Football in

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What’s inside?

Page 4: A quick history of Vietnamese football

Page 6: The big five V.League clubs now

Page 8: The power of winning Vietnamese support

Page 11: It’s time we talked about the V.League

Page 17: Vietnam’s love affair with European football

Page 21: All you need to know: in numbers

Page 34: Vietnam’s football media landscape

Page 36: The opportunity for global brands

Page 40: Make Vietnam your homeground in Asia

Cover image source: Shutterstock

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A quick history of
Vietnamese football
Origins of the domestic game, from the French colonial period to the development of
football after Vietnam’s economic reforms of the 1980s

C
lub football has existed 1975. Although some clubs were
in both Hanoi and Ho established during these times,
Chi Minh City since the there was certainly no centralised
turn of the 20th Century competition.
with the ruling French colonialists Clubs started to become more
instrumental in setting up club organised and well-established
teams throughout the regions. in the north and south of Vietnam
Cercle Sportif Saigonnais were respectively, formed from existing
one of the earliest teams to groups and organisations in a
The Cong “Army” team in 1981 period where the country was
Source: Soha.vn play football in Saigon, quickly
followed by Stade Militaire, Tabert divided (1954-1975).
Club and Saigon Sport. Soon after In the north they were often based
the Vietnamese populace started on state-owned organisations;
to establish their own teams with the Army, Hanoi Police, while
Gia Dinh Sport in — what was in the south it was more about
then called — South Vietnam workplace teams with Saigon
being the pre-eminent example of Port, Saigon Police and the
the colonial era. General Railways team all
Most football in the first half established between 1950-1970.
of the 20th century was very But until reunification in 1976,
localised, with cities and provinces these teams were limited to
organising their own tournaments. playing their geographical
There was then a prolonged compatriots. The teams in North
absence of football in the Vietnam and South Vietnam
country due to World War II, and never played each other as the
then the first Indochinese War hostilities continued.
(concluding in 1954), plus the In 1986 the Vietnamese
Vietnam / American War that government took a dramatic
ensured football, or any sport shift in the way they organised
for that matter, was rarely a the economy and society. The
priority in a country ravaged by new Doi Moi (Renovation) policy
various conflicts from 1939 to heralded in massive economic

4
 reforms enacted with the goal of the 1980s, football in Vietnam
creating a “socialist-orientated slowly started to become more
market economy”. organised, less centralised, and
the existing league (operating
Essentially, Vietnam was open for
since 1980) continued to progress
business.
and become more structured.
Foreign investment first arrived
During the 1990s there was a
primarily via Russia and China,
significant shift in the way the
countries with similar political
sport and clubs were organised.
structures. But the collapse of
The traditional state-organisation
the Soviet Union in 1991, and the
and industry teams had to
effective dissolution of Comecon,
diversify and stand more on
meant that Vietnam had to move
their own feet. In response, they
forward with further opening up
became more geographically and
of business to the wider world.
community-based.
With a greater outward focus,
In 2000 the league finally became
eyes wandered abroad and
a fully professional football
football began to pique the
competition. Both big police
interest of Vietnamese fans.
football teams, Hanoi Police and
Since the Doi Moi reforms of Ho Chi Minh City Police, gradually
dissolved. Hanoi Police players
joined a new team Hanoi Hoa
Phat, while the Ho Chi Minh Police
team dissolved in 2002, with
players joining various teams,

With a greater largely throughout the south.

Without the backing of state

outward focus, eyes resources, these new clubs

required funding – and that
was provided by private sector

wandered abroad firms wanting to flex their

new branding muscles via the

and football began to

V.League championship.

Construction giant Hoa Phat and

pique the interest of other large construction and real

estate companies emerged: T&T,
Becamex, Thiep Nam (Southern

Vietnamese fans. Steel) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai

(HAGL).

They all became early investors

into V. League teams - with
Becamex and HAGL still
remaining as teams that play
today.

Words by Scott Sommerville.

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Vietnam’s big five
V.League clubs now

HANOI FC
The capital club, five-time V.League winners and the
recent dominant force in the league.

Star names: Many of the national team’s best

players play for Hanoi: Do Duy Manh, Doan Van
Hau, Do Hung Dung, Nguyen Quang Hai and captain
Nguyen Van Quyet.

Average attendance: 5,000-6,000.

Fan base: Its independent fan club often creates large

scale tifos. One of the best clubs in terms of fan
engagement on social media and their supporters are
known as passionate.

VIETTEL FC
Formerly The Cong (Army Team), Viettel are the
“people’s club” and one of the clubs in V.League with
a storied history and a link to the past. Winners of
the most recent title in 2020.

Average attendance: often gets gates of 4,000-

5,000.

Fan base: Everybody’s second team, a large fan base

(358,793 followers on Facebook) with active daily fan
engagement on the socials, despite them not having
mastered the marketing game.

Illustrations: We Create Content

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HO CHI MINH CITY FC
A club based in the southern city of 12,000,000
people – massive potential but has fallen short for
many years.

Fan base: Zero community engagement, no fan

interaction and little effort made to take the club
forward.

BECAMEX BINH DUONG FC

Backed by the real estate conglomerate, Becamex.
The former rich club of the V.League may have
struggled in the past few years, but has won the title
four times between 2007 and 2015.

Average attendance: 4,250

Fan base: An established team with a core set of

fans just outside of Ho Chi Minh City.

NAM DINH FC
One of the few clubs with a traceable history back
to 1965 (under various guises), Nam Dinh dissolved
in 2011 but returned to V.League 2 in 2014. Finally
returned to the top flight in 2018.

Average attendance: Nam Dinh are the best

supported team in the league – often selling out
the Thien Truong Stadium. In 2020 they averaged
12,333 fans per game.

Fan base: When travelling to either Ho Chi Minh

City or Hanoi they also boast a strong away
following, with 2,000-3,000 showing up.

