Table of Content

1.

Identification Info 1.1 Company Background

Founded in 1921, the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group entered the Intravenous (I.V.) solutions business in 1946. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (OPC),

-1-

established in 1964, has become a leader in this field through the provision of nutrition management at the point-of-care. In 1971, OPC initiated its own drug development program. The expertise gained in the pharmaceuticals business has been applied to the creation of innovative consumer products as well. Today, Otsuka is recognized as a world leader in the pharmaceutical, nutritional and other healthcare related areas.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical (H.K.) Ltd. (HKO) was officially founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Japan. HKO is responsible for the marketing and sales of products of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group in Hong Kong and Macau.

Along with social change and economic progress, the needs for healthcare products are growing rapidly in Hong Kong. A variety of HKO products have succeeded in penetrating the healthcare and pharmaceutical product markets and have contributed remarkably to the health of Hong Kong people. Some of its better-known products are Pocari Sweat, Oronine H Ointment, Aminoleban, Pletaal and Abilify, etc.

1.2

Key products and target customer

There are 2 main product line up in the company, they are Nutraceutical Products and Pharmaceutical products; Pocari Sweat is their cash cow product while FIBEMINI is another one of the popular healthy drink in Nutraceutical Products.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical is engaged in the development of nutrition products to maintain and improve day-to-day well-being, based on the concept of

-2-

"Nutraceuticals".

Otsuka Pharmaceutical conducts scientific research into the nutrition needs of different ages and health conditions, and have created new markets by applying the expertise acquired in its pharmaceutical research to the creation of innovative products such as dietary fiber drink FIBE-MINI.

Research and development of "Cosmedics since 1990 has recently borne fruit in the form of a succession of products in the InnerSignal and UL OS ranges. Otsuka Pharmaceutical aims to continue to research and develop new Nutraceuticals products for a global market.

2.

Executive Summary Hong Kong is an attractive market in APAC region, the sales reaches HKD$12 billion in 2010. However, the sales performance of FIBE-MINI is steadily

dropped compared with 2009 but the market is still attractiveness and potential for market share growth among numerous competitors. There are three key areas that FIBE-MINI should be enhanced to achieve the sales target.

Strengthen the health image of the brand Educate the target customers to choose a healthy snack and know the benefits of dietary fiber drink

Focus on the target segment to inform, differentiate the brand and persuade trial.

The marketing plan that make use of advertising, sales promotion, direct

-3-

marketing, personal selling, public relations and sponsorship to integrated to maximize the promotional impact to reach the target customers. Advertising and sales promotion are used to target the individual customer, advertising aims to inform and differentiate the brand from other competitors, sales promotion will only used in a short period to persuade customer. Direct marketing and personal selling are used together to target the intermediates, business buyer always requests higher level of service and information support, business buyer database will be created to record their buying information which helps to increase the successfulness of personal selling. Public relations and sponsorship are used to educate the public and develop a reliable, professional and health image amongst the key stakeholders such as media and potential customers.

3.

Context Analysis 3.1 Customer Context 3.1.1 Segment Characteristic According to Hong Kong Eating Disorder Association, over 55% aged 15-45 female think that they are overweight. They prefer take dietary supplements or on diet to lose body weight.

AC Nielsons research on Hong Kong People towards the dietary supplements shown that the spending on dietary supplements in 2001 and 2010, it is increased by 18%, estimated total spending from HKD$67 million to $79 million respectively.

A survey conducted by Department of Health in 2009, it is about during the past 12 months, have you done anything to control your body weight? If yes,

-4-

was it for increasing weight, losing weight or maintaining weight? 28.8% respondents have lose or maintain body weight.

FIBE-MINI conducted a survey on Hong Kong people towards dietary supplement attitude in 2009 to find out their behavior. This survey target aged 18-45 years old office people and the sample size is 1,267. It found that 65% people have tried dietary supplement on weight control.

Reasons of taking dietary supplement Better appearance 47% Health conscious Obesity Out of Curiosity Others 42% 6% 3% 2%

Refer to above findings, majority of people (89%) are appearance and health conscious.

