1. Vietnam’s football story
In the recent Asian World Cup qualifiers, our red-shirted warriors made history by reaching the third qualifying round for the first time ever.
But if you’ve closely followed the development of Vietnamese football, this shouldn’t come as a surprise — our golden-star warriors had already pulled off plenty of surprises for our national team before this:
- It started with a dream-like run at the AFC U23 Championship finals, achieving an admirable runner-up finish.
- Then came the victory over heavyweight rival Malaysia at Mỹ Đình Stadium, becoming AFF Cup champions once again.
- Followed by an unbeatable SEA Games campaign, with a 3-0 win over Indonesia, bringing home the country’s first-ever men’s football gold medal.
We could say all of these glorious achievements began with the players’ tireless effort.
We could also say those wins came from Coach Park Hang-seo’s coaching talent.
However, it would be an oversight not to mention the contributions of Chairman Đức and Chairman Hiển — club chairmen truly devoted to our national football.
2. The lesson on persistence from Chairman Đức
a. A look at Vietnamese football and the activities of the HAGL – Arsenal JMG football academy
Remember about 14 years ago, when Chairman Đức carried the dream of Vietnamese players competing in European leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, or Bundesliga?
Nobody believed in this direction of his, and thought it was pure fantasy when we hadn’t even won a SEA Games gold medal yet.
But Chairman Đức stayed firmly committed to that dream. In 2007, after visiting several European clubs, he decided to partner with Arsenal to learn their approach to football and youth training, aiming to apply it to Vietnamese football.
He then founded the Hoàng Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal JMG Football Academy, nurturing the dream journey of a talented young generation of players like Công Phượng, Xuân Trường, Tuấn Anh, and others.
Vietnamese football then began to gradually develop, kicking off with our first AFF Suzuki Cup championship in 2008, after defeating longtime rival Thailand at Mỹ Đình Stadium.
However, a period of falling behind began after our SEA Games defeat in 2009, followed by a string of completely unexpected losses for the Vietnamese national team — at times it felt like our SEA Games dream would never come true.
At that point, public attention and hope started turning toward the young players being trained at Chairman Đức’s academy.
And answering that hope, Công Phượng and his teammates delivered dazzling, world-class performances at the U19 and later the U23 tournaments.
b. The lesson on persistence from Chairman Đức
With his unwavering commitment to his own football academy, Chairman Đức shattered all the doubt and gossip surrounding his activities back in 2007-2008.
The clearest proof of this is how many names from his club appeared in the starting lineup of both the U23 team and the full national team.
What’s more, together with Chairman Hiển, he helped train a generation of players with not just talent on the pitch but a strong way of living and ethics too — most notably, players capable of shining not just domestically but on the world stage.
In a press interview, Chairman Đức once expressed that persistence through the line:
I can lose everything, but not this football academy.
3. The lesson on persistence when running a marketing campaign for your business
a. Can a quick-buck way of doing business survive and grow?
In a previous article, I covered the issue of businesses today running blanket ads and using celebrity images to PR their products.
This approach has caused, and continues to cause, huge losses in both budget and brand image — spending enormous sums on ads and brand ambassadors, only to receive fines and a company image dragged down alongside the celebrity’s.
See also: Running Blanket Ads and Using Celebrities for PR Is Automatic Success. Is That Advice Actually Right?
Another fairly common business tactic is deliberately gaming Facebook and Google — something both companies are actively working to shut down.
And if Facebook and Google haven’t found a solution yet, the Vietnamese Government is also taking a firm stance against dishonest business owners engaging in this kind of behavior.
All of these online business and marketing behaviors share one common goal: earning a quick buck as fast as possible, willing to trade away everything else — budget, business image, and product quality.
b. What marketing lessons can businesses draw from Chairman Đức’s approach to football?
From the HAGL owner’s statement, we can see Chairman Đức had clear policies and plans, staying persistent with the goals he set for Vietnamese football, not just now but into the future.
So small and medium businesses in Vietnam should learn from Chairman Đức’s spirit to develop their own company’s core values.
Let’s swap Chairman Đức’s line for a motto like this:
I can lose everything, but not my business’s core value.
So what is a company’s core value? And how do you build that core value through the right marketing strategy for your business?
The answer will be shared by the Easy Knowledge Channel team through the handbook “Market or Get Stuck,” Episode 1, Part 2. Tap the book cover to sign up for the ebook now.
Sign up to receive the book for a chance to get an offer worth up to 3 million VND on digital marketing services and the Digital Growth Solution for businesses.
THE FOOL — EASY KNOWLEDGE CHANNEL