Illustrations: We Create Content

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The power of winning
Vietnamese support
Known for their passion and energy, fans in Vietnam will turn up for football clubs
that get it right with their signings, online content and community management

B
uilding a community and They were a static, one-town contained 9 players from the
fanbase has never been team, they hadn’t moved around, academy, with 7 HAGL players
easy. While local teams and changed sponsors – they being called up to the most
were slow in building on were formed by a businessman recently senior squad in December
their home-turf advantage, it now who had grown up in Gia Lai. 2020.
meant that overseas teams had, They were the “safe-bet” who
This success off the field also
through no direct action of their were going to be around for a
created growth on the field: the
own, a fanbase in Vietnam. long time.
V.League’s most popular Youtube
One foreign club to see this The academy that was set up channel is Hoang Anh Gia Lai,
happening earlier than most was in the form of a tie-in was a with 327,000 subscribers. They
Arsenal, who signed a partnership fantastic success, and many years have amassed 427,000 Facebook
with Hoang Anh Gia Lai, a later the junior national team followers through little concerted
relatively small and provincial would reap the rewards of the marketing efforts.
team from the Central Highlands. HAGL Academy.
Players carry the hopes of a
However, HAGL had something The much-lauded Vietnam U23 nation on their shoulders -
that most Vietnamese teams did team that reached the final of the Vietnamese players abroad
not; a community. 2018 AFC U23 Championship
Vietnam is a staunchly
nationalistic country (in the
good sense), and Vietnamese
supporters are no different.
When a player or team represents
the country, the support for them
is incredible.

In June 2019 24-year-old striker

Overnight the club Nguyen Cong Phuong nicknamed
the “Vietnamese Messi” due to

had become one of his short and stocky frame left

HAGL for the tiny Belgian club,
Sint-Truidense VV. In the days
the best-followed before his arrival, the Belgian
club had a rather modest 3,200

clubs in the league. Facebook followers. A day after

the announcement that Cong
Phuong was joining the team,
their followers increased ten-fold,
overnight the club had become

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 Doan Van Hau at SC Heerenveen in
the Netherlands. Source: Dan Tri

one the best-followed clubs in the Heerenveen in the Netherlands,

Belgian league. earning USD$22,000 a month
(the minimum required by the
Similarly, a few months after
league for foreign imports). The
Cong Phuong left these shores,
year previously, SC Heerenveen
young fresh-faced left back, Doan
had finished 8th in the Eredivisie,
Van Hau left Hanoi FC for SC
qualifying for the European
competition play-offs. Within
hours of the announcement,
Heerenveen’s social media
numbers exploded with fans from
Vietnam. The club’s Facebook
page saw an increase of 20%,

Within hours of the from 70k to 100k), within 5 days

that had increased to 230,000
followers. Van Hau’s personal
announcement, Facebook page increased to 1.3m
followers.

Heerenveen’s social Unfortunately, neither player

made an impact on the pitch, with

media exploded. both returning to the V.League.

However, given Van Hau’s young
age and obvious ability there is a
good chance that he could have a

9
similar impact at any other club in are around 60 Manchester United Starbucks, ride-sharing apps
Europe. FC supporter groups on Facebook and food delivery on your phone:
alone, most with followers varying however, football has remained
With Vietnam soccer fans being
between 5,000 and 650,000. largely stayed static. The facilities
more connected than ever, and
are old, crumbling and desperate
more supportive of local players, These are pages set up by fans,
for a lick of paint – amenities,
you could envisage a foreign to talk about the team, with very
stores and merchandise are
club attracting 500k followers limited funds or organisation.
non-existent; football has fallen
through the correct signing of the
Offline, clubs are starting to behind society in Vietnam and
Vietnamese player.
realise the potential of the offers nothing in terms of a fan
On TV, Heerenveen games Vietnamese football fans. At the experience or engagement.
were being shown live every end of 2020, FC Barcelona verified
This is one of the reasons
week, despite Van Hau getting the first Vietnam supporter
Vietnamese fans attach
few opportunities to make an group within Vietnam and that
themselves so much to clubs like
appearance. Van Hau’s only followed other teams such as
Liverpool. Liverpool has an official
appearance for SC Heerenveen Liverpool, Real Madrid, Chelsea
supporters club, it has a Facebook
has been watched more than four and Manchester United, who
page just for Vietnamese fans to
million times on Youtube. have done similar. The supporter
absorb, it sends former players to
groups arrange mass viewing
Domestic support grows for the country to take part in events:
parties, where up-to 1,000
foreign teams European clubs are able to help to
fans will congregate to watch
build the communities for loyalty
Hoi CDV Barcelona tai VN - Cules the games together, with some
and engagement.
in VietNam is the premier support fans using the opportunity to
group in Vietnam for fans of the sell merchandise and increase The quality of European football
Spanish giants, FC Barcelona. traffic through their social media is likely to exceed domestic
The Facebook page has 351,000 channels. football for a long, long time,
followers and arranges watch which means Vietnamese football
Vietnam is developing at an
along parties, competitions and fans will always prefer to watch
incredible speed, just 15 years
promotes support of the team the Bundesliga, La Liga or the
ago even in the big cities of Hanoi
throughout the country. Premier League – they will prefer
and Ho Chi Minh City there were
to consume the content, buy
Each Premier League team in the few malls and very few chain
the shirts and support the well
country has a variety of different restaurants or trendy coffee
established teams.
online supporters groups, there shops. Now, Ho Chi Minh City
has over 20 malls, McDonalds, This, taken together with the
continued failure of Vietnamese
club teams to adapt, to become
more engaging and community-
focused, will keep pushing the
“regular” football fan to seek the
more polished product: the teams

Clubs are starting to with great online content and

engaging events.

realise the potential Words by Scott Sommerville.

of Vietnamese
football fans.

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It’s time we talked
about the V.League
Despite progress, the V.League is yet to truly capture the energy of its fans,
commercial partners and a newly-emerging cohort of Vietnamese coaches, sports
management and marketing professionals. In this roundtable, we get honest about
the highs and lows of Vietnam’s domestic football scene

Joining the conversation...

Richard Harcus Dzung Le Stevie Nguyen Poul-Henrik Worm

CEO of Harcus Author, technical Head of Marketing, Saigon FC fan and
Consultancy Group coordinator at PVF Next Media long term Ho Chi
football Academy, Minh City resident
CEO at Pho Hien FC

V
ietnamese fans love to know what happens and
to follow the national will be happy when they win.
team and foreign Football is the most popular
football, but do not sport in Vietnam so it gets more
turn out in the same numbers attention, and the way people
for V.League teams. Why? react to successes is great,
This discussion was brought but most people don’t consider
together in partnership with Dzung Le: The focus on the themselves to be true football
Harcus Consultancy Group, a Vietnam national team is like in fans.
football consultancy company the Olympic Games. Normally
based in HCM City and you don’t really care about Stevie Nguyen: V.League fans
Singapore. Find out more archery but when the athlete tend to love the club where they
about Richard Harcus on Page representing your country is were born but it isn’t the same
16 of this whitepaper. competing, hell yes you’ll want as the passion they have for the