Types of drink preference while working Soft drink 29% Coffee / Tea 25% Juice 21% Milk / Soybean milk 17% Mineral Water 6% Others 2% Refer to the above findings, 75% respondents prefer soft drink, coffee / tea and juice while working.

The office peoples who are appearance and health conscious, health

-5-

component and taste are the key issue when they choosing the dietary supplement. They have busy life due to long working hours and working in commercial district; therefore, the sales location should be convenient.

3.1.2 Level of awareness, perception and attitudes to brand FIBI-MINI is launched in HK almost 10 years and research was done in 2010 to study the customer perception and attitudes to the brand, it was found that over 70% office people heard of FIBE-MINI, the main channels of notice this product are POP (92%) and Print Ad (74%). Although there are high percentages of targeted segment aware of this brand but still have 30% not yet heard or notice it. 63% of them never try it, so marketing

communications should focus on inform and persuade trial strategies.

3.1.3 Level of involvement The level of involvement is critical to understanding consumer decision making behavior. FIBE-MINI is a low priced product which has little threat and perceived risk to consumer, so they have a limited problem solving behavior: consumer will have short internal information search instead of external, new consumer will think of the brand image and look at the product package to make purchase decision, such as the key benefits of FIBE-MINI, confidence towards the brand, and the package design of the bottle which attract them to trial. Customers who have tried it before will mainly think of their last experience, think of the taste and their past satisfactory level. (Harris, 1987)

3.1.4 Types of perceived risk

-6-

Types of Custom cognitive dissonance er Perceived Risk Perform ance Financial Physical Social Ego Tim e Will it really work? Im prove m health? y Is it value for m oney? Will it harm m body? y Will m peer group im y pressed? Will I enjoy the taste? Will it take long travelling tim to buy it? e

Im plications to decision m aking High Low Low Low High High

Summarized the above table, performance, ego and time risk have high implications to consumers decision making process, marketing

communications tools should focus on these three risks reduction. (Settle and Alreck, 1989)

Perceived risk is defined as the uncertainty that consumers face when they cannot foresee the consequences of their purchase decisions. This definition highlights two relevant dimensions of perceived risk: uncertainty and consequences. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010)

Performance risk is the risk that the product will not perform as expected. Customer who buy FIBE-MINI are appearance and health conscious, so the company should focus on educate the needs and the benefits of have dietary fibre supplementing the body with quarter of the required daily fibre consumption by adults.

Ego risk is the risk that a poor product choice will bruise the consumers ego.

-7-

Customers aim to satisfy their psychological needs, they want to improve their health and also in good taste. When they choosing the dietary

supplement, they will consider the taste, although the tastes are very subjective but the difference would not far away in same nation, culture and lifestyle. FIBE-MINIs taste fit Japanese but not much research about the target customers favor tastes.

Time risk is the risk that the time spent in product search maybe wanted if the product does not perform as expected. The target customers are busy office people, convenience, handy are an important factors during their decision making. FIBE-MINI need larger coverage and locates closer to customers workplace to reduce the time risk. (Stone and Gronhaug, 1993)

3.2

Business Context 3.2.1 Corporate and Marketing Strategy and Plans FIBE-MINI launched in HK over 10 years, however, it is not as successful as in Japan, it is now in the maturity stage in the product life cycle, the grow rate of sales becomes decelerated and profits is still not enough to cover the investment, penetration strategy is using for the existing products to increase sales and market share in HK.

3.2.2 Brand analysis FIBE-MINI is supported by Otsuka Group which has rich resources and good reputation in HK, thus customers have high perceived value towards Otsuka and have confidence to its brand. However, public may not aware FIBEMINI is under Otsuka Group as it is not mentioned in the promotional

-8-

message.

3.2.3 Competitor Analysis There are many dietary supplement in HK, GNC, ASANA, FANCL House and some other dietary supplement brands are strong competitors, although they are selling in supermarkets, Manning, Watsons but there are some differences in their marketing positions, packing and target segment.

