Vietnamese businesses in the advertising and communications industry
should make basic, strategic and deep changes in order to accommodate
modern advertising trends.
The experience of world
top businesses like Google and Yahoo! shows that it is crucial for
enterprises to ceaselessly change and refresh themselves to create best
services, thus growing and meeting customers’ demands.
During the 28th AdAsia, John Merrifield, Chief Creative Officer at
Google Asia-Pacific, said advertisers are changing just 10 percent of
their structure compared to many years ago, while Google changes its
entire structure every two years.
Merrifield said
chances for creativity are brighter than ever, as technology has been
changing in a way that marketers can increase customer interaction.
Meanwhile, Rose Tsou, Vice President of Yahoo! Asia-Pacific, also shared the firm’s restructuring stories.
She underlined the future trend of content marketing – which focuses
on creating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing
or enhancing consumer behaviour to attract and retain customers.
Up to 90 percent of marketers believe in the next year, content
marketing will be more important than ever, she said, adding that this
is inevitable when technology has changed and personalised users’
experiences in a maximum way.
According to Don
Peppers, one of the founders of the Peppers Rogers Group, in order
to succeed, marketers should win the trust of customers by applying a
principle of “treating customers the way you want people to treat you”.
Experts said that Vietnam has a promising
advertising market with impressive growth of 30 percent per annum,
attracting increasing numbers of investors.
According to the Vietnam Advertisement Association, the country now has
more than 4,000 service providers in the sector. However, the firms are
still small, focusing mainly on the processing stage and providing
support services.
Only 50-100 enterprises are
considered genuine advertisers. Meanwhile, 20 foreign firms hold up to
80 percent of market share, the association cited.
VAA President Dinh Quang Ngu said Vietnamese advertisers should
restructure to further penetrate into both domestic and international
markets, effectively exploit the potential of modern communications and
advertising trends based on Internet and digital technology.
Recognising the significance of the industry, the Vietnamese
Government has paid much attention to the area since the country opened
its market, especially in the current period when the Vietnamese economy
has actively integrated into the world.
Particularly, the Advertisement Law, approved by the National Assembly
on June 2012 and made effective on January 1 this year is considered a
step forward in the building and perfecting of a legal system for the
industry in Vietnam, contributing to making the sector integrate deeper
into the world for the interest of both customers and enterprises and
boosting the common development of the economy.
According to Ngu, Vietnamese advertisement service providers should
consider two key aspects, the market opening level and creativity, in
their restructuring.
When the market is opened, the
flow of goods from foreign countries will bring with it the development
of the advertising and communications sector, he said.
Ngu added that creativity reforms can be implemented through training personnel in a methodical and professional way.
David A. Aaker, Vice Chairman of Prophet (a global marketing
consultancy supplier), said during the restructuring process,
communications businesses should consider creativity as a top priority.
In order to build a successful brand, they need
creativity, crafting a new area that is not seen in any competitors,
while attracting public attention.
In addition to
the business aspect, their brands should associate with global and
social issues such as environmental protection and energy saving, he
added.-VNA