Lesson 1: National brand value increases dramatically

National brand: Focus on location brand recognition and geographical indications Vietnam is a bright spot in building and developing national brands.

Building image and position of national goods

For many years now, Vietnam has not only been recognized by the world as a bright spot in the picture of economic recovery and development, but also in brand building and development. In particular, leading Vietnamese brands have not only made remarkable improvements in both brand value and brand strength index but have also gradually caught up with global trends.

Accordingly, in the 5-year period from 2019 to 2023, Vietnam's national brand has the fastest growth rate in value in the world at 102%. Specifically, in 2019, the value of Vietnam's national brand was only valued at 247 billion USD, in 2023 it reached 498.13 billion USD, recording a continuous growth in brand value percentage by double digits.

Bài 1: Giá trị thương hiệu quốc gia tăng vượt bậc - “Trái ngọt” hội nhập, sự năng động của doanh nghiệp

The increase in national brand value has demonstrated the efforts and role of enterprises in improving quality and "bravely" entering difficult markets. Photo: VNA

Besides, if in the early 2000s, the brands of Vietnamese enterprises had not appeared in the rankings of international organizations, by 2022, according to the rankings of Forbes Vietnam, the total value of the top 50 brands reached over 36.6 billion USD, an increase of 36% compared to 2021, in which, enterprises with products achieving the Vietnamese national brand accounted for over 60% of the number of enterprises in the top 10.

According to experts, the “sweet fruit” of the growth rate of national brand value is the result of efforts in many aspects: Politics, diplomacy, economy, culture, society. This has affirmed the impressive achievements of the economic and trade integration process through vibrant and strong production and import-export activities.

Talking to reporters of the Industry and Trade Newspaper, economic expert - Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong commented that this is the result of the correct policies and efforts of the Party, State and Government in reforming the investment and business environment, expanding bilateral and multilateral relations, and supporting import and export.

Along with that, according to economic expert Nguyen Minh Phong, the remarkable increase in brand value has recognized the dynamism and creativity of Vietnamese enterprises; enterprises have constantly strived to overcome many difficulties and challenges to build, develop and manage product brands and corporate brands, contributing to increasing the value of Vietnam's national brand in the international arena.

In addition, according to the Brand Finance report in 2023, the brand value of Vietnamese national brand enterprises has grown strongly in the telecommunications, banking, and food industries. Evaluating this result, Mr. Nguyen Minh Phong said that brands in the fields of finance, food, and telecommunications all have in common the efforts to invest in technology and aim for community values, thereby making remarkable improvements in both brand value and brand strength index, contributing to improving their solid position in the rankings.

Sharing the same view, Mr. To Hoai Nam - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises emphasized that the increase in the national brand value ranking has demonstrated the efforts and role of enterprises in improving quality, "courageously" entering demanding markets with many strict regulations such as the US, EU, Japan... "The right-directed efforts of the business sector have contributed significantly to Vietnam's impressive results in building and developing the national brand " - Mr. Nam said.

Economist - Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong: "Enterprises have constantly strived to overcome many difficulties and challenges to maintain, develop and manage product brands." Photo: Can Dung

According to experts, to achieve the ranking and increase brand value, it is necessary to mention the effective impact and motivation of the Vietnam National Brand Program in supporting the building and promotion of the image and brand of Vietnam, famous product brands, strong business brands, and leading businesses in the market.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in recent times, with the support of the Vietnam National Brand Program, many Vietnamese corporations and enterprises have realized the important role of brands as the key to increasing product value and business value. As evidence, many Vietnamese brands have made a splash in the regional and world markets.

In terms of product brands, Viettel is an example. Viettel is the only Vietnamese enterprise in the “Top 500 Most Valuable Brands in the World 2023” (Global 500) and ranked 234th. In addition, Viettel continues to maintain its No. 1 position in telecommunications brands in Southeast Asia and is in the top 3 most valuable brands in the region.

