1. Abstract The world is flatter and flatter thanks to globalization and the development

of information technology. Local people in any nation can enjoy and experience products and services from other countries or continents. In other words, consumers' needs are no

longer bound to products available within their country's borders. This can be seen in the consumption from daily products to luxury goods. As globalization expands, local people

have chance to try various food and cuisine from other cultures. This paper analyzes the success of KFC Vietnam- a giant fast food brand through their four Ps

(product,price, place and promotion) in international perspectives. . Lessons learned from the case of KFC Vietnam will make some specific recommendations to businesses in fast

food industry in Vietnam market. 2.

Introduction One of the identities that help people be distinct from one culture to another culture is

eating habits. Geographic sites and local food supply determine what people eat and how to enjoy food. Take for an example, people from Asia consume more vegetables

than people from Western countries to some extent. Western people tend to have quick and simple lunch while Asian people prefer longer one. However, this is not to say that

local people always stick to the way and type of food they eat from time to time. As we can see, Everyday American and European people dine at Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese or

Chinese restaurants. Similarly, on the other side of the globe, Asian people enjoy their meals at French or Italian restaurants. To be more specific, foreign restaurants are now

more popular in Vietnam, especially Western style fast food with more than 200 restaurants nationwide. KFC, Lotteria are Jollibee, PizzaHut are just some brands to

name. As a matter of fact, more and more teenagers and young people go to fast food restaurants when hanging out with friends and family. In research, fast food is defined as hot food such as a burger that is quick to cook or is

already cooked and is therefore served very quickly in a restaurant. (Cambridge Advanced Leaner’s Dictionary) Among brands mentioned above, KFC is

the market leader with 100 restaurants till the end of the year 2011, and account for 60 percent of fast food market share in Vietnam.That is the reason why this brand is chosen

for study to better understand fast food market in Vietnam KFC Corporation : Overview:

KFC Corporation, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is the world's

most popular chicken restaurant chain. KFC primarily sells chicken pieces, chicken sandwiches,

chicken pot pies, crispy chicken strips, wraps and salads. KFC is part of Yum! Brands,

Inc., the world's largest restaurant company in terms of restaurant system,with more than

36,000 locations around the world.KFC, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world's

most popular chicken restaurant chain specializing in Original Recipe, Extra Crispy and

Colonel's CrispyStrips chicken with home-style sides and freshly made chicken

sandwiches. Since its founding by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, KFC has been

serving delicious,

already prepared complete family meals at affordable prices. Perfecting its secret recipe o

f 11herbs and spices in 1939, for the last 60 years, of being the chicken experts, KFC

wore the title of being the market leader in its industry. Serving delicious and hygienic

food in a relaxing environment made KFC everyone’s favorite. Since then, KFC has

been constantly introducing new products and opening new restaurants for its customers.

Up to now there are over 17,000 KFC outlets in 109 countries and territories around the

world, serving millions of customers each day.

Food, fun & Festivity are all what attached to KFC, leading the market since itsinception; People at KFC can proudly say, “We do chicken right”.

KFC Vietnam: KFC is known in Vietnam under the special name “Gà rán KFC” – a fast food restaurant

chain serving the meals made from chicken, hamburgers and the most famous meal is fried chicken KFC entered the market for the first time in 12/1997 in Ho Chi Minh city.

Now this fast food restaurant chain has been in more than 18 provinces and cities of Vietnam. •Time lines of first restaurants: 12/1997 – Ho Chi Minh City 06/2006 – Ha Noi 08/2006 – Hai Phong & Can Tho 07/2007 – Bien Hoa – Dong Nai 01/2008 – Vung Tau 05/2008 - Hue 12/2008 – Buon Ma Thuot 11/2009 – Đa Nang 04/2010 – Binh Duong 11/2010 – Vinh, Nghe An 05/ 2011 – Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa 06/2011 - Long Xuyen – An Giang 08/2011 - Quy Nhon & Rach Gia

09/2011 - Phan Thiet

12/2011 – Hai Duong

(Source:www.kfcvietnam.com.vn) In 2011, the total revenue of fast food industry was VND810 bn. and the growth rate

was about 26 percent. This growth rate makes fast food a very attractive market. The following chart shows the current market share of KFC and its competitors.

Scoure: http://nhipcaudautu.vn/article.aspx?page=1&id=4202-subway-da-den

Product information : A product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need: .KFC product is classified as consumer product as it has no intermediates. .KFC offers specialty goods. .The stock turn over of KFC is high .Price and quality of the product is always compared.

