Experience in positioning and repositioning Vinamilk brand in the international market and lessons learned for Vietnam

 Have a big impact on specific target customer groups

 Protecting products that are having trouble in foreign markets In fact, one of the PR methods that businesses use

often used, that is commercial sponsorship. Since the 80s of the last century, large corporations in the world have taken advantage of events, through sponsorship to promote their brands. They are willing to spend a lot of money to buy commercials in the middle of the program when it is broadcast on television, sponsor major events, participate in community activities... And this has brought amazing results, helping their sales skyrocket.

Through event sponsorship, sponsors leave a higher and longer impact on consumers' awareness and purchasing decisions than any other influencing factor. Because sponsorship is a two-way street, it creates a relationship between the sponsor and their target market. Sponsors convey the message to customers that they understand them and care about what they care about. Through sponsorship and humanitarian events, businesses are recognized as "new-age heroes" with a very high spirit and social responsibility. Consumers will have a good impression of the business and develop a "special affection" for the products bearing the brand of that business. Thanks to that, businesses achieve success in their business strategy and promote their brand naturally and effectively.

In Vietnam, this is no longer a new method. Consumers certainly do not forget the program "Firefly Lights" lighting up the dreams of the Duke Lady, "Millions of glasses of milk for poor children" of VINAMILK... and how it has brought great benefits to the brands of these two dairy companies. However, when operating in the international market, we rarely hear of any sponsorship program with the participation of Vietnamese enterprises. Perhaps because, the

Maybe you are interested!

Vietnamese enterprises do not have a clear management plan for this activity. Meanwhile, in the world, companies that always have effective PR programs such as Coca-Cola, BMW, Tiger Beer... have a whole department specializing in public relations. Therefore, to implement effective PR programs, Vietnamese enterprises should establish specialized PR departments, research and develop specific strategies. Only in that way, Vietnamese enterprises can participate in PR activities in the world effectively, leaving a good impression in the minds of international consumers about Vietnamese enterprises and Vietnamese brands.

2.5.5. Participation in international fairs

Attending international fairs today is becoming one of the very important activities for businesses in all fields and industries to seek opportunities to promote the image of products and brands of the business to consumers.

This is a very effective way to do it, saving time and effort for all businesses, whether they are "familiar" businesses or new businesses entering a new market. Because international fairs are always considered an ideal place for businesses, they can introduce and promote their products at the fair in detail and directly. Therefore, customers will be able to see the products with their own eyes, try the products, and with their own feelings, they will evaluate whether the product meets their needs and expectations or not. Businesses can observe the attitudes of customers attending the fair to know their thoughts.

International fairs are places where businesses and partners from all over the world gather. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses participating in the fair will have the opportunity to learn about the business situation as well as the moves of competitors from other countries, thereby having a "coping" plan if they want to penetrate the market.

Moreover, this is also the place where customers from all over the world gather, from those who are really interested in the products participating in the fair, to those who just come to the fair out of “curiosity”. From observing and trying the products, they will decide which products are good, which products need additional features… Thanks to that, businesses will grasp the remaining weaknesses in their products, the first impression of consumers about the products and propose appropriate strategies to position the brand in that market in the most effective way.

In addition to the above recommendations drawn from VINAMILK's experience in the process of positioning and repositioning its brand in the international market, businesses should also focus on the following issues to improve the effectiveness of positioning and repositioning their brand in the international market:

2.6. Registering trademark protection in the international market

The brand positioning activities of Vietnamese enterprises in recent times have left today's enterprises with a "bloody" experience, which is that registering for brand protection in the international market is a very important task. Some typical infringement cases that have caused Vietnamese brands to suffer extremely serious consequences include: the brands of Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba), Trung Nguyen coffee, Phu Quoc fish sauce, Saigon Beer, Vinacafe, etc. The brands that were “attacked” are all unique export products with high competitiveness in the world market, spanning all business fields, from essential goods such as fish sauce, fish, etc. to luxury goods such as beer, coffee, cigarettes, etc. The infringement methods of foreign companies are also very diverse: registering in advance, cooperating for a period of time to obtain secrets and technology, then registering that brand for themselves, or the host's intention to prohibit the use of common trade names in the market, such as the case of “Tra fish, basa fish” in the US, etc.

To be protected by law and avoid the above risks of infringement, Vietnamese enterprises must register for trademark protection abroad. For export enterprises, this is even more vital. Before registering for trademark protection, enterprises need to identify potential markets to research the intellectual property laws of that country, find out which intellectual property law system that country participates in so that enterprises can register under that system.

In addition, businesses cannot ignore registering domain names on the Internet. A short, popular, easy-to-access domain name is a convenient place for businesses to bring information, product images as well as brands to consumers. Registering trademark protection not only helps businesses protect their brand names from being taken by foreign businesses, reduce intermediary costs... but also protects the product brand in the long term, ensuring the reputation of the business in all circumstances. Thanks to that, the process of repositioning the brand will be much faster and easier.