11
 national team. Most of the teams [local] clubs are coming from
have experienced many ups and just a few, and there are plenty
downs, unstable performance of teams that really just exist to
both on and off the pitch. They fulfill a political mission or that
lack history and tradition. And have no real reason to care about
typically, changing the main developing themselves at all.
sponsor can lead to changes in Even in some of the biggest clubs,
the team’s structure, gameplay, the impetus to improve comes
and players. The identity and primarily from some sort of
values ​​developed by the team “feeling for the sport” or “a love
before can disappear completely. for football”, which aren’t things
The organisation, expertise, that can properly help in the long
communication, and facilities run, not without good commercial
still need to be improved for the and social responsibility targets.
leagues to truly become a top
entertainment choice. Richard Harcus: Fans are also
used to watching a higher
Dzung Le: Most of the standard of football on TV.
improvements made by the They’re more likely to support
Chelsea than they are Nam Dinh.
Many fans I’ve spoken to don’t
feel close to the clubs in their
city. There is a clear division
between the clubs and the

Typically a change in
communities they’re supposed
to represent. Clubs come out of
a community, you don’t try to

sponsor can lead to enforce a community around a

club. In Vietnam, many clubs are
created, then they try to create a
changes in the team’s community around them. They do
it poorly and the model is upside

structure, gameplay down, back to front. It’s not a

model that has ever worked in
football.

and players. Poul-Henrik Worm: I believe

the league format itself is
unattractive. A ‘normal’ 26-
game season means that not
only is there better football on
television, there’s also a lot more
of it. The small number of games
in the V. League also makes
for several long breaks during
the season and it’s difficult to
maintain enthusiasm for a team
who is not playing for the next
two months while your Premier
League heroes have two matches
a week.

How about the matchday

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experiences in Vietnam? and really not fit for purpose. The corruption and bias. Ask the fans
Is there anything we can learn toilets are terrible for men, so I if they think it has worked. I’m far
from clubs abroad in terms of don’t even want to think of what from convinced. I’m going to say
match day experiences? it’s like for women. And what if your average fan will say no. A
I want to buy a club scarf? You few years ago maybe they would
Stevie Nguyen: I’ve visited would think these clubs didn’t be more aware, but I think that
several stadiums to watch need money. The way they many fans are so apathetic now
V.League matches. Fans here take the fanbase for granted is that they may have forgotten,
are very passionate. I believe unforgivable. Fans in Vietnam don’t know and sadly some no
their love is no different to fans deserve better, but in many cases longer care.
anywhere else in the world. they simply don’t know what
They cheer on their team during “better” is, as they don’t know Stevie Nguyen: VPF has made
the match, and cultivate an what a real football experience positive developments to the
extremely impressive atmosphere is like. Those that think the V.League since its inception:
in the stadium, especially in Thien understanding and passion is there’s been more professional
Truong, Hang Day or Thanh the same as Europe simply don’t organisation, more general
Hoa stadium. But issues with understand football fans, or ever communication, and more
transport infrastructure and experienced a real matchday. financial prosperity. Their efforts
facilities like entrances, stands contribute to making the leagues
and restrooms still definitely Poul-Henrik Worm: Fans in more attractive and add to
need to be improved. Right now leagues around Europe are football’s success here. However,
they prevent the match day made to feel like they are - or at they can’t change the whole
experience from being entirely least can be - part of the whole face of national football. This
enjoyable. experience. Before and during the mission belongs to the whole of
game, teams often involve the Vietnamese football, consisting
Dzung Le: There are stadium speaker in energising of the football community, clubs,
improvements made at some the fans, for example when enterprises, players, coaches and
stadiums such as Hanoi’s Hang announcing the starting lineups managers.
Day, HCM City’s Thong Nhat, and goal scorers, and at half-
Cam Pha’s Quang Ninh, PVF time there’s more entertainment Dzung Le: VPF was an initiative
and recently Hai Phong’s Lach and competitions like musical to bring in transparency over
Tray. The quality of turfing is performances, penalty shoot- the management of the league,
becoming better as a trend. But outs or prize raffles with numbers mostly regarding TV rights deals
maintenance continues to be a in the matchday programmes. and attempting to address the
huge problem that clubs aren’t None of this exists in Vietnam, quality of referees. VPF was
really paying enough money or but the biggest lesson to learn considered to be a revolution
attention to address. A lot of is that European clubs put in the bringing power to the clubs, so
stadiums are fairly old now and effort to find out what the fans in that sense it’s still a problem
need major renovations. It can be actually want from the matchday when there are teams that don’t
chaotic to attend a local game experience. really care - in the last crucial
when basic services like food, decision of what to do with the
beverages and parking aren’t Since the conception of the rest of the 2021 season two
well coordinated. VPF, do you think the fans weeks ago, six clubs that hold
know why it was introduced, over 20% of company shares
Richard Harcus: For me the and has it succeeded in its didn’t even give in their opinion.
match day is on a level to what fundamental purpose? On the other hand, VPF has
we would call a junior match in attempted to improve the general
Scotland. There’s no need for the Richard Harcus: Of course image of the leagues, albeit
amount of police presence. Most the creation of the VPF was to gradually.
stadiums don’t have roofs so you mediate between the clubs and
get wet when it rains, it’s not the league and stop there being Poul-Henrik Worm: Thinking
a place to bring children. Most a monopoly-led group. This was back to watching Danish football
stadiums are dirty, neglected supposed to rid the league of in the early 90’s, the organisation

13
there was really not that much new faces don’t appear often.
better. These things take time,
and I do believe that VPF is Richard Harcus: The lack of a
on the right track, even if it’s simple coaches database means
frustratingly slow. that the VFF hemorrhages
money. But more concerning,
Do you think the VFF does it means coaches can coach
enough for education of clubs, players with little-to-no
coaches, fan engagement and qualifications, or qualifications
safety? that do not match the higher
level players they are working
Richard Harcus: Absolutely with. From a safety point of view,
not. Cambodian football is far many of these coaches are not
better run in that respect, as first aid trained and have had no
is Thai football and Malaysian background checks done to work
football. Vietnam seems to with young people. This is a deep
think that because the current rooted problem that should be
national team is doing well that addressed, it’s not even difficult
“all is rosie in the garden”. It’s to fix and it would bring revenue
not, and using a “sign wave to the VFF, which could then be
success model” only covers over fed into grassroots organisations,
cracks and allows people to be which in turn would better the
distracted by a fallacy. level of football in the league
and of course the national team
Stevie Nguyen: From my too. It’s something I’m hugely
perspective, VFF is focusing more passionate about; I would love to
and more on these matters. The sit down with the VFF and create
proof is that Vietnamese football a coach education program that
is improving day by day, from could really be the envy of the
clubs right up to the national ASEAN region.
team. But there’s still a lack of
strict rules and principles, a lack How do you see Vietnamese
of solidarity to help coordinate all clubs developing commercially
the clubs closely. in the future, as brands?

