Case study · Marketing report
Cocoon Coffee Skin Polish
From Dak Lak coffee fields to Cocoon’s #1 best seller: the brand, the market, the 4Ps, and the “Together to Protect Bears” campaign.
10K
VND from every limited-edition jar to moon bear rescue
- Brand
- Cocoon Original Vietnam
- Partner
- Animals Asia Foundation
- Discipline
- Marketing strategy
01
Brand at a glance
- Founded in Vietnam
- 2013
- Points of sale
- 1,000+
- VND price range
- 125–325K
- VND per limited edition sold
- 10,000
Background
Cocoon Original Vietnam is a natural vegan cosmetics company. After six years of research and development, it became the first Vietnamese brand approved by Cruelty Free International’s Leaping Bunny program, boosting its green credentials.
Mission
Healthy skin, hair, and body for Vietnamese people, from simple ingredients they eat every day.
Vision
Totally vegan goods, free of animal byproducts, that meet Vietnamese expectations of safety and efficacy.
Products and audience
Products
Skincare, haircare, body care, and lip care, built on Vietnamese ingredients not yet widely known in the West: coffee, coconut, turmeric, and pomelo.
Ingredients
Pure Vietnamese sourcing: Dak Lak coffee, Ben Tre coconut oil, Cao Bang roses and squash. Local resources also lower manufacturing cost.
Target audience
Women aged 18–30, mostly single students, graduates, and office workers earning 5–15 million VND a month from their own wages, in big cities: HCMC, Binh Duong, Da Nang, Hanoi, and Hai Phong.
Psychographics
Active, healthy, social, and trendy; into self-care, nature, environmental protection, and animals. Seeks brightening, acne prevention, moisturizing, smoothing, and revitalized skin, used daily.
02
Market needs and trends
Skin polishing demand is rising as people face chemicals, dust, and stress that roughen skin, and foreign body polishes are often too expensive for Vietnamese budgets.
Social media
Minigames, sales promotions, and useful beauty tips bridge the gap with customers on the platforms where they gather.
Influencers
Cocoon works with makeup artist Quach Anh, rapper Suboi, blogger Giang Oi, and others.
Vegan demand
Cocoon positioned itself as a vegan brand “Made in Vietnam,” which made it truly different in the market.
SWOT analysis
Strengths: 1,000+ points of sale make products easy to find; affordable for mid-income buyers compared with Innisfree, The Body Shop, and Cỏ Mềm Homelab; built on Vietnamese natural ingredients.
Weaknesses: Many Vietnamese still favor foreign goods; a limited range (no perfume, makeup, or sunscreen); weaker finances mean less prominent marketing; natural ingredients act slowly.
Opportunities: A gradual shift toward domestic products; few vegan cosmetic competitors in Vietnam; local resources lower manufacturing cost.
Threats: Growth of local and global vegan cosmetic brands; counterfeit and fake products.
03
Competitive map
Klairs
Korea. Vegan, sold in 50+ countries, gentle products for sensitive skin, priced for students and office workers.
The Body Shop
England, 1976. Natural cosmetics, a bit pricier, but stores everywhere let women try many lines.
Sukin
Australia. Organic, plant and herb extracts with essential oils, affordable and effective.
Cocoon pairs a lower price with eco-friendly packaging, a corner of the map no rival holds. Indirect competitors Estée Lauder, Shiseido, and L’Oréal Paris sit at higher prices and don’t center on vegan cosmetics.
04
The 4Ps
Product
Core value
High-quality, eco-friendly exfoliators free of irritating ingredients and animal testing.
Actual product
Coffee beans, cocoa butter, and skin-safe biological ingredients sourced in Vietnam; recyclable plastic jars with gold raised lettering, shipped in carton with shredded paper; approved by the Department of Health.
Augmented product
30-day returns; shipping in 2–3 days downtown HCMC or 2–6 days elsewhere; Alepay, Momo, or COD; and a 100% reply rate within hours.
Price
Competition-based pricing from 125,000 to 325,000 VND. Good-value pricing bundles a 140ml gel cleanser and the 150ml facial polish with the 200ml body polish as a gift, so buyers pay for two products and get three.
| Product | Price (VND) |
|---|---|
| Body polish, 200ml | 125,000 |
| Facial polish, 150ml | 165,000 |
| Cleanser + facial polish bundle (body polish free) | 290,000 |
| Refill, 600ml | 325,000 |
Place
1,000+ points of sale in Watsons, Guardian, Hasaki, and Beauty Garden, plus the supermarkets, markets, and drug stores familiar to Vietnamese shoppers. Online on Shopee, Lazada, and the official website, and exported to America, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Mongolia, and more.
Promotion
In 2021, Cocoon and Animals Asia Foundation launched a limited-edition coffee polish to fund moon bear rescue: 10,000 VND per unit sold goes to AAF Vietnam for bears in Tam Dao National Park. It was promoted on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube with buy-one-get-one offers, giveaways, and gift sets.
Marketing objectives
Awareness
Ads and paid posts for the Dak Lak coffee line, plus minigames and giveaways, create touchpoints.
Engagement
Youthful imagery with influencers and celebrities makes the line approachable to the target customer.
Liking
The bear campaign shows Cocoon as a safe, effective vegan beauty brand “Made in Vietnam” with humane values.
05
Together to Protect Bears
“Without great actions, everyone can contribute to protecting animals by beautifying themselves.”
Consumer insight: vegan-cosmetics buyers want to show they care about animals. The limited edition carries a yellow label with a moon bear graphic and a QR code linking to stories of maltreated bears, built on a familiar ingredient, Dak Lak coffee.
Action plan
The moon bears need your help!
Phase 1 · 2 weeks
Objective: raise awareness of bear cruelty.
- Hooks. #Bearsinneed, #SaddestBears, and an online TVC, “Saddest Bears,” showing moon bears in cramped, unhygienic cages.
- Tactics. Fanpage, PR articles and magazines, out-of-home screens in Trang Tien Plaza, Vincom Center, Crescent Mall, and Parkson Da Nang, and bus-stop posters in Hanoi, HCMC, and Da Nang.
It takes a bear to save the day
Phase 2 · 4 weeks
Objective: promote buying Cocoon to improve moon bear welfare.
- Hooks. The viral video “It Takes A Bear To Save The Day,” #SavetheSaddestBears, #AnimalRescue, and a minigame.
- Tactics. Fanpage, unboxing and review videos, influencers, and out-of-home.
06
Influencer, video & minigame
The viral video
Khoai Lang Thang, a young travel vlogger known for authentic footage, nature, and an animal-loving vibe, fits the message that value created for the community lasts.
- He gets lost in Tam Dao National Park, and his skin roughens in the sun and insects.
- A moon bear hands him a jar of the limited edition; he uses it right away.
- Park security finds him; he sees rescued bears being treated, and the video ends: “After all, it takes a bear to save the day.”
Minigame and reviews
On Facebook, customers share their feelings about bear cruelty. Three random winners get a Cocoon × AAF gift set: the limited-edition polish, a custom “Together to protect bear” T-shirt, and AAF gifts. The entry with the most reactions, comments, and shares wins a trip with Khoai Lang Thang to the Dak Lak coffee gardens and Tam Dao to meet rescued bears.
Unboxing and review videos by beauty creators such as Giang Oi and Trinh Pham extend the reach.
Campaign assets: a special yellow design, a limited gift set, the viral video, and QR-code stories on every jar.
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