Branding Starting from Inside

In the context of changing world economic order, driven by debt crisis in Europe and accelerating economic downturn, Asian economies play a driving role in sustainable development of the global economy. However, while Asia is expected to be a lucrative retail market for consumer products, there are few world-leading brands from Asia.

 

With current economic conditions, businesses in pursuit of sustainable development must think about their potential and positions, not only in traditional markets and pattern businesses, but also access world markets, do trade promotions and expand production. In fact, Vietnamese enterprises lack skills to build their brands or do not know how to build modern business patterns suitable for international integration. On personnel, a very few companies asked have marketing divisions and about 80 percent do not have brand management titles. Although mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and franchising activities are relatively active in Vietnam, post-merger branding is given the brush-off. Previously, enterprises approached many markets and trade fairs, but they were not selective. In the present context, they need to choose their best products and focus on high potential areas to deliver these goods and reach customers in the quickest manner to develop and position their brands.

 

Mr Lawrence Chong, Consulus CEO, said: There is a basic thing that business leaders must understand. That is, branding is actually successful only when we start from the inside. This is not merely frantic media advertising, but it is developing key value chains, enhancing profitability and adding more value. And, of course, branding does not mean positioning a brand, but making it sustainable and more valuable. Apart from advantages of abundant young personnel, Vietnamese enterprises still face several difficulties: lack of infrastructure, lack of investor trust, and lack of openness for learning. These difficulties impede them from developing their brands. Thus, if they have a strong brand name, they should self-study and apply international business strategies and patterns to preserve and develop the brand to new heights and improve their profit margin.

 

Helena Pham, Senior Manager at Consulus, said: "If Vietnamese enterprises want to attract foreigners, they should retain high quality leaders and enhance their management capacity in the eyes of international investors.” She also shared with business leaders about applicable methods to their companies. First, staff in an organisation need to be focused on the purpose of the organisation through dialogues and workshops at both individual and corporate levels. It can use tools like "personal itinerary" and work out individual development paths for every person. Through such tools, local partners will have a sense of ownership of the organisation to which they are devoted. In addition, the development of successive leadership should be planned on the basis of core values aimed at promoting behaviours the organisation wants.

 

VCCI General Secretary Pham Thi Thu Hang stressed that Vietnamese enterprises should create a position for themselves, stepping up the construction and development of brand names. But, it is important to protect and sustain their brand names. In the context of economic difficulties, increasingly intensified competition and growing consumer demand, Vietnamese brands must have strategic direction for survival and development.

 

Ms Vu Hanh Nga, General Director of Dinh Cao Moi Services Company, underscored the importance of building a company methodologically and systematically. “Business building is a long and continuous process. Enterprises cannot take a shortcut to building a brand name, but must build internal systems to create a strong culture and a leadership force from the inside. Only then can they achieve sustainable development in the time of global economic downturn. Leaders are not the only leaders of their businesses. With a team of strategic shareholders, they will be able to leverage the strengths of each shareholder to serve their business development.

 

Speaking of directions for sustainable business development, Ms Mai Trang Thanh, representative president of Honeywell Vietnam, emphasised that businesses should build and restructure towards sustainable development.