COMPANY PROFILE

Company overview

Binh Tien Production HTD Co Ltd is committed to constantly improving the quality of product supply to meet the increasingly high and diverse requirements of customersjust as the meaning of Biti's brand "PrestigeQualified" From year to year, Biti’s top priority is to build long-term trust for all customers

Nowadays, Biti’s has become not only a strong domestic brand but also a leading Vietnam footwear exporter to the world market Their products are currently available in more than 40 countries around the world, including a number of highly demanding markets such as Italy, France, the UK, the U.S, Russia, Japan, South America, China and Mexico The vision of the company is to become a powerful manufacturer of consumables in Asia

According to Mr. Vuu Khai Thanh – General Director of Biti’s, the company will keep on both maintaining the leading position in Vietnam and proactively reaching out for international opportunities [4]

Key milestones

1982: Established Van Thanh GroupDeveloped from family-owned footwear production with a long history, Van Thanh Group (consisting of 20 workers) was founded by Mr Vuu Khai Thanh and his wife to make and export footwear products to Eastern European countries and the USSR under the goods exchange program.

1986: Merged with Binh Tien Group - Mr Vuu Khai Thanh and his wife took over Binh Tien Group in 1986 and merged it with the existing group as Binh Tien Rubber Cooperative. The company then focuses on producing a variety of high-quality footwear products to serve the domestic market and export to Eastern Europe and Western Europe

1990: EVA Technology from Taiwan - Seeking to enhance the quality of products, Mr. Vuu Khai Thanh and his wife decided to go to Taiwan to learn new technologies They later invested in the procurement of machines from Taiwan – EVA foam rubber footwear with the best quality ever.

1992: Officially renamed Biti’s - In 1992, within the renovation period of the country, the company was officially renamed Binh Tien Imex Corp, Pte., Ltd. or Biti’s.

The early 2000s: The appearance of high-end footwear brands such as Nike or Adidas has taken over the market. Gradually, young people form the stereotype that Biti's is "out of time", or is only interested in the elderly who have been used to purchasing habits since the difficult subsidy period In order to be able to fight the cycle of elimination, Biti's faced challenges of overcoming the long-standing mindset of the Vietnamese that only trust imported products and doubt the quality of domestic products In these years, Biti’s struggled to refine its glory in the footwear market

2016: The return of “legend” - Biti’s made an impressive comeback by launching the new campaign “Di de tro ve” and collaborating with famous singers: Soobin Hoang Son and Son Tung MTP In just a few days after the MV was released, the name Biti's has been mentioned more by young people on social networks than in the past 10 years combined. Since 2016, "di de tro ve" has continued to write the story with the performance of other artists, including Huong Tram, Phan Manh Quynh, DaLab. Although it did not resonate as much as the first MV, Biti’s still successfully left an indelible mark on the audience with several ways of exploiting unique insights on Tet such as: Just needs to be home on Tet, no matter where you are, being with your loved ones means Tet.

Case #5: Bitis

2018: Biti collaborated with Walt DisneyMarvel’s mother company on a collaboration that included sports shoes and slippers that take inspiration from the company’s superhero character After Marvel, they continued to collaborate. Biti worked with Pepsi to create a shoe line for the World Cup 2018 This project helped Biti’s to work alongside some of the biggest names in the sport such as Lionel Messi

2019: Carrying the mission of honoring the national identity, Biti’s launched a campaign called “Proudly Made in Vietnam” As a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, consumers’ expenditure on fashion, which included all of Bitis's items, drastically reduced in 2019. However, Biti’s considered this as an opportunity for people to slow down and look back at the “origin”, and that “origin” was found in Vietnamese national culture.

Famous campaigns

a. Lạc trôi + Đi để trở về

As a matter of fact, Vietnamese footwear brand Biti’s is not a young company but their comeback in 2016 in this competitive industry is a beacon for local footwear brands The family’s second generation, Vuu Le Quyen and Vuu Le Minh are making the Bitiss philosophy of “tender care for Vietnamese feet” relevant to the younger generation After a period of absence from the market, by mid2016, the Vietnamese brand returned with a product completely different from what people used to remember about Biti's: "The Brave hunter" - Biti's Hunter

After months of researching, Biti’s found great potential in developing sneakers for Vietnamese youngsters. In an interview with Vietcetera, Biti’s brand manager Nguyen Phu Cuong shared: “Vietnam has been rapidly developing economically in recent years The 9x and 10x generations are switching to local sneakers from global brands because sneakers are a very personal thing

