Brand management will help sustainable business development, experts say

An online shopping page. A brand is also the bridge that creates a close relationship between businesses and customers. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI - Enterprises need to promote brand management for sustainable corporate development, according to experts.

A brand is not simply a name, logo or slogan, but also the entire experience for customers interacting with a product or service, making the enterprises easily recognisable compared to other businesses in the same industry or field. A brand is also the bridge that creates a close relationship between businesses and customers.

According to Associate Professor Dr Dương Thị Liễu, director of the Institute of Business Culture, not only businesses, but many countries today are marketing themselves and building national brands to achieve various goals like attracting investment, promoting trade and accumulating resources for development.

Vietnamese entrepreneurs have also contributed to protecting and developing Vietnamese brands in the region and in the world, Liễu confirmed.

Amid greater international economic integration, Việt Nam's multiple free trade agreements make building and managing its brand play an even more important role.

Vũ Đăng Vinh, general director of the Vietnam Report JSC, said that brand management is the process of building a strategy to improve the reputation and value of a business brand in the market. Effective brand management ensures that the brand is always consistent and attractive to target consumers.

Phạm Thị Thu Phương, director of AP Branding Services Co. Ltd., said that the goal of brand management is to increase people's awareness of the business' brand.

When consumers appreciate a brand, they tend to choose that brand's products or services, even if there are more convenient or cheaper options available. This demonstrates trust in the brand's value, creating stability and sustainable development for the business, Phương said.

With sustainability branding, Vinh said that environmental and social issues become a major focus, and many brands have realised the need to integrate sustainability into their core values ​​and business operations.

Building sustainability is not only taking social responsibility into account, but also creating a comprehensive strategy that includes assessing environmental impacts, ensuring sustainable sourcing and supporting the community.

Businesses must take more responsibility, from supply chain transparency to developing environmentally friendly products and applying sustainable business models. The brands that do not prioritise sustainability face a risk of losing market shares.

For efficient brand management, Vinh recommends that enterprises review their entire operations and identify areas for improvement, such as sourcing environmentally friendly materials, optimising production processes to reduce waste or implementing social programmes that align with core values.

Enterprises also need to ensure that environmental and social corporate governance (ESG) assessments and initiatives are applied to every business activity, from supply chain operations to marketing.

Associate Professor Dr Nguyễn Hồng Quân, director of the Institute for Research and Development of the Circular Economy, believes that developing internal resources for businesses should be linked to solutions for corporate social responsibility (CSR), ESG factors and net zero emissions in the business ecosystem to form a sustainable brand-building process.