Lessons for Vietnamese Enterprises When Positioning and Repositioning Brands in the International Market

indispensable in the branding process for any business.

Currently, information technology in general and the internet in particular are developing at a dizzying speed. Google said that they have classified and indexed more than 1 trillion different web pages. More specifically, on average, each person in the world has up to 150 different internet addresses, which means that if someone spends 1 minute on 1 website, it would take 31,000 sleepless years to go through all these websites (Luong Huong, 2009). The number of global internet users is 1.73 billion (as of September 2009), the growth rate of the number of internet users compared to 2008 has increased by 18%. In which: Asia has more than 738 million people, Europe has more than 418 million people, North America has more than 252 million people, Oceania has more than 20 million people, Latin America has nearly 180 million people, the Middle East has more than 57 million people and even Africa has more than 67 million people using the internet ( Internet 2009 through numbers, 2010). Through the impressive numbers above, we can imagine how powerful the internet is.

But the reality is that the more information technology develops, the faster products become “outdated”. After just a few seconds, a new brand, a new product appears on the Internet, consumers are more and more distracted in making purchasing decisions because there are too many products with different brands coexisting on the market. And products are forced to change quickly to keep up with the “demands” of the market, and the task of businesses is to position the brand well and reposition effectively to maintain the brand position of the product in the world market.

4. The ever-changing legal barriers

With their special positions and powers, governments of countries have the ability to “intervene” in economic and commercial activities in the era of globalization. This intervention is expressed through “accommodating” policies or “prohibitions”.

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at different levels. Governments can sign free trade agreements with commitments to reduce taxes, expand the list of products enjoying preferential policies, open markets, issue policies to encourage international trade, and create favorable conditions for foreign enterprises when conducting business activities in their territories.

But besides that, the governments of these countries can introduce more “difficult” and strict regulations, requiring foreign enterprises to meet certain requirements to continue doing business. Typically, these are changes, additions, and issuance of new laws, laws, and statutes... and these laws have a direct impact on the business activities of exporters, such as: Competition law, quota policy, import and export tax, environmental policy, food safety and hygiene... These factors are collectively called “legal barriers” that any enterprise from any country must comply with when entering a foreign market.

It is the right of the local government to set up legal barriers (whether facilitating or hindering foreign businesses). In fact, over time and depending on specific circumstances, these legal barriers are amended and supplemented; and foreign businesses have no choice but to comply. When legal barriers change, businesses need to quickly reorganize production and business according to the requirements of local importers. To be proactive, businesses need to thoroughly understand the regulations and strictly comply with them, so that businesses can manage their business activities in the international market in a systematic and more effective manner.

For lawsuits, businesses need to find out why they are being sued – for not complying with government regulations, not keeping up to date with changes in relevant laws and codes, violating regulations on import and export procedures.

Exporting products often encounter problems with trademark registration in the international market... at the same time, it is necessary to have preventive measures to avoid getting involved in lawsuits and to have the best way to resolve them if a lawsuit occurs. Experience in resolving lawsuits around the world has shown that businesses need to actively participate in the investigation process, cooperation will bring benefits to businesses, sometimes contributing to minimizing damage.

To avoid problems and mistakes in positioning and repositioning brands when legal barriers in the international market change, foreign enterprises must have a strategy for positioning and repositioning product brands to adapt to those government policies.

II. Lessons learned for Vietnamese enterprises when positioning and repositioning their brands in the international market

1. Lessons learned from VINAMILK's brand positioning and repositioning activities in the international market

1.1. Lessons on the role of product quality

Product quality is a very important issue for businesses. Because the company's reputation in the community and the market depends a lot on product quality. Especially in the process of positioning and repositioning the brand, paying attention to product quality becomes even more necessary.

Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company itself, in the process of repositioning the VINAMILK brand, has also affirmed that. When the company encountered problems with mislabeling goods, the "post-crisis" period in Iraq or when the heat of competition in the markets of Australia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the UAE increased, the VINAMILK brand still stood firm in the market, all thanks to its stable and superior product quality.

For products and services to be highly competitive, they must achieve the goal of satisfying the needs of consumers and society in all aspects in the most sophisticated way: high quality products, reasonable prices... With the policy

open, free trade, manufacturers and businesses want to survive, their products and services must be highly competitive, meaning that businesses must be able to compete in many aspects. And paying attention to quality, good quality management is the approach and leads to achieving victories in fierce competition in the market to maintain the existence and development of the business brand.

1.2. Lessons on finding potential markets

For export enterprises, finding a potential market is a very important first step. Only when finding a market can the enterprise implement brand building activities and plans to position and reposition its brand. And the task of finding this market is the enterprise's own task, not anyone else's. From planning, market survey, market potential investigation and understanding the consumer needs and preferences of the people there are all the tasks of the export enterprise.

Directly exporting to the Iraqi market since 1998, the success that VINAMILK has achieved in positioning and repositioning the dairy product brand in Iraq is the result of more than 2 times the General Director and the company's leadership went to Iraq to learn about the market. Especially proud of the victory in winning the bid to supply milk to Iraq, VINAMILK has surpassed 15 large, reputable dairy companies in the world to win the bid thanks to the reputation of the business, high quality products, reasonable prices and above all thanks to the breakthrough market search plan of the company's leadership team. Not only that, in other markets, VINAMILK products are exported directly under the VINAMILK brand and increasingly gain the affection and love of customers.