GNC sets the standard in the nutritional supplement industry by demanding truth in labeling, ingredient safety and product potency, all while remaining on the cutting-edge of nutritional science. As our company has grown over the years, so has our commitment to Living Well. In fact, GNC is the world's largest company of its kind devoted exclusively to helping its customers improve the quality of their lives. From scientific research and new product discovery to the manufacturing and packaging processes, GNC takes pride in our rigorous approach to ensuring quality. Our commitment to quality extends to our interactions with you in our stores and after you buy our products.

-9-

ASANA Hong Kong Ltd continued to lead vitamins and dietary supplements in 2010, with a 23% value share. The company uses the direct selling channel, and has been gaining a significant number of loyal customers, which has contributed to a significant increase in sales. The company also offers a wide variety of products catering to the different needs of consumers.

FANCL House began with MUTENKA () skincare. In the late 70s, skin trouble caused by skincare and cosmetics with additives such as preservatives, perfume and petroleum surfactants, was a serious social concern in Japan.

Many women suffered skin problems because of the chemical-laden skincare products they were using. And FANCL founder, Mr Ikemoris wife was one

- 10 -

of them. Struck by the irony that something which was supposed to make women more beautiful, confident and attractive, might actually sabotage her looks and self-esteem. Mr Ikemori questioned the industry by challenging the need for such harsh ingredients in skincare products.

Mr Ikemori then hit on the revolutionary idea of creating preservative-free skincare which contain no potentially harmful preservatives and other additives, only potent beauty agents that actively work to enhance skin's natural beauty. In April 1980, FANCL was born.

The first MUTENKA skin lotion encompassed "safety, gentleness and assurance" came in 5ml vials. With continued in-depth research, improved technology and production facilities led to the subsequent development and launch of a 10ml bottle in 1995. The 30ml bottle was then launched in 2002.

Since then, FANCL has expanded its business beyond cosmetics and skincare to include Inner Care beauty products like TenseUp EX, Bitoki and HTCCollagen, and health food such as Germinated Brown Rice and Kale Juice which cater to everyones beauty and health needs.

3.3

Internal Context 3.3.1 Financial Constraints Although FIBE-MINI just have slightly profit in HK market but it is back up by the Otsuka Group which has rich financial resources, Above-The-Line communication tools are affordable to have mass media coverage in short time, and integrated with other promotional tools to maximize the

- 11 -

promotional power. 3.3.2 Organizational Identity FIBE-MINI has good corporate identity, it has consistent images and identities on its product package, advertisements, web site and other promotional materials. Strong and consistent corporate identity helps in reminding the customers and help customers to distinguish the products from other products.

3.3.3 Culture, values and beliefs Otsuka is a Japan based company but has international culture; it is customer focused and has a learning culture; the company mission stated that they aim to create innovate products and improve peoples life and well-being. There is a problem that customers are not clear about the health values of FIBEMINI, so the new marketing communications plan should develop from the health values and beliefs of FIBE-MINI.

3.3.4 Marketing expertise Otsuka Group is rich in human resources, it gives much support on FIBEMINI, experienced marketing expertise in the group help FIBE-MINI to develop and monitor its performance.

3.3.5 Agency availability and suitability The advertising concept and image is created in Japan by an advertising agency in Japan, this ad was also used in HK; although it can save promotional budget and create a Japanese image in customers mind, however, that advertisement may not fit for HK peoples as the culture is

- 12 -

different, the promotional power is lesser as the celebrity is not famous in HK.

3.4

External Context 3.4.1 Key Stakeholders Intermediaries: Apart from individual customers, the intermediaries are very important, since FIBE-MINI doesnt have its won retail shop, so it must rely on the intermediaries to sell FIBE-MINI to individual customers. Some intermediaries have weak confidence with FIBE-MINI because the products were not selling well and they kept lot of stock before.

Nutritionist and professional doctors: They are the experts and have high credibility, good relationship with them helps in developing a health image, moreover, invite them to share in the health talk can increase the credibility to the audiences.

