the marketing communication campaign for imperial...

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THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN FOR IMPERIAL BIRDS NEST INTERNATIONAL CO. LTD.

Maggie C.M. Li

A Project Submitted

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts in Communication

Supervisor: Dr. Kara Chan

School of Communication Hong Kong Baptist University

Hong Kong June 2005

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Acknowledgement

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Kara Chan for her advice and

support throughout the process of doing this project. It is really my honor and

pleasure to have Dr. Chan to be my supervisor. I cannot imagine what would it be

without the patience, guidance and love of her. During the preparation of this project,

Dr. Chan has given me so many constructive ideas on how to design the questionnaire,

how to analysis data collected from the survey, and how to develop the whole

campaign, etc. I enjoy every single moment with her during consultation in the past

few precious months.

On the other hand, I am also very grateful to Ms. Cathy Yu, my dearest classmate and

friend, for her continuous support, encouragement and sharing. I will never forget

those nights we online together, worked overnight till sunrise for the project! I would

also like to thank all my friends, especially my high-school classmate Veronica, for

distributing and filling the questionnaires, for supporting and encouraging me to be

tough in facing all big challenges of this project.

All research described in this project was my own original work and was carried out

by myself under the supervision of Dr. Kara Chan.

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______________________

(Maggie Li Ching Man)

M. A. in Communication

School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date: 10 June 2005

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Table of Contents

Executive summary 1

I. Situation analysis 3

Company analysis 3

Consumer analysis 6

Market analysis 15

Product analysis 19

Competitive analysis 22

II. Problems and opportunities summary 29

III. Target market profile 34

IV. Objectives 36

Marketing objectives 36

Advertising objectives 36

V. Marketing communication strategy overview 37

Advertising strategy 37

Sales promotion strategy 44

Public relations strategy 44

Direct marketing strategy 45

VI. Campaign evaluation 46

Conclusion 48

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Appendices Appendix I Survey on healthcare products consumption behavior (Chinese version) 50 Survey on healthcare products consumption behavior (English version) 54

Survey on healthcare products consumption behavior (Result) 59 Appendix II Table 1* Company history and development 4 Table 2* Respondents attitude and consideration when buying instant

birds nest 8

Table 3* Importance of respondents consideration when buying instant birds nest in terms of the mean 9

Table 4* Respondents perception of Imperial Birds Nest 11 Table 5* Respondents value and attitude towards health and life 12 Table 6* Importance of value and attitude towards health and life of

respondents in terms of the mean 12

Table 7* Respondents perceived image of the product Daily Birds Nest 20

Table 8 Birds Nest & Aloe Top 10 Advertisers (HK$ in thousands) in 2004 65

Table 9 Comparison of Imperial Birds Nest and three direct competitors 66

Table 10 Monthly trend of placing advertisements in the market of Birds Nest & Aloe (HK$ in thousands), 2003-2004 68

Table 11 Highest spend of media advertising expenditure by Imperial Birds Nest and three competitors in 2003 and 2004 69

Table 12a Competitive media advertising expenditure analysis by media, 2003 70

Table 12b Competitive media advertising expenditure analysis by media, 2004 71

Table 13a Competitive media advertising expenditure analysis by month, 2003 72

Table 13b Competitive media advertising expenditure analysis by month, 2004 73

Table 14 Advertisements of Imperial Birds Nest and three competitors 74 Table 15 Advertising expenditure by media of Imperial Birds Nest,

2003 2004 76

Table 16 Advertising expenditure by month of Imperial Birds Nest, 2003 -2004 77

Appendix III Storyboard A: TVC Storyboard of Women of new generation I 79 Storyboard B: TVC Storyboard of Women of new generation II 82 * Table 1 7: Please refer to the content.

Imperial Birds Nest International Co. Ltd.

Marketing Communication Campaign 1

THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN FOR IMPERIAL BIRDS NEST INTERNATIONAL CO. LTD.

Executive summary

Imperial Birds Nest International Co. Ltd. is one of the most competitive birds nest

wholesaler and retailer in the market nowadays. A turnover of approximately HK$ 20

million is recorded each month. In order to build up a more vivid and clear image in

the public towards the company and products provided, a marketing communication

campaign would be carried out for Imperial Birds Nest especially focusing on its

instant birds nest best seller Daily Birds Nest. The one-year campaign would be

carried out throughout 2006, aiming at increasing sales and establishing top-of-mind

awareness of the product promoted.

As female consumers are still believed to be the most heavy users of instant birds

nest and are the motivating force of the consumer market, the female target audiences

aged 25-34, who are mainly engaged in clerical and professional industry, with

personal income of HK$10,000 20,000 are being targeted as the primary market

concerning the result of survey conducted, while career women of 35-44 would be

targeted as the secondary market.

A series of advertising strategy especially designed for addressing the target market

including TVC and print ad are created. With the advertisements, it is hoped that the



key message of women of the new generation to pursue beauty and health at the

same time () would be built in

audiences mind, who would also have the feeling of self-esteem, identity, beauty and

health of being women of the new generation. Other marketing communication tools

like sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing would also be used

throughout the campaign.

In order to measure the effectiveness of the whole campaign, campaign evaluation

would be carried out at the end of 2006 using the method of posttesting. By measuring

the effects, awareness and recognition of consumers towards the product, it also

provides benchmarks for future campaign to develop.



I. The Situation Analysis

Company Analysis


Imperial Birds Nest International Co. Ltd. (IBNI) has been developing local birds

nest trading and wholesaling business in Indonesia since 1964 and entered the Hong

Kong wholesale market in 1998. IBNI is one of Hong Kongs leading birds nest

importers, and operates wholesale and retailing services in both Hong Kong and

Canada. As IBNI has its own birds nest farming houses and large-scale plants in

Indonesia, it ensures a reliable source for its birds nest, including boat-shape, meshes,

loose pieces, cake and ball-shape birds nest. In 2003, IBNI started the business of

selling ready-to-serve birds nest in bottle, which leads the latest trend of the market

of instant birds nest.

Recently, Imperial Birds Nest has operated 11 retail shops in Hong Kong and 1 in

Canada, and has successfully introduced its products to the mass market. IBNI locates

its outlets in office buildings rather than ground floor shops. As a result, the company

succeeds to minimize costs and is able to sell its products at very competitive prices.

Its future plans are to develop the business in other international markets, build up a

distribution network in China, Taiwan, America and Canada, and launch different new

series of products to customers from different age groups and different social levels.



According to the Sales and Marketing Director of IBNI, IBNI recorded a turnover of

approximately HK$ 20 million each month 1 . In addition, IBNI has spent

approximately HK$ 11,000 thousands2 for advertising and promotion expenditures in

2004.

Table 1 Company history and development

Year History and development 1964 Developed local birds nest trading and wholesaling business in Indonesia1998 Entered the wholesale market in Hong Kong 2001 Received the Quality Tourism Services Award from the Hong Kong

Tourism Board Cooperated and launched the Birds Nest Cake on Mothers Day with Maxim

2002

Received the SUPERBRANDS status Launched ready-to-serve birds nest in bottle Cooperated and launched the Birds Nest and Mango Cake on Mothers Day with Saint Honore Cake Shop Ltd. The first birds nest retailer to receive the Hong Kong Q-Mark quality certificate

2003

Received the SUPERBRANS status Won the 2004 Hong Kong Top Brand Award 2004

Received the SUPERBRANDS status in 3 consecutive years since 2002

1 Sing Pao. (January 25, 2005). A07 2 admango.com



Mission

Imperial Birds Nests mission is ensures the supply of pure, natural and superior

quality products as IBNI aims at caring their customers health. In order to achieve

this goal, IBNI has set up its own birds nest farming houses in Indonesia to ensure a

natural production process with the strict quality control. Moreover, by locating its

outlets in office buildings rather than ground floor shops, IBNI sells its products at

very competitive prices, succeeds to minimize cost of rent which can be transferred to

the advertisements, so as to educate customers with the advantages of taking birds

nest and enables IBNI to have a good reputation in the market.

