The Rise Of Facebook In Vietnam Media Essay

The Rise Of Facebook In Vietnam Media EssayReading Public relations at university, I am haltlessly fascinated by the graphics of communicating with and persuading people. Being a heavy bedmentr of Facebook, I am amazed how the loving interlock since its birth has brought nearly so some(prenominal) swops to the slipway people sh ar and communicate. This research paper is my attempt to check taboo the merchandising communication theory role of Facebook in my home untaught, Vietnam.A thought targeting at 100 Vietnamese network users and interviews with two industry adepts were conducted and analysed. I was able to sit in the positions of some(prenominal) users and marters to view the issue. Findings showed that Facebook selling communication theory in Vietnam is shortly at its spring chicken age however has had a very interesting journey of development. The young net profit community and merchandising practiti mavenrs in Vietnam love Facebook. Nevertheless, that is non enough to secure prox supremacy the kind network has to do much more in straddle to increase its digital influence in a highly belligerent market.Chapter 1 IntroductionOverviewThere lay down been a build of studies on effects of affable media on selling communications, a few of which use up a specific investigation on the complaisant network big Facebook. However, well-nigh of those provided focus on aspects in the West where the takings of kind media first happened and virtu whollyy of the merchandising trends originate. I am and then keen on doing a research on how fond networks and Facebook specifically charter found its ways and been apply as a marketing communications instrumental role in the separate facial expression of the world.Vietnam is one of the windy ontogeny mesh populations worldwide with about 30 million users, make up a third of the total population. The Facebook block issue which ca utilise difficulties log in the set start ing since late 2009 has not made this mixer network less attractive in Vietnamese users perspectives. Facebook marketing and communications in Vietnam moreover enjoys a boom when agencies devour increasingly comprehended the creator of the station in influencing auditory senses. This research paper attempts to mull over the character of this development and its roles to marketing communications in the eyes of both users and marketers. intentThe aim of this study is to investigate the current performance and future latent of Facebook as a marketing communications tool in Vietnam. It is because important to de experimental conditionine profiles of Vietnamese Facebook users and their behaviours towards the social network. Opinions of industry honests on how in force(p) Facebook is and will be to memory access and persuade audiences be besides essential. backbone atomic number 18as of investigation takeWhat is the current focalise of Facebook in the Vietnam social tis sue market?What is happening to Facebook in Vietnam? Is this tangiblely blocked?Who use Facebook well-nigh in Vietnam? How do they interact with the set?What are their concerns when development Facebook?How trustworthy Facebook satiate is compared to other(a)wise media platforms?How stiff is Facebook in wrong of marketing communications in Vietnam?What is the future of Facebook marketing in the boorish?The study is in world-wide to provide an insight of Facebooks performance in Vietnam, foc development on its marketing roles. It specifically aimed to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the social network as a ripening marketing communications tool in this appear economy.1.3 primingThe meshwork in Vietnam has had a fascinating journey of development, in tone of Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Director of Ogilvy 360 digital Influence. He believes that the rapid growth of the internet in Vietnam receives lose of troika main factors includi ng a developing nation, young population and the Government (Vietnam News, 2010).In hurt of statistics, a research in 2010 by TNS, one of the worlds biggest market research radicals, showed that 45% of Vietnamese are highly engaged in digital activities. The countrys figure is graded fifth part in Asia-Pacific area and slightly higher than the join Kingdom (43%) and the United States (42%). According to the very(prenominal) source of statistics, Vietnam is cognisen as one of the youngest internet populations worldwide with the average age of 27.Another significant receive of the internet in Vietnam is its growing mobility. Again, statistics proved it best when showing that Mobile internet in Vietnam saw a growth of more than 800 per cent inhabit year, toping a total of 110 million mobile subscribers in early 2010 (Vietnam News, 2010). All of these somehow draw an overall picture of Vietnams internet milieu with a young, mobile-going and highly-digital community.Social Med ia in VietnamLike the development of the internet, Vietnam social media has witnessed dramatic growth since its first day in the country. Social network economic consumption change magnitude significantly from 4% in 2009 to 64% in 2010 (Crampton, 2010). Social networking was ranked as the nigh important digital drill by 25% of Vietnamese internet users, skilful behind Emailing which was ranked first by 27% of the research participants (TNS, 2011).The social clear market in Vietnam marked its first turning point in 2005 with the swan of rube360, a web log tool which allows users to compose their writings, customise screens and socialise with friends. in the beginning the emergence of Yahoo360, the social meshwork environment in Vietnam relied on a few dominant platforms. Yahoo dominated the instant put across and emailing sectors darn its searching manipulation was relatively popular together with Google. partnership rogues varied when users tended to participate in t heir online local anaesthetic community such(prenominal) as school forums rather than a particular national-scale page. A similar plaza happened to video/music-share-out localises when several(prenominal) providers shared the popularity. After Yahoo360 came, it ruled the social media world in the country, possibly with the support of Yahoos early dominance in Vietnam internet services. Millions of Vietnamese enjoyed writing about their daily lives and gossiping honor refreshfuls. They gradually created a mass online community and a unique blogging bearing called Yahoo360.It was not a tool specifically designed for Vietnam market, barely the market took it any(prenominal)way, with great passion and en thusiasm. (Nguyen, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, 2010)Only people from mar dont k today about Yahoo, verbalise Hoang An, 21, one of countless sports fans of the portal, which has one of the countrys most potent brands. (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2010).The next turning poi nt happening to the Vietnam social web community was in 2009. Yahoo360 dominated social media in Vietnam however did not work well in other countries. The blogging tool failed to serve global customers, forcing Yahoo global to fill the service. The firm gave warnings about the closure several snips since early 2009 however Yahoo Vietnam has seen a mix of trying to maintain the ope balancen and investment versus tempting to close it down (Nguyen, 2010). The reason was as clear as the brand has achieved such a significant success in the country. Yahoo360 users or in this case a majority of the Vietnam web community were strongly against this decision. Nevertheless, their efforts could not help pr veritable(a)t the closure of the site in 2010. Yahoo Vietnam not long by and by that transmited a local blogging service targeted specifically at Vietnam market called Yahoo360 Plus. However, the replacement has not achieved such extreme success like its original version did. Since then, the market has witnessed the emergence of a number of social media, both domestic and world-wide brands.Facebook in VietnamThe number of Facebook Vietnamese users has reached more than 1.5 million in early 2011 (Social Bakers, 2011). The figure in 2009 was close to 40,000 and impressively doubled in 2010. Facebook estimated a number of 1.9 million Vietnamese users in 2011.The social network has a Vietnamese-language version along with its slope site users thus have a choice of the language they postulate for their own pages. However, language has never been a problem preventing the popularity of social media in cosmopolitan and Facebook especially in Vietnam. English was the only language used in some social media tools however, what really matters is that users can always nominate their own content in Vietnamese or any other languages. Facebook is furthermore an internationalistic social network thus designed to reach international users.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewWhen rese arching the performance of Facebook as a marketing communications tool in Vietnam, I came across a number of concepts and facts which help build a better understanding of the topic. In this chapter, I will then explore these concepts and their relations to the study of marketing communications on Facebook Vietnam. They include the growing roles of social media in general and Facebook especially to marketing communications, the place of Facebook in comparison to its competitors and the internet censorship issue in the country.2.1 selling communication theory to Social Media and FacebookThere are a variety of definitions of the term social media. Social media guru Larry Weber in his book Marketing to the Social Web suggested that The social web is an online place where people with common interest can gather to share thoughts, comments, and opinions. It includes social networks such as MySpace, Gather, and Facebook and branded web destinations like Amazon, Netflix and eBay. In epit ome, it is a young world of unpaid media created by individuals or enterp farms on the web. (Weber, 2009 4) verbalisming at at some other source, Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge (2009 xvii) defined social media as the democratisation of content and the shift in the role people play in the play of reading and disseminating information. In general, definitions slightly vary and all feature social media as new media platforms whose content is created on the web and by internet users.The term marketing communications meanwhile is widely concur to consists of the promotional activities pursued by the firm and includes personal selling, mass selling, (comprising advert and everydayity), public relations and sales promotions (Monye, 2000 11). It is the process of