Dzung Le: For me, not enough. Stevie Nguyen: Individually, I

As a person who went to the see that clubs in Vietnam are
AFC ‘C’ Coaching Course to gain more and more interested in
certification, and as a football brand development, in building
manager, I feel that the level of strong relationships with fans
knowledge leaves a lot to be and expanding commercially.
desired. For example, even some Take Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football
of the technical information Club; they developed their official
in the course was outdated. Facebook page, regularly update
The coaches are hungry for the team’s image, and invest
knowledge but the efforts from in quality content. They also
VFF are still poor, and yes, coach- regularly organise community
ed is still a problem. There’s no activities for their fans. The clubs’
overall strategy to improve the efforts have attracted more
level of coaching. It’s also quite fans to the game and earned
difficult for people outside of the league a larger viewership
football clubs to attend basic on television. Unfortunately this
level courses, so new ideas and remains a lonely effort from a

14
small number of clubs. transparency, openness and subsidy era, especially in the
honesty. I mean, ask yourself, if Northern and Central regions,
Richard Harcus: I hope that as you’re a company, why would people were poor and the
younger Vietnamese people get you commercially invest in the government made policies
more involved in their own game, current system? What is your based on a provide-as-a-basic-
they will force change. They return on investment? And who need basis. Football existed in
are a digital generation who’ve ensures sponsorship promises the same sense - rather than
been brought up on a relatively are delivered? At the moment, a service that you could buy
successful national team. Many this simply doesn’t happen and tickets to, it was entertainment
are educated overseas in sports brands are throwing their money provided for free or cheaply
management universities and away. to the public organised by a
they are returning to Vietnam funded organisation. This led
with new and fresh ideas. They What are the obstacles and to a logic that still exists in the
won’t allow Vietnamese football what are the opportunities for minds of football clubs, fans and
to continue in the darkness it the clubs? governance. The teams serve, so
is now. I believe that when one the fans don’t want to pay a lot.
team changes, the rest will Stevie Nguyen: According Governance and management
follow. Embrace digital tickets, to a Statista survey among don’t really feel a huge pressure
fan database and true fan sports fans in 2018, 78% of to generate commercial revenue,
engagement. Embrace match the respondents chose football and popularly there is an
day experiences, non executive as their sport of interest. The unwritten rule that football’s cost
board members, embrace potential of the sports marketing can only be covered either by the
industry in Vietnam is rising. budget of the province or city, or
from the deep purse of some rich
company. These obstacles mean
that there is a huge opportunity
in itself: I think clubs that really
put in the effort will be able to

Clubs that really put exploit the market’s untapped

potential.

in the effort will be Richard Harcus: The obstacles

are the old guard at so many

able to exploit the clubs, who are completely

opposed to change. The

market’s untapped
opposition to being able to
delegate tasks and trust qualified
people to carry out these tasks.

potential. There are too many people doing

too many jobs that they’re not
qualified to do. You have coaches
acting as agents, you have head
coaches discussing commercial
Businesses realise football is sponsorships. There seems to be
an effective way to promote very little hierarchy, organisation
themselves to fans. More and or trust. Stadium ownership is
more organisations are interested also of course a huge obstacle
in sponsoring football teams. for several clubs. How can you
But the infrastructure of many market a stadium that is not
teams has not yet met this rising yours? It will never truly be your
potential. home. Opportunities, however,
are endless. That’s what breaks
Dzung Le: In the 70s and 80s my heart the most. The V.League

15
could be the best league in benefits. There is no difference Richard Harcus: Absolutely.
ASEAN. If it was, the national or discrimination. It’s going to Academies are the lifeblood of
team would be even stronger and be a future model for football, a club. Academies are there to
Vietnam could be up there with which is one of the best ways educate coaches as much as
Japan and Korea. to communicate positive social they are the players. Academies
messages. However this also better the team and the league
Poul-Henrik Worm: I have no depends on the philosophy and and the national team. Players
doubt that the potential for requirements of the clubs. The can be developed to play to a
clubs in Vietnam is absolutely establishment of each team club’s methodology and born
massive. The main obstacle, needs to be carefully calculated and raised in a club’s ethos. If
apart from competition from and implemented methodically to you look at Benfica in Portugal,
televised European football, be effective. they made around 200 million
seems to be a lack of realisation Euros in one season - they have
among the clubs that a football Poul-Henrik Worm: Given that the best academy in the world
club’s business foundation lies a youth setup is a requirement and they have a superb business
in its fans, and that their brand for participation in the AFC model. Which club in Vietnam
therefore needs to be developed club tournaments, it would is a conveyor belt of talent? We
and nurtured collaboratively with seem logical for the V. League simply can’t look to HAGL and
consumers. to require its teams to have say it’s up to them to develop
academies connected. While talent. It’s every club’s duty to
Should it be compulsory that women’s teams should be the country to develop talent.
every club in Vietnam has a strongly encouraged, making Women’s football is growing
women’s team and an academy it mandatory would pose an across the world and Vietnam,
set up? unreasonable burden on many despite all we have mentioned,
clubs who can barely make ends still manages to punch way
Stevie Nguyen: It’s necessary meet for their men’s teams at the above its weight. Can you
for clubs to have women’s teams moment. imagine how good Vietnam’s
and especially academies. In women’s team could be if it was
many developed countries, all Dzung Le: Academies, of course! properly funded?
clubs in the highest leagues have But a women’s team? I think
women’s teams. In the Lyon maybe not yet. You can’t impose
team, the men and women team it onto a male football team that’s
have the same investment and not even sustaining itself yet.

Richard Harcus is a qualified

UEFA coach and elite scout,
with a masters degree in sport
management, coupled with

Can you imagine over 10 years experience,

working in football in Asia,

how good Vietnam’s across many ASEAN countries.