They strongly represent the style of the person wearing them. Research showed that the Vietnamese sneaker market was divided into three sectors Firstly, are international labels like Nike, Adidas, Vans, and Converse This sector is the most costly and primarily foreign-dominated. Second, there’s the middle sector or mid-range We found this segment has relatively few players This sector caters to people who want authentic brands over fakes, but who are not willing to invest so much in a premium pair. Finally, there’s the low-end This consists of either knockoffs or cheap local brands - with no guarantee of quality This helped Biti’s to realize that the Vietnamese market still yearns for locallyproduced sneakers at an affordable price, with high-quality production, and beautiful designs And that is how Biti’s Hunter came about” [5]

Taking young people as the inspiration for the breakthrough, along with the campaign "Di de tro ve" combined with singer Soobin Hoang Son and very subtle but fairly unique product placement (PPL) in the MV "Lac Troi" by singer Son Tung M-TP, Bitis’s continued encouraging young people to experience, broaden their horizons and bring Vietnam to the world Moreover, Biti's listened to the liberal breath of the cultural extremes of Saigon - Hanoi associated with each piece of young people's unique characteristics Old but new, familiar yet strange, Biti's brings the footsteps of young people into harmony with the rhythm of street life, living under cultural extremes to find their own extremes “Di de tro ve” was no longer simply the name of the campaign that re-affirmed the extremely successful brand name, but also echoed the sound of "tireless footsteps" for returning to grow stronger than ever before In this campaign, Biti’s also collaborated with microinfluencers - people with a modest following of between 1000 and 3000 people, but who have deep connections, strong bonds, and constant communication with their fans Micro-influencers play a prominent role in promoting conversations about “going out and experiencing Biti’s Hunter.”

b. Proudly made in Vietnam

The spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019 leads to a significant reduction in consumer spending on fashion, which includes all of Bitis’s products. However, this is also a precious opportunity for Vietnamese brands, as national pride is triggered and Vietnamese consumers tend to focus more on “Made in Vietnam” products. This social construct presented a unique opportunity for leading local sneaker brand Biti's Hunter to champion local pride, enhancing its brand imagery and increasing sales

Biti’s Hunter: ProudlyMadeInVietnam focuses on Vietnamese youth who have an innate pride but can't define what specifics about Vietnam make them proud Inspired by Vietnamese humble upbringing and life, adapting and thriving in any sort of living conditions, Bitis cooperates with other Vietnamese brands such as Canifa, Boo, Minh Long, and Thien Long to release a special collection designed by Vietnamese optimistic and resilient stories during the Covid-19 names Canvas of Pride This collection receives enthusiastic support from artists (Hương Giang, Thanh Bùi, Đông Nhi, Ông Cao Thắng), creative communities, Vietnamese youngers, and global reputable news channels (about 380+ articles are posted by Bloomberg, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance News, BBC, Campaign Brief Asia… about this campaign). Each story will be modeled on Biti's Hunter Street Black Line shoes and available for pre-order on Biti's website The 4 most pre-ordered designs will be produced in reality so that the story of Vietnamese pride goes further with every customer’s step. Otherwise, 10% of revenue from actual products will be used to contribute more to Biti's fund, in order to support units directly in contact with infected people and suspected infected people, as the request of the Government

An interesting idea and effective marketing plan brought Bitis 33 million views for the viral clip and more than half a million shares across social platforms – more than any of its Western counterparts Thousands of people join and discuss this topic, 2.5 million interactions, and 50.000+ pre-orders were made in less than 2 weeks for more than 100 works from over 30 artists and creative communities across Vietnam Biti's Hunter Street accounted for a 33 percent sales contribution of Biti's Hunter and 12 percent of total Biti's sales domestically The campaign transformed Biti's Hunter's imagery into Vietnamese youth’s Top of Mind (TOM) about cultural products and marked a new milestone in this local brand’s history, as well as proving the strong vitality of Vietnamese brands in the 40 digital transformation revolution

In most of Biti's hunter media campaigns, the most used type of source is 'people'. And the most used message factors are verbal vs visual messages and emotional ones Furthermore, ProudlyMadeInVietnam was born as an imperative national milestone, which significantly contributed to the massive influence of the campaign The right time, the right slogan and the right influencers are 03 of the numerous factors that contribute to the success of Biti’s. However, several creative ideas from a hard-working marketing team in the miserably hard rebrand position are also undeniable

c. Biti's Hunter X Marvel Tribute Edition - G.OA.T

This catalog is inspired by the battle costumes of the three most important superheroes in Avengers: Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. The technology of Biti's Hunter X Marvel Tribute - Team Tech is also welldeveloped on the basis of the 2K18 version The Evolution: Higher - Quieter - Cooler

