The power of purpose-driven marketing in Vietnam

June 21, 2021 by Fourdozen

The power of purpose-driven marketing in Vietnam

June 21, 2021 by Fourdozen

Having a point of view and clearly defined values helps drive business success

Fourdozen is an independent marketing agency that finds its purpose through its values. They guide our creative process, and help us define the brands and individuals that we seek to work with. They provide a rubric for day-to-day decision making, and we treat them as seriously as we do other more traditional business metrics such as revenue. By centering our values, we aim to do work that is not only effective, but doing work that is good.

This has never been more important. Young consumers in Vietnam are coming of age in a time of rapid change, not all of it positive. The world they are inheriting is one of environmental degradation, climate change, pandemic, increasing economic inequality and marginalization of the most vulnerable among us. 

We believe that marketing agencies have a role to play in turning the tide against these changes. By virtue of the brands they work with, agencies have massive platforms to influence opinion and shape culture. Fourdozen does not take this responsibility lightly.

Agency values shape its approach to work

Let’s take one example of how strong values can influence business decisions and lead to both financial and social wins. Every year, Fourdozen is approached by far more clients than it can serve, and so has to be selective in which projects to take on.

An important factor that determines whether or not Fourdozen will take on a project is how well the client’s mission and values mesh with Fourdozen’s own. As a Vietnamese agency, Fourdozen believes that local voices are important. In addition, the agency strongly believes that it is the role of marketers and designers to make sure that their campaigns are doing good–that is, moving the culture in a positive direction. Keywords here include sustainability, respect, non-appropriation, and creating economic opportunity.

By incorporating these factors into the process of choosing its clients, Fourdozen builds momentum behind the project, and ensures that the project will be successful from both a financial standpoint and a social one.

Three of our Fourdozen’s most recent projects embody these values, in particular the importance of elevating local voices.

Sông Cái Distillery

Fourdozen has been the agency of record for Sông Cái Distillery since 2019. Sông Cái crafts authentically Vietnamese spirits that emphasize provenance, heritage, and respect for the land and its indigenous inhabitants. Sông Cái has worked for years to build supply chains that fully incorporate local people and support their livelihoods while drawing on their knowledge to create truly unique products.

Fourdozen’s work with Sông Cái has been to tell that story. It’s a story of the land and the people who live there, of knowledge passed down orally from generation to generation. By highlighting these stories, Fourdozen stays true to its values while helping Sông Cái fulfil its mission. In our own small way, we believe that this work can contribute to a better understanding of traditional cultures that can lead to more respect throughout society as a whole.

A Bản

A Bản chose Fourdozen as its agency of record in 2020, and since then we have worked to tell its story as the restaurant has moved from dream, to concept, to blueprints and finally to opening its doors this summer. A Bản is a Vietnamese restaurant that brings traditional cooking techniques and ingredients from ethnic minority communities in the remote highlands of Vietnam to patrons in the capital city of Hanoi, hundreds of kilometers from where those techniques were developed.

A Bản’s head chef hails from these highlands, and is a passionate believer in the need to both preserve and spread highland traditions. The restaurant maintains strong connections with suppliers across the region, providing economically transparent revenue to communities in need. Fourdozen has worked to tell the stories of these foods in a way that doesn’t exoticize or essentialize the rich traditions of their creators. When the mission is meaningful, the work is joyful. Fourdozen is delighted to support a partner whose values of sustainability, indigenous rights, and non-appropriation align so well with our own. 

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)

The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) selected Fourdozen to manage two of its campaigns in 2021 that align with Fourdozen’s environmental protection ethic. Vietnam is home to some of the most productive forests in the world, both for timber and for forest-adjacent products like rubber. PEFC promotes smallholder-centered certification that creates benefits for local forest owners while protecting the land and improving forest management.

Working with PEFC was an easy choice for Fourdozen, as these campaigns stand to generate substantial benefits for local people working in forestry and agriculture. The campaigns gave Fourdozen’s team a chance to apply its creative approach to the task of improving environmental sustainability and rural livelihoods for years to come.

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