Richard has assisted clubs
like BVB, Manchester City FC,

women’s team could Tottenham Hotspur and a

whole host of ASEAN clubs in

be if it was properly
developing commercial activities.
Richard is passionate about the
development of solid grassroots

funded? programmes and developing club

and league infrastructure across
the region. www.harcuscg.com
richard@harcuscg.com

16
Vietnam’s long
distance love affair
with foreign football
While domestic clubs have struggled to develop a thriving football culture, the
passion people have for the Vietnam national team has been channelled into ardent
support for foreign football leagues and experiences

F
or Asian fans that do not – and by this they mean, they
have an innate connection supported Real Madrid and then
to a club, their immediate happily switched to Juventus.
desire is a need to be
entertained — and preferably The iconography of individual
slather themselves in the reflected superstars may spawn from
glory of a successful football club. some more deep-rooted cultural
phenomenon, but whatever the
Most 25-35 year-olds in Vietnam reason, it is alive and well.
support Manchester United,
because in the late 90s and early Beckham, Messi, Ronaldo, Quang
00s, when the English Premier Hai and Haaland are larger than
League was first shown on life icons, and often in Vietnam,
free-to-TV in Vietnam, they were the superstar trumps the super-
winning and winning - in a very team.
entertaining fashion.
Take Vietnamese football writer
Vietnamese football fans love Truong. For a long time he
star players supported ‘Manchester United
and David Beckham’.
However, winning is just one
factor. There is another thing ”My memory is watching Man Utd
Vietnamese football supports in the early ’00s... the team would
love: icons. win every week… my parents
bought my cheap replica shirt
As much as it may pain with ‘Beckham-7’ on the back –
traditionalists, it is not unusual from that moment, I was hooked,”
to ask some football fans which he says.
team they support and be told
“whoever Ronaldo plays for” All it took for Truong to become a

17
life-long fan of a team 6,000 miles the scenes… we have four clubs spill over into the streets. Lower
away was a fake replica shirt that owned by the same owner, but league English football – primarily
cost a couple of dollars. nobody dares talk publicly about the Championship; and other
this.” European leagues – can also still
Key factors in the popularity of be found on free-to-air channels,
foreign football The monopolisation is a key which provides some access
reason for fans to have a points for brand awareness.
Talk to Vietnamese people and lukewarm relationship with the
they will tell you above all else local game. The EPL, and other Opportunities for foreign football
that it’s the quality of European leagues are, by contrast, seen as clubs
football that’s the main reason for transparent and open. Each club
the interest in the Premier League, fights its own fight, no matter The K+ cable deal did open up
Bundesliga or who the owners are. opportunities for other leagues.
La Liga. Germany’s Bundesliga arrived
In 2006, all of the English Premier and started to produce some
The skills, aggression and pace of League games were shown on great content – not only live
these leagues are the big draw, Vietnam free-to-air TV, including games, but fantastic review
and they’re consistently looking to the big games of Man Utd, packages, highlights shows and
consume more football content. Liverpool and Chelsea. However, localised social media. Yet they
since cable provider K+ got have struggled with the enduring
Spanish, Italian and German involved, they drove the price up brand presence of English clubs.
football is popular here but the from $3.90 in 2008-2010 to $38 However, smaller leagues and
English Premier League is still the for the 2013-2016 period – this less fashionable clubs should not
top attraction due to the speed massive increase exiled the game despair.
and intensity.

In addition, the Premier League is Bundesliga worked with We Create Content to

produce local social media content in Vietnam.
more balanced than the other top
Source: Shutterstock
European leagues – Vietnamese
fans like the fact that going
into a game, although there is a
favourite, there is also a chance
of an upset – and at least – the
underdog team will still attempt to
compete.

In Vietnam, there still hangs

a dark cloud over V. League
matches due to historical
incidents of match-fixing in the
local professional leagues.

In contrast, everybody in Vietnam

believes without doubt, that none from free-to-air to cable – which
of the Top 5 European leagues are meant a lot of viewers suddenly Just as Vietnamese fans can
fixed – it’s a fair competition, and had access taken away. follow foreign icons, the same
the viewer isn’t being duped. can be said for domestic players
While this impacted the more offered a big break abroad.
“I’ve been watching Ho Chi Minh casual football fan, it actually
City all my life,” says Ho Chi Minh drove behavioural change. Most “Vietnam is still very under-
City season ticket holder Khanh. coffee shops have K+ and this developed in terms of football,
“But deep down I’m not 100% has led to popular communal and our footballers going
sure what is going on behind watching of matches, which can overseas,” adds Khanh. “A few

18
have tried, and each time it shirts. and in 2021 signed for Japanese
happens the support we have team Cerezo Osaka.
for the Vietnamese players Vietnamese football fans love
increases… Vietnamese people to see their players succeeding The trouble with most of the
want him to succeed, but we overseas – or at least being players mentioned is that they
also want to be seen to be given a chance. probably weren’t good enough
supporting him and his team. to play in Europe at the time.
Many have tried, but However, the gap is getting
”We want overseas football fans unfortunately failed in the past. smaller all the time; Doan Van
to see how passionate we are – Along with Doan Van Hau, Hau is still only 21, and is clearly
we want to show them that we Nguyen Cong Phuong spent an exceptional player, and one
are also real football fans,” he almost a year in Belgium and that could create a huge buzz
says. only played a solitary game, were he to sign for a mid-level
while back in 2009 national team in Spain, Germany or
This sense of national pride football team hero Le Cong Italy. It would be a PR coup for
provides fertile soil for clubs to Vinh travelled to Portugal to a team such as Granada, Celta
exploit on a commercial basis. play for Leixoes on a 3-month Vigo or Stuttgart or Koln – the
loan deal, but again he player would be good enough
In 2018, after local superstar returned to Vietnam without to play 10-15 games and
Doan Van Hau joined much joy. would undoubtedly generate
Heerenveen, we saw the Dutch interest on social media, TV, and
Eredivisie being shown on TV The biggest success has been merchandise.
and suddenly, hundreds of Russian-born Vietnamese
football fans were wearing goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, Football in Vietnam is becoming
replica (read: fake) Heerenveen who had a successful spell at more accessible by the day;
Muangthong United in Thailand whilst around 2013-2017
football was moving from free-
to-air to paid subscription
services, a lot of fans were left
behind.

Football in Vietnam However, it is now possible to

access games on a pay-per-view
basis, or on your phone/laptop:

is becoming more you don’t need a cable box at

home and access is literally at

accessible by the day.

your fingertips.

Vietnamese football fan culture

Because there’s not really a typical

football fan culture in Vietnam
(with regards to the local game),
it means support groups have
created their own activities, events
and parties.

Huge Facebook groups have been

created where like-minded fans
trade not only opinions but also
arrange meet-ups, create their
own merchandise and essentially
run non-official fan clubs.

