The CMO's MO: Techcombank's marketer brings the marathon mindset to banking

Thai Minh Diem Tu, the CMO and driving force behind Techcombank's marketing, approaches her work with the same relentless energy she brings to her marathon runs. A Six Star Finisher in the making, Tu sees a parallel between conquering miles and conquering market share.

In this interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific, Tu reveals how her passion for pushing limits fuels Techcombank’s growth, why she believes in the power of community-driven campaigns, and how, despite the rise of AI, the bank is taking baby steps into the future because it's still the human touch that creates lasting impact. Read on to learn how this marketer is reshaping the future of banking in Vietnam—one stride at a time.

1. What are the three biggest marketing challenges for your brand right now?

Techcombank stands as Vietnam’s leading private bank, with the vision ‘Change banking, Change lives’. Last year marked our 30th anniversary, and in 2023, our brand hit a new milestone—reaching a value of $1.4 billion, the highest of any private bank in Vietnam, according to Brand Finance.

This success stems from a marketing strategy deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture and the strong desire of the Vietnamese people to achieve autonomy and success on their own terms. However, our biggest challenge is ensuring that the brand stays relevant and connected to these aspirations. We have to ensure the brand positioning resonates with the evolving needs of Vietnamese consumers, so they not only trust but also love the bank.

Our marketing strategy focuses on themes that bring the brand closer to this aspirational consumer base. Today’s Vietnamese consumers are driven by a passion for healthy living, self-development, and personal success. At Techcombank, our goal is to help them achieve these ambitions. This year, we are running a campaign under the theme ‘Your Own Greatness’, designed to inspire people and align with our brand promise to ‘Be Greater’ every day.

2. What are the three biggest opportunities for your brand?

Our brand promise to ‘Be Greater’ is more than just a tagline—it’s a commitment to our customers' holistic growth. We've already built a strong foundation around ‘healthy living’, but the next big opportunity lies in expanding this to ‘self-development’. We aim to create a brand that empowers every aspect of our customers' lives—from personal health to financial success and beyond.

For us, the key is truly understanding what drives our aspirational customers. What do they care about? What challenges do they face? What do they love doing? And then we work to develop purpose-led marketing campaigns that supports and empower them to move forward and achieve those dreams. 

Another big opportunity is in customer experience. Techcombank has made substantial investments in technology and data, building one of the most sophisticated marketing tech stacks in ASEAN. We're using this to listen to our customers, understand their needs, and deliver millions of personalised messages daily across all digital touchpoints. Every interaction counts, and we’re making sure each one is meaningful.

Sustainability is also another priority, not just for us but for our customers. Incorporating sustainability into our ‘Be Greater’ promise will be essential in the coming year. 

3. Where are you investing your marketing budgets this year? In what areas are you increasing or cutting spend?

Last year we invested in a year-long ‘30 Years of Greatness Together’ campaign to celebrate the bank's success and achievements together with the Vietnamese people in its 30^th anniversary year. 

We were really proud of this campaign, which used digital art installations, social impact initiatives, digital marketing, social and traditional media to touch the hearts of millions of Vietnamese, give back to the community and build the spirit of ‘Be Greater Everyday’ in Vietnam.

This year, the challenge remains the same: do more with the same budget—or even less. We’re doubling down on digital marketing, but the focus is on how we can use data and AI to supercharge our efforts. Digital marketing is commonplace now, so the real game-changer is leveraging AI and data in smarter ways to stand out and deliver sharper, more personalised experiences.

Another area we are focusing is on building Techcombank’s corporate brand internationally. We aspire to be a top 10 bank in ASEAN and we aim to build a regional brand to match.  

4. Are you tapping into Gen AI’s awesomeness to future-proof your marketing efforts? Spill the C-suite strategy around Gen AI. 

It’s still very early days for generative AI and we are still figuring out how best to use it to empower our people.

On a day-to-day basis we are beginning to use generative AI to speed up content creation, do research and free-up our team to think more creatively about how we engage and excite our customers. The human touch will remain vital, but AI has huge potential.

