Recently, the MV “I Do” by Đức Phúc featuring the group 911 was released, stirring up a lot of emotion among listeners.
Many people (The Fool included) say they prefer the original version over Đức Phúc’s Vietnamese-language rendition. Others think this cover would have made a fresher impression with a female singer instead.
But why did PNJ choose Đức Phúc for this PR campaign? It comes down to how thoroughly they’d researched their potential customer base.
Why is that? Let’s dig into it with The Fool!
Choosing the right KOL for a campaign matters a lot
As The Fool covered in the article “FIFA World Cup 2022 — First-Time Events and 3 Marketing Mistake Lessons for Businesses”:
“The host country’s mistake came from choosing the wrong KOL for its World Cup PR campaign, picking Jung Kook instead of a female singer with the ability to energize a crowd, like Shakira — a cultural mismatch that noticeably reduced audience support for their PR campaign.”
Proof of this: even long after the World Cup ended, audiences barely mentioned or remembered the theme song, unlike previous editions.
In another story, about 2 years ago The Fool also wrote about how flooding the market with ads and using the wrong KOL can hurt a business.
Through these two examples, choosing the right KOL is clearly very important for a business’s PR campaign.
So how can a business choose the right KOL for its campaign?
To choose the right KOL for a PR and marketing campaign, a business needs to deeply understand its customers through their insights.
Back to PNJ’s story: with nearly 30 years of experience providing gold and gemstones for women, PNJ tapped into 3 emotional factors that every woman wants: to be listened to, understood, and cared for.
That comes through beautifully in the stories told across their MV: from a mute woman, to a single mom, to finally an older woman — all radiating genuine happiness at having found the right man for their life.
Why Đức Phúc was the right fit for the brand’s KOL role this time
When The Fool first read the comments above, there was a bit of skepticism about PNJ’s choice too. But looking closer, PNJ had 3 factors behind this decision:
- Đức Phúc has already become hugely known as a wedding-song singer
If you look at Đức Phúc’s hit songs, you’ll notice most are wedding songs, filled with deeply affectionate lyrics from a man to the woman of his life.
Going back to the hit that made 911 famous, “I Do,” it carries similar lines expressing lasting devotion and waiting for that one word.
With this pairing, it’s safe to say PNJ’s slogan “Women Are Meant to Be Loved” will stand out even more, not just this Valentine’s season but on other special days too, like March 8 and October 20.
- Đức Phúc standing next to 911 seems unlikely, yet works surprisingly well
Seeing Đức Phúc next to 911, many would assume they don’t belong on the same stage — but in this PNJ campaign, they’re a perfect match, for these reasons:
- Đức Phúc represents a young man, still under 30, with plenty of life lessons ahead of him, while 911 represents mature men — true gentlemen in life. This arrangement highlights PNJ’s message even more: no matter your age…
- The song suits both 911’s and Đức Phúc’s tenor vocal color. What’s more, their performance styles are similar — both very gentlemanly and gentle on stage. That mirrors the gentlemen appearing in the MV, each one gently receiving and sheltering the woman in his life.
- If a female voice had sung alongside 911 instead, it would have undercut the meaning the MV delivers, even though it might have amplified emotion on stage. Because once those three happy women say “I do” with full joy, wearing a PNJ ring given by their other half, that’s when it truly…
In short, with this arrangement, PNJ and Đức Phúc have once again pulled off a flawless marketing campaign for both the brand and the artist himself — once again underscoring just how important a KOL’s reach and influence are within a business’s inbound marketing strategy, much like the Ronaldo-versus-Messi showdown…
THE FOOL — EASY KNOWLEDGE CHANNEL