19
 Chelsea Vietnamese fans celebrating 13 years
anniversary of Official Supporters Club in Vietnam
Source: Official Chelsea Supporters Club Vietnam

A member of the Ho Chi Minh City Club / page Followers

supporters group expresses their
frustration feeling ‘detached from
our local clubs’. ManUtd Viet Nam 688,000

FC Barcelona Vietnam 624,000

“We have no real merchandise,
there’s no fan engagement with
Real Madrid 177,000
our V. League team, but when I go
to my Real Madrid watching party, Liverpool FC in Vietnam 149,000
we are the club and we have a
sense of being the organisers, we
control the direction, we create the world. Modernisation in respect of the mid-1990s World Cup all-
t-shirts and scarfs,” he says. of technology, internet access and nighters, to multi-screen home
infrastructure has seen the younger viewing and café and bar watch-
Some clubs have established generation in Vietnam have similar alongs, millions of fans now
official fan pages, with the opportunities to any western crave recognition, integration and
numbers increasing all the time; country. 70.3% of the population community as a way of expressing
FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and have internet access, with that their football pride.
Liverpool all have official pages number in the high 90s for the urban
sharing official club information in centres of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Words by Scott Sommerville.
Vietnamese. City, while average salaries for 27-
32 year-olds is up to US $17,439 per
Vietnam’s constant development annum, with that number increasing
has led to the creation of an to $23,435 for 33-38 year-olds.
ever-growing middle class. Even
in 2020, during the Covid-19 Vietnamese fans have decades
pandemic, Vietnam’s economy of fanatical support for the world
grew 2.9%, one of the best game, and through the early days
performing economies in the

20
All you need to know:
in numbers
In this exclusive research, learn about how football fans consume content, their
interests and hunger for deeper cultural alignment with clubs, industry trends and the
opportunities around official merchandise

in collaboration with

Image source: Dan Tri

21
We Create Content and The Method Research surveyed more than 500 football fans
online in Vietnam’s largest two cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Main takeaways
#1
The Premier League is the most watched football
competition in Vietnam. We can note that 79% of
the Vietnamese surveyed that are following football are
watching the Champions League.

45%
of those surveyed use TV the most to follow football
content. It is followed by the phone which is used the
most by 39% of the respondents.

76%
of Vietnamese football fans are following more than
four football games a week.

87%
of the respondents are interested in official club
merchandising, highlighting the popularity in Vietnam
of genuine products relating to their favourite clubs.

52%
More than half the respondents would be ready to
access exclusive content and merchandising for
Vietnamese people from their favorite international
club. We can deduce here an attachment from
Vietnamese football fans to the clubs they follow.

22
44%
of respondents have them or their household paying
a membership fee to watch football games. 44% are
also part of an official football fan group.

88%
of Vietnamese fans surveyed say they are not placing
bets on football games.

The match results and game analysis are the favorite

types of football content on social media for the
respondents surveyed.

84%
of respondents would get vaccinated if it was
mandatory to go see a sports event.

88%
of the respondents would like to see more football
content specific for Vietnamese from international
clubs. In addition, 90% believe international clubs
should make more effort to reach and connect with
the Vietnamese fans.

12%
of the respondents are watching less football since
the COVID-19 outbreak. Football wins!

23
Market overview
What football competitions
do you watch and which one do you
watch the most?

Where do you usually watch

football the most?

What type of football content

do you watch the most?

24
On what device do you follow
football content the most?

Do you prefer to follow European

or Vietnamese Football?

How many games are you watching

on average in a month?

25
At what time are the games you
watch the most?

Are you or your household paying

a membership or a subscription fee
to watch football?

Are you part of

an official football fan group?

26
Digital presence of
international football
in Vietnam
How many pages and groups related
to football are you following on
social media?

What is your favorite type

of football content on social media?

27
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, do
you watch more or less football
content in general?

Do you prefer to follow

football content in Vietnamese
or English on social media?

28
Merchandising and
cultural alignment

Are you interested

in official club merchandising?

Do you own official

(authentic) merchandising?

Would you be ready to pay for

a membership to access exclusive
content and merchandising
for Vietnamese people from
your favorite international club?

29
Do you personally prefer official
sourced merchandising or are you
satisfied with copies?

Would you like to see more football

content specific for Vietnamese
from International clubs?

Do you think international football

clubs could make more effort
to reach and connect with
Vietnamese fans?

30
Offline events
and trends
Do you bet money on football?

Did you have a positive or negative

opinion about the concept
of a Super League?

31
Do you play football?

Would you be interested

in the organisation of an amateur
tournament in Vietnam?
(Post pandemic)

32
Are you interested in
Football E-sport competitions?

Would you be interested in the

organization of a Football E-sport
event in Vietnam?

Would you get vaccinated if it was

mandatory to go see a sports event?

33
Vietnam’s football
media landscape
Television remains the main channel for football in Vietnam but things are changing

2007-2010 rights belonged to MP & Silva,

Since the Premier League who earned millions of dollars by
became popular in Vietnam, VTC selling broadcasting packages
Digital Television bought the to service providers such as K+,
rights of the Premier League’s VTVcab, SCTV, Hanoi Television,
2007-2010 seasons from ESPN Ho Chi Minh Television, VNPT
Star Sports for $3.97 million. This and FPT.
meant Vietnamese football fans
had to buy VTC’s digital sets and 2013-2019
pay monthly subscription fees Trans World International
to watch their favourite football (IMG) won the TV rights for the
league. 2013-2016 seasons, continuing
to profit as prices tripled the
2010-2013 previous season’s. For the 2016-
The next three seasons’ television 2019 seasons and 2019-2022

Source: WeAreSocial and Hootsuite

34
 and football culture at the end
of the 1990s in Vietnam saw a
flood of new publications — one
of the notable magazines is Tap

Upto 37% of fans Chi Bong Da (Football Magazine)

produced under license by the
Vietnam Football Federation

now use live online — readerships have dropped

off dramatically with the rise of

streaming instead of smartphones, Facebook

and YouTube.

TV to watch sports. The Ganassa Report: The State

of European Football in East Asia
2020 (Ganassa) shows that 60%
of surveyed European football
fans follow their club’s news
via the internet in their local
A variety of websites have language, 77% via social media
brought Vietnamese fans in their own language, 60.1%
different choices to read via television and only 23% via
breaking online news: newspapers and magazines,
which we would suggest are
• 24h.com.vn is for hot daily the older and more traditional
news generations.

• Bongdaplus.vn is for more Thethao247.vn and 24h.com.

focused football content vn are among Vietnam’s top
10 most visited websites by
• Bongda.com.vn covers the traffic according to Alexa, and
latest football news throughout 2020, Bong Da (the
Vietnamese word for “football”)
• Thethao.vnexpress.net does was ranked 17th among the
sport news in general and is top Google search queries in
famous for its football videos Vietnam.