interacting with audiences or customers in a way that promotes a favourable brand image and helps build goodwill. putting social media and marketing communications together, it then results in the concept of a new com munications tool which is based on strengths of social web. Zarrella in The Social Media Marketing Book believes that the best way to define the term is to compare it with marketing on conventional media (including television, newspapers, radio and magazines). The author describes these traditional media as one-way static broadcast technologies while social media with new web technologies have made it easy for anyone to create and, most significantly to distri savee their own content (Zarrella, 2010 2-3). Marketing on the social web therefore does not require huge sums of money to embed their messages provided can make their own interesting content that viewers will flock to (Zarrella, 2010 3).Supporting the melodic theme of this growing power, Larry Weber believes that the social web has transmitted the way we do marketingRather talk at customers, marketers should talk with them. And the social web is the most effective way in the history of the world to do just that on a s tupendous scale. (Weber, 2009 4)Among a number of different social media platforms, social network gargantuan Facebook indeed makes up to the word giant. The reappraisal will focus on the marketing communications role of Facebook, which also seems to be one of the sites most significant social influences.The Facebook Marketing Book has a comprehensive summary of various marketing evasive action Facebook. According to this, mention strengths that make Facebook an effective marketing communications tool lie at its larger audience than old media and huge amount of personal information which has been volunteered by users to authorise the site then therefore advertisers (Zarrella, 2011 3). From big brands to small businesses, anyone is able to use Facebook adverts, applications, and pages to communicate directly with audiences and leverage their brand image.It is suggested that the diversity of Facebook applications, from messaging and depiction share to gaming, is beneficial to n ot only users but also marketers. Marketing people now have more platforms to engage with customers and scat out new effective strategies. For example, a Facebook Profile could make huge part as it represents how people share things with their large and very connected group of social connections. 500 million profiles on Facebook hence become uncommon sources of data for marketers to get use of In fact, this is Facebooks biggest selling point the site actively encourages users to fill their Profile with the type of information marketers are always trying to find all for free. (Zarrella, 2010 33)Facebook Pages, Groups and Events are also believed to be the key to most social media strategies and will more than likely be the telephone exchange point for most of marketers efforts and promotions. The popularity and importance of creating and monitoring Facebook page was emphasised as users nowadays wait at the site much the way we look at the internet 10 years ago and are confuse when they cannot find their favourite store or celebrity (Zarrella, 2010 65). In terms of statistics, each of 500 million users on Facebook is connected to 60 Pages, Groups and Events on average.Overall, Facebook is considered as a highly competitive and fast-moving groove but astonishingly cost effective, which if used properly can be an extension of your brand, fate you present the same personality, tone and visual faces as you would in any other materials (Zarrella, 2011 7).2.2 Marketing Communications on Vietnam Social MediaThe phenomenon of Yahoo360 blog in Vietnam resulted in the emergence of influencers who are called hot bloggers in Vietnam. Their blogs attracted several millions of page views at the time and many of them are journalists. The social media expert in her phrase described these hot bloggers as whom PR departments in various agencies incorporated into clients marketing communications and PR activities (Nguyen, 2010). In general, it could be said that from th e very early day when social media marked its visual aspect in Vietnam, PR and marketing have already been strongly tough in and interpreted advantage of the social web.The social web environment in Vietnam after the age of Yahoo360 has seen a rapid and versatile development, when a number of both local and international companies have united the market. None of them seem to have made a phenomenon like what Yahoo360 did however more social media platforms are acquiring popular. Among those, social networks have especially marked a significant growth in the countryThose who like local social networks became members of Yume, ZingMe, Tamtay, i-pro, Henantrua, Vietspace, etc., while others who like foreign networks conjugated Multiply, WordPress, Yahoo Plus, Twitter, etc. However, none rules the market (Vietnamnet, 2010).The top influential social media sites in Vietnam was recently summarised in the below chart by the Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence team.Figure 3.1 The landscape of V ietnam Social Media 2010 (Ogilvy, 2010)According to the research to a higher place by Ogilvy, social media tools listed in the smaller circle are evaluated as being more