Case 1 : CocaCola Vietnam: the lesson about inappropriate

slogan.

1. Background information:
The Department of Grassroots Culture (under the Ministry of Culture - Sports and
Tourism) has just sent an official letter to localities requesting the reorganization of
Coca-Cola advertising activities.
The document states that at present, advertising content for Coca-Cola Vietnam
products on television and in some media now uses the phrase "Mở Lon Vietnam".
The recent official dispatch of the Grassroots Culture Department clearly states that
the use of this phrase in the advertising content has signs of an unattractive
advertising behavior, which is inconsistent with Vietnamese customs and traditions.
This advertisement also does not guarantee the clear information of the content for
the advertised product or goods, violating the provisions of Clauses 3, 8 and 1, Article
19 of the Law on Advertising.
Therefore, the Department requests the local departments of culture - sport, the
Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism to check and review the records of
advertising advertising that Coca - Cola has received. Since then, businesses are
required to edit the phrase "Mở Lon Vietnam".
The document also issued a resolute request: "The request to dismantle advertising
products in case organizations or individuals do not announce advertising products
for advertisements on boards or banners".
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/van-hoa/mo-lon-viet-nam-trai-thuan-phong-my-tuc-ra-
sao-1098291.html
2. Reasons choosing the topic:
 To highlight the importance of communication with customers in business: Quality
and content are the core of the business but without a good ability to
communicate with customers, it all fails.
 To make it easier for people to understand how to convey a message through a
controversial slogan.
3. Analyze the situation:
There are 2 main reasons :
Firstly, Coca used a figurative meaning for that slogan, but people thought it literally.
The CEO came up with the slogan "Mở Lon Việt nam" which would be understood as
“mở lon Coca - Cola tại Việt Nam”. The target audience is the children so the word
“lon” is sensitive for them . To sum up, this slogan is actually completely appropriate
but it is understood in a different sense leading to the above incident.
Secondly, not following the first step - analyzing in the 3-x-3 writing process is the
second reason for its failure. Especially, before writing the brand should firstly
identify the purpose of its message. A business slogan serves as a very brief
representation of a product or company. It evokes emotions and ideas and associates
 them with a brand. Therefore, to convey a brand's message effectively its slogan
should be tailored to its target customers.
4. Lessons from the case:
 Avoid the brands’ applications in designing slogans. The brands should take the
audiences’ perspective into consideration to help them understand messages
appropriately and effectively.
 Define the purpose of the message that brands expect their slogans to convey to
their target audience. Thereby, the brands' slogans should be adjusted to help
them attract, and engage their target audience naturally without deceiving
customers when exaggerating.