On the 50th episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, we talk to PR expert Minh Duc, who shares why 2025 is such a big year for Vietnam's PR and media sector. He reveals what you need to know about Vietnamese patriotism as a global brand and how you can avoid a big, ugly PR scandal. He also talks about how "social seeding" can be used to shift the online …

Ho Thuy Tien and Thue Quist Thomassen from market research agency Decision Lab return to You Don’t Know Vietnam to break down their latest Connected Consumer Report — and what it means for brands. We dive into why Threads is exploding among Gen Z, how brands should approach audio platforms and live commerce, and why Vietnam’s ride-hailing and digit…

Tammy Thi Phan is a Chief Digital Marketing Officer who spent most of her professional life overseas working for some of the biggest global brands. She spent eight years working at Google in Singapore—first as Head of Strategic Partnerships for Southeast Asia, and later as the Country Head of Marketing for Vietnam. She's now Chief Digital Marketing…

Cris D. Tran is a leading voice in Vietnam's blockchain space. He's the Regional General Manager Web3 (SEA) and Head of Growth (VN) at The Sandbox, a community-driven application that connects brands with gamers in the metaverse. Previously, he held leadership roles at Sovico Holdings, Infinity Blockchain Holding, and Frost & Sullivan, shaping the …

Vietnam's market readiness signals are everywhere. And they are strong. GDP growth is solid YoY with no signs of slowing down, and Foreign Direct Investment is at record highs. But what should CEOs be doing to get beneath the headlines and avoid getting their market entry wrong? Jenny Nguyen, a market entry consultant at Incorp Vietnam has the answ…

Quang Dung is the Chef Patron of Chapter Dining and Grill and Tales Saigon, which are two restaurants helping to raise the bar and push the boundaries in Vietnam's rapidly changing F&B scene. While Chapter in Hanoi takes its guests on a journey through Vietnam's northern mountains with an EPIC tasting menu and drinks pairing, Tales Saigon is Vietna…

TK Nguyen is as high energy as the industry he's working in: Esports. As the CEO of GAM Entertainment, TK leads Vietnam's most successful Esports League of Legends team as they continue to represent Vietnam on the world stage. Today, TK tells me about the explosive growth of Esports in Vietnam, and how it's become a legitimate sport and career for …

In this episode of #YouDontKnowVietnam, we speak to HR expert Hanh Ngo, who recruits teams for new hotels for the Intercontinental Hotel Group in Southeast Asia and Korea. With 15 years in HR, Hanh has a lot of insight to share with global brands or business owners who are looking to enter Vietnam to build a team. She explains the difference betwee…

If your company is looking for a piece of the action in Vietnam this year, this episode is for you. In this instalment of You Don't Know Vietnam, Ian talks to Jerome Buzenet, a business lawyer with 20 years of experience in Vietnam. As Partner at DFDL Vietnam, Jerome helps businesses enter and navigate the Vietnamese market, shedding light on the c…

If anyone knows about Vietnam's foodies it's Dao Chi Anh, the Director of Corporate Brand & Marketing at Golden Gate Restaurant Group. In her role, Chi Anh is across a massive 500 restaurants from 50 brands, from hotpot concepts such as Manwah to BBQ joints like Go Gi, plus steak houses, western restaurants and Vietnamese outlets, too. Today, Chi A…

Angélique Masse Nguyen and Duong Phan founded NOI, an agency that helps brands understand and communicate better with Vietnamese women. In this episode, they explain how Vietnamese women hold most of the purchasing power in Vietnam but still feel underrepresented in Vietnam's advertising and media landscape. They give insight about women's spending…

On this episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, we have the pleasure of talking to Michael Brosowski, the Founder and Strategic Director of Blue Dragon - a children's foundation that's been doing some of the most important and awe-inspiring work in Vietnam. To date, Blue Dragon has rescued almost 1,700 people from human trafficking. They've helped send …