Biti’s “handshake” with Marvel and Walt Disney - Marvel’s mother company (in mid2017) spread Biti’s name globally and significantly left a positive impression on young customers This collaboration opens up more opportunities for Biti’s, as well as support for the release of Avengers Infinity War which was launched in April 2018 In addition, the type of source of Biti's Hunter x Marvel is “animated spokescharacters” and the message structure is a verbal vs visual message.

Biti's Hunter X Marvel is an example of Biti’s customer understanding, younger people with a huge passion for superheroes, and the want of having a “cheap moment” with idols. By following customers’ footprints on social media, community, and online discussion, Biti’s find out the younger generation's favorite of showing their personality and ego through custom and shoes. The specially designed shoe collab with an effective trade marketing strategy in retail outlets brings Biti’s huge wins on both online and offline selling channels. 750 first shoes were sold in the first open period, marking a potential development for the collaboration between local and global brands

Thanks to the unstoppable effort of Biti’s, Biti's Hunter X Marvel was born in the “gold” moment when Marvel and superheroes movies are at the customer's top of minds The encouragement to change, to re-position and catch the trend are key factors leading to the success of this campaign

Unique Factors

Taking quality to be the primary value

Biti's experienced a period of declining market share and "outdatedness" in the eyes of consumers while growing and developing the brand

Biti's was well-liked for its superior product quality and reasonable pricing prior to 2000, when the footwear market had numerous restrictions on style and buyers' minds solely revolved around the philosophy of "solid food, durable wear." become appropriate. Additionally, Biti's may serve consumers of all ages However, when the Vietnamese economy opened up in the 2000s, wellknown foreign brands and the many cheap Chinese products that were available forced Vietnamese brands to compete. Despite having outstanding quality, Biti's lacks a wide selection of designs and models In the meantime, Biti's still makes a mark of quality in the minds of Vietnamese people. Biti's footwear goods bring back memories of childhood, especially for millennials As a result of their personal product experience, when Biti's officially released Biti's Hunter with contemporary shoe styles, the millennial generation was reminded of a time when Biti's was resounding

When a customer invests money on a pair of sneakers, both comfort and style are equally important Customers are eager to acquire Biti's products since they already come with a quality assurance, and now when there is a touch of fashion, they are even more so Without having "quality" as a guiding principle, Biti's will struggle to win back consumers in today's cutthroat market, and it will take a long time to persuade customers

If we pay close attention to the recent successful campaigns of Bitis, it is not difficult to realize that Bitis is targeting a young user base and gradually coming out of the old Bitis's shadow The association with young artists such as Soobin Hoang Son, Son Tung MTP, Viet Max, and the Proudly made in Vietnam products has proven that orientation.

Bitis's board of directors should be credited for having such a breakthrough and courageous vision Over many generations of users in Vietnam, the image of the Bitis sports shoe has certainly been imprinted in many people's minds. Although it already has such a market and potential customers, Bitis' ambition does not stop there Bitis's leadership team are those people who are most clearly aware that the tastes of Vietnam's shoe and footwear product lines are gradually changing, they need a pair of shoes that can not only walk and run but also have to be suitable for the times and express their own nature That's why Bitis's leadership team decided to renew the image of a series of Bitis shoe products, and at the same time launch new campaigns to catch up with the times such as Going to Return, Bitis Hunter x Marvel has just told above They dared to innovate, be creative, and adapt to the times. Bitis's tireless footsteps are leaving impressive marks on the Vietnamese shoe market

Biti's identity is also influenced by Vietnamese culture and people because she was born in the Vietnamese market In the summer of 2018, Biti's Hunter released The RED Pride Special Edition, which beautifully captured the boys of the Vietnamese football team's presence in the 2018 Asian Games. Early in 2020, amid the unrest brought on by Covid19, Biti's released "Vietnamese Canvas of Pride," a version of Hunter Street that was influenced by accounts of the struggle in Vietnam against Covid-19. The next Biti's Hunter Street x Vietmax 2020 collection also features elements of Hanoi's culture

Wisely deal with unexpected scenario

In October, 2021, Biti's launched a collection called Blooming Central to honor the cultural beauty of Central Vietnam The commercial footwear showcased a collection created from innovative investment, finding here a wide range of materials and a wide range of manufacturing power