1.3. Lessons on the role of collaborating with trusted partners

Have businesses in the same industry ever wondered what is the reason that helps VINAMILK to be able to carry out brand positioning and repositioning activities?

quickly, especially the “dominant” position of the Dielac brand in Iraq? Is it enough to rely on superior product quality alone? The answer is that VINAMILK has found extremely reliable partners. It is their trust and loyalty that has helped the company overcome difficulties in the process of building the brand. If they were not reliable partners, they could have “abandoned” VINAMILK when the wrong labeling incident occurred, and cooperated with other businesses when market competition increased – because there were businesses willing to spend more money, offer higher prices, and the profits of importers were also higher.

When suppliers and importers trust each other and build a long-term relationship, business operations for both sides will be more effective. They can plan together how to better understand the hidden desires of customers and make more accurate decisions at more reasonable costs. The importer will learn about market demand, inform the supplier, the supplier will give a "softer" and more reasonable price. Thus, both sides benefit and achieve their goals.

1.4. Lessons in choosing a brand positioning and repositioning strategy that is appropriate to company resources and product value

There are many positioning and repositioning strategies that businesses can choose from, but the chosen strategy must be consistent with the company's resources as well as the value of the product. In reality, businesses can choose to position the brand broadly for the product, choose to position specifically for the product brand, or choose to position the value of the product brand. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, is consistent with the company's resources, and is appropriate for each specific period and stage.

Typically, businesses do not have the financial resources to lead in all areas, so they often focus their resources on a few areas to lead in that area. Businesses often choose to

unique products that other businesses in the same industry do not have – and they become a special producer in that market segment. VINAMILK's choice to produce unique Soya soy milk has created an advantage for the VINAMILK brand compared to other businesses in the same industry.

In addition, to make the process of positioning and repositioning the brand easier, businesses should choose a specific positioning for their product brand. That is, businesses choose and emphasize the uniqueness in the brand personality, pursue and maintain that uniqueness in the future. VINAMILK chooses the positioning of "international quality" to emphasize to international consumers that: VINAMILK branded products have quality that meets international standards, and can completely compete with the leading milk brands in the world. This contributes very positively to promoting and introducing VINAMILK branded products in the international market, mentioning VINAMILK, in the minds of consumers "It is a Vietnamese product with international quality"... Enterprises can choose to position: best quality, best price, most prestigious product, safest, most convenient, most beautiful design or most stylish... However, the choice of specific positioning for the product brand can change over time to suit the business strategy in each market, each market segment.

Consumers always keep in mind that the product they decide to buy must satisfy their consumption needs, and the price must be worthy of its value. Therefore, in brand positioning, companies often position themselves in a "safe" way so that consumers can quantify the cost to achieve a useful, satisfactory value. For a company operating in the dairy industry like VINAMILK, that value is product quality, nutrition for consumers and their loved ones. VINAMILK chose "more expensive for better quality" when upgrading Dielac to Dielac Alpha.

has nutritious colostrum ingredients” – consumers will be willing to spend more, spend more money if the product has better quality. On the other hand, when VINAMILK positions its sterilized milk and yogurt lines, the products are changed but the price remains unchanged for a long time to attract consumers’ attention – that is the strategy of “keeping the same price but higher quality”. Besides, businesses can also choose to “keep the same quality but lower price” by keeping the product quality the same but increasing the quantity to make the product price cheaper, or using smaller packaging so that consumers feel that “the product price remains unchanged”. This method is also very suitable for the low-cost consumer market.

1.5. Lessons on flexible use of media

In the era of technological development, the number of media and communication channels is no longer limited to one or a few as before. Businesses have more choices, suitable for their advertising budget as well as meeting the needs and tastes of consumers around the world.

When positioning and repositioning a brand, businesses should flexibly combine media to achieve the highest efficiency. In the process of positioning and repositioning its brand in the world market, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company has flexibly used advertising channels as well as communication methods. Combining television advertising and internet advertising to meet the visual and audio preferences of consumers in different countries: advertising on television with Cambodian people, combining television advertising with radio advertising in Iraq, advertising on the internet with more developed countries such as Australia, Philippines, United Arab Emirates UAE... In addition, the company also uses other communication channels specific to each country, bringing unexpected efficiency. A typical example is participating in the Vietnamese goods fair.

high quality in Cambodia, participating in exhibitions in Australia to introduce VINAMILK branded products closer to consumers. This has contributed to promoting and positioning the VINAMILK brand in the minds of international consumers.

However, to choose the right advertising media, businesses need to pay attention to the budget for their advertising activities. If the budget is "limited", businesses can choose newspapers, radio, magazines... or if the budget is "abundant", businesses can choose to advertise on television, or other "more expensive" media. But that does not guarantee higher efficiency, because this also depends on the "visual" preferences of consumers in that country. If they mainly listen to the radio, advertising on the radio is optimal, if they like to watch TV, advertising on TV should be done to achieve the desired effect.

2. Proposing solutions to improve the effectiveness of positioning and repositioning brands for Vietnamese enterprises in the international market

2.1. Improve product quality

In today's integrated economic development environment, competition has become an international factor that plays a decisive role in the existence and development of each enterprise. According to many researchers, the competitiveness of each enterprise is demonstrated through two basic strategies: product differentiation (which is product quality) and low cost. Therefore, product quality becomes one of the most important strategies in the process of brand positioning.

To improve product quality, businesses can conduct research on products with higher quality by adding unique ingredients that competitors' products in the same industry do not have. As a result, businesses will create unique, high-quality products that are different from similar products. Smart consumers

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