Landing back on US soil from my travels to Vietnam and Singapore has given me hope and confirmed my aspirations in global marketing leadership. Throughout these two countries, I had the opportunity to meet with a variety of businesses. One of the most interesting visits included a business presentation by Vietnam Investments Group (VIG).
Discussing how their management team assists not only foreign companies coming to Vietnam to grow business internationally such as Dairy Queen, but also following other industries in which are high growth opportunities like the investment and management of a Vietnamese movie theater business. Having the opportunity to understand how VIG brought Dairy Queen to the Vietnamese people was interesting not only from making changes to the menu to include green tea ice cream, but also the importance of Dairy Queens “thick shake” guarantee. The sales associate showing your shake upside down prior to handing it to you while also displaying the upside down icon on shakes was importance to show quality. The manage team did a great job of showing how international businesses must engage and appeal to consumers locally. This insight was hugely important for me to understand as a future global marketer.
Singapore was just as fascinating as Vietnam. My initial impressions of Singapore provided a since of safety, cleanliness, and order that was somewhat opposite of Vietnam. The streets were impeccably clean. These insights were further solidified, as Business Insider must have been alerted to my presence as it posted an article to my Facebook feed about Singapore being one of the cleanest and safest places to live in the world. Another interesting note was throughout the airport electronic kiosks were at every restaurant requesting you to record your service level satisfaction. Instantly I knew that the consumer experience is important in Singapore, a marketer’s opportunity. One of the touching experiences that touched my classmates and me was our visit to Medtronic. They discussed with us the needs for medical devices in Asia and walked us through the hand made process of creating artificial hearts. Very rewarding. These experiences allowed me to capture the international interpersonal engagements I needed to understand the importance of a role in global marketing. Understanding consumer demand at the macro level while noting cultural nuances and sensitivities seems to be a way to surely begin succeeding in an international market.