Ito En, a premier Japanese tea brand known for its authentic, sugar-free beverages, faced a significant challenge when entering the Vietnamese market: local taste preferences heavily favored sugary teas. To bridge this cultural gap and build brand awareness, Ito En partnered with FinT, a top marketing agency in Vietnam. By executing a two-phased strategy involving 50 Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) and data-driven e-commerce advertising, Ito En successfully educated the market, generated massive engagement, and drove a 240% return on ad spend (ROAS) on Shopee.

The Challenge: Authenticity Meets Local Taste

Despite its strong heritage in Japan, Ito En struggled to gain traction in Vietnam. The primary obstacles included:

Low Brand Awareness:Vietnamese consumers were largely unfamiliar with the Ito En name.
Taste Preference Disparity:The local market was saturated with sweetened tea products. Ito En’s signature sugar-free, unsweetened green tea represented a health-conscious choice that diverged from the norm, requiring consumer education.
Cultural Barrier:The brand needed to reframe “sugar-free” from a potential negative (less sweet) into a positive (healthy, authentic, premium).

The Strategy: A Two-Phase Approach to Win the Market

Ito En and FinT recognized that traditional advertising would not be enough to shift consumer perceptions. They devised a hybrid strategy focusing on credible influence and performance marketing.

Phase 1: Building Awareness Through Influencer Education

The goal of the first phase was to generate buzz and validate the product’s taste and health benefits through trusted voices.

Tactics:
- Diverse KOC Selection:FinT curated a list of 49 KOCs from the Food & Beverage, Lifestyle, and Health & Beauty sectors. This diversity ensured the product was seen as both a delicious drink and a wellness tool.
- Authentic Content:KOCs were tasked with creating video reviews showcasing their genuine “trial experiences.” The content focused on the tea’s refreshing taste, Japanese authenticity, and the benefits of choosing a sugar-free lifestyle.
- Platform Focus:The campaign launched on TikTok and other social platforms in early April to maximize reach with video content.

Phase 2: Driving Conversion with Performance Marketing

Once awareness was established, the focus shifted to sales on Shopee, a leading e-commerce platform in Vietnam.

Tactics:
- Content Amplification:FinT repurposed the high-performing influencer content into targeted Shopee ads.
- Data-Driven Optimization:The team continuously monitored performance, optimizing for Cost Per Click (CPC) and Click-Through Rate (CTR) to ensure ad spend efficiency.
- KOC Sales Drivers:Selected KOCs were leveraged not just for views, but to drive direct traffic to Shopee, often by offering exclusive discounts to their followers.

The Results: Measurable Outcomes & Market Penetration

The collaboration between Ito En and FinT yielded impressive quantitative and qualitative results, proving the effectiveness of a combined influencer and performance marketing strategy.

Phase 1 Results: Awareness & Engagement

Massive Reach:Within one month, the campaign generated 3,511,591 views.
High Engagement:The content resonated deeply, achieving a 29% Engagement Rate (ER) , surpassing the industry average of 3% for FMCG beverage content on TikTok.
Community Building:The campaign registered over 183 initial responses from interested KOCs, indicating strong grassroots interest in the brand.

Phase 2 Results: Conversion & Efficiency

Revenue Growth:The strategy delivered a 240% ROAS on Shopee monthly, successfully converting viewers into buyers.
Influencer Impact:The average ROAS per individual KOC reached an astounding 600% , highlighting the power of micro-influencers in driving niche sales.
Advertising Efficiency:
- Cost Per Click (CPC)was reduced by 2x.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)increased by 10x.
Traffic Increase:The campaign successfully drove “high-quality external traffic from Facebook” to the Shopee store, outperforming the previous month’s metrics.

Key Takeaways & Best Practices

The Ito En Vietnam case study offers valuable lessons for international brands looking to enter markets with distinct taste preferences:

Education Over Promotion:When facing a taste barrier (e.g., sugar vs. sugar-free), use KOCs as educators rather than just promoters. Authentic reviews build trust.
Diversity in Influence:Mixing KOCs from Lifestyle, F&B, and Health sectors allowed Ito En to position the product as versatile—suitable for daily hydration and healthy living.
The Hybrid Funnel Model:Combining upper-funnel awareness (Influencer Views) with lower-funnel conversion (Shopee Ads) creates a seamless customer journey from discovery to purchase.
Continuous Optimization:The significant reduction in CPC and increase in CTR demonstrate that real-time data monitoring is crucial for scaling success.

By treating local influencers as partners in market education, Ito En successfully introduced the concept of sugar-free premium tea to Vietnam, securing both high engagement and strong sales returns.