Meet artist, DJ and producer Dan Nguyen, or Demonslayer. From archiving and reviving Californian V-wave from the 80s to DJing the Hollywood premiere of HBO's The Sympathizer, Dan has been representing Vietnamese creativity for as long as we can remember. Today, he tells us why Vietnam is finally getting the global recognition it deserves, what it w…

Diep Hoang is a content creator and mother and baby influencer on the channel Love At First Shine. She also has a podcast with her husband where they talk openly about the challenges faced by couples in the modern Vietnamese family. On this episode of You Don't Know Vietnam Diep tells us about the pressures faced by young mums in Vietnam and how sh…

Marina Tran-Vu is the founder and CEO of EQUO, a Vietnam-based startup that produces eco-friendly products to tackle the big problem of single use plastics. EQUO makes everything from takeaway food containers and cutlery to tote bags, tumblers and super cute pencils you can plant once you're done drawing. Today, Marina tells me why she chose Vietna…

Michael Rosen is a co-founder of Về để đi Spirits, a contemporary liquor brand and distillery making craft gin, rum, creme de cacao, triple sec and... wait for it... whiskey. Today, Michael tells me why Vietnam is surprisingly good for distilling whiskey (maybe even better than Scotland?). He tells me why Về để đi celebrates the unpredictable energ…

Hailing from the graffitied streets of Paris, Nodey came to Vietnam to explore his Vietnamese roots through music. The result? His unique sound inspired by old school hip hop, high tempo electronic music, and Vietnamese samples. Plus, a great studio album called ":-)", an epic music video for the song Đôi Khi featuring Suboi, as well as regular 3a…

Linh Dao Smooke is the COO of Hackernoon, a tech community website that has more than 45,000 contributing writers and millions of readers each month. But today, me and Linh talk about pretty much everything EXCEPT Hackernoon. From how she thinks Vietnam is perceived by people in America, to her experiences being raised the heart of Hanoi's Old Quar…

Thuy Hoang is COO at The Sentry, a collection of co-working and lifestyle spaces that house more than 70 startups and established companies in Ho Chi Minh City. Today, she tells me what young Vietnamese people are looking for in a workplace, the benefits and challenges of managing a young workforce, and the importance of hiring a great middle manag…

Meet Tuan Le and Phuong Anh Nguyen from The Lab Saigon. Tuan is the Co-Founder and Creative Director while Phuong Anh is the Strategic Partnerships Director and partner of The Lab Saigon, an agency made up of its design and creative studio, The Lab Creative, and its venture firm, The Lab Concepts, which invests in (and builds) new brands in Vietnam…

Keira Ngo is a writer, podcast host and research assistant who specialises in the prevention of mental health issues among young people in Vietnam. She recently earned the Fulbright scholarship from the US Embassy to study at the University of Rochester, New York, where she will study a Master's Degree in Psychotherapy for Couples and Families. Tod…

Michael Ngo is the General Manager for Southeast Asia and Taiwan at Elsa Corp, a Vietnamese ed-tech start up that's taking the world by storm. Currently responsible for a team of 100 people in Vietnam, Michael offers his insights into managing Vietnam's young and hungry workforce. Given his vast experience working in Vietnam and Singapore, we discu…

Phuc Map, real name Brandon Hurley, has risen to popularity in Vietnam by mastering the art of speaking Vietnamese, and being funny with it on YouTube, TikTok and TV. He's got more than half a million subscribers on YouTube and almost a million followers on TikTok. Today, he tells me what makes his comedy work in Vietnam, why satire is so easy to g…

Vinh Xo is the founder of Vat Vo Studio, a team of independent tech reviewers on YouTube with more than 2m subscribers. Today, he tells me why people in Vietnam are so crazy about Apple products, the worrying issues around data security in Vietnam, and his top tips for staying safe online. He breaks down why homegrown app Zalo is so popular with mo…