IBNI also guarantees of refund for customers. Customers who are not satisfied can

change or return the product within 15 days of purchase. This makes IBNI stand out

from other competitors and build strong confidence in customers.



Consumer analysis

Buying instant birds nest has become a trend for Hong Kong people recently,

especially for those women who want to take birds nest for the purpose of skincare

and healthcare but can hardly spare time to cook birds nest for themselves due to the

heavy workload and pressure. In the past, taking birds nest was being treated as rich

person and people of older age. But nowadays this perception has been changed in

many peoples mind.

According to the population census, there are about 596,000 women aged 25-34

(about 17% of the total female population)3. And concerning the survey conducted by

the Democratic Alliance for betterment of Hong Kong in 2003, about 45% of citizens

have bought healthcare products mainly for building up resistance (37.1%), fitness

(20.6%)4, etc. They obtained information about healthcare products mainly through

advertisements and leaflets.

The survey

A survey was conducted by the author in April 2005. A questionnaire was delivered to

a convenient sample of 50 female respondents recruited through personal contacts.

Sixty-two percent of them aged 25 34, most of them worked in professional and

clerical jobs. About 78% were married, and 74% of the respondents were tertiary

3 Mid-year Population by age Group and Sex, Hong Kong Government (2004), Population Census. 4 www.dab.org.hk (October 3, 2003)



educated or above.

The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part collected information about

respondents general consuming habit of healthcare products and instant birds nest,

and their attitude and consideration when consuming instant birds nest. Then, they

were asked to express their impression and perception towards Imperial Birds Nest

and other competitors, and one of its products Daily Birds Nest. The final part

contained psychographic information of the respondents, such as their lifestyle and

value towards health, and also the demographic information. The Chinese and English

version of the survey questionnaire and results are shown in Appendix I. Table 2 and

table 3 below show respondents attitude and consideration when buying instant birds

nest by expressing their opinions from strongly agree to strongly disagree and in

terms of the mean. Table 4 summarizes respondents perception of Imperial Birds

Nest, while table 5 and table 6 show respondents value and attitude towards health

and life by expressing their opinion from strongly agree to strongly disagree and in

terms of the mean.

Consumers buying habit

In order to get a closer look of the heavy users of instant birds nest, only women are

chosen as respondents of the survey. From the survey conducted, it showed that 88%

of respondents have bought healthcare products in the past one year mainly for the



purpose of healthcare (40%) and skincare (30%). They bought healthcare products

when they needed (54%) or when there was special promotion and discount (38%).

There were 66% of the respondents who have bought instant birds nest in the past

one year mainly for the purpose of beauty (70%) and healthcare (20%). Most of them

bought instant birds nest for their own use (58%), and would normally spend less

than $200 per month (54%) on buying instant birds nest.

Table 2 Respondents attitude and consideration when buying instant birds nest

Very

important

(%)

Important

(%)

Neutral

(%)

Not

important

(%)

Very

unimportant

(%)

variety of products 2 24 44 30 0

quality of products 74 24 2 0 0

goodwill of the brand of products 52 46 2 0 0

package of products (outlook, size,

delicacy)

0 44 30 24 2

ingredients of products 56 38 6 0 0

the originate of birds nest 18 60 20 2 0

price 38 62 0 0 0

advertisements 4 44 38 14 0

recommendation from relatives and

friends

18 72 8 2 0

the shops are nearby 0 38 38 20 4

the shops are located on the street or

in a building

0 24 50 24 2



Table 3 Importance of respondents consideration when buying instant birds nest in

terms of the mean Importance Consideration Mean* 1 Quality of products 1.28

Goodwill of the brand of products 2 Ingredients of products

1.50

3 Price 1.62 4 Recommendation from relatives and friends 1.94 5 The originate of birds nest 2.60 6 Advertisements 2.62 7 Package of products (outlook, size, delicacy) 2.84 8 The shops are nearby 2.90 9 Variety of products 3.02 10 The shops are located on the street or in a building 3.40

* 5-point scale (1=very important; 5 very unimportant)

Cross-tabulation analysis indicated that:

1. By comparing the mean, it was found that women considered quality of the

product as the most important factor when buying instant birds nest, followed by

goodwill of the brand, ingredients of product, price and recommendation from

relatives and friends.

2. Women aged 25-34, had tertiary education or above, and engaged in clerical and

professional jobs, were more likely to agree that quality of product was very

important.

3. Women engaged in occupations other than clerical and professional jobs (like



housewives, service industry, etc.) with lower personal income (HK$10,000

20,000), were more likely to agree that goodwill of the brand of instant birds

nest were important.

4. Women who engaged in clerical jobs with lower income, were more likely to

think that recommendation from relatives and friends was much more important

than advertisements when making consumption decision, and even on one who

aged 35 or above thought that advertisement was very important to them.

5. Women aged 25-34 with lower income were more likely to think that price was

an important factor affecting their buying intention of instant birds nest.

Perceived image of Imperial Birds Nest

The questionnaire asked respondents to rate their perceived image of Imperial Birds

Nest on seven-point scale of appropriateness of different adjectives and description.

Respondents generally considered Imperial Birds Nest professional (4.90),

fashionable (4.70), and credible (4.68). However, respondents also considered the

brand costly (3.88) and with less advertisement (3.88). Perceived image of

Imperial Birds Nest to the customers was not distinctive, as most of the grading lean

towards 4, which was only a neutral degree.



Table 4 Respondents perception of Imperial Birds Nest

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Traditional Fashionable

Image is blur Image is clear

Less product

variety

Many product

variety

Unprofession

al

Professional

Not Credible Credible

Costly Inexpensive

Bad service Superior service

Less

advertise-

ment

Many

advertisement


1. Concerning age, income, career and education, all the respondents actually had

similar perception towards Imperial Bird Nest. Only very slightly differences

concerning age, income and education could be found as most of them weighted

neutral for different adjectives and descriptions.

2. Women with tertiary education or above and aged 25-34, were more likely to

perceive Imperial Birds Nest fashionable, professional and credible.

3. Women with lower personal income (HK$10,000 20,000) were more likely to

perceive products of Imperial Birds Nest costly.



Consumers value and lifestyle

Table 5 Respondents value and attitude towards health and life

Strongly

agree

(%)

Agree

(%)

Neutral

(%)

Disagree

(%)

Strongly

disagree

(%)

Health is very important to me. 54 46 0 0 0

I worry about aging of my body very soon. 20 58 18 4 0

Extrinsic beauty is much more important than

intrinsic beauty.

6 20 48 26 0

I do mind people criticize my appearance. 8 46 34 12 0

I can accept new things easily. 6 52 32 8 2

Fitness is essential for carrying out job duties

efficiently.

34 48 16 2 0

Table 6 Importance of value and attitude towards health and life of respondents in terms of the mean Importance Statement Means* 1 Health is very important to me. 1.46 2 Fitness is essential for carrying out job duties

efficiently. 1.86

3 I worry about aging of my body very soon. 2.06 4 I can accept new things easily. 2.48 5 I do mind people criticize my appearance. 2.50 6 Extrinsic beauty is much more important than

intrinsic beauty. 2.94

* 5-point scale (1=very important; 5 very unimportant)


1. Women agreed most to the statement health is very important to me, followed



by fitness is essential for carrying out job duties efficiently. It seemed that

health was much more important than extrinsic beauty and appearance in their

mind.

2. Women aged 25-34, had tertiary education or above and with lower income were

more likely to agree that health was very important to them and fitness was

essential for carrying out job duties efficiently. It might be due to the reason that

they were mainly the group of manpower and labor, who needed extremely good

condition of health in carrying out job duties.

3. Concerning other statements like I worry about aging or extrinsic beauty is

much more important than intrinsic beauty, respondents had similar view no

matter they were of which group of age, career, income and education. They

mostly agreed that they worried about aging and disagreed that extrinsic beauty

is much more important than intrinsic beauty.

