Local businesses hire foreign PGs to boost beer sales  “Adversity brings wisdom”. Vietnamese businesses, who feel worried about the slow sales of beer products in the economic recession, have decided to hire western PGs.  Russian PGs promote Vodka in Hanoi. While sitting at a beer shop with a glass of beer in hand on a hot summer day, a man was a bit startled when hearing a girl speaking with a slight accent: “Chao anh, moi anh dung thu san pham cua cong ty em” (Hello, try the products of our company). He got even more surprised when turning his head and realized that a western girl with blonde hair was standing in front of him. The girl gave the man a glass of wine, while a man, escorting the beautiful girl, explained that this was Vodka liquor, a product of the joint venture between a Vietnamese and Russian enterprises. After that, the man urged the girl to pour Vodka into the glasses, so that the guests here could taste the products. “Xin moi, cac anh uong thu va cho cam nhan” (Please try and say what you think about it), the girl said once again. The man always followed the groups of Russian girls to every table. It seemed that his duty was to give explanation about the products. He would also make intervention if the guests take liberties to the girls. The man told the guests that the company was running a sales promotion program in many provinces and cities nationwide at the same time. The “destinations” of the sales promotion programs are the crowded beer shops or restaurants. And of course, they are the popular beer shops, or as Vietnamese called “quan bia via he” (pavement shops). In general, the promotion girls turn up in the “golden hours,” or the time Hanoians go drinking beer. Sources said that the presence of the group of five western girls at some beer shops helped a lot in boosting sales. At least one or two bottles of Vodka were sold to customers at every table. A customer, who highly appreciated the new marketing method, spent enough money to buy tens of bottles. Using Russian PGs proved to be a good idea. Vodka quickly “conquered” the Vietnamese drinkers’ heart, though the Russian girls were there only for 30 minutes at the shop. When a girl gave the glass of liquor to a man, the man stood up and sang a Russian song. A Vietnamese man said that the appearance of the beautiful girls in short skirts was really “impressive.” They did not make the guests annoyed like the Vietnamese PGs, who came to every guest and repeatedly asked the guests to buy cigarettes at cafes. PG has become a hot job in Vietnam in the last five years. This has been taken mostly by students as an extra job because it can bring big money to fund their studies. They just need to be present at press conferences to introduce new products or the product launching ceremonies and customers’ conference to earn the sums of money big enough for their several-month tuitions. However, a businessman has noted that it’s now less effective to use Vietnamese PGs, especially when Vietnamese tend to cut down expenses in the economic crisis. Therefore, he highly appreciated the idea of hiring foreign PGs. Source: PLVN