As a sports journalist and editor, Luu Thien knows all about the sports trends keeping Vietnam buzzing with energy. Today, he talks about the current sports landscape in Vietnam, the growth of Esports and niche sports and what's going on with Vietnamese football on the domestic and international stages right now. He also shares his tips for what gl…

Meet Jovel Chan, a food and beverage marketer turned blogger, founder and consultant. Jovel landed in Vietnam and quickly made her mark as the go-to authority of Vietnam's evolving food and dining scene in Ho Chi Minh City. She offers insider guides to Vietnam's F&B industry on her website jovelchan.com and is the founder of Saigon Social, the comp…

"In Vietnam there's a joke... when you say something ridiculous online, people will say it's the consequence of watching more than three hours of TikTok a day," says Bao-Khanh Nguyen, the founder of social audio content platform OnMic. Drained by his own experience with social media doom scrolling and superficial learning, Khanh decided to tackle i…

Nguyen The Cong, or Kelvin Nguyen, is a global talent acquisition expert. In his role as talent advisor at Vinfast, Kelvin is responsible for bringing global talent to Vietnam and hiring for Vinfast in its global markets. He is an angel investor and CEO at YouthPlus, a platform to help young people discover what they want to do, and connect with co…

Dang Thuy Trang is the founder of Vietnamese sleep company RU9, which offers young people solutions for better sleep as they look to prioritise their wellbeing. Today, Trang talks about the importance of sleep in Vietnamese culture, how her customers are changing so quickly, the challenges of doing business in Vietnam, and what it's like to be a fe…

On today's episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, we're talking to Timen Swijtink, the Founder of Vietnamese coffee brand Lacàph. With Lacàph's coffee, coffee shops and coffee experiences in Vietnam, and grand plans to export high quality, branded Vietnamese beans to the world, Timen is on a mission to change the global perception of both Vietnamese co…

Entrepreneur Nguyen Son is the founder and CEO of electric two-wheeler start up, Dat Bike. He's on a mission! To convert 250,000,000 motorbike drivers in Southeast Asia from petrol to electric, starting right here in Vietnam - the land of the motorbike. Today, he talks about why the motorbike is so important to people in Vietnam, why Vietnam has be…

Meet retail expert Quang Thai, the CEO of direct to consumer (D2C) company DTX Asia. Since moving back to Vietnam from studying in the U.S, Thai has set up a handful of lifestyle brands in everything from fashion, watches and jewellery to men's cosmetics and temporary tattoos. He's seen Vietnam's retail sector move rapidly from social selling to e-…

Ha Chu is the founder of Cooked.VN - a rapidly growing F&B school that helps its students learn about branding and marketing in the restaurant business. In today's episode, Ha shares what Vietnamese people really mean when they ask "Have you eaten yet?", why she thinks "phở" won't be Vietnam's poster dish forever, and also shares her three must-try…

Ivy Nhi Chau is the CEO and founder of Ivy + Partners - a PR agency based in Ho Chi Minh City that helps global brands share their stories in Vietnam. Today, she talks about how the PR industry in Vietnam is changing. She also shares her tips for winning brand love in Vietnam, what can go wrong, and her five steps global brands should take when ent…

Thue Quist Thomasen is the CEO of market research agency Decision Lab in Vietnam. If there's anyone who knows about the trends driving Vietnam forward, it's him. Today, he talks about how the challenge of working in Vietnam is what attracted him to start a business here, what excites him most about Vietnam, and what global audiences tend to misunde…

According to studies, more than a quarter of young people in Vietnam are depressed and almost 6% have attempted suicide. In this episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, We Create Content's cofounder Ian Paynton speaks to Hanh Ha, the CEO of a new mental health app, SoftenMind. Hanh talks about her own journey with depression and therapy, the state of me…

Linh brought the menstrual cup to Vietnam. And she had a real challenge on her hands: how to sell menstrual cups in a place where nobody talked about periods? 8 years later, almost 3,000,000 women in Vietnam have bought a Lincup and Linh says they're just getting started. Today, Linh talks about the entrepreneurial spirit and consumer habits of Vie…