The survey indicated that respondents normally get information of healthcare products

before consumption from relatives and friends recommendation (48%) and

advertisements (26%). They bought healthcare products whenever it was needed

(54%) or when there was special promotion and discount (38%). Most of them spent

less than $300 (60%) on healthcare products each month. Respondents got update

information about healthcare products mainly from magazine (62%) which belonged



to entertainment and gossip type (60%) among all other categories. Respondents spent

mainly on shopping (46%) and dining (46%) and nearly half of the respondents

possessed four credit cards or more (48%). More than 74% of respondents had visited

overseas in the past one year.

From the demographic perspective, current users of instant birds nest were women

aged 25-34 (70%), with tertiary education or above (67%), mainly engaged in

profession and clerical jobs (50%) with personal income of HK$ 10,000 to 14,999

(40%). Most of them were single (76%) and lived at self-owned property (55%).



Market analysis

With the gradually recovery economy after SARS in 2003 and the rise of health

consciousness, it is obvious that the industry of birds nest of Hong Kong is

developing rapidly and has more room to go further in the coming years.

Overall situation

By comparing private consumption expenditure of personal care of Hong Kong

people in 2002 and 2003, the amount increased by HK$ 9.8 million and grew by

9.3%5. For the total advertising expenditure in birds nest and aloe market, there was

an increase from HK$ 159,874,740 in 2003 to HK$ 164,471,820 in 2004, representing

an increase of 3%6.

It is not surprising that the market of instant birds nest has developed at a rapid rate

starting from 1998 with the first instant birds nest developer Lo Hong Ka, due to

the rise of health-consciousness of Hong Kong people especially after SARS.

Estimated by the experts in the industry of birds nest, the total sales of birds nest in

2004 was over HK$ 30 billion, in which 5% of HK$ 150 million was the total sales of

instant birds nest7. With the rise of health-awareness and under the Individual Visit

Scheme of Mainland Chinese visitors, it is believed that the prospect of instant birds

5 Private Consumption Expenditure by Component, Hong Kong Government (2004), Population

Census. 6 www.admango.com 7 Singpao. (October 23, 2004) A06



nest industry would look bright in the foreseeable future.

Recent development

In order to minimize costs and thus able to sell the products at very competitive prices

with good quality, more and more instant birds nest niche shops are chosen to be

located in office buildings rather than ground floor shops, which even ensure

consumers to receive one-to-one service from salesman to customer comfortably in

the niche shops. Moreover, in order to explore more possibilities in attracting younger

customers who mainly fall in the group of female, aged 25 or above, with occupation

and increasing spending power and do concern about their own appearance and health

condition, a lot of brands producing instant birds nest also provide customers with

online shopping and re-design outlets with brighter color and younger look, in order

to change the traditional perception of customers about birds nest.

According to the survey conducted, customers who purchase instant birds nest

nowadays are mainly young lady who aged 25-34. They purchase instant birds nest

rather than cooking by themselves because it is convenient and can avoid the problem

of time-consuming due to the long and harsh working hours. As it is obvious that

instant birds nest industry still has its growing and developing opportunities, many

brands and companies also enter the market. The first developer of instant birds nest

entering the market was Lo Hong Ka. Other brands selling different kinds of products



including Brands, Eu Yan Sang, Tung Fong Hung, Wai Yuen Tong, etc, also followed

suit, while Imperial Birds Nest also entered the retail market of instant birds nest

industry in May of 2003.

Concerning the survey, respondents were asked to name those brands they knew

producing instant birds nest in the market. It was found that brands that immediately

came to their mind were Lo Hong Ka (38%), followed by Brands (18%), Imperial

Birds Nest (14%) and Wai Yuen Tong (10%). It showed that customers still have deep

and clear impression about Lo Hong Ka which is the first provider of instant birds

nest in the market.

Market potential

With the CEPA, Individual Visit Scheme, advanced technology and customers

awareness of improving health condition and tackle against aging, it is believed that

the market of instant birds nest would still have more room for growing, not only for

Hong Kong market but also for the global market with the increasing demand of

birds nest from customers.

Threats to future development

Although the demand of birds nest from customers is huge in the future, there is still

threat existing in the market of birds nest. For environmentalists, they aware of the



use of endangered species like barn swallows as food. TRAFFIC North America and

World Wildlife Fund U.S. have done a survey about this phenomenon in Hong Kong

and awareness of using endangered species as food was highest among those who

take the food more frequently8. This may have some threats to the sale of instant

birds nest in the market as people afraid that barn swallows will become extinct

gradually.

On the other hand, fake instant birds nest would also affect the business in the whole

market of birds nest. In October 2004, it was the first time to record suspected case of

fake instant birds nest according to the spokesmen of Customs and Excise

Departments Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau and the Consumer Council9.

Consumers are hard to differentiate and identify the real and fake instant birds nest. It

will greatly threaten the operation of the market as the production cost of the fake one

is only less than $20 with sold out price for nearly $400.

8 http://www.traffic.org/tcm/results-page5.htmlt 9 South China Morning Post. (October 23, 2004). EDT3, The Standard. (October 23, 204). A06.



Product analysis

When we look into the market of instant birds nest, it is easy to find instant birds

nest in different packages, sizes, bottles, or in different flavor with rock-sugar, sugar

free, with ginseng, etc, fulfilling different needs of customers. In order to attract

female customers who are heavy users of instant birds nest, most of the instant birds

nest appear in the market nowadays are packed in small bottles, emphasize no sugar

and no preservatives to enhance health value, The packages are usually of feminine

style with pastel color. It is expected that more flavor would be invented and packages

would be of mini-size enabling easy-carry.

The product: Daily Birds Nest

One of the products Daily Birds Nest () produced by Imperial Birds Nest is

especially chosen for promotion in this market communication campaign, as it is

believed that Daily Birds Nest is of high quality which is specially produced with

the finest Indonesian Royal Birds Nest. The most crucial attribute is that, Daily

Birds Nest is vacuum-packed in seven small bottles separately for one week dosage,

for which there was no similar package prior to its launch in May of 2003. It is easy to

carry and consumers can consume once a day which is really convenient. In addition,

it helps restoring a fine and fair complexion of ones youthfulness, strengthens our

body and gives the face a healthy glow with radiance.



According to the survey conducted, it was found that customers would consider

quality, ingredients of products, goodwill of brand and price as crucial factors when

buying instant birds nest. It is strongly believed that Daily Birds Nest fulfill what

customers really need as first phase bird nest is used for production in which quality

and source of birds nest are guaranteed. Besides, customers buy instant birds nest

mainly due to its convenience. As Daily Birds Nest is packed in small bottles with

no stabilizer and preservatives, customers can simply take one bottle for one day

dosage which is not needed to be refrigerated before consuming. For the factor of

price, a pack of Daily Birds Nest with seven small bottles costs HK$308 and is

intended to be consumed for one week dosage. Some customers may be hindered by

the price as most of them spend less than HK$200 (54%) or HK$200-500 (36%) per

month on buying instant birds nest.

Table 7 Respondents perceived image of the product Daily Birds Nest

Strongly

agree (%)

Agree

(%)

Neutral

(%)

Disagree

(%)

Strongly

disagree

(%)

Daily Birds Nest leads

the trend of instant birds

nest

0 34 48 16 2



Daily Birds Nest which

is vacuum-packed in

seven small bottles serve

what the consumers need

2 46 42 8 2

Daily Birds Nest is the

best and credible choice

for healthcare

0 16 70 12 2

On the other hand, respondents were asked to express their feeling of the product

Daily Birds Nest. Although most of the respondents remained neutral towards the

statement of Daily Birds Nest leads the trend of instant birds nest and Daily

Birds Nest is the best and credible choice for healthcare, nearly half of the

respondents did agree that Daily Birds Nest which is vacuum-packed in seven

small bottles serve what the consumers need. It implied that consumers did think that

this attribute of Daily Birds Nest was different from other brands and became

important characteristic and unique asset of this product.

