CJ Group establishes agency joint-venture in Vietnam

CJ Group's content and marketing arm CJ E&M has created a joint venture with a Vietnam-based agency called Blue Group, with the aim of boosting collaboration across media, advertising, events and cinema.

The companies did not disclose financial details. Campaign Asia-Pacific was unable to reach a spokesperson for comment.

Blue Group, established in 2007, has offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It bills itself as a multimedia agency with strong interests in advertising and communications. It owns a group of five companies including Blue Ocean, Aquablue, BlueLight and Indolink. Blue Ocean, the firm said, is among the country's top five media agencies in terms of billings. The Group’s clients include Manulife, Yamaha, AIA and Bayer.

"Vietnam has great potential in cultural and entertainment content," said Kim Sung Su, CEO of CJ E&M in a statement. "With CJ Blue, we can provide leading human resources and creative services to customers and interesting entertaining programmes."

According to Tarun Dhawan, founder of Vietnam-based Moblaze and former MD of Riverorchid Notch, the deal should help CJ Group strengthen its media vertical. “Blue Group has verticals in media, content and events,” said Dhawan. “This should help CJ Group in-source to Blue Group services it would otherwise outsource to other agencies when it comes to promoting their own brand.”

South Korea has strong bilateral and trade relations with Vietnam. It is also one of the biggest contributors of foreign direct investment into the country.  

Earlier in the year, CJ Group promised to invest US$500 million in Vietnam, making it its second biggest market overseas, after China. “The Vietnamese have been fond of Korean popular culture, be that K-pop, Korean dramas, or even fashion and food," Dhawan added. "This investment may help strengthen Korea’s position in the TV content space.”

The South Korean conglomerate has acquired several businesses in the country. It purchased popular Kimchi brand Ong Kim’s in January, bought Vietnam’s largest multiplex chain Megastar and launched a home shopping channel called SCJ through a joint venture with cable TV operator SCTV.