Media: Newspaper and magazine helps delivering the company message to the public, good relationship with them can bargain a lower media rate and better ad position. Moreover, they will write more positive content for FIBEMINIs PR event.

3.4.2 Political, legal and environment influence Political: In Sep 2008, the centre for food safety found many well-known milk products such as Nestle, Cadbury and Yili contained industrial chemical melamine which will cause the kidneys to malfunction. Government pays more attention on collecting dairy product samples for testing. (Centre for

- 13 -

food Safety Oct 2008) Legal: Government introduced a Nutrition Labeling Scheme importers and manufacturers of prepackaged food with annual sales volume over 30,000 units should follow the new guide line to state clear the components. (Centre for Food Safety Jun 2007)

Environmental: there is a trend that packages is designed to be either a technical nutrient that can be reused, or truly recycled. (Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur 2004)

3.5

Previous marketing communications

Advertising, public relationship and sales promotion is adopted by FIBE-MINI. However, advertising such as online promotion is not successful, it created forum and blog online but have a very low response rate. For the sales promotion, it did too many price reductions mainly because the intermediaries have too many stocks and will be expired soon, this will affect the price position and customers will only buy it during discounted period.

4.

Key issue The following key issues are the summary of the context analysis: The target customers needs on dietary supplement are appearance and health improvement. The target customers think that taste (ego risk), healthy (performance risk) and convenience (time risk) are the most critical factors in their decision making process. The target customers have not much dietary knowledge to distinguish the

- 14 -

health value of FIBE-MINI. Although the whole market is growing slowly, but numerous brands are competing for market share, a highly differentiated image is needed. FIBE-MINI sales performance is not good in HK comparing with Japan, mainly due to ineffective promotion and customers have low confidence towards the brand. FIBE-MINI has rich financial resources and marketing expertise as it is back up by Otsuka Group.

5.

Objectives 5.1 Corporate & Marketing To increase 15% sales volume in 2012 To increase 30% selling locations in 2012

5.2

Marketing Communications in 2012 To increase 50% awareness of the target segment in HK To reposition FIBE-MINI as a dietary supplement brand amongst the target segment in HK

To reposition FIBE-MINI as a Japanese brand amongst the target segment in HK

To increase 15% of the number of charity sponsorship to build good reputation

To launch a new promotional campaign to differentiate the brand image from competitors by a dietary supplement brand image.

- 15 -

5.3

Advertising / Public Relations / Sales Promotions in 2012

Advertising: Launch a new advertising campaign to develop the healthy brand image.

Public relations: To educate the target customers about the dietary knowledge by holding at least one health talk every month.

Sales Promotions: To increase 50% no. of sales of FIBE-MINI in June and December 2012.

6.

Strategy Summary 6.1 Segmentation, targeting and positioning

Target Segm Characteristics ent Geographic region Hong Kong City Size 7m illions Density Urban Dem ographic age 18-45 Fam life cycle ily Young, no children, single Gender m and fem ale ale Incom e HKD$10,000 - $30,000 per m onth Occupation Professionals and technical, m anagers, officials Education College graduate or above Generation Generation X, Y Nationality Hong Kong Social class Middle class to upper class Occasions Office in com ercial area m Psychographic lifestyle Appearance and health oriented Personality Self disciplined, health conscious Benefits Healthy User Status Regular user Usage rate Light - m edium user Loyalty status Medium to strong Behavioral characteristicsBusy, long working tim e

- 16 -

6.2

Strategic Balance of 3Ps All strategies of push, pull and profile will be used to reach the objectives.

Push Strategy - It will be used to target the retailers such as the supermarkets, convenience stores and cafes, they should locate in the commercial areas which close to target customers working place, so customer can buy the FIBE-MINI within 15 minutes. Personal selling and direct marketing will be used to promote the products, persuade buying and provide support services.

Pull Strategy It will be used to target specific individual customers the office peoples. Majority of the resources will be used in advertising to increase awareness and differentiate the brand images from other dietary supplement, sales promotion will be used to stimulate the sales within short period of time and attract new customers to try.