With all characteristics of convenient, healthy, nutritious, with supreme quality and

easy-to-carry, it is believed that Daily Birds Nest (sugar free or with rock sugar)

would be trustworthy and tailored-made for customers who are health-conscious but

busy.



Competitive analysis

Comparison with three direct competitors

Followed by the rise of awareness towards health conscious, there are more and more

companies selling instant birds nest products. Recently, there are over 30 competitors

selling instant birds nest in the market, which fall into two main categories:

traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceuticals at the same time selling Chinese

medicinal materials, like Wai Yuen Tong, Eu Yan Sang, etc.; and new brand selling

instant birds nest not more than 10 years, like Lo Hong Ka, Imperial Birds Nest

(IBN), etc. Table 8 (Appendix II) shows the top 10 advertisers of the market of Birds

Nest and Aloe in 2004.

In the market of instant birds nest, most of the competitors of Imperial Birds Nest at

the same time are selling different kinds of products related to health while IBN only

focus on the business of instant birds nest. Lo Hong Ka, Wai Yuen Tong and Eu Yan

Sang are the most direct competitors to IBN in the market recently. Comparison of

different features including products offered, location and distribution, etc. of IBN

and these three competitors are summarized in the table 9 (Appendix II).

Obviously, Wai Yuen Tong and Eu Yan Sang are the remarkable leaders in the industry

over the century, in which confidence and belief is already built in consumers mind.

However, Lo Hong Ka is the first one in the market which started the business of



instant birds nest in 1998, while Imperial Birds Nest followed suit in May of 2003.

For the distribution network, Imperial Birds Nest has a quite even distribution in

Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories, with 2, 4 and 4 outlets respectively.

Consumers can also purchase instant birds nest of IBN in Mannings as it is the

exclusive shop selling products of IBN. However, Wai Yuen Tong and Eu Yan Sang

have 45 and 29 retail shops respectively, and products can be purchased through

numerous channels, like Mannings, Watsons, department stores, etc. This may hinder

the intention of purchase of IBNs consumers.

For the product category, unlike other competitors, IBN focuses only on products of

instant birds nest. The most outstanding product of IBN is Daily Birds Nest

, which is vacuum-packed in seven small bottles separately for one week

dosage. Other competitors like Wai Yuen Tong and Eu Yan Sang also offer other

health supplements like Pak Fung Pill, pearl power, chicken essence, etc, and Lo

Hong Ka also has instant aloe vera, which meets the needs of different people.

Imperial Birds Nest is the first one in the market that invented the 7 days package

of birds nest. Later on, Wai Yuen Tong also followed suit, with 6 little bottled instant

birds nest in one package. When we look at the price per gram, Imperial Birds Nest

is the most expensive ($2.2 / g) among Lo Hong Ka ($1.39 / g), Wai Yuen Tong

($1.74 /g) and Eu Yan Sang ($0.71 /g).



Competitive media advertising analysis

Advertising expenditures by media

Imperial Birds Nest and its three direct competitors are heavy spenders of

advertisements in the market of Birds Nest and Aloe. During the period of 2003 and

2004, the total expenditure of media and advertising of the four brands were HK$

41,060,000 and HK$ 42,109,000 respectively, represented 25.68% and 25.6% of the

total ad spend of the birds nest and aloe market. The total ad spend and monthly trend

of placing advertisements in the market of birds nest and aloe is shown in table 10

(Appendix II).

Among four, Lo Hong Ka was the highest spender of advertising throughout 2003 to

2004, while Imperial Birds Nest took the third place in 2003 and came up as the

second highest spender in 2004. The highest spender, Lo Hong Ka, spent mostly on

newspaper (print ad) as the influential promotion and marketing tool. (Table 11 and

12a, Appendix II)

Both Lo Hong Ka and Eu Yan Sang tended to place print ad on newspaper, which

were 62.04% and 43.94% respectively of the total ad spend of each brand in 2004,

while Imperial Birds Nest was more likely to choose magazine (52.69%) as the

promotion channel. On the other hand, Wai Yuen Tong tended to place TVCs on Jade

(TVB) (46.69%). Other channels such as TVCs on ATV Home and First vision were



also being used as promotional tools in 2004. (Table 12b, Appendix II)

Advertising expenditures by month

Due to the Golden Week in October 2003, most of the brands placed heaviest

amount on advertising in September that year, including Wai Yuen Tong and Imperial

Birds Nest which spent HK$ $5,593,000 (41.89%) and HK$ 2,172,000 (25.09%)

respectively. (Table 13a, Appendix II)

However, in 2004, there was a great change. For Lo Hong Ka (14.08%) and Eu Yan

Sang (32.6%), the peak purchasing month was May, while Imperial Birds Nest

placed the heaviest amount on advertisements in December (22.04%), and Wai Yuen

Tong on January (23.92%). This might due to the spending pattern of placing

advertisements during festivals of Christmas and Chinese New Year of the two

advertisers. (Table 13b, Appendix II)

Advertising execution of Imperial Birds Nest and three direct competitors

By looking at the advertisements of Imperial Bird Nest and three direct competitors,

we can see different advertising execution style are being used by different advertisers

in order to spread different key message to their target audiences.

For Imperial Bird Nest, other than straight-sell and factual message telling

audiences the advantage of taking instant birds nest, mood and image are also

being used for advertising appeals. The promotional strategy of Daily Birds Nest is



Birds Nest for women of new generation . In different print ad used

mostly as the key advertising medium of Imperial Birds Nest, a beautiful, fashionable

woman with self-esteem is shown as image girl, promoting key message of women

of new generation; new style; new birds nest which aims at grasping the attention of

career women of younger age. (Table 14, Appendix II)

For Lo Hong Ka, celebrity is used as the key advertising appeal since its development

in 1998. Ms. Esther Kwan () as a celebrity endorser before 2004, described her

own life of being a busy artist and how she maintained her beauty and strength for

work by taking the product everyday in the TVC. The advertisement adopts the

advertising execution of testimonial and slice of life, which targets people of

different age and enhances the professional image of the brand with Ms. Kwans

sharing of her own experience.

For both Wai Yuen Tong and Eu Yan Sang, factual message is mostly being used as

the advertising execution, as the traditional and professional images are already built

in customers mind. The advertisements mainly concern on disseminating the message

of providing customers with products of good quality and heart.



Marketing communication of Imperial Birds Nest

Advertising expenditures by media

By looking at the advertising expenditures spent on media by Imperial Birds Nest, a

rapid change in spending pattern could be noticed during the year of 2003 and 2004.

In 2003, it spent HK$ 6,588,000 on newspaper, which was the heaviest part of the

total ad spend that year (81%). On the other hand, it only spent $1,252,000 (15%) on

magazines and $278,000 (3%) on MTR. (Table 15, Appendix II)

In 2004, it only spent HK$ 4,234,000 (40%) on newspaper and switched to use

magazines as the main tool of advertising that year. The advertising expenditure on

magazines was HK$ 5,559,000, which was 53% of the total expenditure that year. It

spent HK$ 757,000 (7%) on TVB Jade. Although there was such a change on the ad

spend pattern, Imperial Birds Nest still used print ad as its main stream of placing

advertisements instead of TVC, and the total amount of advertising expenditure had a

rise of HK$ 2,433,000 (30%) from 2003 to 2004.

Advertising expenditures by month

The advertising expenditures of Imperial Birds Nest (Instant Birds Nest) in 2003 and

2004 were HK$ 8,656,000 and HK$ 10,824,000 respectively. In 2003, the peak

season of placing advertisements was September (25%), followed by June (20%) and

May (18%). In 2004, December was the peak season (22%), followed by September



(17%) and January (14%). For the ad spend pattern, Imperial Birds Nest used a

pulsed media schedule in both 2003 and 2004. (Table 16, Appendix II)



II. Problems and Opportunities

From the situation analysis, problems and opportunities were uncovered. As Imperial

Birds Nest started its business for selling instant birds nest in 2003, image of the

company actually is not distinctive. It will hinder the sales of products. However, it

may also be a good opportunity for its positioning in the market with various

competitors and get new users for the brand and products.

