When it comes to marketing campaigns, national carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) is putting in some serious work to attract international travelers.
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The company's latest global campaign, called 'Reach Further', has been running since June in 10 countries, including France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam itself, according to Marketing Interactive.
Created by marketing communications outfit J. Walter Thompson Vietnam and directed by Mark Toia, a cinematographer who earned success in several ad campaigns for Tourism Australia, the commercial tells the story of a London businessman traveling to Vietnam in search of coffee beans.
But the real highlight of the video is its production value. From start to finish, Vietnam Airlines manages to make the journey look bright and glossy, all while highlighting its high-tech inflight features.
Upon the release of the TV spot, CEO of J. Walter Thompson Saby Mishra told Marketing Interactive: “Our ambition is to globalize Vietnam’s national flag-carrier by crafting a visionary and scalable branding system that keeps pace with this young airline’s progressive modernization schedule.”
Meanwhile, Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been eyeing a 20% stake in VNA, reports Deal Street Asia.
As one of the largest foreign contributors to Vietnam's economy – Japanese investment reached US$37.9 billion during the first eight months of 2015, according to the Vietnam Foreign Investment Agency – Japan has had its sights set on Southeast Asian airline companies for a while now.
Last year, ANA had plans to buy 49% of Myanmar's Asian Wings Airways for US$25 million but later dropped the proposal, insinuating that competition in the recently opened market was too intense at the time.
According to Barclays analyst Ryota Himeno, the time is ripe to enter the Southeast Asian aviation industry, as many carriers will likely consolidate in the near future.
“With low-cost carriers increasing their market share, legacy carriers will come under pressure and consolidation is likely to happen,” Himeno told Deal Street Asia. “ANA is carefully monitoring those opportunities.”
No deal has been inked yet, but the potential investment would also benefit Vietnam Airlines, as government officials are aiming to reduce ownership in VNA to as little as 75% in future, paving the way for foreign investment to help grow the company.
