Five things you need to know about marketing in Vietnam

1. Second world market doesn’t mean second world production. It may not be NY, London, or Singapore, but the audience here is still craving quality. The quality level of entertainment is high. Film, television, music and digital content from overseas are being consumed as fast as it is being created. And that is what your advertising is competing with. As one friend put it, "everyone understands quality and Vietnamese consumers are no exception".

2. Don’t play down to the audience. The audience here is no less sophisticated than the consumers in other markets. When you look at the complexity of emotional themes and storylines found in the Korean soap operas and Japanese anime that are so popular here, it directly contradicts every worry about whether or not the audience will get it. 

3. Trust is not about people liking you. Doing business here is about the results, not the messenger. Help your partners feel comfortable with what you are proposing, not with you. Many people come to Vietnam and focus on the relationship when what people are really looking to understand is what you have to offer. Whether or not your ideas worked somewhere else, Vietnam is surrounded with enough variables to make anyone seriously consider whether or not your ideas will work here. Often that concern and the discussion surrounding it can be the sole thing that stops a project from moving forward.

4. Don’t overlook the subtleties. At times it can appear that Vietnam’s wide-ranging social make-up is often only separated by the slightest of degrees. Just like a language whose meanings shift with the slightest tones, this is a culture whose meanings are judged by seemingly innocuous points of context whether it is deciding if you should adapt a global tag-line or use a spot from Thailand or Tokyo, trust me, the audience will pick up on these differences.

5. Everything that excited me about coming here continues to excite me as I can’t help but see the potential. There is a hunger for experiences and ideas, certainly new brands and products. Just talk to the people. Watch the changing landscape. Vietnam will keep many of you excited as well.