Deriving problems from the situation analysis

Company Analysis

Although Imperial Birds Nest started the business of selling birds nest since 1997, it

has started to sell instant birds nest since May of 2003. Throughout these years,

image of the company still not distinctive and advertisements are still insufficient in

promoting the company and products to most of the customers.

Problem

Imperial Birds Nests image is not distinctive enough while promotion and

advertisements are still not sufficient.

Consumer Analysis

Customers do think that the product Daily Birds Nest of Imperial Birds Nest

serves what the customers need. However, most of the customers are not brand loyal



as they do not really think that the product is the best and credible choice for them.

Problem

Consumers are not brand loyal and can easily find other substitutes in the market.

Market Analysis

Both the company and product are new and not clear enough to the customers. They

prefer brands that have been historically identified in the market of instant birds nest,

thinking other brands as more trustworthy.

Problem

Consumers are greatly influenced by brands that have been historically identified and

have to take time for accepting new brands and products.

Product Analysis

Consumers concern most about the quality of products but could hardly tell

differences between various products. When they come to the brand Imperial Birds

Nest and the product Daily Birds Nest, they may not be able to distinguish from

other competitors brands.

Problem

Consumers could hardly identify valuable attributes of the product Daily Birds

Nest and perceive the brand similar to other competitors brands, which may hinder

their intention to purchase the product.



Competitive Analysis

In 2003, Imperial Birds Nest was the first developer in the market for inventing

Daily Birds Nest, which is vacuum-packed in seven small bottles for one week

dosage. However, it has not made use of this privilege and later on competitors which

are historically identified also followed suit. Consumers may change their preferences

and even think that it is a new invention of those competitors.

Problem

Imperial Birds Nest has not make use of the new invented product for its positioning

in the market, which makes new competition becomes more severe.

Deriving opportunities from the situation analysis

Company Analysis

With its own birds nest farming houses in Indonesia, Imperial Birds Nest ensures

products are made with the best quality. Also, locating its outlets in office building

rather than ground floor shops helps in minimizing cost of rent for further

development of the company.

Opportunity

Imperial Birds Nest sells its products with the best quality and very competitive

prices due to its own property for production and location.



Combined Consumer and Product Analysis

Consumers pursue high quality when buying instant birds nest. However, they do not

aware of the distinctive attribute of Daily Birds Nest that, it is produced with the

finest first-phase birds nest. Credibility and perception of professionalism can be

enhanced by focusing on this attribute.

Opportunity

The product Daily Birds Nest contains a highly desired attribute that consumers are

unaware of.

Market Analysis

There is still room for the development of instant birds nest market due to the rise of

health-consciousness of consumers, who look for instant birds nest with good quality

and handy. The package design of Daily Birds Nest would be able to develop

further with the trend.

Opportunity

The package design of the products serves as privilege together with the further

development of the market of instant birds nest.

Competitive Analysis

Direct competitors of Imperial Birds Nest mostly focus on building their brands with

the image of professionalism. However, Imperial Birds Nest also associate its image



with women of new generation and self identity, which differs itself from others and

builds up its brand equity with new image.

Opportunity

The company differs itself from other competitors which are historically identified

with promoting image of women of new generation.



III. Target Market Profile

According to the data of Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, there are

about 596,000 women aged 25-34, representing 17% of female population. Women

who are in the mentioned group are usually the heavy buyers of instant birds nest,

who normally spend less than HK$ 500 per month (58%) on buying instant birds

nest.

Demographic characteristics

With the consideration of survey conducted, the primary and secondary target markets

are defined. The primary market of female consumers aged 25-34, who are mainly

engaged in clerical and professional jobs, with personal income of HK$ 10,000

20,000 are being targeted. Most of them are single, tertiary educated or above, who

lived at self-owned property. For the secondary market, female aged 35 to 44 who are

mainly career women with great spending power are targeted, aiming at grasping

most of the potential consumers for instant birds nest in the market.

Psychographic characteristics

The target audiences, according to the survey conducted, place most of their concern

on the quality of instant birds nest, followed by goodwill of brand, ingredients of



products and price. They usually buy the product for their own use and quite rely on

recommendation from relatives and friends in making consumption decision. They

treasure health very much and agree that health and fitness are essential for carrying

job duties efficiently. Although at the same time they care about their appearance, they

do think that health is much important and intrinsic beauty is far more important than

extrinsic beauty. The target audiences usually get the most update information about

healthcare products from magazine, usually those entertainment and gossip one. They

usually spend on shopping and dining, travel quite often and most of them are credit

card holders with more than four cards.



IV. Objectives

Marketing objectives

The marketing objective of this campaign is to increase sales of Daily Birds Nest

of Imperial Birds Nest 20% compared to the previous year by the end of the one-year

campaign in 2006.

Advertising objectives

The advertising objective of this campaign is to increase top-of-mind awareness of the

product from 14% (Appendix I, survey result, Question 10) to 30% of the target

audiences (career women aged 25-34, with personal income of HK$ 10,000 20,000),

by the end of the one-year campaign in 2006.



V. Marketing Communication strategy overview

After the analysis of the situation and delineation of the problems and opportunities, a

series of marketing communication strategy would be carried out, including

advertising, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing. The whole

campaign would be focused on advertising as it is believed to reach our target market

most. Supporting with other communication tools, the message would be able to

deliver to more efficiently and help in building brand and credibility of the product.

Advertising strategy

In order to establish awareness of the product Daily Birds Nest to our target

audiences, TVC, as a means of the creative strategy, would be focused in promoting

the product for our primary target market, while print ad would be used as an assisting

tool for addressing mainly primary market together with secondary target market. The

following advertising series, which contain two TVC: Women of new generation I

( I), and Women of new generation II ( II), are used

for promotion during the year of 2006 while print ad would also be used.

Key message of TVC

The series of two TVC are used to show that Daily Birds Nest, which is convenient

for consuming, helps women of the new generation to pursue beauty and health at one



single time easily. It is hoped that audiences would have consonance and build

awareness of the product.

Storyline of the first TVC Women of new generation I

Two characters having similar age, appearance, background, Ms. A and Ms. B, would

be shown to illustrate the effect of having or not having the product. Ms. A still laying

on bed till 8:00 a.m. while Ms. B looking in the mirror with beauty and confidence;

Ms. A had cake after lunch as dessert while Ms. B took instant birds nest as dessert;

Ms. A working at office who lose energy and work only got half done, while Ms. B

worked very efficiently with full energy. Finally, both Ms. A and Ms. B finished work

that day, Ms A looked really tired while Ms. B still looking bright and full of strength.

The secret of Ms. B to keep healthy and beautiful was the instant birds nest Daily

Birds Nest she kept with her at her bag, which was produced with first-phase finest

birds nest. At the end, the message of taking one bottle of Daily Birds Nest

everyday can attain health and beauty at the same time was shown (Storyboard A,

Appendix III)

Rationale

Various elements like main character, combination of different execution styles,

slogans and taglines, etc, are used in the creative strategy. This interaction among

various elements is believed to be able to enhance persuasive power and become



cohesive selling message.

Character

The two female characters aged around 28 are selected to address the target audiences

of 25-34 years old in order to increase the persuasive power. Ms. B looks young,

healthy, beautiful, energetic with strength, and is a career women who has to maintain

her fitness and health condition for supporting heavy workload, which is a common

situation faced by women in new generation nowadays. The supreme effect of taking

the product is shown with the big contrast with Ms. A, who looks exactly the same

with Ms. B but is actually bad at health condition.

Advertising appeal

Emotional appeal rather than informational appeal is being used in the TVC to raise

consumers physical and psychological needs for purchasing the product in order to

attain and satisfy the need of maintaining good condition in health and beauty.

Execution styles

A combination of execution styles is used for advertising, including slice of life and

comparison, etc. Slice of life can provide consumers with real situation, build up the

consonance and increase purchase intention. Comparison of the similar characters for

taking and not taking instant birds nest demonstrates the effect of the product. Of

course, humor is slightly used in the advertisements. Mood and image are also used to



serve great effect in building consumers emotional mood of the product.