KFC60%

Lotteria30%

Jollibee & others

10%

Fast Food in Vietnam

. KFC’s product includes

.Goods (Burgers, Chicken Meals etc) Services (cleanliness, quick service, parties)A typical KFC meal consists of chicken, coleslaw and potato & gravy. All of theingredients are of the highest quality and

freshness. To ensure this, the company set srigorous standards for product uniformity and quality, which must be met by all suppliers

1.1.1Market segmentation through location:

Focus on major cities, highly populated like Ho Chi Minh City,

DaNang, HaiPhong… and their target is HaNoi and HoChiMinh City. In

1998, KFC officially came to HoChiMinh City but not until 2006 they

expanded to Ha Noi.

1.1.2 Market segmentation through demography:

Age: KFC target their main customer varies from 17 to 30.

Because of several reasons, KFC chose their main market is under 30, like

teenager tend to be energetic and rushing, and open-minded when come

to foreign trends. They also have special concern about children and

made a strong impact in their mind..

Salary: Vietnam is still a developing country so the middle class is

their target segmentation. Though people with average or relatively high

earning can afford KFC products, the other with lower income can also be

their customer, obviously not very frequent.

Occupation: Choosing Hanoi and HoChiMinh City are mostly

relate to the high percentage of population, which are pupils, students,

young workers at the central area of the cities because of the high density

of high schools, universities and vocational schools.

2.2.1. Strength

Big Brand:

Second only to McDonald’s, at the hand of Yum!, the largest corporation in the food industry, highly popular in Asian country like China and Singapore, all of that create the fame for KFC.

Product:

Possess many unique products, KFC create their own brand based on the Fried Chicken, which is seasoned by up to 11 kinds of genuine spice. KFC Vietnam only choose the best suppliers for their chain of restaurants to maintain quality and strengthen the popularity KFC aim for a long-term relationship with Vietnamese customers by building trust and a very well strategy here in Vietnam, ensure the brand

name, the quality and especially sanitation

Financial Resources KFC is in possession of Yum!, which own 33,000 restaurant on over 100 countries. KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver are the top

brands of Yum! With such a well-known corporation’s budget, they can easily issue any wide-range activity with other competitor

Human Resources

KFC has a highly-trained, professional workforce need for a big brand. All of those top-tier leaders in Vietnam are promoted by KFC International with undeniable skills and traits.

Customer Service

The one-of-a-kind services create the equal, fair feelings for all kinds of customer, whoever they are. Plus the courtesy and professional skills enable customer to be satisfied with the least amount time, this is the true nature of fast-food industry. Not to mention the delivery service recently.

Distribution System

KFC always want their customer to have their food ASAP, because of

that all the restaurants always located at the most convenient place to get

there, such as central district, at the mall or a plain area.

2.2.2. Weaknesses -Image

KFC and Jolie Bee both have identical colors to be confused.

-Adaptation: Although the recent menu is success in create an impact on customer at the time when KFC came to Vietnam as a fast-food brand with fresh and new taste, it don’t have the diversity a true restaurant need and still not very comfortable according to some customers. 2.2.3. Opportunities

The chance to redeem their reputation like the old day rests on the new,

young generation, which has a better standard of living, open-minded

taste and perception.

The other thing is their opportunity as a clean-food producer, if the

government decides to sweep the entire city from street food and other

things which are unhealthy.

Although Vietnam is still in the developing countries zone, the average

GDP is rapidly increasing, ensure a bright future as a promising market

in the future

2.2.4.Threats -Competition. We can easily name those fast-food brands dominating the market beside KFC are Lotteria, Jollibee, Burger King, McDonald’s which main products are fried chicken, burger, fried and soda. The news already confirmed the invasion of Burger King and McDonald’s into Vietnam and Subway will have a rather big activity next year.

There are also smaller but still a competitor like Pho24, K_Do… All of them create a high pressure on KFC, who have been Vietnam for several years until now, to make a move.

6.1 Marketing Strategy: 6.1.1

Product: The most important thing in product strategy of KFC is to differentiate

their product from other competitors in the same industry

and gain competitive advantage inconsumers’ mind. KFC’s original recipe is what

made Colonel Sanders and KFC famous.He developed the secret formula of 11 herbs and

spices which cost millions of dollar andit still defines irresistible flavor of KFC today.

Also, the products of KFC in Vietnam, aswell as all over the world, are produced with

similar recipe. KFC not only makes itself unique from the others but also varies its

products to create an abundant menu. Inaddition to traditional dishes such as fried

chicken and hamburger, when penetrating inVietnam, KFC tried to provide more options

in order to satisfy Vietnamese tastes such asfillet fried chicken, sandwich, gravy chicken

rice, mixed cabbage and jumbo… The sizeof hamburgers is also smaller to fit

Vietnamese customers. The list of products is classified in many categories to help

customers feel free to choose their favorite food.Moreover, adding shrimps, fishes to the

menu makes customers interested and curiousrather than only serving chicken.KFC not

