Vietnam steps up to big leagues in brand names

Vinamilk’s milk factory is equipped with state-of-the-art, sterilized milk production lines

Eleven Vietnamese brands in Top 1,000

The 11 Vietnamese brands listed among the top 1,000 Asian brands are Vietjet Air (ranked 595th), Viettel (596th), Petrolimex (616th), Vinamilk (621st), Hao Hao (636th), Chinsu (668th), Trung Nguyen (693rd), Vietnam Airlines (716th), MobiFone (736th), Vietcombank (811st) and P/S (905th).

The survey of 1,000 top brand names in Asia is the largest and the most influential annual survey of its kind. It explores consumer attitudes in 13 markets - Australia, China, Hong Kong-China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Vietnam.

The research relies on 400 respondents in each market, except India and China where participants number 800 and 1,200 respectively. To be representative of market populations, survey quotas target age, gender and monthly household income. The study encompasses 17 major categories: alcohol, financial services, automotive, retail, restaurants, food, beverage, consumer electronics, computer hardware, computer software, digital experience, courier services, ecommerce, media and telecommunications, sports, transportation, leisure and household and personal care and 79 sub-categories.

“I feel proud that local enterprises can make their brands known at a regional level,” said Nguyen Huong Quynh, Managing Director of Nielsen Vietnam. “However, the result this year was not as good as last year. As evident in the listing, most local brands dropped in the rankings, compared to 2016’s results.”

“To keep momentum, it is important for our enterprises to continuously work hard on their brand reputation, keep their brand promise and offer the best products and service experience to customers,” she adds.

Various government departments are now supporting businesses in building their brand names. Bui Huy Son, director of the Department of Trade Promotion under the Ministry of Industry and Trade says that compared to developed countries in Europe and the countries of North America, building brand names is a rather new concept for Vietnam. Thus, while some businesses are already aware of the importance of building brand names, many others are not.

To develop awareness and help companies build brand names, the program on national brands will assist businesses in making products, which meet national standards, and participating in trade promotion programs. In addition to providing market information, the program is organizing training courses to improve brand name development skills and trade promotion.

According to the Nielsen Company, Asian brand names are rising to compete with global brand names such as Samsung, Apple or Nestle. Vietnamese businesses have achieved certain success in raising awareness of domestic brands outside the country and affirming their positions in regional markets.