Vietnam’s online advert market explodes The Vietnamese online ad market has been growing fast with an annual growth rate of 100 percent, according to Nguyen Anh Tuan, managing director of Adtima ad firm.   Of the population of 90 million, the number of mobile subscribers has reached 128  million. Vietnam has 40 million people accessing the internet and 28 million social network accounts. According to the UK-based We Are Social, a market survey firm, of the 28 million social network accounts, 24 million access networks from their mobile devices. Paul Webster from Facebook South East Asia said at Go Mobile First workshop organized by MMA, the global mobile marketing association, that 36 percent of Vietnamese population accessed the internet from mobile devices. The habit by Vietnamese people of surfing on internet and accessing social networks has been strongly supported not only by mobile network operators’ connection services but also by internet development programs. Emeral’s CEO Nguyen Hong Thanh said Vietnam was following a strategy on expanding free wifi network coverage to public places, such as parks, universities and hospitals. In HCM City, free wifi will be available throughout the city by 2016. “This can be seen as equipping the backbone for the development of mobile connection-relating services. These can serve as the platform for businesses to advertise their products and services in the most effective way,” Thanh noted. Tuan from Adtima said the online ad market has been growing very fast by 100 percent per annum, noting that mobile ad solutions contribute the biggest proportion to strong growth. Tuan, who is very optimistic about the market, predicted that the growth rate would be 200 percent in 2015. Satyalis Ghosh from Unilever Vietnam, agreeing with Tuan, said the mobile ad tendency has forced businesses to rethink their marketing strategies, because TV, printing newspapers and leaflets are no longer the only means of advertisement. Promising market The businessman noted that though Vietnam ranks the 85th in the world in information technology infrastructure, the expenses on telecommunication are very low, which makes it very convenient for businesses to access. Tran Bao Chau from Viettel Telecom noted that with smartphones, it is no longer difficult for businesses to access the rural market, where 68 percent of Vietnamese consumers live. According to Chau, 34 percent of rural people now have smartphones, while 50 percent of subscribers read ads. . Tuan believes that mobile marketing will surely be the choice of many businesses in the time to come because this is less costly than any other traditional ad channel. DNSG