Vietnam News: First Vietnamese becomes Pepsi's global marketing director

Ha Noi, Apr. 13 (VNA) - Tran Bao Minh, marketing director of Pepsi Viet Nam, has been appointed global marketing director of the Pepsi Group. He becomes the first Vietnamese and the first Asian ever to be selected for this prestigious position.

The 36-year-old's promotion is an event for Vietnamese young people to be proud of, said the General Director of Pepsi Viet Nam, Pham Phu Ngoc Trai. Trai said Minh was also the first Vietnamese to take charge of marketing of Pepsi in Viet Nam, a position usually held by foreigners.

With a post-graduate degree in marketing awarded by the Metropolitan Business College in Australia, Minh was given the job of label management during his early days with the Pepsi Group.

In 1999, Chairman of Pepsi Asia-Pacific Chris O'Donohue allowed Minh to be responsible for marketing on a trial basis. Many marketing campaigns launched by the young man earned a lot of attention, especially the campaign "From World Star Challenges to Pepsi-sponsored Football Skill Show".

Minh officially became Pepsi Viet Nam's marketing director in October 2001, giving him more opportunities to bring into play his creativity. He has been awarded a prize for the best marketing director in Asia-Pacific.

The year 2002 was a very successful year for Pepsi with a series of new products, including two brands of purified drinking water Aquafina and Mirinda, and many fruit-flavoured drinks. However, its greatest successes were the introduction in Viet Nam of the Sting energy drink in 2002 and Twister in 2003. Taking into account Asian consumers' preference for ginseng, Minh decided to add ginseng to the energy drink, which traditionally contains only taurine. With Twister, Minh made use of the Vietnamese habit of putting ice and sugar into orange juice.

In 2003 Pepsi Viet Nam reaped great successes with the Sting brand registering a 30 percent growth; Aquafina, 80 percent; fruit-flavoured drinks, 150 percent; and main products like Pepsi, Pepsi X, Mirinda, 9 percent.

Minh said the most worrying thing for him when working in his new position is how to prove his ability as a Vietnamese and an Asian. However, he is confident that he is not lacking in creativity, which is what the Pepsi Group requires of him. -

Congratulations. I thought he's Vietnamese-American but what is more surprising is that he's from Vietnam. What's better, he graduated from an Aussie college.

Wow, that is so cool. Is it because he's a Tran?

I'm proud to be a Tran

Just a point of interest, an Australian has been appointed head of Maccas as a result of the sudden and unexpected death of former CEO Cataluapo. Hooray another Aussie heading a large multi-national company.

wow... i'm proud of him

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