influential than those in the larger circle of the same sector. Vietnam overall is considered as a fast-growing country in terms of social web development. There are both local and international names operating in different sectors, ranging from blogging, social networking and music sharing to QA and online trading. In the sector of social networking specifically, Facebook is put behind three local sites in terms of digital influence. In other words, it is competing with local providers to be the top choice of online marketing communications tools.2.3 Facebook Block StoryFacebook is currently not the biggest social network in the country but growing fast in both number of users and influence on audiences. Its growing power has been proved after the blocking. The story started in late 2009 when it was getting diffic ult accessing Facebook in Vietnam, leading to a worry that the governing body would dismiss the social network. There were reasons for such claim because Earlier this year, Vietnams brass tightened restrictions on blogging, banning political discussion and restricting postings to personal matters. Police have arrested several bloggers for writing about politically sensitive subjects (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2009). The government and state-controlled internet providers did not respond to a request for comment. backstage internet companies meanwhile blame the spotty access on accomplishmentful issues, without offering an estimate for when the problems will be resolved (Ngo, CNET News, 2009).Facebook seemed to face its end in Vietnam at the time when local media started spreading the rumour that the site is going out of service and following the pathway of Yahoo360The Thanh Nien, one of the most popular newspapers in Vietnam, ran an article with the headline Facebook in in temperate illness. It hinted that this is similar to the process of what happened to the now defunct Yahoo360, suggesting maybe its time to look to other social Web sites. (Ngo, CNET News, 2009)The situation upholded sophisticated since there has been no official statement regarding the problem logging in Facebook in Vietnam. The only obvious fact was that Vietnamese users could not access Facebook in their inveterate way. However, not the investigation of whether the government blocked Facebook and why they did so, state of the site after that is more the concern of my study. In relation to this, spherical Voices had a comprehensive and interesting review of the whole issueWhen Vietnam blocked Facebook, everyone was talking about a smaller China. One year after the governments endeavour, Facebook Vietnam tells another story. Not only does Vietnam remain on the list of 10 countries with the hurrying growth of Facebook users. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011)The author explained a simp le reason for the to a higher place fact Because they can. If users in China have to pay for a VPN and go through a painful process to gain access to Facebook and other blocked websites, people in Vietnam just need to change their DNS settings and enjoy a full Internet experience for free.Information gathered from other sources showed an exactly same situation when Vietnamese users found and spread ways to access Facebook as if there had never been a problem logging in the site before.Some tech-savvy Facebook fans have found ways around access problems by readjusting their web browsers to a different configuration. They have been sharing instructions for doing so online. (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2009)Trung, a 15-year-old high school student, taught me how to change the DNS I figured it out myself, Trung said proudly, I just Googled it. Indeed, after a few Google searches, I found plenty of simple ways to bypass the ISPs DNS settings. (Ngo, CNET News, 2009)The commentator from CNET concluded Blocked web sites are new to Vietnam. However, this seems to be the first time people are out in big numbers looking for ways to bypass. This shows the popularity of Facebook and the desire of young Vietnamese to reach out and stay connected with the rest of the world.2.4 Facebook Vietnam to Marketing CommunicationsFacebook which had been doing relatively well in Vietnam, after the block seemed to catch even more attention. Its popularity immediately convinced marketers and PR people to take the site as a growing powerful marketing communications tool. ZingMe, which is the biggest social network in Vietnam and once considered as more influential by the Ogilvy team, now seems to lag behind Facebook, in the opinion of an industry expertWe have tried some campaigns on ZingMe, but the results werent very good. most(prenominal) of Zing Me users are under 15, and many of them log in ZingMe just to play Nong Trai (a game similar to Facebook Farmville). There are not many a ctivities outside games.Facebook is still the most effective despite its being blocked, both in term of interaction and conversion rate. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011)Fan page which can be created by anyone on Facebook and allows users to become members of a group supporting a particular brand or person has increased significantly in terms of number and popularity. It proves the growing power of Facebook as an online marketing communications tool in the countryThe largest fan page in Vietnam currently has 484,000 likes. For a market of 1.7 million users (and growing), the number essence that this page has reached to almost 30 percent of Vietnamese Facebook users. Imagine this ratio worldwide, we would have a fan page with 100 millions likes. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011)The article on Global Voices emphasised another factor showing the rise of Facebook marketing in Vietnam which is the shift of hot bloggers from Yahoo360 to the social network. Gao, real name as Vu Phuong Thanh, who was once a Vietnamese hot blogger on Yahoo360 is now arguably the most popular Vietnamese on Facebook with more than 90,000 likes on her page. She is also working as the PR four-in-hand for a new boy band in Vietnam. Regarding her media plan for the launch of the band, she shared that Social media, Facebook and YouTube, accounts for 60% of their marketing plan. Facebook is where people get to know about 365. She doesnt want to use ZingMe or other Vietnamese websites. The fan page of the band on Facebook had more than 7,000 members after three weeks.It could be said that the blocking issue has not had significant impacts on the users side since they are still able to access Facebook. The block of Facebook even somehow helped raise public awareness and promote the popularity of the site in Vietnam. Agencies have recognised the growing power of Facebook in marketing communications hence taken actions to develop this new effective tool. The current situation in general looks promising to Facebook Vietnam, yet requires further actions and support100% our customers are international brands. Social media is still new here, local companies dont allocate budget for it. that I think from next year there will be more Vietnamese companies interested in social media. Advertising agencies now understand the efficiency of social media, and they are the ones who advice and allocate budget for brands. said Vo Thanh Cuong, CEO of Click Media, an agency specialised in digital marketing and communications. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011)From the other party which is Facebook itself, the social network has also taken this as a serious issue that needs to be considered and dealt with thoroughlyLast October, Facebook put up a message on its race page that they are looking for someone that has experience in government relations work and navigating government agencies along with an extensive network of contacts in the government and the technology space.The recent visit of Javier Oliva n, Head of International increment of Facebook, to Vietnam suggested that Vietnam will be soon taken care of.They should- said Cuong Vietnam is not a small market at all. With a population of 90 million and Internet penetration rate of 27.5%, Vietnam is definitely not small. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011)SummaryThe statistics and information gathered above all in all shows an overall picture of the emergence and development of Facebook in Vietnam. A review of its marketing communications roles has also been covered through brief abbreviation and case studies. In summary, social media generally and Facebook especially are emerging powerful marketing communications tools. In Vietnam, social media has its own ways of developing and approaching users as well as an increasing power to marketing communications. The use of Facebook marketing is at its early stage but growing rapidly with positive figures and comments from both users and marketers. The censorship issue seems to remain sophi sticated but not affect the growth of Facebook in the country in a short run. Meanwhile, government relations and further support from different parties is the key to a more sustainable development of the social network in Vietnam.The literature review however has shown a colored positive picture of Facebook marketing and communications in general. In position to investigate the issue thoroughly, further research and analysis on both advantages and difficulties of Facebook marketing in Vietnam is required.Chapter 3 MethodologyIn order to study the marketing communications roles of Facebook in Vietnam, I believe that a combining of quantitative and qualitative methods will be more helpful than using a single type. I decided to carry out a keep abreast targeting at a variety of Vietnamese internet users and intensifier interviews with local communications experts. The survey is expect to provide numbers and facts regarding Facebook use of goods and services from the audience side while the interviews aimed to bring an insight of its marketing roles and future development in the opinion of local industry professionals.SurveyI conducted a survey which aimed to approach 80-100 Vietnamese internet users. As survey could be used to not only describe things but also explain them, data gathered from survey is pass judgment to provide public behaviour, population characteristics and also measurements of variables between which relationships can be analysed (Gunter, 2000 24). In this case, the direct of doing survey is to find out who are using Facebook most in Vietnam, how they are interacting with the social network, and how reliable the content is to them. At the same time, it is expected to make comparisons of characteristics between different groups such