Since coming back to Vietnam from studying and working overseas, serial tech entrepreneur Dave Bui has absolutely smashed it. He grew a healthcare information platform called ViCare and sold it to VinGroup in 2018. In 2019, he founded an interactive and super engaging presentation software called AhaSlides, which has more than a million users world…

In a country where the go-to music is love songs, Flow.D uses only his mouth to produce growly drum n bass with the goal to get Vietnamese audiences out of their comfort zone. Today, he talks about his personal development as a professional beatboxer, his experience working on commercial projects in Vietnam, and what the phở Vinahouse is all about.…

If anyone knows about lovers in Vietnam, it's Thao. Along with her team, she's planned more than 500 weddings - most of which in the up-and-coming wedding destination of Danang. Today, she talks about how the traditional wedding is changing in Vietnam, the conflicts Vietnamese couples have with their parents when planning weddings, the evolving tas…

Hanoi Rock City has been giving musicians in Vietnam a platform for more than 12 years. It's an institution that DA has proudly kept alive despite the financial difficulties associated with such grassroots endeavours. Today he talks about how Hanoi Rock City has changed during the years, the newfound success of indie bands in Vietnam, and what his …

Quang moved from Vietnam's northern mountains to Hanoi to follow his dream in documentary filmmaking. He created a film about Grindr that was shortlisted for awards - and also banned. Since then, he's produced multiple shorts about Vietnam's queer scene and is now working on a documentary about his sister's journey from mental health challenges to …

If there's an electronic live act to catch coming out of Vietnam, it's Tiny Giant - a genre-defying music duo made up of Linh Ha and Tomes. Their live sets really take you on a journey, with a mixture of electronic beat productions, layered vocal looping, analogue synths and an acoustic instruments. Today, they talk about the influence Vietnam has …

Annie Possible is the cofounder and CEO of tech startup Tubudd. It's a local concierge platform that connects Vietnam's foreign visitors with locals to ensure guests have a unique and pleasant experience during their stay. Today, she talks about why people can have a bad time in Vietnam and what it's like to be a woman in Vietnam's growing tech sta…

Justin Mott has been living in (and photographing) Vietnam for 15 years. He's shot more than 100 assignments for the New York Times and owns a commercial photography business. Today, he talks about why he chose to make Vietnam home, the changing tastes of clients, and what he's most excited about for Vietnam's future. Send us a text If you enjoy th…

Dung's been at the heart of Vietnam's hip hop scene for 20 years. He's witnessed hip hop culture trickle into Vietnam in the form of breakdancing, graffiti and emceeing over American beats, to the vibrant, popular and commercially viable rap scene that can be found in Vietnam today. In this episode, he talks us through the origins of his project Du…

Uyen Ly has been at the heart of Vietnam's arts and culture scene for more than 20 years as a journalist. Now, as editor of arts and culture platform Hanoi Grapevine, Ly is witnessing a seismic shift as Vietnam's leaders look towards art and creativity as a resource for growth. Today, she talks about the challenges and opportunities this holds for …

Joshua Zukas is the go-to guy for everything travel in Vietnam. Today, he talks about what people overseas misunderstand about Vietnam, the issues with Vietnam's tourism brand, and what business travellers can do to really get to know the country when they visit. Send us a text If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could f…

Hoang Pham moved from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to pursue a career in advertising. He's absolutely smashing it. In this episode, he talks about the state of advertising and creativity in Vietnam, which foreign brands are getting it right, and his experience with gender transition. Send us a text If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in yo…

From a small skate shop to a multi-million dollar fashion brand, Do Viet Anh has been on a 20-year journey with his company BOO in Vietnam. But it hasn't always been easy. In the very first episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, Viet Anh talks about how appealing to the younger generation saved his business, the pressures facing young people in Vietnam…