However, Biti's new product quickly became a topic of discussion when a user discovered that the brocade material on the shoes was a popular Chinese product, which can be purchased on Taobao (Chinese e-commerce platform) with prices from 40,000 VND/meter. However, Biti’s made an excellent move in handling this communication issue [8] in a very professional and commendable manner Specifically, they offered the following options:

Substitute brocade fabric inspired by Hue culture and art

Recalibrate all images & transmissions within the next 24 hours

Update new materials and textures on shoes

Support customers to return if the product does not match their preferences

Commitment to deduct 100,000 VND from the revenue of each product sold of this collection to contribute to the talent development funds of the Central region, especially the Cham people Through this, Bitis has excelled in pleasing the public from criticizing to fully supporting the product because of its extremely professional and decisive media handling

Moreover, in order to have that spectacular comeback, the role of ingenious leaders, Vuu Le Minh and Vuu Le Quyen, is indispensable They bravely “sailed close to the wind” so that Biti’s was completely refreshed but still successfully expressed the traditional beauty. “Then we have people like Hung Vo - vice marketing director and CEO of REDDER Advertising - he is the brains behind that campaign and all the other marketing ideas for Biti’s. And of course all the employees in the Biti’s family: “They have sustained the fire and the passion behind the brand and have transferred it to the products to create the foundation for these successful campaigns.” proudly shared by Mr. Nguyen Hung Vo [6].

Future Challenges

Customers' foreign-favored mindset

Many Vietnamese consumers have a foreignfavored mindset, preferring foreign-made products even when the same products are domestically produced with equivalent quality and even lower prices. It is not difficult to recognize the foreign-favored behaviors when entering a supermarket and observing people buying garments, cosmetics and food," said Dr Nguyen Tri Hieu [7], which is also true even for the Vietnamese shoe market. Nowadays, it is not difficult to see the image of young people wearing stylish and popular sneakers from brands such as Vans, Nike, Adidas, and Converse The reason comes from the concept and trend of consumption.

According to statistics, in Vietnam, Millennials (25-38 years old) and Gen Z (18-24 years old) or collectively known as MillenialZ currently account for 47% of the country's population (45 million people) and are becoming the main factors contributing to the development of the current digital economy, they were born and raised in the context of strong foreign imports into Vietnam [8] Vans’ skate shoes were dominant as another student classic.

Endorsed by Vietnamese millennials, sneakers would go on to proliferate as a commodity of American street culture. At the same time, American consumerism would permeate, reshape and, at times, find itself at odds with Vietnamese life as previous generations knew it The emergence of branding power signaled the proliferation of a crop of high school students and young adults Vietnamese millennials who spiritually feed on fashion and consumer culture Seeing as their choice of garments in school was restricted to uniforms, many embraced the freedom to choose nice footwear A fresh alternative to old-fashioned Bitis and Thuong Dinh shoes, Converse officially entered Vietnam in 2003 and quickly became a phenomenon among youths.

For the first time, sneakers ventured out of Vietnam’s underground landscape and into daily life Because of being shaped by foreign footwear products early on, today's Millennials & GenZ generations tend to buy foreign products and prefer to use foreign footwear products, which makes made-in-Vietnam shoes like Bitis find it more difficult to bring their products to domestic consumers

The fierce competition of the domestic shoes market

Vietnamese life itself saturated with an emphasis on personal success and style is already vastly different from what it was before Doi Moi. Starting with a pair of sneakers, fashion embodies their materialism and drive for idiosyncrasy In 2008, an image of a bundle of water spinach (rau muống), an essential for many Vietnamese meals, was rendered on a T-shirt in the first-ever design from BOO, a fashion company that evolved from one of the first skate shops in Vietnam The concept of merging Vietnamese cultural images with American clothing was a breath of fresh air that worked flawlessly. After BOO’s success came the proliferation of local brands new Vietnamese fashion labels that start out humble, aim for originality, and in time, garner a sizable community of followers, especially shoes local brands. 2012 saw many emerging names in the Vietnamese domestic shoe market such as RieNevan, Ananas These brands are not only aesthetically pleasing and flexible but also suitable for Vietnamese GenZ & Millennials customers. Bitis is later when the company started to launch a new product named Bitis Hunter in 2016, although it was a great success, it does not mean that Bitis will not have difficulty in competing with other domestic shoes brands.