Nguyễn Dương, a customer experience professional, and founder of Cempartner, speaks at the VSMCamp & CSMOSummit 2019 held yesterday in HCM City. — VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

HCM CITY — Marketing strategies that include personalised customer experiences are essential to help companies survive in the highly competitive digital age, speakers said yesterday at an international summit in HCM City.

Nguyễn Dương, founder of Cempartner, a customer experience professional, said: “In the digital era, customers expect to experience personalised and interactive experiences in which the first impression and feelings will decide their brand loyalty.” 

“Offering customer experiences has become the prominent trend in the sales and marketing industry this year,” he told Việt Nam News. 

More than 40 local and international representatives from leading companies and start-ups around the world are taking part in the two-day VSMCamp & CSMOSummit 2019.

Trần Ngọc Anh, chairman of Anh Group and head of the Sales & Marketing Officer Club (CSMO), said: “Besides the knowledge delivered, real-life and personal experiences shared from speakers with a solid background in the field is the most crucial element. 

“The summit will hear diverse perspectives from agencies, companies and brands, and many fields including technology, telecommunications, consumer goods, fashion and F&B, as well as business practices like e-commerce, retail, B2B and B2C,” he said. 

Lê Quốc Vinh, president and CEO of the Lê Group of Companies, said customer experience has been the “hottest keyword” this year because it represents the core of the relationship between the brand and the public. 

The two-in-one VSMCamp & CSMOSummit event is one of the biggest sales and marketing events held annually in HCM City.

The VSMCamp yesterday featured speakers from business and marketing companies, including Viettel, Tiki, Nielsen, Insider, FPT Software, PNJ, Cempartner, ADT Group, Equest Group, interstellar, PouchNATION, and AdColony.

They addressed a number of issues, including brand-building in the digital era; secrets of hunting for big clients; creation of customer experiences in the Japanese manner; customer-centric approaches in the 4.0 era; and designing great customer experiences to solve serious problems. 

Meanwhile, the CSMOSummit, which opens today, will discuss the role of brand positioning as it relates to customer experience; challenges for Chief Marketing Officers in the digital era; modern marketing strategies; and designing customer-experience ecosystems.

The event will feature speeches, panel discussions, and tech demos with solutions using loyalty marketing, artificial intelligence (AI) Tech, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in real-life situations to create better customer experiences and brands.

In addition, speakers from Japan will share lessons about the sustainable development of Japanese enterprises, the leading nation in customer experience via its Omotenashi (hospitality) philosophy, which is being considered or used by Vietnamese enterprises.

As part of the summit, the CSMO Innovation Awards, with eight award categories, will honour individuals and teams who have contributed solutions and ideas in sales, marketing, and creative communication. 

Since the first meeting in 2016, the event has included more than 170 local and foreign speakers, and more than 5,000 participants. 

The summit was co-organised by Việt Nam CSMO under Việt Nam Association of Corporate Directors and Le & Brothers Limited. — VNS