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XMAS AND NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
NGUYEN DINH THANH
Director of PR at Le Bros
From a communications per-
spective, the most impressive thing
in 2013 was the spectacular devel-
opment of social media in Vietnam.
The number of Facebook users in
Vietnam is now close to 20 million.
Social media has become a major
channel of communication for inter-
national and local brands, including
fashion, food and beverage compa-
nies. Even cars and luxury brands
have their own fan pages groups.
From CEO, CMO and CFO to journal-
ists and everyone in between, peo-
ple across the country continuously
post, share and like in bustling on-
line communities. Social media is the
quickest way to become famous, just
take Ba Tung (a girl who sent out her
image in a very sexy and provocative
way) for example.
2013 also taught marketers
about the other side of the coin:
a brands’ security could be put in
danger by any customers or online
influencers. A customer can share
negative feedback on their personal
blog, forum or Facebook wall and
then the information spreads like a
virus. People like and share, in many
cases, without verifying the credibil-
ity of the information.
In an age where print and even
online newspapers are losing trac-
tion to social media, a brand can be
destroyed overnight.
I see the positive however - the
birth of a more civil society with
increasing critical thinking ability. I
hope that in 2014 Vietnam’s netizens
will see less unfounded allegations.
I hope that there are more socially
driven brands and more interactive
campaigns on social media. I hope
for better e commerce and a more
tech-savvy government in Vietnam.
CÉLINE GUYOMARC’H
General manager of
Melia Hanoi Hotel
2013 has been a challenging
year for the hospitality industry in
general as the demand for high-class
products such as luxury goods and
upscale accommodation has signifi-
cantly reduced due mainly to the
difficult economic situation. Besides,
the increasing number of new open-
ings in Hanoi has heated up the com-
petition. However, all these factors
were expected which permitted us
to anticipate and be pro-active in dif-
ferent aspects of our business. These
efforts have brought positive busi-
ness outcomes.
For the coming year, we hope
to witness a more positive econom-
ic trend. In the hospitality industry
specifically, we expect an increase
in demand, both local and interna-
tional, with greater interest in 5-star
properties. Different factors make us
feel that 2014 should be a better
year than 2013, but it will still come
with challenges.
CHRISTINA YU
Founder and owner of
Ipa-nima
I think 2013 was special to
me in a very personal way as I
have decided to commit to sup-
port HAGAR – an international
organisation which is committed
to rebuilding and restoring bro-
ken lives for victims of human
trafficking, domestic violence
and also sexual exploitation in
Vietnam. I was very moved by
the work that HAGAR is doing in
Vietnam and also the stories of
the victims in the shelter home in
Hanoi which I have visited twice.
We have more than 400,000 hu-
man trafficking cases in Vietnam,
but you do not hear much about
it. I have spent quite some time
in 2013 raising public awareness
for HAGAR so that they can get
more support from the public.
So, 2013 was more about per-
sonal reward than business re-
ward for me.
I think it is difficult for anyone
to expect anything in 2014. In the
ideal world, I think most people
would like to see less natural dis-
asters, less violence in the world
and possibly an improvement in
the world economy. However,
these are all circumstances out
of our control. Part of life’s great
journey is in the experience and
so I am just going to embrace the
New Year as it is and hopefully
this will be a grand new year with
no disasters.