Companies spend big money to advertise products overseas

Vietnamese football fans, who watched the football match between West Ham and Arsenal on April 9, 2016, were surprised when seeing the words ‘LED Dien Quang – Made in Vietnam’ on the electronic ad board.

One month later, the ad appeared at a football match between Sunderland and Chelsea on May 7 before millions of British football fans.

The news about the Dien Quang ad at the British Premiership immediately appeared in local newspapers the next day. On football fan forums, people showed surprise about the appearance of a Vietnamese brand at a place they assumed was reserved only for foreign large corporations and strong brands.

Established in 1973, Dien Quang specializes in lighting and electrical equipment. According to an AC Nielsen’s survey in 2006, Dien Quang was the top national brand in brand awareness and customer trust in electrical products and equipment.

A manager of Dien Quang said the ad campaign is part of the company’s strategy to position Dien Quang’s brand in the European market. 

Dien Quang has exported technology to Venezuela and products to over 30 countries and territories.

When asked about the efficiency of the ad campaign, Ho Quynh Hung, CEO of Dien Quang, said the efficiency of the campaign has not been measured, but he believes that Dien Quang has reached billions of TV watchers.

Nguyen Trung Thang, president of Masso Group, the consultant in the campaign, said there was a benefit for Dien Quang that though it did not have to spend more money.

The mass media still helped popularize the brand when reporting about the appearance of the brand at the football tournament. This allows Dien Quang to shine in the domestic market as well.

Thang also advised Dien Quang to launch a sale promotion campaign aiming to increase its identification on the domestic market, under which the prize winners would be offered opportunities to watch football matches at British Premiership at stadiums.

Prior to that, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (real estate developer) and Ton Dong A (iron sheet manufacturer) also appeared at the football grounds of the British Premiership. 

In 2015, Ton Dong A spent multi-billion dong to see the words ‘Ton Dong A – Made in Vietnam’ appearing at 10 football matches of the tournament from August 2015 through the first quarter of 2016.

Thang said it was not costly to advertise products overseas, saying that the British Premiership airs on many TV channels, and therefore, it is cost-effective and efficient.