Strong Potential for Healthy Brands in Vietnam
Healthy consumption could increase exponentially, demand far outstrips supply. There are not enough healthy brands to satisfy consumer desires. Cimigo just released the results of a research on Vietnamese consumers’ healthy choices, conducted across major cities in Vietnam and a presentation is available for free at www.cimigo.vn. The results are based on over 1,000 consumer interviews and qualitative discussions with consumers across different life stages.
Globalization, rapid urbanization and the emergence of a high-achievement lifestyle are clearly re-shaping consumers’ health expectations. If in the past, the highest expression of health in Vietnam was towards realising balance. Today performance, potential to achieve, confidence and energy are what really counts to a country that has tripled its annual GDP in less than one decade.
In spite of the dominant optimism and desire to thrive towards progress and evolution, consumers also see clear drawbacks in the current fast-paced socio-economical mutations. Strong concerns are voiced regards pollution and food contamination – such as the recent melamine crisis.
Consumers look for increased safety and reassurance at all levels of their food choices (traceability, clarity on ingredients and information on origins). On the same note and in order to fight back the side-effects of a high-tech modern life, consumers are still seeking solutions that can help them purify, cleanse and restore their internal balance.
There is definitely room for improvement in the area of health information and healthy marketing by clarifying the advertising messages (simple, explicit, single-minded), optimizing packaging expressions (making a better visual linkage between the ingredients, the product function and the end benefit). Campaigns on the model of “Soy is good for the heart”, which link public health and manufacturers in a common effort to sensitize and educate could have a massive impact. Subsequently increasing the speed at which consumers pre-empt new healthy behaviours and adopt new products.
Vietnam has a strong and long standing tradition of holistic health, based on the use of natural ingredients, medicinal herbs and home-made herbal teas. Even in a context of high-tech processed food standardisation, “natural goodness” is still strongly believed as being the best means to preserve and restore balance. However nature is not always sufficient to boost performance and capabilities in the short time and satisfy the immediate effects consumers seek.
This is why even if consumers still claim to be reluctant to take pills or any kind of synthetic medicine, they also admit more and more that now they seek instant effects and guaranteed efficiency: “Because the effect is faster and when I have a headache at work I really need it to end soon so I can refocus quickly”.
What consumers really expect is a judicious combination of naturalness and techno-scientific injection. A product that can bring them the efficacy of science but also the safety, the freshness, the purity and the wholesomeness of nature. Therefore, beyond the traditional set of “natural maintainers” (soy milk, fruit juice, fresh milk, herbal teas) and the more high-tech “scientific boosters” (high-cal products, nutrition solutions as Anlene) consumers are expecting more combinations of both natural and science – similar to the model of cultured milks.
Branding health and delivering healthy solutions is still at initial stage in Vietnam, but consumers are already able to sketch what qualifies as a healthy brand. It is definitely a brand that has understood their specific needs (like Omachi noodles that prevent inner heat). It often also combines a natural base and high-tech production standards (Vinamilk, Kinh Do) and in some cases, it was also able to relevantly recycle local beliefs and ancient remedies (like Khong Do, Dr.Thanh and AFC).
In terms of communications, most healthy brands are still seeking for a frame of reference and trying to find the relevant hooks and tonality. Currently much is done to communicate functionality (Ensure, Brand Chicken Essence, Ginseng tea brands), when the most effective and compelling health messages in consumer’s views are the ones that are able to convey the final health benefit in a simple, engaging and vibrant manner.
Vinamilk with the 100% fresh milk campaign is an example of how to pioneer new standards in a highly health-related category while using extremely simple codes and a humorous and playful tone. On another note but still playing on consumers’ expectations of simplicity and light-heartedness, brands such as Dr. Thanh, Zero Degrees and Samurai have also successfully communicated to a young audience. Anlene with a different style and towards a more mature audience has satisfactorily created a broad awareness on bone health.
Regarding the diversity of the socio-demographic segments to be addressed and the current fragmentation of health, there is definitely much to do for the marketing of health. Amongst the health segments that we observed as emerging in the course of the research, the most outstanding are: traditional health, Asian recycling health, techno-scientific health, natural and modern health and trendy health. Healthy consumption could increase exponentially, demand far outstrips supply. There are not enough healthy brands to satisfy consumer desires.
The opportunities in the healthy marketing arena appear boundless; the massive aspiration of society to see its children progress and thrive, support the individual desire to be highly achieving thanks to strengthened immunity, physical strength and improved mental alertness. Help people to relax, de-stress and rebalance on demand. Enhance beauty and maximize good looks.
The new demand for healthy products is for brands which can combine nature and science, in an effective and compelling manner. This must also be delivered with an attractive and convenient packaging solution and must incorporate high safety and hygiene standards. Ultimately, the brand and benefit must be communicated in an engaging and simple way.
About the author
Graciela Sylva, is the Director of BrandSight; Cimigo’s inspirational brand strategy division. For further information, please visit www.cimigo.vn.
Source: Vitenam News Agency
Date: June, 2010