The Vietnam News Agency Up to 37% of Vietnamese fans

launched The Thao va Van now use online live streams
Hoa Newspaper — the Sport instead of television to watch
and Culture Newspaper — to sports according to Statista.
give up-to-date coverage com, and, according to the
of the World Cup 82, which Aquarius’ CEO in Vietnam,
gradually became the leading more sports fans tend to watch
sports newspaper in Vietnam. matches via smartphones and
It launched its own Youtube tablets. Viewers are watching
channel in 2016 to get among sports with multiple screens:
the action and add video content TV to watch matches and
to its football coverage. smartphones or tablets to
comment, share and live stream.
The decline of newstand football
magazines Words by My Linh Bui.

While the development of sport

35
Football marketing
and the opportunity
for global brands
With deep-rooted allegiances to foreign football brands, rising domestic spending
power and the widespread adoption of smartphones, now is the time for clubs
looking to leverage football and brand marketing in Vietnam

V
ietnam has become Vietnam’s football fans are no
known in recent years different. They want much more.
for its love of football.
Any such appeal to Asian football
The national team is a treasure fans has to be localised and
Southeast Asia — and fans have nuanced to create the sort of
an ardent devotion to foreign engagement that transforms an
football clubs. armchair fan into a commercially
engaged supporter.
But despite a highly engaged and
vociferous fan base, few foreign To help define marketing strategy,
football clubs are yet to truly it’s worth taking a look at
leverage this well of support. Vietnam’s football marketing story
so far, which is still in its nascent
Which is no surprise: harnessing chapters.
support in Vietnam isn’t as easy
as Google Translating global History of football coverage in
content and hoping it will land Vietnam
‘top bins’.
Football became the most
“Younger audiences have a popular sport in Vietnam during
different relationship with content the French colonial era of
and expect to be understood and Cochinchina (from 1896). But it
catered to in different ways,” wasn’t until 1994 when Vietnam
said James Anderson, Business Television partnered with HTV
Director at Publicis Sport & to provide extensive coverage
Entertainment, talking about of the 1994 Football World Cup
several key trends for 2020 in that it really captured the nation’s
sports marketing worldwide. imagination.
“They expect to participate in or
alongside it”, he added. People gathered in front of small

36
television screens everywhere despite less stellar performances to fandom, and that requires
to watch live football matches in recent years. Vietnamese language content for
and Vietnam’s love affair with social media users.
the beautiful game was ignited. When it was announced that
Manchester United would play Clubs now need to think beyond
Following the World Cup, the opening match with Inter quick-win content executions
the Premier League was first Milan at the International - such as Lunar New Year
broadcasted on VTV3 in Vietnam Champions Cup 2019 in greetings in Vietnamese on their
during the 1998-1999 season - it Singapore, Vietnamese fans official social media channels - if
remains the most popular league hunted for tickets to see their they want to impress and excite
for Vietnamese - and Euro 2000 idols in the flesh for the first time. fans.
had Vietnamese fans eating, Real passion needs real
sleeping and breathing football. experiences. And with growing “Repeating this year after year
living standards and increased has become lazy and outdated,”
Vietnam Television then global integration, Vietnamese says Nguyen Lam Binh Nguyen,
partnered with the ADT Group football fans are thirsty for former Social Media Consultant
in a deal to buy the domestic authentic engagements with their for Liverpool Football Club.
broadcasting rights of more favourite clubs.
football leagues in a bid to feed “The buzz has faded and going
football-mad Vietnam. They are no longer passive forward, teams need to get
consumers. Some fans are more creative.”
The country’s embracing of prepared to make the pilgrimage
Premier League coverage to their club’s ground in England That’s why marketers need to
coincided with the long-term to experience match-days up- think out of the box if they want
dominance of Manchester close-and-personal. to “erase the distance, not just
United, and this is still reflected geographically but mentally”
in the high levels of support the Vietnamese also want to feel like between Vietnamese football
Mancunians maintain today, first-class citizens when it comes fans and international football
clubs on social media.

Social media in Vietnam

Up to 92% of 16-64-year-old
Vietnamese internet users visit
Youtube, with Facebook reported
to be the second most used
social media platform in Vietnam
in 2020.

It’s easy to quickly find a lot of

Facebook fan pages for foreign
football clubs in Vietnam. These
are communities where fans can
connect with people sharing
the same interests and love for
their favourite football leagues
Vietnamese Manchester United fans at the Man Utd-Inter Milan or players (Vietnamese fans also
match in Singapore (International Champions Cup 2019). create Facebook fan pages for
Source: Binh An famous individual stars such as
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo,
and Mesut Oezil).

Below are statistics of some

37
Facebook pages of Page followers Average engagement on with the participation of
supporters clubs post Ronaldinho.
Vietnamese football fans also
Manchester United 185,642 500-1.5K likes/post remember 2013 as a big year
for fans, when Arsenal travelled
Arsenal 491,000 800-1.8K likes/post
to Vietnam for three days
for a friendly match with the
Chelsea 490,384 200-800K likes/post
Vietnam national side. It was
Liverpool 78,890 650-2K likes/post a dream come true for Arsenal
fans in Vietnam and they could
Manchester City 73,962 600-1.3K likes/post participate in a fan meeting
with the players. A young man
Bayern Munich 37,000 430-1K likes/post called Vu Xuan Tien became a
viral sensation when he ran 5km
Borussia Dortmund 30,724 50-230 likes/post through the city to follow his
team’s tour bus.
Tottenham Hotspur 11,629 80-750 likes/post

The most recent high profile

friendly fixture was against
Manchester City in Vietnam
official Facebook fan pages the demands of Vietnamese on July 27th, 2015. Fans spent
launched by Vietnamese language social media content. hours queuing in front of the
supporters’ clubs. For example, if you search My Dinh National Stadium to
for “Liverpool Vietnam” on buy tickets, and thousands of
Generally, Facebook pages Facebook, it will give you a Vietnamese fans joined the open
of supporters’ clubs such as huge variety of results, including training session/fan meet and
Manchester United, Arsenal, unofficial fan pages and groups. greet at the stadium.
Chelsea and Manchester City The scale of these fan pages
have the most followers — from aren’t huge but they upload Visiting legends
70,000 to 490,000 followers — news and bring fans closer
with high engagements on each together to organise offline Retired professional footballers
post (between 600 to 1,000 events and share their love for often visit, too.
likes). their clubs and favourite players.
Former Manchester United
Vietnamese fan clubs often Online to offline: clubs on tour player, Andy Cole visited
organise fan talks or hold live Vietnam in 2015 as an advisor
streams with page admins to In 1996, Vietnamese football to select 20 players for the team
create more engagement among fans were surprised when to play Than Quang Ninh Club.
the community. Fan pages Juventus arrived in Vietnam for a
sometimes re-post content friendly match. David Beckham has visited four
from official Facebook pages times (2003, 2005, 2014, 2019)
and Facebook Ads are used to Nine years later, at the Honda and has remained a hot topic
promote supporters clubs’ offline Cup organised by VFF, the ever since.
events. Vietnam national team played
Barcelona B, which included In 2019, Bundesliga held a
In addition to the official first-team players such as Ivan Penalty Shootout Tournament
Facebook pages of European Ruben, Abella Damia, Gonzalez in Ho Chi Minh City and live
football teams — on which Pena and Riera Magem. screening of the FC Schalke
Vietnamese fans love to debate, 04 / Borussia Dortmund derby
predict and analyse — there In 2008, Vietnam was chosen with goalkeeping legend Roman
are also unofficial Facebook as a friendly opponent of the Weidenfeller.
pages and private groups, Brazillian Olympic team. This
which are established to meet event was made even hotter The winning team won tickets