Profile Strategy It will be used to target the key stakeholders to build awareness and relationship with public and media; sponsorship will be used to develop bonding with Non-Government Organization such as Cancer Fund and Diabetes HK which help in develop a healthy image.

6.3

Acquisition & retention In order to acquire more new customers, much effort should put in informing customers about FIBE-MINI as there are still large proportion of targeted customers havent know or try it. Rewards to existing customers such as sending e-coupon to their email and hold activities with them is a

- 17 -

good way to encourage regular purchase.

6.4

Integration with other communication tools 6.4.1 Push Strategy This strategy targets on B2B customers but the final objective is to increase the coverage of the B2C customers which increase the convenience of customers. The retailers should be selected carefully which can easily reach our targeted segments the office people, they can be the supermarket that in commercial areas; or can be a popular caf that many office peoples go there.

Direct marketing and personal selling Develop a business buyer database to record their basic information such as company name, contact and buying record, then make a call or send email to arrange a meeting to present FIBE-MINI to them, personal selling needs skillful and experienced sales to communicate, detail information and interactive service can be provided in the meeting, so it has a higher successful rate to a business buyer.

6.4.2 Pull Strategy This strategy targets the individual customers office people, it aims to inform the new customers and differentiate the brand from other competitors in customers mind. The key benefit and values of FIBEMINI should be told to the targeted audience such as low fat, low calories, high fiber and calcium which is a healthy snack and helps in keeping fit; it is produced in Japan and under Otsuka Group that

- 18 -

customer will perceive a high quality.

Advertising Newspaper and magazine are the traditional media to place advertisement, they are useful to disseminate the promotional message to a large group of audience in short time. Outdoor displays such as bus shelter ad and MTR ad in commercial districts are chosen to use, they can remind the busy office people when they are passing by. Lastly, internet is a very good way to have interactive promotion with customers; online banner or eDM can use to inform customers about the new updates of FIBE-MINI or provide customers some healthy messages. Forum or blog can be a platform for customers to share their experience on FIBE-MINI which can build relationship with customers and give a way for the customers to express, incentives such as online lucky draw and e-coupon redemption can be used to increase the flow of the blog and forum.

Sales Promotion Many office people will buy a lot of snacks and store in their office, design a package which consists of 5 FIBE-MINI in a lower price to increase the number of sales. Bargain with retailers to put FIBE-MINI at the eye level on the shelf, point of purchase can help customer to find it easily. Moreover, sell in a discounted price can only be used once a half year, this can boost sales in a short period of time.

6.4.3 Profile Strategy

- 19 -

Public relations Invite nutritionists and professional doctors to hold health talks and share the healthy tips to the key stakeholders such as targeted customers and media. Posters, eDM, update information in the web site are the promotional tools for the talk, free trial of FIBE-MINI will be given as a souvenir to the participants. These talks are held

regularly in a monthly basis, relationship can be developed with a group of health conscious people and some of them will become the opinion leader and the source of word of mouth.

Sponsorship Sponsors the sport events that many target customers will participate, such as marathon and hiking activities which can build a healthy image and make more people to try FIBE-MINI.

6.5

Overall budget for 3 years

% 7.5% 15.0% 40.0% 5.0% 25.0% 7.5% 100.0% $2,012 $150,000 $300,000 $800,000 $100,000 $500,000 $150,000 $2,000,000 $2,013 $50,000 $200,000 $600,000 $100,000 $500,000 $100,000 $1,550,000 $2,014 $50,000 $150,000 $500,000 $50,000 $500,000 $100,000 $1,350,000

Com unication Tools m Direct Marketing Personal Selling Advertising Sales Prom otion Public Relations Sponsorship

Advertising and sponsorship shares more than half of the overall budget to reach the public in the mass market. The budget is the highest in the first year due to database setup cost of direct marketing; big effort to develop relationship with business buyer for personal selling; creating a new advertising campaign with big

- 20 -

media coverage, so the next two years will need lesser cost to maintain it. Public relations has same budget for the 3 years due to the regular health talk every month.