only focuses on developing new products and changing the quality tocatch up with

customers’ demand but also takes care of customers’ health. The mostobvious evidence

is that in 2007, after two years of experimenting, KFC found out thatthe normal oil

contains high linolenic acid (8%) which could cause heart attack. KFC’snew recipe

targeted the health conscious customers. Therefore, they introduced a

savory blend of six secret herbs and spices and slow-

grilled to juicy perfection which has lessfat, calories and sodium than the original recipe

fried chicken. This new recipe wasapplied in 5500 KFC restaurants around the world,

including Vietnam. Furthermore, in2004, bird flu epidemic exploded in most of countries

in Asia which affected directly thesales of KFC in particular and other chicken-oriented

restaurants in general. To gaincustomer’s trust, KFC imported chicken from North

America as well as made a close processing to ensure food safety. Since KFC has long-

term strategy in Vietnam, theyspend more time on gaining market share and getting the

loyalty of customers here. KFCVietnam only chooses prestigious and quality guaranteed

suppliers with certifiedqualifications to express their concern of customers’ health.

6.1.2 Price: Price decision is a vital role to capture the market share. Although KFC

extremelysucceeded in foreign markets and became one of the best in the fast food industry, theyvirtually had no reputation when setting first step penetrating in Vietnam.

And KFC wasso smart that they used low price strategy when coming to Vietnam in 1997 in order tocapture the market share before other big competitors such as Lotteria,

Mc Donald’srealized how potential Vietnam was. The purpose of this low price strategy was that theywanted to retain a large number of loyal customers. New customers were

also attracted by this strategy, they would be curious about the products and tried at least once. Theother objective KFC considered when using this strategy was to maximize their

marketshare in comparison with other competitors in Vietnamese market. One famous slogan of low price strategy was “An That No, Chang Lo Ve Gia”(Just eat all, Don’t

Worry aboutPrice)Then, when there were more loyal customers, KFC increased their price gradually.As we can see, this strategy was definitely effective since from 2006,

KFC began to gain profit and the number of loyal as well as new customers all grew significantly. In th

efight of fast food, KFC knew how to make itself more special than the others by possessing unique competitive idea such as combining 2 portions into one called

combowith lower price than having 2 separate dishes.

Place: Today, the urbanization is growing very fast, most of the citizens become

much busier and more hurried. They do not have much time to prepare their meal at hom

e.Therefore, fast-food plays an important role in their daily life. It is easier to have meals

ina very convenient and quick way. Besides, the youth seems to be delighted with

Western culture, they like modern life style. That can explain why KFC Vienam only

openedtheir stores mainly at commercial centers, department stores in big city like Ho

Chi Minhand Ha Noi.KFC restaurants are designed to show both modern and quick

service with eye-catching decoration. Facilities are active and dynamic in red. When we

go inside a KFCrestaurant we will see the brightness of KFC from logos to menu

displays. All thesedesigns seem inviting to the youth.Due to KFC placing itself close to

schools, colleges, cinemas and supermarketswhich are mostly populated by the young

and those who are in a hurry, KFC enjoys alarge number of footfalls everyday. In

Vietnam,, KFC mainly focus on big cities such asHo Chi Minh , Ha Noi, Da Nang and

other high populated areas. Getting deeper in eachcity, KFC also try to locate at central

districts in order to offer the convenience for customers. For instance, in Ho Chi Minh,

KFC Vietnam open outlets at supermarkets,roundabouts, Commercial centers in District

1, 3, Phu Nhuan District, Tan Binh District,etc.

6.1.3

Promotion: Promotion is the method used to inform and educate the chosen target audienceabout the organization and its products. The target customers of KFC Vietnam areteenagers and

young people. KFC Vietnam uses all types of promotion:- Advertising- Sales Promotions- Public Relations- Events and Experiences

Coupons, Discounts and Bundled packages An organization finds most of its meanings and survival through promotion. AtKFC, promotion is the main tool to bring all chicken

lovers’ attention towards itsdelicious one-of-a-kind product, the Fried Chicken.

KFC uses the following method to further enhance its sales:

.- Premiums (VIP cards) - Exhibits

- Coupons - Entertainment

- Sales Promotion All KFC outlets offer its customers with various forms of incentives to buy itsChicken.

Using coupons that one can acquire after spending a particular amount over a period of fixed time, customers can enjoy the benefits of free meals or free add-ons.Additionally,

they provide meal vouchers and exciting offers in their printed ads,which customers cut and bring along in order to have a discount on their receipt.KFC is also timely to have

other promotions on special cases of the year

*WHEN BUYING 1 "PART EATING CHRISTMAS" your loved one will receive a cardand have the chance to get MORE ATTRACTIVE GIFTS:+ 04 LAPTOPS NOKIA

N72 phone + 10+ 10 MP4 player + 200 pairs of fashion+ 50 000 Christmas cards* With each purchase 01 large glasses of Pepsi, customers will receive 01 codes

to participating in the program drawn automatically by message to the operator (8113) or visit Website:www.pepsiworld.com.vn.KFC

Vietnam also created a fan page on Facebook to get more loyal young customers.They encouraged customers to write interesting status to win a iPad.

