Almost half of Vietnamese consumers are more likely to try new brands than they were five year ago, according to Nielsen research – a finding which is borne out by the shifts in Campaign’s annual ranking of Vietnam’s Top 100 Brands.

FMCG experienced the biggest shifts in Vietnam’s top 100 brands this year, the title reported, while there were also some significant falls among fashion and luxury brands.

Nielsen’s Global Consumer Loyalty study found that consumers across Asia Pacific are more open to switching brands than anywhere else in the world, and that price is not the main motive for doing so.

In Vietnam, price and promotions (cited by 35%) come behind other factors such as utility and ease of use (44%), a proposal from a known and trusted brand (41%) and additional benefits, eg health attributes (41%).

“Fluidity is an obvious theme in a high-velocity, new consumer market like Vietnam, which is moving enormous chunks of its 94 million population into the branded consumer class for the first time,” Saby Mishra, MullenLowe Mishra president and chief executive, told Campaign Asia.

Rapid economic growth and the development of modern retail trade are opening up new opportunities for brands and greater choice for consumers; modern retail outlets are forecast to take 18% of total food sales by 2024, for example.

Nielsen also found that online availability is increasingly a factor that may influence connected consumers to switch brands.

The impact of connectivity in the country – and the expectations that are generated as a result – is underlined by the rise up the Campaign ranking of ride-hailing apps like Grab and Gojek.

“Young urban Vietnamese are fervent trialists of convenience focused, tech-enabled value propositions,” said Mishra.

“Grab is seen as renovating the commute/delivery infra in high-density, urban Vietnam so the brand has a clear purpose, and that resonates.”

Sourced from Campaign Asia Pacific; additional content by WARC staff