As of now, there are 64 million Vietnamese Internet users, 94% of whom uses the Internet on a daily basis, according to a report on Vietnamese Digital Marketing in 2019. More particularly, Vietnamese people spend up to 6 hours and 42 minutes a day on social media platforms, streaming movies or listening to music.
With such a booming market, many domestic and foreign entertainment providers are trying to get their share of the pie.
POPS, a Vietnamese digital entertainment production and publishing company recently launched an app in their name, providing free copyrighted content created by Vietnamese production crews and well-known Vietnamese actors and performance artists.
In addition to supporting Vietnamese content creators, the app’s creators also aim to provide family-friendly contents that would appeal to a large portion of viewers.
Foreign companies have also made some moves with their localized platforms in Vietnam, for instance HBO Go with more and more local-centric series and Netflix with a brand new Vietnamese interface.
Despite their large numbers, these companies and platforms are showing a clear trend for co-opetition rather than competition against each other, said the CEO of SAVIS Technology Group Hoang Nguyen Van.
Besides racing to come up with quality content, companies also develop their own competitive edge to cater to the varying demands of different audience segments, with an emphasis on speed and convenience, stated POPS’ spokesperson Truong Tu Ngan.
Censorship is another aspect in question for online entertainment, when even open platforms like YouTube have increasingly stricter rules. For example, the content on HBO Go must be approved by the Vietnam News Agency before it reaches users.
Finally, identifying the target audience is one key aspect that determines a platform’s appeal and success, Ngan said. Understanding this, POPS presents its users with the choice between adult-oriented and children-friendly content upon logging in, which serves as another highlight of the app.
