"Companies want to know how they are being perceived in the market, and why people are buying into brands," said a HCMC market researcher, referring to his primary clients, who sell beer, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, and soft drinks, and are most active in the market now in terms of sales and advertising. "They want to know what is motivational." He said that TV advertising communicates big brand status. "They're getting bored of the girl seeking boy so switches shampoo ads, yet the market remains too unsophisticated to start decoding unstructured messages, so it's at a cross-road (for brand building)," he said. Consumer product makers are also trying to make inroads into Vietnam's distribution system, which is referred to in the industry as "functional anarchy," because there are so many small steps along the distribution path, each eating up a bit of profit. Said a HCMC-based consultant, "Four years ago the Colgates and Coca Colas were looking at how to distribute their imports here. They know that getting here one year ahead of your competition generally means five per cent extra market share 10 years down the line. Now those same companies are more interested in deeper and more specific strategies. They want the ratio between direct sales and wholesale sales, looking to increase direct sales. We do a value-chain analysis of the existing system, for example, and identify who to circumvent." Such a progressively scientific and sustained commitment to Vietnam's consumers seems to indicate that the consumer may have bought that motorbike as an investment, but since then they have entered the world of consumer goods and are choosing "their brands," and discovering the differences between them. Now the urban 15 million are now deciding not "whether to buy," but "which to buy." "It's no China," said one manufacturer, "but it's for real. Despite the negativity, I can't afford to forget this is the world's twelfth largest country." |