* During the flu bird period, KFC launched promotions in which customer dared to havechicken, customers with a VIP card

of VND15,000 received 10% discount on eachorder in one year from date of purchase. 6.2 Problems face KFC Vietnam:

6.2.1

Past problems:The first problem KFC and other fast food restaurants has to overcome

isVietnamese tastes. Various delicious, attractive and eye-catching food such as pho,

ricevermicelli, pancake, hot pot all together make a colorful and abundant cuisine

inVietnam. From the appetite, we can see that people here have diversified tastes;

however,they all have the same point of not being interested in greasy food which is

thecharacteristic of most fast food. Besides, most food in KFC is fried chicken which

mainlytargets young population from preschool children to the early 30s. Therefore,

when parents go with their little children to a KFC restaurant, they are reluctant to order

because they are not used to have fried chicken instead of rice for a meal. What theyreall

y want is rice. Recognizing these needs, KFC has tried to diversify their menu byadding

up some dishes or combos which contain rice. Although these dishes/combos areused

with fried chicken, parents feel satisfied and easier to order when entering

KFCrestaurants.Contrary to Western people desiring food with high calories, Vietnamese

consumemore vegetables. Vietnamese people think fast and fat food is not good for

health. Also,the number of patients who catch heart attack, obesity, diabetes… are

growing. Thesediseases are becoming an obsession of almost citizens. And fast food is

accused of beingone of the causes of these diseases. These are the reasons why people

feel more reservedand careful when choosing fast food for their meals.KFC spent two

years in laboratory to find a solution for this problem. Finally, theyfound out a new

recipe which contained less fat and calories. It was applied to all KFCrestaurants in the

world. And once it was publicly introduced, the sales of KFC increaseddramatically. As

a result, this new recipe gradually improved the reputation of KFC.Another problem

KFC had to face was the bird flu in 2004. The outbreak of birdflu affected all chicken-

oriented restaurants. KFC Vietnam was not an exception. Peopledid not consume sold

chickens. Hence, its revenue extremely decreased in this period. Atthat time, KFC found

a good solution when diversifying their menu with products from beef, shrimp and fish.

They also strengthen their reputation simply by importing chickensonly from trusted

sources in North America.In conclusion, these solutions of KFC Vietnam were very

timely and effective inhelping KFC Vietnam overcome crises period and consolidate

their fame as well asimprove their image in customers’ mind.

6.2.2 Potential problems:

The problem KFC Vietnam has to face at the moment is that they have to competewith other fast-food brand names like Lotteria, Jollibee and perhaps Mc Donald’s in thefuture.

All these competitors are stronger day by day in both finance and reputation.Another problem concerns with Vietnamese taste. They prefer tough chicken rather than

used with fried chicken, parents feel satisfied and easier to order when entering

KFCrestaurants.Contrary to Western people desiring food with high calories, Vietnamese consumemore vegetables. Vietnamese people think fast and fat food is not good for

health. Also,the number of patients who catch heart attack, obesity, diabetes… are growing. Thesediseases are becoming an obsession of almost citizens. And fast food is

accused of beingone of the causes of these diseases. These are the reasons why people feel more reservedand careful when choosing fast food for their meals.KFC spent two

years in laboratory to find a solution for this problem. Finally, theyfound out a new recipe which contained less fat and calories. It was applied to all KFCrestaurants in the

world. And once it was publicly introduced, the sales of KFC increaseddramatically. As a result, this new recipe gradually improved the reputation of KFC.Another problem KFC had to face was the bird flu in 2004. The outbreak of birdflu affected all chicken-

oriented restaurants. KFC Vietnam was not an exception. Peopledid not consume sold chickens. Hence, its revenue extremely decreased in this period. Atthat time, KFC found

a good solution when diversifying their menu with products from beef, shrimp and fish. They also strengthen their reputation simply by importing chickensonly from trusted

sources in North America.In conclusion, these solutions of KFC Vietnam were very timely and effective inhelping KFC Vietnam overcome crises period and consolidate

their fame as well asimprove their image in customers’ mind friable one. Moreover, people are more afraid of implicit disease from fast food such asobesity, heart attack,…

KFC Vietnam has improved this situation by experimenting andcreating less fat oil, but it seems not enough. KFC Vietnam should quicky set up a teamdoing research about

Vietnamese taste and propose some solutions in order to make KFCto be closer to Vietnamese needs and desires before other competitors have morevaluable ideas