Beyond marketing, we use the application of data and AI to provide personalised customer experiences. Our mobile banking apps enable us to engage with our customers quickly and easily, and we combine this with data and AI capabilities to deliver personalised marketing messages to millions of our customers and do so in a cost-effective way.

I should also give a shout out to our fantastic data and analytics team that has developed a large language model that helps us to quickly translate documents from Vietnam into English, which is important as we have a very international leadership team.

5. Tell us one personal thing about yourself that others might not know.
 

Tu Thai on a family vacation

I am a little work-obsessed and think about work all the time. But I find calm and peace when I am with my family or running a marathon. I love sports, I am a big runner.

I have three children and we recently developed a shared love for golf. I feel golf is helping the kids to grow and thrive as young people. Through sports they learn important life skills and I get to enjoy time with them and see them pursuing a passion. Seeing their drive and motivation at such a young age is very inspiring and encourages me to success at Techcombank.

I run every day. Running for me is meditation. It's my moment of peace and calm. On weekends I try to run 25-30 km and I reflect on the past week and what I did well, or did not do well, and what I need to change to be better next week. When I am running, I also look at things differently, I look at situations and problems through a different lens.

So far, I have completed the World Marathon Major events in Tokyo, Chicago, London, and Boston. I now hope to complete the set and become a Six Star Finisher by running the Berlin and New York marathons in the next couple of years. 

Running in the London marathon in 2022

6. What keeps you up at night?

Most nights, I’m so exhausted that I fall asleep quickly. I’m up by 5 am most mornings for a 10 km run before work, so staying up late is rare. But when I do, it’s usually because I’m thinking about how to better connect with our customers—how to craft campaigns, like our ‘My Own Greatness’ initiative, that truly add value to their lives.

Another thing that can keep me awake is staying on top of new technology. The pace of innovation is relentless, and it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind. In marketing, we need to stay ahead of the curve. We’re not engineers, but we have to understand emerging technologies well enough to know how they can enhance our efforts and deliver better outcomes for our customers.

7. What needs to change in your industry when it comes to working culture?

I think the banking industry in Vietnam needs to learn from the tech industry when it comes to collaboration and creativity. 

8. Give us one example to convince our readers that your brand is walking the talk on sustainability.

Sustainability is at the heart of our ‘Be Greater’ brand promise. We know that long-term success means making a real, positive impact on Vietnamese society.

One standout initiative is our ‘Run for Greater Vietnam’ platform. These international marathons in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City promote healthy living while giving back to the community. Partnering with local governments, we’ve turned these events into powerful experiences that inspire thousands to embrace active lifestyles and push beyond their limits.

Scenes from the Hanoi Marathon which has become quite a hallmark event in the city

Last year, nearly 24,000 runners from across the globe participated—9,000 in Hanoi and over 15,000 in Ho Chi Minh City—fostering a sense of community and personal achievement.

But our commitment to sustainability goes further. In 2023, we provided record green financing for sustainability projects, opened eco-friendly headquarters, and donated VND 148 billion to social initiatives. 

9.  What separates your brand culture from others?

Our unique "Be Greater" spirit and pride for Vietnam sets up apart. This mindset drives us to constantly aspire to new heights and empowers everyone—our employees, customers, and the community—to achieve their own greatness. It’s this culture that has propelled our success and made us the banking partner of choice for independent and ambitious Vietnamese consumers.

I work hard to instil this spirit in my team, encouraging them to create emotional, meaningful, and inspiring stories that connect with our customers on a deeper level. For this to happen, the team must be genuinely passionate about the brand and what it stands for, and they must embody those values in their own lives.

I always tell my team: everything must come from the heart. This is how we connect with the hearts of our customers and build that emotional bond. We need to put our heart into everything we do. If we approach our work with genuine feeling and passion, we will succeed. This is the core of Techcombank’s "Be Greater" spirit, and it is what makes us truly unique in Vietnam.