38
 to experience a Bundesliga Through more content targeted
match from inside the stands in to Vietnamese football fans on
Germany. the official Facebook accounts,
Bundesliga, Chelsea, Borussia
During the pandemic in 2021, Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City partnered with have “increased their popularity
SHB Bank in a project for local with a digital presence in the
football development in Vietnam. country”.

Three grassroots clubs across Manchester City has also

the country were presented with grown their engagements
50 sets of training gear from with Vietnamese football fans
Manchester City and the offline through partnership activities
campaign was showcased on with SHB Bank.
digital channels with a three
part documentary series on With few clubs really prioritising
City’s Facebook page. this rapidly-growing market, it
is a perfect opportunity for front
Opportunities for digital sports runners to seize their advantage,
marketing in Vietnam but there are existing challenges
that all marketers need to
With enthusiastic football fans, prepare for before tackling
Vietnam has huge potential for Vietnam head on.
international football clubs and
leagues. More localised and The lack of cultural
country-related content could understanding may create more
help to fill this gap for Vietnam’s distance in the relationship
market. between foreign football
brands and fans on the ground.
Marketers require local insight
to speak the language of the
Vietnamese, both literally and
metaphorically.

The clubs that Though it will be a challenge at

the beginning, done well it will
form a solid foundation for a

understand this long-term relationship between

football clubs and fans in the

dynamic are sure to future.

While Vietnamese average

reap the rewards. wages aren’t huge, there is a

growing middle class that is
ready to spend money on official
content, merchandise and
experiences for years to come.

The clubs that understand

this dynamic are sure to reap
rewards.

Words by My Linh Bui.

39
Make Vietnam your
homeground in Asia
Start with hyper local content marketing fuelled by insight with We Create Content

97m
E
uropean football has social media agency in Vietnam,
never been more popular one of the world’s fastest
people, in Vietnam, 75% are in Asia.. Vietnam is no growing markets.
sports fans exception.
With local audience insights,
Rapidly growing markets offer knowledge of Vietnam’s
fertile ground for football brands marketing trends, and a deep-
85% and sponsors. Disposable
incomes are increasing and the
rooted cultural understanding,
we help you engage your club’s
of sports fans choose football middle classes are searching for fanbase in this country of 97
authentic football experiences - million people.
online and off.
We help you…
Millions of fans are waiting for
30% your club to transform a distant understand your audience in
love affair into a true passion. Vietnam and access local market
of football fans identify as
super fans They have an unsuitable thirst for insights and trends based on
rolling news, behind the scenes culturally informed localised
content and all the goals, but content
true loyalty can only be cemented

73.7% through closer, more authentic

connections.
produce authentic on-the-ground
storytelling, host engaging offline
social media penetration with events, work with influencers to
95% preferring video content Fans in Vietnam are waiting get your brand amplified and win
for top teams to show they outreach in local media channels
understand their fan culture.
generate a base of loyal brand
The time is now. Be among the ambassadors and use social as
first movers and win generations a springboard to a full marketing
of football fans to make Vietnam strategy
your home ground for support in
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A content marketing agency As your social media agency

fuelled by local insight in Vietnam, we take care of
your monthly content plans,
We are a content marketing and production schedules and

40
 their local market FC Cho Lon,
and visited RUCO FC in Ho Chi
Minh City, where the captain is
a die hard City supporter with a
house brimming with collector’s

Bundesliga won
memorabilia. We touched down
in the capital city of Hanoi too, to
speak to Tri Nam FC.

an uplift of 1,414% The documentaries were

in new users on
published as paid campaigns on
Manchester City’s social media
channels as well as distributed

Facebook in Vietnam. across the Dugout media

network.

Offline events and experiences

As your marketing agency, we

conceptualise and plan, promote
distribution strategies to help See how we did it by taking a and manage events on behalf of
you connect and engage with a closer look at our social media your club. We top it off with video
new and energetic base of loyal work with the Bundesliga.. content and event photography
football fans on social media. for your social media and PR
Video production coverage in nationwide media
DFL Digital Sports and the channels.
Bundesliga hired us to do this Whether it’s a short video or
for two and a half years before long form documentary series for We produced the Bundesliga
COVID-19 struck. social media or a video campaign brand assets and promotional
for TV, we have the in-house content of the DeutschlandFest
Our social media approach was video production resources in Hanoi. We also worked
two-fold: to make it happen for you in closely with Bundesliga’s
Vietnam. team in Singapore to create a
1. create educational and bite- Penalty Shootout Arena in Ho
sized local language content that As well as shooting raw footage Chi Minh City - 400 Bundesliga
celebrates the players, stats and for Werder Bremen’s CSR fans attended the 18-hour
goals of the league for Vietnam’s programme in the southern event to compete in an action-
core Bundesliga fans. region’s Mekong Delta, we packed competition and enjoy
also traveled up and down the a live screening of the Borussia
2. tap into trending local topics country covering grass roots Dortmund / FC Schalke derby
such as Lunar New Year, the rise football stories for Manchester with a guest visit from a
of the National U23 Team and City, who partnered with local Bundesliga legend.
pop culture references to pique bank SHB to offer three amateur
interest and win the hearts and teams branded training kits. All players took home an
minds of new audiences We Create Content was hired authentic shirt of the Bundesliga
by Dugout Media to track down team they represented (real
Bundesliga won an uplift the winning teams and create shirts are very hard to come by
of 1,414% in new users on a three-part mini doc series for in Vietnam!) and the winners
Facebook in Vietnam after social. enjoyed an all-expenses trip to
partnering with We Create watch a Bundesliga match from
Content, with social media We told the stories of a the bustling stands in Germany.
engagement rates 175% higher community club in Vietnam’s
than Vietnam’s averages. northern mountains, named after www.wecreatecontent.asia

41
wecreatecontent.asia

42