Logo and slogan

The repetition of logo and product in four different scenes helps in building memory

and enhancing importance in audiences mind. The slogan ,

points out the main attribute, and both the position and identity

of the product, which helps consumers to keep in mind that women in new generation

can attain health and beauty at the same time with the product easily.

Storyline of the second TVC - Women of new generation II

Two ladies Celia and May who aged 28 something are jogging on the running

machines in a gym room. Celia was full of energy while May was sweating and

breathless. Later, Celia danced in the dancing room in fast pace and happily while

May was resting on the floor with deep breath. May was so surprised about Celias

condition of health and the reason why she always looks beautiful even without

make-up. Celia shared her experience for being a beautiful and healthy woman of new

generation that she took a bottle of Daily Birds Nest everyday. She shared the

product with Celia. At the end, the message of taking one bottle of Daily Birds Nest

everyday can attain health and beauty at the same time was shown (Storyboard B,

Appendix III).



Rationale

The second TVC actually is an extension of the first one. The theme is just similar

focusing on two ladies aged around 28, who are both career women and care about

healthy and appearance, aiming at our primary target market again. Once again,

combination of various execution styles can be seen in this TVC, including slice of

life, dramatization, mind and image, etc.

Character

Two female characters Celia and May, who aged around 28 are selected. They are

both career women but one is more healthier than the other as she takes the product

everyday. Two different characters make the contrast of taking or not taking the

product much more explicit. It would be a great attempt to increase the persuasive

power and address the target audiences of 25-34.

Advertising appeal

Once again, emotional appeal is used rather than informational appeal, as such piece

of incident do happen in our daily life very common. In this way, audiences can easily

put themselves into the situation shown in TVC and raise their psychological needs

for purchasing the product in order to maintain good condition of health and beauty as

Celia in the TVC.



Execution styles

A combination of execution styles including slice of life, factual message, mood and

image, are used for advertising. Similar execution styles are used as TVC I as to

maintain consistency of the whole advertising campaign. First of all, slice of life and

dramatization are used to provide audiences with the real situation. The whole TVC II

was taken place at gym room, which is a common place for females to have exercise

and gathering. By comparing two characters for taking or not taking the products, it

demonstrates the effect of the product and thus builds up audiences consonance and

increase buying intention. Mood and image are also used in order to raises awareness

and emotional mood of audiences by persuading them the need of buying the

product.

Logo and slogan

As TVC II is the extension of the first one, slogan is kept to be exactly the same as

TVC I, to maintain the consistency with the first one and also enhance the clear image

of both the company and product. It is hoped that the slogan shown lastly at the

billboard , would keep audiences in

mind of the key message that, the product is easily consumed which is the best choice

for women in new generation to maintain good condition of health and beauty.



Key message and storyline of Print ad

Besides the TVC, print ad would also be used as one of the advertising strategies,

mainly for addressing female audiences of primary together with secondary market

who aged 35 to 44 with career. The key message would be just similar to TVC,

focusing on the attribute of the product which is convenient for consuming, and

enabling consumers to pursue health and beauty at the same time.

For the print ad, it would be designed for a double page spread issued on magazine.

Two female characters, one aged around 28 and one around 36. They stand in the way

of back to back, smile happily with great self-esteem, energy and confidence. They

are both upholding the little bottle of the product in their hands. Information in words

like the originate of birds nest used, the description of ingredients, the nutrition and

effect of the product would be appeared on the print ad which do not appear on the

TVC in detail. The logo of Imperial Birds Nest and the slogan

, , would still be used on print ad to maintain the consistency

of the whole set of advertising strategy. The whole tone and color would keep as

feminine as the package of Daily Birds Nest, which mainly used pastel color like

light pink, light yellow, etc.



Sales promotion strategy

In order to induce new customers to buy the product and retain current users and

encourage them for more frequent use, consumer-oriented promotions including

couponing, premiums, etc, would be used. Coupons would be posted on various kinds

of newspapers and magazines after the month that advertisements have been launched.

Price reduction for 20% of the selling price would be offered to consumers for

purchasing the second pack of product to encourage them for purchasing more.

Premiums like small shopping handbag or jewellery box with the brands logo, would

be given to consumers who spend over certain amount for money to increase their

buying intention at the promotion period, which lasts for one to two weeks each time.

These may boost sales of the products in a very short period of time.

Public relations strategy

Public relations activities would be carried out at non-peak season for advertisements

to remind consumers of the product. Other than press release, exclusive interviews

with artists would be arranged for press every two months, to share their own tips for

keeping good condition in both health and appearance and own experience and

advantage of taking instant birds nest. Moreover, press conference like inviting

famous chef of five-star hotel to demonstrate light and healthy dessert using the



product around summer, sponsoring charity activities, holding joint functions with

different companies, like dessert shops, cake shops, etc, to invent some new cuisine

with the product, etc. All these would help in building clearer image of the company

and product with the lowest cost.

Direct marketing strategy

With the strength of accountability over advertising, direct marketing would also be

used as communication tools. Loyalty program would be carried out as usual, to hold

the loyal consumers. They are asked to join the VIP membership, direct email and

newsletters would be distributed regularly to inform them with the latest information

of the company and products. Moreover, catalog selling like small brochure of health

tips, catalogues of recipes making use of the product, etc, would be distributed at

niche shops, counters selling the products, etc.



VI. Campaign evaluation

In order to measure the effectiveness of the campaign, evaluations would be carried

out at the end of the campaign, for measuring the effects, awareness and recognition

of consumers, and also providing benchmarks for future campaigns to develop.

Posttesting of TVC and Print Ad

Posttesting is believed to be most effective way for evaluation. Field tests would be

used as the means of posttesting. Mall intercept interviews would be used rather than

focus group concerning the budget, which would be carried out randomly at Mongkok,

Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay, of which minimum 200 female consumers who

indicated that they have seen or read TV and print advertisements would be

interviewed.

As the advertising objective is to establish awareness among target audiences who are

career women aged 25-34, recognition test would be the essential part for testing

consumers memory and recognition about the product. Questions concerning whether

they can remember what is the key message, logo, product, concept and layout of the

print ad and TVC would be asked. Also, which part of the ad consumers like most and

which media they can recall for seeing the ad would also be asked, for adjusting later

on of the media strategy and whole campaign.



Other evaluation methods

Other evaluation methods like distributing coupons at counters selling the product,

counting the number of inquiries would also be used, as it is very important for

evaluating other marketing communications tools like measuring the effects of sales

promotions, public relations and behavioral effects of consumers.



Conclusion

With the analysis of situation, delineation of the problems and opportunities, target

market profile and objectives, a whole set of marketing communication strategy are

especially designed for addressing the target markets of the product Daily Birds

Nest produced by Imperial Birds Nest. It is hoped that after the launching of

campaign and with the campaign evaluation, the marketing and advertising objectives

are found to be obtained successfully, with the raise of awareness of both the product

and the company, and also the key message women of the new generation to pursue

beauty and health at the same time is built in all consumers mind.



Appendix I



1. ? 2. : ()

3. ?

4. : ()

5. :

$200 $200 500 $500 800 $800 1,000 1,000 6. ? ()

7. : ()

( ) 8. ? ()

9. ,

9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5



9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10 9.11 10. :

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

11. ? 4 , 1 , 1 4

__________ __________ __________ __________

12. ? 4 , 1 , 1 4

__________ __________ __________ __________

13. 1 7, 1

; 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7



1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14. ,:

14.1 14.2 14.3 15. ?

15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 16. ,?

()



17. ? ()

18. : ()

19. ? ()

()

20. , ? 1 2 3 4 21. : 22. : 0 1 2 3 4 23. :

24. :

$10,000 $10,000 14,999 $15,000 19,999 $20,000 24,999 $25,000 29, 999 $30,000

25. :

$300 $300 1,000 $1,000 - 2,000 $2,000 - 3,000 $3,000 26. : 27. : 28. :

29. : 18 24 25 34 35 44 45 54

55 64 65

~ ~

!