as Vietnamese spirit in Vietnam and abroad, different genders and ages.Designing, delivering and managing a survey was said by Barrie Gunter as not just asking a group of people a few questions. It requires much planning and a high level of skill in its administration to ensure that valid and usable data are obtained (Gunter, 2000 23).Firstly, questions were constructed using different types depending on the conclusion and nature of research. For example, multiple-choice was used when specific information is needed and could be easily made while opinion-based questions required a rating function. Questions were put in logical order, from general to specific and all easy to understand. Furthermore, the survey length was also taken into consideration the number of ten is believed to be reasonable enough as it takes participants less than five minutes to finish.Furthermore, diverse angles of the research topic Facebook usage in Vietnam were included, from time length, frequency, and means of access to content contribution and opinions on content reliability.Due to the fact that targeted respondents live in different separate of the world and all use the internet, I chose an online survey tool to carry out my quantitative research. Participants who were my circle of friends, relatives and colleagues could start the survey whenever they wanted by clicking the standoff sent via email, Facebook message or Yahoo Messenger. The reason for using different delivery channels is to ensure that the research will approach both Facebook and non-Facebook users. This includes respondents who use other social networks rather than Facebook and who do not use social network at all. This is in attempt to background bias and make comparisons more accurately.I chose my circle of friends and relatives on the internet as my sample because higher rates of replys and honesty could be expected using personal relations. They also represent a random thus typical group of internet users make fullling requirements of including different age groups living both in Vietnam and abroad.In terms of survey layout, the online survey provider was selected quite of sending an attached file via email to ensure professionalism and maximise the response rates. I also added an introduction which is short, realistically worded, non-threatening, serious, neutral and pleasant but firm because one way to increase the response rate in any survey is to prepare a persuasive introduction (Wimmer Dominick, 2000 171). Receivers who fulfil the sampling characteristics and know the sender as well as purpose of this survey are believed to be likely to contribute.Finally, as a function provided by the tool, data was gathered in an easy-to-use format and of import for comparisons and analysis. Reponses are available to be viewed individually and in group so that it is affirmable to compare respondents who belong to different age, gender and location groups. The survey link was available for one month during which reminders and following-up were regularly carried out in order to achieve the targeted response rate.Intensive InterviewsIf the research survey aimed to seek an overview of Vietnames e Facebook users profiles based on quantitative data, the interviews are expected to provide an in-depth paygrade on Facebook marketing in Vietnam. Evaluation on the effectiveness of something is believed to be best undertaken by people who create it. In this case, they are communications and digital marketing professionals whose work is to create efficient marketing tactics on social media. (See Appendix 2 3)Some expert comments on the issue have already been mentioned in the review of literature (Chapter 3), most of which however are relatively general. The intensive interviews were therefore designed and conducted in a way so as to provide specific, detailed and valuable opinions for further analysis. Since the objective is to obtain opinion-based responses, observational methods are not confiscate and intensive interview seems to be the only practical one.Areas of investigation include their opinions on Facebook development in Vietnam and its effectiveness as a marketing comm unications tool. The questions were constructed based on SWOT analysis model in attempt to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Facebook marketing in Vietnam. Especially, examples or real case studies are encouraged to be provided by the interviewees in order to back-up the statements.Interviews were conducted via email due to the fact that the interviewees live abroad and were too busy to agendum a long telephone interview. The lack of interaction and flexibility that this channel may result in was already taken into consideration. The interviews were therefore designed as a mini research paper which the respondent dealt with as an assignment. The positive side is that interviewees tend to take it more thoroughly with enlarge and valuable back-up information than some thoughts that come up at the time she gives the answers face-to-face.The interviewees were given a reasonable length of time ranging from one to three weeks in order to provide the most compr ehensive answers possible. Based on their responses, further questions were given to clarify an issue or develop an idea in more depth and generally increase interaction. All in all, the interviews receiv