
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in marketing but are not methodical and intensive. Hiring external media companies is too
expensive. In addition to the weaknesses stemming from marketing capabilities, these businesses
also face fierce competition from big brands, long-term businesses with brand names and a large
number of customers.
Currently, there are many businesses that pay for running ads on google, facebook,
zalo,... to promote the company's image and its products. But the most important thing in today's
sales is that we find a special point to sow into the customer's head; Finding the true difference
that gives customers. SMEs need to have the right mindset to really make sustainable
development thinking for businesses, besides investing in images and brands, businesses still
need to have good products and selling new sustainable products can make a difference and
competitive advantage with foreign businesses that are very successful on our own playground.
Maintaining a number of customers is essential for any business enterprise. But if you
want to develop long term, small and medium enterprises need to grasp the trend of buying today
and increase the number of customers to develop in a sustainable and long-term way.
Facing difficulties when approaching users at all stages, SMEs need to actively find ways
to be more affordable and highly effective. The essence of Marketing 4.0 is human-centered
marketing to cover every corner of the customer's experience. Marketing 4.0 is the inevitable
trend of the era, businesses want to survive, only one way is to accompany its development.
Marketing research and application 4.0 is an indispensable trend that enterprises must implement
if they want to survive and develop in the current industrial stage 4.0. According to a survey of
the Small and Medium Business Association, most Vietnamese enterprises are still confused in
following the technology of "the 4.0 era" so it is more time for businesses to stand up and join
the world trend.
4. Proposing solutions for marketing activities 4.0 for small and medium enterprises
Firstly, SMEs need to invest in developing information technology infrastructure to
analyze customer tastes and make effective business plans. The trend of technology application
and digital data analysis in marketing activities not only ensures convenience for customers in
the process of product access, but also helps enterprises optimize traditional business models.
Second, marketing activists 4.0 need to focus on creativity and efficiency in applying
technology to marketing 4.0. In the digital age, the technologies used in marketing 4.0 are not
difficult to copy. Competitiveness of brands comes from how they use technology and how
creative it is on the basis of 4.0 technology tools.
Third, businesses need to consider adopting a variety of approaches and interactions
through social networks, allowing users to consult and have more choices when deciding to buy
a certain product. The shift from the habit of watching television and reading paper newspapers
to online communication channels of consumers makes enterprises need to consider changing
methods of approaching customers such as rational reallocation of budget for traditional
advertising and online advertising channels.
Currently, there are many online shopping channels that users trust to use and the cost for
businesses to promote their products through these channels is not too big, suitable for retailers
and SMEs such as Shopee, Sendo, Lazada, Tiki ...
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Fourth, business managers need to be fully equipped with knowledge of online
marketing, update information technology regularly, have knowledge of domestic and
international socio-economy to perform well the supervisory role and manage 4.0 marketing
activities. In terms of organizational management, enterprises should have simple, less
decentralized apparatuses, allowing employees of all businesses to participate in marketing
activities 4.0.
Some recommendations for state agencies
In countries that are in the early stages of trade development and marketing activities like
Vietnam, the government plays a huge role in promoting the continued development of SMEs'
businesses and activities as well as digital marketing in particular. In addition to healthy state
management and reasonable incentive policies, the Government should play a role as a manager
capable of encouraging, helping SMEs to constantly innovate and know how to quickly seize
opportunities in order to compete and grow healthily. In addition, the Government should
promote the application of smart technologies typical of the 4.0 industrial revolution.
Firstly, the Government should continue to upgrade information technology infrastructure
investment, to encourage the application of smart, advanced and modern technology.
Secondly, the Government should have certain reforms in laws and regulations to
encourage enterprises to apply cloud computing technologies into marketing activities.
Thirdly, there needs to be a long-term, comprehensive strategy that helps SMEs to catch
up with the transition of the 4.0 industrial revolution.
Information technology in general and Marketing 4.0 in particular will continue to grow
and expand globally. Being proactive in information technology and Marketing 4.0 to exploit its
power to expand the market, increase business efficiency or passively respond to real
competitive pressure from the Internet, fend off loss market share due to competitors from the
Internet are the choice of Vietnamese enterprises in general and SMEs in particular ...
Marketing 4.0 is the inevitable trend of the era, if your business wants to exist, the only way is to
accompany its development, make use of it to bring benefits and the highest value to its business.
References
1. Davenport, T. H. (2006), ―Competing on Analytics‖, Harvard Business Review, 48(1), 99–107.
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Marketing Science, Volume 31, Issue 3, Pages 448-473.
3. Hayes, J. (2011), ―How we see it: Three senior executives on the future of marketing,‖
McKinsey Quarterly, 7, 1–10.
4. Kotler Philip, Kartajaya Hermawan, Setiawan Iwan (2017), Marketing 4.0: Moving From
Traditional to Digital, John Wiley & Sons.
5. Le Phuoc Cuu Long, Marketing Department, Department of E-Commerce and
Communication, Vietnam-Korea Friendship Information Technology College, ―Marketing 4.0
- The inevitable shift in the digital era‖.
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Organization‖, Óbuda University e-Bulletin, Vol. 7, No.
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