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(Nguyên gốc: http://www.vfr.vn/investment/david-thai-talks-coffee-shop.html)
When you first meet David Thai, he is clearly not your average Vietnamese businessman. His demeanor is simple, kind, direct and logical. After introductions ended and the formal interview began, his business acumen quickly became clear. He runs one of the few Vietnamese companies to have achieved widespread brand name recognition and their plans for the future are comprehensive, forward-thinking and realistic. How did Highlands accomplish this? Mr David spoke with VFR’s correspondents about his business, its plans and the future.
VFR: A year after WTO accession, the growing importance of trademarks are being incorporated into enterprises comprehensive development strategies, Highlands Coffee is no exception. Highlands is quite popular in Vietnam and is quickly gaining a strong reputation among consumers and businesses, how have you achieved this? Also, could you please share some information about your branding strategy?
Highlands Coffee opened its first store in late 2002. With now more than 50 stores the success has been a result of providing an experience that resonates with our customers. By providing a place for tens of thousands of modern Vietnamese to meet, socialse, work and relax, Highlands is becoming a “3rd place”, between home and work. And for some it is a “2nd place” as they work from the coffee shop on their wireless laptop, sit in comfortable seats and in a welcoming atmosphere that says, “You’re welcome to stay all day!” [Sự khác biệt trong chiến lược marketing của cà phê Highland. Tôi thật sự thích thú với ý tưởng 2nd place và 3rd place.]
It’s rewarding to see how fast Vietnam is changing just by walking into a Highlands store – you’ll see more students gathering to study, ladies meeting for afternoon coffee and cake, business people in discussions and so on. These modern Vietnamese communities are evolving and creating their own atmosphere and occasions within Highlands Coffee. I would love to know how many new friends, introductions and business deals are made in our stores on an average day. Hopefully our marketing department can tell us one day!
VFR: Highlands Coffee is different from the traditional coffee shop model in Vietnam. Where did it get its stylish atmosphere and on the go attitude? Has it, or is it, changing the domestic coffee culture? What’s next?
There definitely is a domestic coffee culture, it has been here since the French colonialists brought it to Vietnam and the reason the coffee culture is strong is because of a sort of romantic aspect to it –talking, conversation and poetry. For 900 years coffee has been popular among revolutionaries and intellectuals. Now Vietnam is moving forward and our business is trying to stay relevant in terms of this development. Our target customer is that Vietnamese person who holds on to traditional beliefs, takes off their shoes and bows to elders, but has a modern outlook. [Sự rõ nét trong xác định đối tượng khách hàng tiềm năng. Đây cũng chính là nhóm khách hàng có thu nhập khá trở lên, có học vấn tốt, biết rất rõ nhu cầu thật sự của bản thân. Tôi cũng là một khách hàng thường xuyên của Highland. Và thật ngạc nhiên thú vị (surprised with joy), bây giờ tôi mới hiểu tại sao tôi lại thích đến những quán cà phê Highland] Vietnam is not a country of elders, demographics shows that younger people are taking a strong majority; but we are doing everything we can not to lose our roots. We are not Nationalistic, but we are a Vietnamese national company [Giấc mơ của một doanh nghiệp Việt thành công trên thị trường tòan cầu]
VFR: What were the difficulties with building up a prestigious brand name?
There have been too many obstacles to count! But it has been our sheer determination not to give up that has resulted in the success we see today. Someone recently asked me what created this determination and I had to say it is because of how much we believe Highlands brings value to the community. I can’t think of any other retail concept in Vietnam that reaches as many people in such a richly rewarding way. [Tầm nhìn dài hạn cho sự phát triển bền vững]
It is this optimistic outlook that gives us the determination to keep improving and introducing Highlands to new communities in new locations.
VFR: Does Highlands have any plans to promote its brand name in other regional markets?
We receive numerous requests every month from companies and individuals wanting to franchise the brand overseas. This is a result of international markets looking at Highlands and seeing a world class product. Right now we service some of these countries through export coffee sales.
The international demand for Highlands retail is flattering, but before we go international we first need to develop a turn key solution. That is, an operational and marketing model that allows someone from outside Viet Thai International to successfully run a sustainably profitable business.
VFR: Once you have built a prestigious brand name, will you franchise your name and business model?
In the future we believe the market will be better developed for franchising. Both in terms of franchisee’s abilities and as the franchisor’s ability to provide systems that will result in long term wealth for both parties.
Our intention is to learn through our own mistakes first, and through this process of trial and error arrive at a turn key solution that minimizes risk for the franchisee. We believe a responsible franchisor needs to provide a sustainable model that they themself would be happy to invest in. It is not about amassing a large pool of up front fees, but recognising long term success lies in creating a sustainable revenue stream at the franchisee store level, which a small percentage of royalties are derived from.
VFR: Could you pls tell about Highlands’s profit last year? What about your long term vision? Would Highlands Coffee like to be the Vietnamese Starbucks?
I can tell you what we will do this year; all the profit will be reinvested. From the balance sheet standpoint, there’s no profitability, all of the profitability is capitalized to grow equity, the tangible network and intangible network. There will be a stage where profitability will be the most important part of our strategy if we decide to list on the bourse. That’s the reason I am hesitant to list at this time, because now I can choose when and where to inject our capital. If we were to take on shareholders, we would have to show strong profits to keep our share price up. [Bản lĩnh Việt trên thương trường quốc tế] As the majority share holder, I just keep buying more tables and chairs and hiring more people. I just keep investing, investing and investing. This year will be the first year I will consider looking at outside capital.
Back to Starbucks, it certainly has had massive success in both the US and international markets through the American multinational approach.
As we were proudly born in Vietnam, our approach is tailored to the Vietnamese market first and international markets second. We call this a “uni-local, multi-national approach”. Taking both traditional and modern perspectives we will define what it means to be a successful Vietnamese company with a global outlook. [Trong ngành kinh doanh cà phê, chúng ta cũng từng nghe về một giấc mơ Việt của Nguyên Vũ, chúc David Thái sẽ sớm đạt được giấc mơ Việt trọn vẹn hơn...và quan trọng nhất...là đừng bao giờ từ bỏ giấc mơ này vì lợi ích ngắn hạn ]