2.7. Pay attention to international cultural issues in the process of brand positioning and repositioning

In business, culture is an eternal issue, in any era, any country, any business, the issue of culture is always put first. Culture is a collection of traditional values, ideas, beliefs that are passed down and shared in a country. Culture is also a way of life, a way of thinking that is passed down from generation to generation. Each different nation has a different culture, however, there are similarities and differences between cultures in the world. These differences create the characteristics of each country. And when providing products on the international market, businesses need to pay attention to the product must be suitable for the culture of that country.

Any business in the world wants to reach out to the world market, wants its brand to be known by consumers around the world. However, in the process of positioning and repositioning the brand, product promotion is not always smooth, especially overcoming language barriers. Therefore, one of the difficulties for businesses when positioning and repositioning products in the international market is to grasp the different language characteristics of each country. Each country has its own cultural identity that determines the behavior, attitude, psychology, preferences, etc. of consumers in that country. Therefore, in doing business in the international market, conveying an advertising message into another language is not simply translating from one language to another, but also conveying different ways of thinking corresponding to different cultures.

In addition to language, religion is also something that businesses need to pay attention to when positioning and repositioning their brands in the international market. The connection between religion and social life is very profound. Religion affects people's habits, their views on life, the products they buy, the way they buy, and even their consumption preferences. In particular, in countries that follow Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, etc., there are different concepts and ways, and their acceptance or rejection of a certain behavior is influenced by religion. Thus, it is entirely possible that they will accept or boycott an advertising message leading to a boycott of a company's product brand.

Therefore, when positioning and repositioning a brand in the international market, businesses should pay due attention to the cultural, linguistic and religious characteristics of that country to avoid making regrettable mistakes that affect the building of the brand's position in the world market.

CONCLUDE

When doing business in the international market, brand positioning and repositioning activities play a very important role for enterprises. Because whether an enterprise can build and maintain its brand position in the world market or not, all depends on brand positioning and repositioning activities. Especially in the integration period, successful brand positioning and repositioning play a more important role than ever.

Despite the limited time and knowledge, the thesis has partly provided readers with an overview of the concept of brand, brand positioning and repositioning activities in the international market, as well as the role of this activity in the business process of the enterprise. On that basis, the thesis analyzes in depth the actual positioning and repositioning activities of the VINAMILK brand of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company in some typical markets: Iraq, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Philippines... which have been implemented since the company was established until now, thereby drawing lessons for Vietnamese enterprises to avoid unfortunate mistakes in the process of positioning and repositioning brands in the international market. In addition, the thesis also proposes a number of solutions to improve the effectiveness of positioning and repositioning brands in the international market for Vietnamese enterprises in the present and the future.

However, due to limited knowledge, research and understanding of the problem, the thesis is inevitably flawed. I look forward to receiving comments to improve the thesis. Once again, I would like to sincerely thank lecturer Do Ngoc Kien for his enthusiastic help and guidance in completing this thesis.

REFERENCES

A. Vietnamese Documents

1. Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company VINAMILK 2005, Prospectus, State Securities Commission

2. Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company VINAMILK 2005 - 2009, Annual Report

3. Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11

4. Dr. Duong Ngoc Dung & Dr. Phan Dinh Quyen 2005, Brand positioning , Statistics Publishing House

5. Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Chi Loc & Le Thi Thu Ha 2007, Brand building and development , Labor - Social Publishing House

6. Temporal, P 2008, Luxury brand management from vision to pricing strategy , Tre Publishing House

7. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trung Van 2008, International Marketing Textbook , Labor - Social Publishing House, Hanoi

B. English Documents

8. Cateora, PR 1997, International Marketing , International Edition, p. 377

9. David, F.D.Alessandro 2001, Brand Warfare , McGraw – Hill, New York

10.Filser, Marc 2005, Actes des 10e jour ne'es de Recherche en Marketing de Bourgogne – Distribution, achat, consommation , Universi'te de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

11.Kirpalani, VH 1993, International Marketing , Pretince Hall of Private Ltd, New York

12.Kotler, P 2008, Marketing Managament , 11th edn, Prentice Hall, New York

13.Lacour, JP 1983, Lexique du Marketing , Editions Bertrand Lacoste, Paris, p. 71

14.Temporal, P 2002, Advanced Brand Management: Managing Brands in a Changing World , 2nd edn, John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore

15.Terpstra, V 1996, International Marketing , The Dryden Press, New York

16.The United States Agency for International Development 2003, „The diary market in Iraq‟, in The Iraq IZDIHAR project , p.6

C. Website Documentation

17. What do you know about Packaging design , 2008, posted on July 9, Giaothuong.net, accessed on March 27, 2010, taken from

18. Fighting with competitors , 2008, posted on July 21, Vnexpress.net, accessed on April 3, 2010, taken from

19.Chrissy, B 2006, „Marketing Professional‟, blog, August 14, School papers, Assignments and Projects , viewed April 6, 2010, xy.blogspot.com/2006/08/markpro-as-of-1125-am.html>

20. Vietnamese goods dominate in Cambodia , 2003, posted on April 21, Vnexpress.net, accessed on April 10, 2010, taken from

21. Agreement Establishing the ASEAN – Australia – New Zealand Free Trade Area enters into force , 2010, Australia Embassy Vietnam, accessed 10.04.2010, retrieved from

Experience in positioning and repositioning Vinamilk brand in the international market and lessons learned for Vietnam - 12

Comment