Consumer Care - Vinamilk's Decade-Long Promise

On the wall of Vinamilk Marketing Executive Director Nguyen Quang Tri's office, there is a very special painting. In the painting, children are playing in front of the school gate, joy is shown on their faces. This painting is also hung in the main entrance hall of Vinamilk headquarters, this is a gift that a customer sent to the company in a recent event.

The painting is simple but it represents the artist’s appreciation for the Vietnamese milk brand. Mr. Tri believes that Vinamilk’s “care” mission has been gaining the trust of consumers. This reward is what the business always desires.

What is the specific meaning of the “care” mission that you mentioned? Vinamilk has just carried out a brand repositioning campaign. However, changing the logo or product packaging is just the outer shell. The important thing is what Vinamilk has represented over the past 47 years? In terms of appearance, we want to aim for a youthful, bold, energetic brand style, suitable for the new consumer group, the Gen Z generation. However, the new brand style does not mean abandoning loyal customers for decades. In the 47-year journey, the legacy that we have created is “care”. This is the core value on the path of formation, existence and development of Vinamilk. We take care of many generations of consumers with high-quality nutrition, that is something that remains unchanged. When a housewife buys a Vinamilk product for her family and relatives, that “care” continues to spread. Now, we are just upgrading and expanding our product lines to suit more consumers, as the trend of personalization is increasing. But “care” is still there and is spreading more and more.

You just mentioned the rebranding campaign, then the new identity was announced in July. So far, what are the results? I think the campaign has generated a lot of interest from the community, shown through shares, comments, trends on social networks or feedback from consumers... The sales team is also very excited about this innovation, this is very important. Because they will bring the products to customers. Currently, we have changed the product packaging for the liquid milk line including: 100% Vinamilk fresh milk; Vinamilk nutritional milk; Green Farm fresh milk. Data shows that in the past 4 months since the "change of clothes", the market share of liquid milk has increased by 3.2 percentage points. Although it is too early to confirm the results of the brand identity change campaign, this is a positive and encouraging sign.

It can be said that this is a large-scale rebranding campaign, with a fairly radical change. The front and back logos have almost completely changed. 55 creative experts from around the world have worked with us to upgrade the brand identity. After many rounds of screening, details for each category have been formed. We need to consult more foreign experts because they have worked for big brands such as Apple, Google, Giovanni... brands with modern styles. Vinamilk wants to take advantage of their capabilities, injecting new, youthful energy into product identity.

Changing the packaging is one thing, but the quality of the product inside is what consumers really care about, right? That's right, Vinamilk products have been, are, and will be continuously improved. Food must be delicious. No matter how good the advertising is, if consumers don't find it delicious, they will still leave. After rebranding, Vinamilk Green Farm milk was introduced. Let me tell you a little bit, we started the product creation process by doing the unthinkable. The problem for the R&D (research and development) department and the production department was how to create a quality product that is surprisingly delicious. Remember, fresh milk without any other ingredients is very difficult to differentiate in the market. We researched, tried, and failed many times, but eventually we had the first basic samples. Next, Vinamilk improved the sample, then released the final product. Here, the key is the technology in the production of the Green Farm line - “double vacuum technology”, which is applied for the first time.

Dual vacuum technology helps remove 50% of free oxygen radicals in milk. According to milk and nutrition experts, free oxygen radicals are one of the factors that greatly affect the uniformity and flavor of milk. Therefore, Vinamilk's successful application of dual vacuum technology is a revolutionary innovation in the milk processing industry because it has successfully solved the problem of preserving the nutrition and fresh flavor of milk. To make it easier to imagine, cows eat grass in the wild. We find a way to "lock" the scent of grass and flowers in the milk flavor, at the same time, completely remove unwanted odors. Thanks to that, Vinamilk Green Farm products when reaching consumers still retain the natural fatty aroma, a bit of grass and flowers and a sweet aftertaste, suitable for Vietnamese taste. The process of making the product is a testament to Vinamilk's creativity. It is consistent with the orientation when repositioning the brand and changing the identity. Of course, Green Farm is just the first story after the rebranding, there will be more inspirational stories in other product lines. We will reveal more right after Tet.

According to Brand Finance, Vinamilk's brand value in 2023 is 3 billion USD, an increase of about 200 million USD compared to 2022. What is the core factor for the above increase? As mentioned, creativity is the first important factor. In addition to the story of Green Farm, I can cite another example. Currently, Vinamilk has exported products to 60 countries and territories around the world, of which the Middle East is the main market. The Dielac brand is familiar to people here when it comes to baby milk powder. However, we still have to be creative. Vinamilk has a date-flavored nutritional powder product specifically for the Middle East market, and Japan has Vinamilk condensed coconut milk.

Recently, in the Chinese market, we have provided a specialized product, durian-flavored yogurt. People in your country love to eat yogurt and also love to eat durian. The R&D and production teams have worked very hard to create the product. The first order has not yet arrived when the Chinese partner has placed another order. That is the result of increasing creativity. Second, the commitment to sustainable development is also a factor that increases the brand value of Vinamilk. The Green Farm product itself comes from an ecological farm, produced with carbon-neutral green agricultural techniques. Here, the carbon-neutral journey is also unimaginable. Specifically, Vinamilk farms have applied biogas technology to convert waste into green energy (into gas to heat water to pasteurize milk for calves, dry grass and serve farm operations) and organic fertilizers used to improve soil and soil fertility.

In 2022, Vinamilk Green Farm has recycled 216,000 tons of water. To date, 100% of renewable resources at Vinamilk Green Farm are equivalent to the amount of electricity used for two round-trip tram trips from Earth to the moon, the amount of water for 86 Olympic swimming pools, and the amount of carbon neutralization equivalent to 30,000 green football fields... These figures contribute to affirming Vinamilk's leading position in the journey towards the Net Zero 2050 goal in Vietnam.

Of course, sustainable development does not just start today, but Vinamilk has been doing it for many years. Since 2012, the company has published a Sustainable Development Report according to world standards, which has been carefully, detailedly, transparently and audited by a third party. In December 2020, the "1 Million Trees for Vietnam Fund" implemented by Vinamilk in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment since 2012, completed its mission. The project planted 1,121,000 trees at 56 locations in 20 provinces and cities across the country. Considering tree planting as a long-term vision for the company's sustainable development, this year Vinamilk continues to implement 2 new tree planting projects. The first is the tree planting activity towards Net Zero in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with a cooperation value of up to 15 billion VND in 5 years. The project was launched in Me Linh district (Hanoi) with more than 1,000 trees planted. Vinamilk also regenerated 25 hectares of mangrove forest in the Mui Ca Mau National Park. In the coming time, it is expected that about 100,000 - 250,000 mangrove trees will grow, which can form a carbon sink of 17,000 - 20,000 tons in the next 6 years.

Finally, we have many domestic and international awards. That is recognition but not the ultimate goal of the company. I would like to quote data from Kantar, Vinamilk is the most chosen brand in Vietnam in the dairy industry for 11 consecutive years. This is the most worthy reward for the efforts of the team of 10,000 officers and employees at the enterprise. It is the added value for the milk brand. Thank you! Tran Chung (Implementation)