The state-owned national carrier, which to date has handled advertising in-house or used local agencies, has faxed a 100-point questionnaire to agencies and stated that they must pay US$3,000 to work on the business. In the past, the company has tried to remunerate its agencies with the offer of free flights to shoot locations, and little else.
The tender is being seen as the airline’s first serious move towards appointing a professional brand communications agency. Details of the brief are unclear, but sources suggest Vietnam Airlines wants to create a clearer brand identity and integrate communications in line with updates to the airline’s livery. The airline carries the golden lotus logo on its tail fin. The deadline for credentials submissions was initially April, but has been extended to the end of June.
Vietnam Airlines has enjoyed bumper growth since it was formed in 1995 from a number of state-owned service businesses. Passenger numbers have grown by an average of 37 per cent each year over the past decade, and the airline remained profitable through the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the Sars outbreak in 2003.
The company has ordered new aircraft to cope with a rise in demand from international tourism — up from 2.1 million in 2000 to four million this year — and has planned new routes to the UK and US. It commands a 40 per cent share of tourists flying to and from Vietnam.
