‘The most vibrant market’: Aveda anticipates ‘unlimited potential and growth’ in Vietnam

The Estée Lauder-owned brand recently launched in Vietnam across multiple channels, including brick-and-mortar retail, e-commerce, and the professional salon channel.

Its official launch was marked by an event held on August 15 which highlighted Aveda's capabilities in the professional salon setting.

During the event, Kelly Park, vice president and general manager of Aveda Asia Pacific, expressed excitement over Aveda’s launch in Vietnam.

“Vietnam is the most vibrant market in South East Asia. It’s such an untapped opportunity. I cannot express enough how tremendously honoured and excited I am about Aveda’s launch in the Vietnam market, a place of unlimited potential and growth.​

“Vietnam is a perfect mix of professional hair care with a huge salon industry and desirability for prestige hair care. So, we believe Aveda has a huge opportunity in the Vietnam market.”​

Park told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that Aveda is aiming to become the top omnichannel luxury hair care brand in Vietnam.

It is working to unveil more direct-to-consumer touchpoints, both online and offline.

“Especially beautiful Aveda boutiques and counters at top shopping locations across Vietnam, especially Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi,” ​said Park.

It was also imperative to build the vegan brand across the professional channel in Vietnam as a natural and high-performance alternative to other more conventional salon brands.

“[We want Aveda] to be the top-of-mind and first-choice hair care brand among the amazing thriving community of talented hairdressers and network of salons in Vietnam because they know that they can depend on Aveda’s rituals and products to work wonders and delight consumers,” ​said Park.

Trends taking root in Vietnam

Aveda partnered with Singapore-based omnichannel distributor LUXASIA for its entry into Vietnam. The latter previously worked with the brand in markets including Singapore, Malaysia and the Phillippines.

Speaking to us, LUXASIA echoed Aveda’s excitement and confidence in the Vietnam venture.

“It’s a country with a big population and an emerging, more affluent middle class. With the urbanisation of the market, we’re seeing the modernisation of shopping malls, department stores and also salons,”​ said Dinh Nguyen, country manager of LUXASIA Vietnam.

Nguyen highlighted that these emerging consumers were looking for the cream of the crop, which was now synonymous with safety and environmental responsibility.

He added that Aveda’s eco-credentials totally resonated with the modern Vietnamese consumer.

“The consumer today expects the best, and the best means safe beauty, cruelty-free beauty, and natural beauty. They are now starting to think about their social responsibility to the environment and are more conscious about their health,” ​he said.

One of the trends taking root strongly in Vietnam is the demand for vegan products, Nguyen highlighted.

“People in Vietnam were hungry for something new, and vegan is something that was totally new that attracted more knowledgeable consumers. Right now, it’s an emerging opportunity,” ​said Nguyen.

In Vietnam, luxury hair care is still a nascent segment. It only accounts for 6.6% of overall premium beauty and personal care, signalling huge potential for the premium hair segment to grow.

Raymond Tan, regional general manager of Aveda LUXASIA noted that many luxury brands have recognised the untapped opportunities in Vietnam and it was important for Aveda to be one of the pioneers.

“This year especially, we have seen a lot of luxury brands wanting to come to Vietnam to sell. And that's why we see the opportunity for Aveda to come in as the first mover before the rest of the luxury brands come in.”​

Being first to market is also important because Vietnam does not have much retail space to offer for now.

“Especially in Ho Chi Minh City, the number of quality department stores or shopping malls is quite limited. They have not been on that retail journey but in the next three to five years, you will see it moving. They are already building a lot of malls in Hanoi now,” ​said Tan.

Reinventing the salon experience​

One of the most exciting channels for Aveda is the professional channel as it is able to create a new salon experience for Vietnamese consumers.

Using essential oils and sprays, the brand can bring a new holistic dimension to elevate the most basic cut-and-colour sessions to a luxury hair pampering experience.

“Consumers are not just simply looking for a haircut or hair-colouring session solely when they visit a salon these days. They are looking for an entire mind and body experience, a total wellness experience. Furthermore, Vietnamese consumers are increasingly desiring the luxury experience,”​ said Tan.

“Using essential oils, sprays, and massages, even teas prepared for the guests, these are elements which make the Aveda experience incomparable and is truly what set it apart from the competitors.”​

Tan highlighted the importance of securing partnerships with the top-tier hair salons in Vietnam, noting that their influence will cascade down to other salons and eventually the end-consumers.

“We need the very top tier salons in the market influencers. We want the leaders of this entire hair salon industry to use this brand and other will want to be part of this family too.”​

According to the firm, Aveda has experienced double-digit year-on-year growth in neighbouring SEA markets Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

“The future in bright for Aveda in Vietnam as we ride on the high social media connectedness of consumers, the increasing propensity to indulge in luxury among the growing middle-class, the emerging sustainability and wellness trend which are aligned with Aveda’s brand ethos and values,” ​said Tan.