Especially in terms of dairy products, Vinamilk is also a typical example when it continues to maintain its 6th position in the top 10 most valuable dairy brands globally and the top 2 strongest global brands in the dairy industry according to Brand Finance's rankings. On the basis of a national brand, TH True Milk has also made significant progress in the world market when many countries accepted to protect its trademark. In the domestic market, the company has expanded its investment in projects in many provinces and cities. TH True Milk has become a familiar brand trusted by consumers.

Creating branding momentum for businesses

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Phong, a country with many businesses with strong brands will be an important foundation to enhance the brand of a country. Accordingly, brands play an increasingly important role in the competitive and development strategy of each business, industry, locality and the whole country.

Awareness of branding for business products is still limited and difficult. Photo: VNA

However, commenting on the Vietnamese brand picture, many experts believe that there are still many unclear areas when there are not many strong brands due to limited resources of businesses themselves, and not many businesses are aware of the mission of brand building.

According to the 2020 Business Survey Report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the impression of the symbolic image of Vietnamese products is still vague, because only 20% of enterprises invest in building brands and only focus on registering in Vietnam, not registering in foreign markets, lacking interest in exploiting and managing brands. The work of promoting images on mass media has not been implemented synchronously by enterprises, and there are few high-value logos.

In particular, reputation and product quality are the two factors that are often the first to be focused on when mentioning a brand (63.4%). However, nearly 50% of businesses do not have a specialized department for marketing or branding; 49% of businesses are directly directed by the board of directors. Those in charge of brand management are mostly trained domestically, except for a very few (less than 5%) who are trained abroad. Up to 20% of businesses do not invest in branding. Over 70% of businesses invest less than 5% of their revenue in building and developing their brands...

Agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy: "The idea of outsourcing and trading is still strong, so most businesses are not interested and are afraid to build a brand." Photo: Can Dung

Sharing about the difficulties and limitations in branding of enterprises and industries, agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy said that the market is increasingly demanding on the quality of products and services. In addition to large enterprises, most domestic enterprises focusing on agriculture and processing lack the resources to create products that meet brand standards. Therefore, many enterprises are reluctant to do and invest in branding and often rely on large enterprises and corporations.

Along with that, with the fluctuations of the market, the constantly changing consumer trends according to Mr. Hoang Trong Thuy make businesses wonder whether the product can enter the market or not. Therefore, leading to the fact that businesses are less interested in investing in building brands for stable and long-term development. On the other hand, the idea of processing and trading is still heavy, so most businesses do not care about building brands.

“In particular, the overlapping management between ministries and branches is making it difficult for businesses to build brands ; as well as the number of products that have built brands and registered for trademark protection and geographical indications both domestically and internationally is still limited, so most goods are still exported through intermediaries and are not officially recognized, ” Mr. Thuy stated.

Although being one of the successful enterprises in affirming its brand not only domestically but also in the international market, referring to building and positioning the product brand, the Chairman of the Board of Members of Vinh Hiep Company Limited - Mr. Thai Nhu Hiep - had to admit that this is a difficult problem, especially in the context of the market setting many strict standards, along with increasingly fierce competition.

For coffee production and export enterprises, according to Mr. Thai Nhu Hiep, the difficulty is even greater in building a brand. Because, according to him, to build a product brand in the international market, enterprises must understand consumer culture as well as demonstrate and meet environmental and social conditions and criteria. Accordingly, enterprises are forced to invest in production technology, as well as develop raw material areas. While facing difficulties, most enterprises are having difficulty with capital, quality human resources, and understanding of the market.

“ To reach out to the big sea , Vietnamese enterprises still have a lot to do . In particular, FTAs are currently a bright opportunity to export goods, but enterprises must identify what needs to be done and what can be done in the integration "playground" . Therefore , the Government , ministries and branches need to have policies to support enterprises in overcoming difficulties in market development, building product brands and industries for enterprises" - Mr. Hiep expressed his opinion.