We encourage everyone to 're-gift' this new year.

To those less fortunate. If you are unable to receive a special Tet Re-Gift bag, fill any bag and call 01666 303 958. Ms. Nguyen. They will pick up and deliver to the needy.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Have fun and be safe.

Happy new year everyone

We're about to turn off the lights here and spend some much needed time with loved ones. We've got the next day to do a little spring cleaning and get everything tip top to welcome in the new year. That also means doing a little dusting around the shop to get ready for the new year. So good luck to all of you and happy new year. Chúc mừng năm mới.

Contributing to the cultural conversation

That's what we're starting to do by supporting Saigon/CreativeMornings. Over the past 12 months, we've tried to do work that makes people talk. Love the work or hate the work, at least talk about it. Now it's time to take a bigger part in the conversation. So starting tomorrow morning and every month Saigon/CreativeMornings will bring someone in to speak about a topic that directly affects the creative industries. It's not a seminar. Don't come expecting to learn how to do your job, but come to learn someone else's point of view on the very issues we all wrestle with daily. So tomorrow morning, actor/producer/director Dustin Nguyen is going to speak about how he balances his artistic vision and creating a commercially viable product.

What was your resolution?

Well, it's the beginning of a new year and we each have our resolutions. For some, it's to quit smoking, for others, to be nicer to others, for many, it's to eat less (and for one very lucky girl in our office, her resolution is to actually put on some weight!).

TBWA\Vietnam's resolution? We're going to make more people uncomfortable this year. And that includes ouselves. Yes, we're still going to bathe. But we're setting out to do more to make people question... well, just about everything.

We're starting with Saigon/CreativeMornings which will be hosted here at TBWA every month. It's a monthly speaker on a topic that relates to creativity. The first speaker will be actor/director/producer Dustin Nguyen who is going to discuss the balance between art and commerce - something everyone who works in the creative industries deals with every day. You can find out more about Saigon/CreativeMornings here.

We're off to find out what else we can shake up. Happy New Year, everyone.

What's changed in a decade

Found this info-graphic over at io9 and it just struck me as such a simple way to show some of the dramatic changes over the last decade. The most striking for me is the changes in technology and environment. China's power consumption is a great way to measure how far they have come in such a short time and just an indicator of how much the world has changed.

Facebook blocked again...

Whether it's the govt. or the ISP, it's just a sad commentary. First off because it's really just futile. The one place where information flows quite freely is the Internet. So you block one avenue and you can be sure that someone will find a way around it shortly. The only way you could really do this is to just eliminate the Internet completely. Ummm, yeah. Good luck with that one.

The best guess is that the latest move to block Facebook is to support go.vn, the government sponsored social networking site. Here's my question, if you're trying to become a part of the global community, why block a way for people to connect with the outside world? And is creating social networking within Vietnam really the best way to encourage any sort of cultural and social growth?

Well, off to Google a way to get back on Facebook. Friend you later!

Why Vietnam will not be the next China…

When I am asked about my experiences and opinions about operating in Vietnam, the most common reaction I receive is that it’s just like China was 10 or even 20 years ago. And yes, there are numerous points of comparison from the speed of development to the opaque business environment, even consumer tastes and trends.

But there is also the matter of simple math. After all, a population of 87.5 million versus a population of 1.3 billion carries such different weight in terms of consumer power, human resources, and sheer mass.

It’s living right in the middle of it all where the differences become most apparent. Vietnam is hardly China 1.0. After all, the paths of these two nations diverged in 938AD and Vietnam’s developmental path has been marked by a significant difference, colonization. And whether that was the French, Japanese, or the Chinese themselves, Vietnam has only had intermittent periods of independence during its thousand-year history (1,072 years to be accurate).

Where China has seen itself evolve from an empire to an economic superpower, Vietnam has discovered a new-found sense of self almost overnight. And Vietnam is still in the midst of finding it’s own identity. And that is the crossroads Vietnam stands at today. From where we were yesterday, where do we want to be tomorrow? And how will we get there?

There doesn’t appear to be the clear direction or momentum that China has had. In 1990, plans were announced to make the Pudong New Area the Financial District of Shanghai. The government declared a New Open Economic Development Zone creating an environment that was welcoming to the foreign investments needed as well as investing in the infrastructure necessary to create a thriving city in and of itself.

Instead Vietnam is marked by seemingly random growth, a take what you can/let’s just get it done mentality, a wariness of investing in the long term, and an evident fearlessness when it comes to long-term consequences. Maybe this is due to the incredibly young population? Maybe this is a remnant of the post-war environment? Regardless it can seem like you are amongst a population caught up in a mad dash for success, filled with a sense of living for today and without a thought for tomorrow.

And while there have been varied opinions of Vietnam as a developing market, companies wavering between unbridled enthusiasm and extreme caution, there is no doubt that this is a mouth-watering opportunity. With a population over 87 million people and rising, it’s still one of the youngest countries in the world and the population is growing by almost a million people each year. The population has proven to be incredibly open to new products and services while clamoring for recognizable brands. Accordingly, retail sales topped $39 billion US dollars in 2009 according to govt. estimates.

So instead of touting Vietnam as the next China, let’s start focusing on what the next Vietnam will be.

George