Week 9 - Vy Nguyen

Andrew Roman argues that understanding Vietnam’s cultural and regional differences is important for national branding and for navigating in this developing country. Even though Vietnam is not the best place to learn practices, but it is great if you are trying to start something new. This means that, unlike Western countries that are fully developed, social entrepreneurs still have wiggle room create and shape new markets in Vietnam.

“Everything in Vietnam is built on relationships -- with whom and how strong". In order to do business here, we must do it the local way. This means investing time into building relationships through coffee meetings and bia hơi (beer drinking) sessions. Facebook is also the preferred outlet for work opportunities, therefore, personal and professional life tends to intertwine. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Having been raised in Vietnam for 18 years, I have noticed that integrating the personal with the professional help develop a deeper bond; it builds loyalty, “credibility, authenticity and reputation” - which are everything. And as “contracts are essentially worthless", the best way for Vingo to survive is through our strong relationships and hopefully, our deep pockets.

Furthermore, when Vingo is finally ready to expand to Vietnam, we will choose Ho Chi Minh City as we feel that our business model work best there. Originally, we believe Danang was the best fit because, as Roman describes, Danang perfectly embodies “globalization and has the potential to lead the way in the future". However, Ho Chi Minh City “accounts for close to 25% of Vietnam's GDP". It has the “commercial and cosmopolitan aspects of Bangkok or Singapore”, and not to mention, all Vingo members were born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, we would be more comfortable with starting from the place we know best.

Question: How are understanding cultural and regional differences crucial for national (re)branding?

Works Cited:

• Rowan, Andrew. “Expectations, Social Context, and Miscommunication.”

Photos cited:

• Gaenzle, Anthony. Building 4 Key Relationships Every Content Marketing Strategy Needs. Digital image. Content Marketing Institute. N.p., July 2014. Web.