7.

Gantt chart and overall budget for 1st year

Budge t $150,000 $300,000 $300,000 $400,000 $100,000 $20,000 $20,000 $60,000 $500,000 $150,000 $2,000,000

Communica tion Tools Ja Feb Ma Apr Ma Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov De n r y c Push Dire ma ting ct rke Pe rsona se l lling Pull Adve rtising - print a d Adve rtising - bus a MTR a nd d Adve rtising - onlinea a e d nd DM Sa s promotion - POP le Sa s promotion - e le -coupon/buy2ge 1fre t e Sa s promotion - $2 ca re te le sh ba Profile Public re tions - he lth ta la a lks Sponsorship - sport a ctivitie s

8.

Evaluation of the plan

This part aims to measure the effectiveness of the plan which the communications objectives are met.

Direct marketing and personal selling are used together to the business buyers, measure the customer satisfaction level by interviewing the buyers and measuring the sales increase of B2B account can find out the effectiveness of these tools.

Survey should be done to the target customers before and after the launch of the advertising, the survey mainly used to gather information on recall, recognition of the brand and whether they have been seen any of the marketing communications, e.g. questionnaire, focus group, recognition and recall test. (Gordan, 1992) For the online advertising, see the response rate on the online forum and blog by checking the

- 21 -

number of comments left by the customers.

Sales promotion are mainly done in a short period of time, find out the increase of number of sales and sales amount within that period can reflect the successfulness of the promotions. Another way to measure is to evaluate the performance of individual salesperson by using qualitative and quantitative methods, such as the costs and time versus the sales profits and customer satisfaction level.

Pre and post-test measures of awareness, preference, comprehension and intentions are a better measure of quality and impact. For the health talk

measurement, the larger number of participants, the more successful the health talks are.

Count the number of free publicity that reporting the sponsored events which show FIBE-MINI.

Overall, Financial report can told the overall result of the communications plan whether the sales and profit are met the objectives, see if the resources are overused or underused. Moreover, detail research should be made before and after the whole plan to find out the percentage of target customers who has heard or tried the FIBE-MINI.

9.

Referencing:

Centre for Food Safety (2007). Labeling Guidelines On Food Allergens, Food Addictives. Available from

- 22 -

http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/food_leg/food_leg_lgfa.html [Accessed on 15 Jun 2011]

Centre for Food Safety (2008). Press release Latest Test Results on Melamine, Available from http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/press/press_e.html [Accessed on 15 Jun 2011]

Department of Health, Weight Control http://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/data/4/10/280/401.html [Accessed on 15 Jun 2011]

Harris, G. (1987) The Implications of Low Involvement Theory for Advertising Effectiveness, International Journal of Advertising, 6, P.207-221.

Hong Kong Eating Disorder Association http://www.hedc.med.cuhk.edu.hk/

Leon G. Schiffman and Lesile Lazar Kanuk, (2010) Consumer Behavior, 10th edition, Pearson, P.201-203

Survey Report on Dietary Supplement Preference (2009) undertaken by FIBE-MINI

Survey Report on Hong Kong People towards the Dietary Supplements, undertaken by AC Nielson Settle, R.B. and Alreck, P. (1989) Reducing buyers sense of risk. Marketing Communications (January), P.34-40

Stone, R.N. and Gronhaug, K (1993) Perceived Risk: Further Considerations for the

- 23 -

Marketing Discipline. European Journal of Marketing, 27(3), P.39-50.

10. Internet Sources: ASANA http://www.asana.com.hk/ch/terms.php

Fancl House http://www.fancl.com.sg/

FIBE-MINI http://www.fibemini.hk/

GNC http://www.gnc.com/home/index.jsp

Otsuka Pharmaceutical (H.K.) Ltd. http://www.otsuka.hk/html/eng/ConsumerProducts.asp

11. Bibliography: Hoffman, K. Douglas & Bateson, John E.G.. (2006) Services Marketing: Concepts, Strategies, & Cases Thomas South Western

- 24 -