HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The useof 4.0 technologies and digital marketing provides a competitive edge as wellas brand differentiation for companies, experts said at a conference held recentlyin Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Xuan Duy, digital marketing lecturer at BMGInternational Education, said that brand differentiation ensures that productsand services can grab customers’ attention and enhance competitiveness.

However, creating positive experiences assisted by 4.0technologies for consumers by focusing on customer service can also sharpencompanies’ competitive edge even if their products are not unique.

In the age of 4.0 technologies and digital marketing,businesses cannot just simply sell products, but must work towards creating asmart ecosystem that revolves around customers, according to Duy.

To gather information about customers while at the same timehaving data accessible by customers at any time, companies should use Big Dataand other advanced technologies.

Businesses should strive towards “satisfying customers’exact needs, whatever they want, whenever and wherever they want it, Duy said.

However, most businesses are not using 4.0 technologies oreven online services due to a lack of trained employees and knowledge about thebenefits, and an inability to use the new technologies.

Duy recommended that such businesses start small, focusingon brand building and customer trust, communicate with customers with onlinechannels, explore more channels such as mobile marketing, and create socialmedia spaces for customers to discuss businesses’ products.

They should also seek business partners that specialise in suchtechnologies or hire more skilled workers.

Chu Xuan Nam, deputy director of Digismart Ltd. Co., adigital marketing agency which has exclusive rights to use the Blippar phoneapplication in Vietnam, following its partnership with the UK-based technologycompany Blippar, said the app could be used to enhance competitiveness.

By scanning products whose brands work with Blippar, the appuses AR (Augmented Reality) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies toprovide a digitised, interactive advertisement with 3D images and videos, whichinforms customers about the products’ details and other information in amemorable way.

Around 67 percent of Vietnamese use the internet, and 57 percentsocial media.

In addition, around 35 million people are now purchasinggoods online, and their first exposure to products and services is throughonline media.

The conference on 4.0 technologies and brand differentiationwas held by Digismart Ltd. Co. and the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and TradePromotion Centre.-VNS/VNA