Vietnam Building National Trademark by Agricultural Products?

Each nation has its own strengths, culture, natural heritages and trademark characteristics. Therefore, each nation will choose themselves unique identities for their national trademark, which should be different from others’. Regarding Vietnam, we need to find our own characteristics to evaluate our trademark. All strengths including a new destination; a diversified culture blended by cultures of China, France, and the U.S.; a profitable investment environment for investors should be carefully considered and researched to evaluate Vietnam trademark.

 

The question is answered by the speech of Prof John Quelch, vice president of Harvard Business School at an international seminar entitled “Enhancing Vietnam Trademark”, which was held from February 21 to 22 in Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of over 300 entrepreneurs.

 

Building national trademark is a complicated process which is planned in macro-strategies and is not is easy to realise. However, the work has common regulations including evaluating national trademark, choosing key national products and services, and propagandising the trademark consistently in domestic and international circumstances.

Evaluating national trademark accurately and differently with consistent and concentrated tradition will make the building of the national trademark successful.

 

Cultural and unique trademarkEach nation has its own strengths, culture, natural heritages and trademark characteristics. Therefore, each nation will choose themselves unique identities for their national trademark, which should be different from others’.

 

Regarding Vietnam, we need to find our own characteristics to evaluate our trademark. All strengths including a new destination; a diversified culture blended by cultures of China, France, and the U.S.; a profitable investment environment for investors should be carefully considered and researched to evaluate Vietnam trademark.

 

Singapore is a small country which defines it as a unique nation in Asia in terms of culture and free and healthy business environment. They consider themselves Unique Singapore. Malaysia, a Truly Asian, is an evaluated trademark that this nation wants tourists and investors to think of them. Amazing Thailand is an evaluation that the country wants visitors feel when they come here.

 

Each nation has its own products and services as representatives. Japan has car firms and high technologies; Thailand is well-known with tourism sector; France is famous for wines, fashions and cosmetics; the U.S. for high-tech products and globally famous webs such as Yahoo and Google; and Italy for well-designed fashions. What are Vietnam’s key products? Whether coffee, rice, seafood products or tourism?

 

Let think of the time when we go to restaurants for meals, each of them have unique menus that we often know before making any decisions. Being descended from an agricultural nation with coffee, rice and cashew nuts ranking in top three in the world, Vietnam should evaluate its national trademark with these key agricultural products. Even how much the world will develop; demand for agricultural products is irreplaceable. If evaluated as a world food store, Vietnam’s trademark will has a sustainable position and could compete well in the global market.

 

Each person is an “ambassador” of trademarkNational trademark is rather different from corporate and products’ trademarks as the subjects to be propagandised are large scale and non-concentrated including tourists who are overseas and local Vietnamese people.

 

Even though the country has an interesting and accurate evaluated trademark, the propaganda must be consistent and appropriate to particular subjects. Propaganda should be done well not only abroad via international channels, embassies, international publications, and websites but also locally so as to make every Vietnamese people deeply aware of the important role of the national trademark and each of them should be an ambassador of the Vietnam’s trademark.

 

Regarding foreigners, messages should embrace international characteristics and be expressed in international languages or native languages in big markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea. Local propaganda should be in bilingual, English and Vietnamese to help all Vietnamese people and foreigners in Vietnam understand and feel Vietnam’s trademark.

The note is that propaganda for national trademark should be consistent on all means of communications, and be planned in particular campaigns for the sake of resonance and efficiency. Suitable time for the propaganda includes prior to Christmas holiday and tourism seasons for foreign visitors.

 

An important work in the process of building of the national trademark is to make each person an ambassador of the trademark who will help foreign investors and tourists feel Vietnam’s trademark whenever they meet Vietnamese people. Building the national trademark in local market is of great importance and not easy to do.

 

If we evaluate our country as a friendly nation but visitors and investors meet unfriendly people dragging on tourists and hindering their investment while they come to Vietnam, the country may fail to build a hard national trademark.

 

Important role of enterprisesGiants such as Toyota, Sony and Honda of Japan; and Samsung, LG and SK of South Korea have actively participated in and built their national trademarks by global business expansion. The companies’ clients are fully aware of the origins of these trademarks that help them to look back on those national trademarks.

 

Therefore, Japan is known as a country of high quality and new technology; and South Korea emerges as a big trademark in Asia only after Japan.

 

With sharp rise in the number of tourists globally, national airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, ANA, Koreana and Thaiair have made great contributions to the building of national trademarks.

 

The presence of these airline trademarks has better people’s understanding about those national trademarks. Therefore, national airlines should take key role in propagandas for national trademarks on board, in international and local markets.

The U.S. trademark is famous for fast-food chains such as KFC, McDonald, Starbuck and Pizza Hut. These stores, despite their small-sized scales, have made considerable contributions to the building of their national trademarks. This has proven the key role of enterprises ranging from groups to small stores in the building of national trademarks. (VNE)