Survey on healthcare products consumption behavior (Blank sheet) Hello! I am a master student of School of Communication in the Hong Kong Baptist University. I am now conducting a survey concerning instant birds nest. The information you provided would only be used for academic purpose and kept confidential. Thank you. (Please tick your answer at appropriate place.) 1. Have you ever bought healthcare products in the past one year? Yes No 2. You buy healthcare products for: (Only pick up the most suitable one)

beauty and skincare slimming healthcare build up resistance others

3. Have you ever bought and taken instant birds nest in the past one year?

Yes No 4. The reason you buy instant birds nest is: (Only pick up the most suitable one)

convenient much cheaper easy to carry saving time and labor 5. The amount you spend on buying instant birds nest per month on average:

less than $200 $200 500 $500 800 $800 1,000 1,000 or above

6. Where do you buy instant birds nest usually? (Only pick up the most suitable one)

birds nest niche shops supermarket pharmacy counter others 7. You usually buy instant birds nest for: (Only pick up the most suitable one)

yourself parents gifts ( child pregnant women elderly) 8. What effect would you expect from taking instant birds nest? (Only pick up the most

suitable one) healthcare build up resistance beauty slimming others



9. Do you think the following are essential when buying instant birds nest? (Please tick your answer in the following)

Very important

important neutral Not important

Very unimport

ant 9.1 variety of products 9.2 quality of products 9.3 goodwill of the brand of products

9.4 package of products (outlook, size, delicacy)

9.5 ingredients of products 9.6 the originate of birds nest 9.7 price 9.8 advertisements 9.9 recommendation from

relatives and friends

9.10 the shops are nearby 9.11 the shops are located on the

street or in a building

10. Please list the brands that you know in selling instant birds nest:

______________________________any other? ______________________________any other? ______________________________any other? ______________________________any other? ______________________________any other?

11. Which of the following brand of instant birds nest you think is the most worthy for

consumption? 4 is the most worthy for consumption, 1 is the most unworthy for consumption, 1 4 can only be used for once. __________ Imperial Birds Nest __________ Lo Hong Ka __________ Eu Yan Sang __________ Wai Yuen Tong



12. Which of the following brand of instant birds nest you think the price is the most reasonable for consumption? 4 is the most reasonable for consumption, 1 is the most unreasonable for consumption, 1 4 can only be used for once.

__________ Imperial Birds Nest __________ Lo Hong Ka __________ Eu Yan Sang __________ Wai Yuen Tong

13. Please use 1 to 7 to express your perception and impression towards the niche shop in

office buildings Imperial Birds Nest. 1 represents your impression towards description on the left; 7 represents your impression towards description on the right. (Please tick your answer in the following)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Traditional Fashionable Image is blur

Image is clear

Less product variety

Many product variety

Unprofessional

Professional

Not credible Credible Costly Inexpensive Bad service Superior

service Less advertisement

Many advertisement

14. What do you think about one of the product line Daily Birds Nest of Imperial

Birds Nest:



Strongly agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

14.1 Daily Birds Nest leads the trend of instant birds nest

14.2 Daily Birds Nest which is vacuum-packed in seven small bottles serve what the consumers need

14.3 Daily Birds Nest is the best and credible choice for healthcare

15. Do you agree with the following statements? Strongly

agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

disagree15.1 Health is very important to me. 15.2 I worry about aging of my body

very soon.

15.3 Extrinsic beauty is much more important than intrinsic beauty.

15.4 I do mind people criticize my appearance.

15.5 I can accept new things easily. 15.6 Fitness is essential for carrying

out job duties efficiently.

16. Where do you get information of healthcare products before consumption usually?

(Only pick up the most suitable one) advertisements recommended by relatives and friends media recommended by doctors, nutritionist website others

17. When would you consume healthcare products usually? (Only pick up the most suitable one)

once it is needed with special promotion and discount launch of new product with free gift

18. Where do you get the most update information about healthcare products: (Only pick

up the most suitable one) TV radio magazine website



19. Which type of magazine you usually read? (Only pick up the most suitable one)

fashion gossip lifestyle (such as gardening, interior design, etc.) finance and news do not read any magazine

20. Have you ever been to travel in the past one year? No Yes once twice three times four times or above

21. You usually spend money on: entertainment shopping dining 22. Number of credit card on hand: 0 1 2 3 4 or above 23. Occupation:

housewife service industry clerical executive profession student unemployed others

24. Personal income per month:

No income less than $10,000 $10,000 14,999 $15,000 19,999 $20,000 24,999 $25,000 29, 999 $30,000 or above

25. How much do you usually spend on healthy products per month:

less than $300 $300 1,000 $1,000 - 2,000 $2,000 - 3,000 $3,000 or above

26. Education:

primary or below F.3 graduated F.5 graduated tertiary or above 27. Marital status: single married 28. Your house is: self-own rent public estate hostel

29. Age: 18 24 25 34 35 44 45 54 55 64 65 or above

~ The End~

Thank you!



Survey on healthcare products consumption behavior (Result) Hello! I am a master student of School of Communication in the Hong Kong Baptist University. I am now conducting a survey concerning instant birds nest. The information you provided would only be used for academic purpose and kept confidential. Thank you. (Please tick your answer at appropriate place.) 1. Have you ever bought healthcare products in the past one year? Yes (88%) No (12%) 2. You buy healthcare products for: (Only pick up the most suitable one)

beauty and skincare (30%) slimming (12%) healthcare (40%) build up resistance (14%) others (4%)

3. Have you ever bought and taken instant birds nest in the past one year?

Yes (66%) No (34%) 4. The reason you buy instant birds nest is: (Only pick up the most suitable one)

convenient (48%) much cheaper (6%) easy to carry (2%) saving time and labor (44%)

5. The amount you spend on buying instant birds nest per month on average:

less than $200 (54%) $200 500 (36%) $500 800 (6%) $800 1,000 (0%) 1,000 or above (4%)

6. Where do you buy instant birds nest usually? (Only pick up the most suitable one)

birds nest niche shops (60%) supermarket (12%) pharmacy (10%) counter (14%) others (4%)

7. You usually buy instant birds nest for: (Only pick up the most suitable one)

yourself (68%) parents (20%) gifts (22%) 8. What effect would you expect from taking instant birds nest? (Only pick up the most

suitable one) healthcare (20%) build up resistance (8%) beauty (70%) slimming (0%) others (2%)



9. Do you think the following are essential when buying instant birds nest? (Please tick your answer in the following)

Very important

(%)

Important(%)

Neutral(%)

Not important

(%)

Very unimpor-tant(%)

9.1 variety of products 2 24 44 30 09.2 quality of products 74 24 2 0 09.3 goodwill of the brand of products

52 46 2 0 0

9.4 package of products (outlook, size, delicacy)

0 44 30 24 2

9.5 ingredients of products 56 38 6 0 09.6 the originate of birds nest 18 60 20 2 09.7 price 38 62 0 0 09.8 advertisements 4 44 38 14 09.9 recommendation from

relatives and friends 18 72 8 2 0

9.10 the shops are nearby 0 38 38 20 49.11 the shops are located on the

street or in a building 0 24 50 24 2

10. Please list the brands that you know in selling instant birds nest:

Lo Hong Ka (38%) Brands (18%) Imperial Birds Nest (14%) Wai Yuen Tong (10%) Home of Swallows (8%)

11. Which of the following brand of instant birds nest you think is the most worthy for

consumption? 4 is the most worthy for consumption, 1 is the most unworthy for consumption, 1 4 can only be used for once. Wai Yuen Tong (60%) Imperial Birds Nest (52%) Eu Yan Sang (48%) Lo Hong Ka (40%)



12. Which of the following brand of instant birds nest you think the price is the most

reasonable for consumption? 4 is the most reasonable for consumption, 1 is the most unreasonable for consumption, 1 4 can only be used for once. Wai Yuen Tong (58%) Imperial Birds Nest (56%) Lo Hong Ka (44%) Eu Yan Sang (42%)

