'Building a brand must start with what you do'

In the context of an open economy, most businesses are aware that the value of a brand greatly affects their development. Not only that, building a brand is also a key factor for them to compete well with domestic and foreign businesses.

A business with a strong brand will help them become more widely known, have higher levels of consumer support and of course higher sales.

Reporter of Nhan Dan Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Tao Duc Thang, Chairman and General Director of Viettel Military Industry - Telecommunications Group about the issue of building a brand development strategy for enterprises in the current period of deep global integration.

Reporter:   How do you evaluate the role of brand building and development in the development and competitiveness of each enterprise? What is the biggest obstacle Viettel faces in brand development, sir?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: In today's economy, 70-80% of a business's market value comes from intangible assets such as brand value, intellectual property... The above ratio shows how important a brand is to a business.

Owning a strong brand will have many advantages such as businesses will have more loyal customers, expand the market more easily or attract more talented employees.

Viettel is a leading brand in telecommunications, technology and high-tech industry. Viettel’s challenge is how to not only be a strong brand but also be sustainable in all three areas, not only in Vietnam but also in other countries, on a global scale.

Reporter: In your opinion, where should the story of building a brand for a Vietnamese enterprise start to be accepted by customers? Could you please share Viettel's experience in building and promoting the Group's brand?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: I think that the story of building a brand must start from what we do. Businesses can make many statements, but what customers and the public will evaluate about the business will be what we do, what customers feel through their experience with the business through the products, services, and behavior of the business.

To achieve today's results, Viettel has started the process of building its brand from the very first days of starting its telecommunications business.

From that day on, we have determined for ourselves the vision of "Innovation for people", every decision, every action, every innovation of Viettel is aimed at making people's lives better.

Every 10 years, we set ourselves a mission to realize that vision.

In the first 10 years, we set out on a mission to popularize mobile services, bringing mobile connectivity opportunities to everyone.

In the next 10 years, we set a goal of universalizing mobile broadband (3G, 4G technology) to all Vietnamese people. These missions, also known as goals, have been realized by Viettel.

And now, in our third development phase, we aim to popularize digital technology in all areas of life with the mission of "Pioneering, leading, and creating a digital society".

With nearly 35 years of development, Viettel has always served customers and the community with the goal of leaving no one behind and remaining loyal to its vision and mission even in the most difficult times.

Ready to build a digital healthcare platform to serve people's health, bring educational opportunities to poor children who cannot go to school during the Covid-19 period... are practical examples that Viettel has done.

Reporter:   Last August, Viettel continued to be honored by Brand Finance - the world's leading organization in brand valuation as the most valuable brand in Vietnam, and also the most valuable telecommunications brand in Southeast Asia. What are the main factors that help Viettel affirm its brand value, sir?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: Brand Finance's brand value assessment model is based on 3 factors: (1) Brand strength: the level of customer recognition, love, and support for the brand; (2) Industry franchise fee rate: this factor is determined by Brand Finance for each industry. For example, Viettel is determined to operate in the telecommunications industry, so the franchise rate is from 5-6%; (3) Revenue: that is, what the brand has achieved in terms of business results.

Of these three factors, only the franchise value factor is independent. The remaining factors come from the business and must be achieved.

Reporter:   Some say that consumers today are not motivated to be loyal to brands. Some consumers have switched brands based on convenience and incentives. What is your assessment of this view?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: It is inevitable that market changes will have a certain impact on consumer behavior. That also means that businesses need to make more efforts to keep customers with them.

However, if a brand is good, it can still attract and gain customer loyalty. In fact, even in the most difficult times, Viettel has continued to grow and has had years when its growth doubled the previous year.

In 10 investment markets, Viettel has risen to number 1 in 6 markets with the largest number of subscribers. The core is still the brand that is consistent with its goal of bringing customers the best products, services, the best values ​​and the best experiences.

These values ​​are also values ​​of responsibility to society, to the community and to the future of future generations. Some initiatives on sustainable development that Viettel is pioneering include researching new energy sources, using green technology (green data centers, automation...) into production and business activities to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment.

Reporter: From the above facts, it can be seen that repositioning is extremely important for businesses and above all, choosing the right story for this purpose. How did Viettel reposition its brand, sir? Could you please share specifically about the Group's most recent repositioning?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: The market is always moving, customers will have increasingly higher demands. Repositioning is the step where businesses review their vision, mission, and values ​​to see if they are still suitable or not. Maybe when evaluating, the business finds that they are still suitable, then it is not necessary to reposition and vice versa.

Before deciding to reposition in 2021, Viettel conducted a research process, surveying the opinions of current and potential customers about what they perceive, evaluate and desire with the Viettel brand. We discovered that Viettel received great trust from customers, but they wanted us to be younger and more creative.

Internally, Viettel has set a goal of transforming from a telecommunications service provider to a digital service provider, and we also want to be more enthusiastic and passionate to conquer new heights. These are the reasons why Viettel is still determined to reposition its brand while it is in one of its most successful stages, and in the context of the most volatile market in 2021.

In 2021, Viettel announced its brand repositioning with a dominant red identity and a new slogan "Your way".

Viettel has not only changed its brand identity but also changed internally. The core values ​​have been supplemented with additional content so that Viettel people can practice more factors that are suitable for the changes in the market, and help the Group complete its mission in the new period. Continuously train and introduce these values ​​for staff to absorb, thereby conveying the correct and sufficient spirit of the Viettel brand in the journey of providing experiences to customers.

If previously most customers thought Viettel was a telecommunications group, now most of them see Viettel as a technology group. This is a remarkable achievement after more than 2 years of repositioning the Viettel brand.

Reporter: Brand building is a key factor to compete well with domestic and foreign enterprises. However, many enterprises have not paid attention to this issue, especially small and medium enterprises because they are still limited in many aspects such as financial resources, small scale, and weak technology platform. What advice do you have for small and medium enterprises on this issue?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: As I said above, let's start with what we do. Those things must have increasingly better value for customers and society, and gradually the brand will be formed. If we approach from here, any business can build a brand.

Reporter: Could you please share about the strategy and plan to develop Viettel brand in the coming time, especially on a global scale?

Mr. Tao Duc Thang: We will remain loyal to the vision of “Innovation for people” that Viettel set out right from its inception. New missions with the goal of bringing a better life to people will be continuously realized by Viettel. Those are the core elements in Viettel’s brand development strategy.

Thank you very much!

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