Raymond So, Chairman of Asia Federation of Advertising Associations – AFAA

Dear Mr.Tran Hoang, Ladies and Gentlement, friends,
Thank you for inviting me to join Vietnam Marketing Day. I have fond memories of my several visits to Vietnam when I supervised the organization of AdAsia 2013. Since then the Vietnamese marketing and communication business has made significant progress both in terms of volume and quality. The Vietnam Marketing Day will be a good driving force to keep the momentum going.

Marketing and advertising is important to the development of new economies like Vietnam. Furthermore, you are faced with a more complicated market which changes at light speed. You must learn and master the new tools to face the new challenges in advertising and marketing today. I am sure everyone will learn a lot of wisdom from the speakers at Vietnam Marketing Day

As a forty years advertising veteran, I think this is the most exciting time for young marketing and advertising professionals. You are given innovative and more effective tools to do your job better in brand building. Advertising as a marketing discipline is undergoing revolutionary changes every day. When I was a young account executive, I was told that advertising is a combination of “Art” and “Science”. To me, the “Art” element is much stronger than the “science” element. The creative concept and production quality of the advertising work is the most important factor in the success of an advertising campaign. The science elements are relatively simple, it is the market researches that give you a rough picture of the consumers, who they are and how they may behave; it is the pre-campaign tests that may give you an indication of the effect of the creative work; it is the rating or circulation data that give you a projection of the possible reach and frequency of the campaign; it is the post-campaign analysis that gives you a glimpse of the consumer response to the campaign. In a nutshell, the science elements are relatively simple and used as a reference for the art element of advertising. We make assumptions and predictions based on our experience and we are not sure how the advertising will work.

The digital age turned the equation around and now “science” is now playing a more important role. New media platforms, new interactive tools, new big-data analysis, new production technology, new devises, new consumer behavior, new entertainment……etc., are available and there is always something new introduced to the market every day. All these new technology made our life and work completely different. Science has become the key element in the management and development of brands all over the world as it has changed the landscape of advertising and the way forward. The latest focus on Metaverse is a good example. With this new development, advertising will operate in a new “world” with a new set of rules. It is a trend that will never stop or be reversed. As advertising professionals, we must now learn the science of advertising. We must embrace technology and use technology in a meaningful way. A good advertising professional must be able to use our creative talent in the context of the technological breakthroughs available to us. Advertising is still a combination of art and science. It is up to us on how to strike the balance and make the best out of it. If we can master the balance well, it will give new life to creativity and sky is the limit.

On this Vietnam Marketing Day, I would like to remind all Vietnamese advertising professionals to pay special attention to this fact. There is no more “new” advertising or “traditional” advertising. There is no more “digital agency” or “traditional agency”. There is only one adverting community that embraces technology and uses our creativity to create the most “effective” and “distinctive” advertising for brands. An advertising community that keeps learning and innovating and becomes the most important partner to our brand owners.

Congratulations to the Vietnam Marketing Day and best wishes to a successful event.

Yours Sincerely,

Raymond So

Chairman, Asian Federation of Advertising Associations
(2013-2021)