13. Please use 1 to 7 to express your perception and impression towards the niche shop in

office buildings Imperial Birds Nest. 1 represents your impression towards description on the left; 7 represents your impression towards description on the right. (Please tick your answer in the following) (Presented in %)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Traditional 2 8 10 20 26 26 8 Fashionable Image is blur

0 12 14 44 16 8 6 Image is clear

Less product variety

0 0 18 60 20 0 2 Many product variety

Unprofessional

0 0 0 32 48 18 2 Professional

Not credible 0 0 4 42 38 14 2 Credible Costly 2 14 18 36 22 6 2 Inexpensive Bad service 0 0 2 54 38 4 2 Superior

service Less advertisement

6 6 20 42 18 4 4 Many advertisement

14. What do you think about one of the product line Daily Birds Nest of Imperial

Birds Nest: (Presented in %)



Strongly agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

14.1 Daily Birds Nest leads the trend of instant birds nest

0 34 48 16 2

14.2 Daily Birds Nest which is vacuum-packed in seven small bottles serve what the consumers need

2 46 42 8 2

14.3 Daily Birds Nest is the best and credible choice for healthcare

0 16 70 12 2

15. Do you agree with the following statements? (Presented in %) Strongly

agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

disagree15.1 Health is very important to me. 54 46 0 0 015.2 I worry about aging of my body

very soon. 20 58 18 4 0

15.3 Extrinsic beauty is much more important than intrinsic beauty.

6 20 48 26 0

15.4 I do mind people criticize my appearance.

8 46 34 12 0

15.5 I can accept new things easily. 6 52 32 8 215.6 Fitness is essential for carrying

out job duties efficiently. 34 48 16 2 0

16. Where do you get information of healthcare products before consumption usually?

(Only pick up the most suitable one) advertisements (26%) recommended by relatives and friends (48%) media (8%) recommended by doctors, nutritionist (14%) website (0%) others (4%)

17. When would you consume healthcare products usually? (Only pick up the most suitable one)

once it is needed (54%) with special promotion and discount (38%) launch of new product (0%) with free gift (8%)

18. Where do you get the most update information about healthcare products: (Only pick

up the most suitable one) TV (30%) radio (4%) magazine (62%) website (4%)



19. Which type of magazine you usually read? (Only pick up the most suitable one) fashion (18%) gossip (60%) finance and news (4%) lifestyle (14%) do not read any magazine (4%)

20. Have you ever been to travel in the past one year? No (26%) Yesonce (42%) twice (4%) three times (18%) four times or above (10%)

21. You usually spend money on: entertainment (8%) shopping (46%) dining (46%) 22. Number of credit card on hand: 0 (10%) 1 (8%) 2 (20%)

3 (14%) 4 or above (48%) 23. Occupation:

housewife (6%) service industry (10%) clerical (34%) executive (2%) profession (8%) student (8%) unemployed (0%) others (8%)

24. Personal income per month:

No income (6%) less than $10,000 (32%) $10,000 14,999 (40%) $15,000 19,999 (12%) $20,000 24,999 ( 2%) $25,000 29, 999 (2%) $30,000 or above (6%)

25. How much do you usually spend on healthy products per month:

less than $300 (60%) $300 1,000 (34%) $1,000 - 2,000 (4%) $2,000 - 3,000 (2%) $3,000 or above (0%)

26. Education:

primary or below (6%) F.3 graduated (0%) F.5 graduated (20%) tertiary or above (74%)

27. Marital status: Single (78%) married (22%) 28. Your house is: self-own (56%) rent (12%) public estate (30%) hostel (2%)

29. Age: 18 24 (18%) 25 34 (62%) 35 44 (12%)

45 54 (4%) 55 64 (4%) 65 or above (0%)

~ The End~

Thank you!



Appendix II



Table 8 Birds Nest & Aloe Top 10 Advertisers (HK$ in thousands) in 2004 No. Advertisers Total

HK$ (000) 1 Imperial Birds Nest 33,763 2 Eu Yan Sang 18,814 3 Hing Kee Java Edible Birds Nest 18,753 4 Lo Hong Ka 17,412 5 Wang On Group () 14,206 6 Brands 10,312 7 Hon Fu Loi 10,065 8 Tsan Kee Swallow Dessert Shop 8,894 9 Ming In Birds Nest 5,589 10 4,462 Source: admango



Table 9 Comparison of Imperial Birds Nest and three direct competitors Imperial Birds

Nest ()

Lo Hong Ka

()

Wai Yuen Tong

Eu Yan Sang

Establishment 1964 1998 1897 1879

No. of retail shop Total: 10 shops

HK (2), Kln.(4),

N.T. (4)

Total: 32 shops

HK (7), Kln. (16),

N.T. (9)

Total: 45 shops

HK (11), Kln. (16),

N.T. (18)

Total: 29 shops

HK (7), Kln (14),

N.T. (8)

Mission / Promise Aim at caring

customers health

/ Change and

return product

within 15 days of

purchase.

Spirit:

Convenience,

Natural, Care

and Trust /

Promise: Enhance

your vitality.

Living motto:

Preparing

medicine with

dedication;

Growing strong

with reputation.

Motto: Care for

Mankind.

Services provided Importers

wholesale and

retailing services

Wholesale, retailing

services and

importers

Retailing services,

wholesale and

importers

Retailing services,

wholesale and

manufacturing

Product category First Phase

Golden Silky

Birds Nest /

Daily Birds

Nest

Instant Birds Nest /

Aloe Vera / Pearl

Anew Pearl Powder

/ 7 Leaf Ginseng

Instant Birds Nest /

Young Yum Pill,

Pak Fung Pill,

Ganoderma

Lucidum Spores,

Pearl powder and

pearl pills, Tibetan

Wild Cordyceps,

etc.

Bottled Birds Nest

/ Bak Foong Pills/

Bo Ying Compound

/ Chicken Essence /

Herbal jellies /

Ginseng wines, etc.

Special promotion Club Simple Perfect Card

Classic & Platinum

VIP

VIP membership



Awards Superbrands

status in 3

consecutive years

since 2002 /

Quality Tourism

Services Award /

Hong Kong Top

Brand 2004 / the

first birds nest

retailer to receive

the Hong Kong

Q-Mark quality

certificate

2002 Hong Kong

Top Ten

Brandnames / 2002

Enterprise 50

Award in Malaysia

2001 Hong Kong

Top Ten

Brandnames /

Superbrands

status in 2002

Price Daily Birds Nest

20g x 7

() $308

Instant Birds Nest

(350g) $485

30g Supreme Little

Swallow Birds

Nest (30g x 6)

30

$313

Birds Nest with

Rock Suger

(70g x 6)

$298

Other distribution

channels

Mannings Wing On

Department Stores

Mannings /

Watsons / Parkn

Shop / CR Care

Mannings /

Watsons /

Wellcome /

Parkn Shop /

Jusco / drug store

chains / medical

halls / provision

shops



Table 10 Monthly trend of placing advertisements in the market of Bird's Nest & Aloe (HK$ in thousands), 2003 - 2004

2003 2004 Jan 27,368.76 26,458.18Feb 8,589.49 5,853.78Mar 11,770.84 6,746.56Apr 15,159.67 13,038.75May 21,400.58 18,771.81Jun 6,872.36 11,974.73Jul 9,989.01 11,851.50Aug 7,675.02 12,103.40Sep 18,907.87 17,277.09Oct 9,283.70 10,642.94Nov 8,588.24 12,234.12Dec 14,269.20 17,516.96Total 159,874.74 164,471.82

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

HK

$ ('0

00)

Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov

Month

Bird's Nest & Aloe - Monthly trend

2003

2004

Source: admango



Table 11 Highest spend of media advertising expenditure by Imperial Birds Nest and three competitors in 2003 and 2004 2003

Imperial Birds

Nest

the marketing communication campaign for imperial...

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