Vietnam makes progress toward a sophisticated media market

Of Vietnam's 76 million citizens, 80 per cent live in rural areas and of the urban population 54 per cent live in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. A particular feature of the Vietnamese population is its youth; 65 per cent are under 28 years of age and 80 per cent under 40. Vietnam has a relatively poor population with an average per annum income of around US$300 - though this is a significant improvement over previous years and does not realistically reflect the growing affluence for some sectors of the urban population. The Vietnam market is seen as being a small player in the Asian context; approximately US$90 million in 1999 for TV and print. However, this figure does not take account of other media, in particular outdoor advertising which is somewhat chaotic though popular. Additionally, this does not indicate the volume of advertising on television. This is easier to understand if one considers that a primetime national spot on VTV3 is around US$1,800 and, on average, US$300 on provincial stations (excluding Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City). There is no doubt that TV is the most important medium here for many marketers. This is not only because of large audience delivery, but also the distribution of that delivery, high penetration of TV ownership in cities and a rapidly rising ownership of sets in rural areas. There are, however, many print titles with strong, though usually, unaudited circulations. Radio is arguably an exception. Voice of Vietnam is national, however, it has some way to go in terms of programme development. Television has a two-tier structure, with VTV, the national station, providing the equivalent of network coverage, with three channels together and 61 provincial stations delivering localised programming. Additionally, there is a tiered rate-card system favouring local advertisers versus foreign or JV companies. This sounds like a simple structure and, on the face of it, it is. However, there are challenges to advertisers seeking coverage beyond the main urban centres - low transmitter power, cutting of advertising by the local stations and substitution of locally booked TVCs into VTV ad breaks. Even this is not homogenous, with different stations transmitting programming, cutting ads at differing times. Local market knowledge is, therefore, essential in getting an understanding of national and local channel delivery. There is expected progress toward resolving some of these issues as VTV builds more regional transmitters that it directly controls rather than relaying through local TV stations. Audience measurement is a relatively recent development in Vietnam. Currently, TNS Sofres and ACNielsen provide continuous diary ratings services for Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, with sweeps in Danang (Central) and Cantho (Mekong Delta). While this is far from ideal, it is a step in the right direction since Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are by far the most expensive stations and face the highest demand from advertisers. VTV is also rated, but only by its performance in these local markets. In print, there have been moves to develop magazine titles, particularly in the female category, and it is possible to have more creative executions with sampling, for example, tip-ons and tearouts. A stumbling block for development is the lack of auditing and research to make them more palatable for advertisers requiring greater accountability. Newspapers suffer less from lack of auditing, having high distribution in their cities, but a lack of research means they tend to be used more on a tactical basis. Vietnam doesn't lend itself to extrapolating future trends from the past. That said, research availability is improving and stations are beginning to understand and look at their programming from a more commercial point of view. TV spend is up considerably for the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year ago. For a media practitioner this is all to the good, though we always want more and better. Ultimately, the fact that clients are achieving real commercial success in Vietnam reinforces the point that progress has been and is being achieved.

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