Brands react to illegal music downloads on Vietnam portal site Zing.vn

Simon Kemp, managing director at We Are Social Singapore, said the brands could turn the situation to their advantage by providing a legal alternative to the activities that have forced the brands to pull out of Zing.vn in the first place.

“Instead of spending money to create and post adverts that drive people to social presences, brands could spend this money to buy the rights to the tunes that people want to download and offer them for free on their brand page,” he said. “Be it as straight downloads or in return for some simple social activities such as 'like' or sharing the page.”

This, he went on to say, would give people a real incentive to like the brand's page, and also to return on a regular basis—a move that most brands struggle with after they achieved the initial 'like'.

“Moreover, they can use social media listening to identify the best content to offer to users, ensuring that they're always offering maximum value for their investment," he said. "It's like a real-world relationship; there needs to be mutual value." He added that the cost-per-click of a social ad is similar to the cost of a music download, taking US$1 as a benchmark.

Other experts, nevertheless, expect other brands to follow suit in pulling their advertising from Zing.vn. This situation, according to Matthew Collier, CEO at Wunderman Vietnam, will make brands more diligent about advertising through portals.

Other multinationals that have advertised on Zing.vn include Canon, Yamaha, Intel and Colgate-Palmolive.

“I imagine there may be a hiccup as Zing.vn acquires the appropriate rights, and the market will return to its own steady state,” said digital consultant Christopher Tran.

Tran is the former director of CRM and digital at Edge Marketing Vietnam.

“What is more interesting will be how smaller music sites (and other sites that use copyrighted materials) will fare, as they do not have the resources to go legit,” Tran said.

Zing.vn, on the other hand, has to act quickly and in good faith to acquire the proper rights and regain the trust of advertisers. The website has always been the favourite media channels in the country, due to cost efficiencies and its massive reach among the young population.

Tran said there is no shortage of digital advertising channels for brands in Vietnam, as they may diversify and book on several websites to have the same amount of reach, but in a more inefficient and time-consuming way. Portals such as Yahoo! and Facebook, may benefit in the short term due to the situation, Collier noted.

In a response to Campaign Asia-Pacific’s query, Coca-cola said digital is one of the channels to reach youth target in its communication plan, but the traditional media still play the key role in Vietnam.

“With respect to concerns of Zing's business model, we have with immediate effect withdrawn our advertising with them and will investigate their practices before making further decisions,” the spokesperson said.

Samsung didn’t respond to Campaign Asia Pacific’s request for comment by press time.