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What does contemporary art in Vietnam look like today? And where should you start as a newbie?  As Vietnam approaches the end of its debut national pavilion at the Venice Biennale, curator and Artistic Director at VCCA Tuong Linh Do joins Ian Paynton for a quick look into a scene that's more vibrant, diverse and open than many people realise.  From the experimental artists of 1990s Hanoi to today’s generation working across video, sound, performance, installation and traditional lacquer, Linh maps a scene shaped by history, rapid change and a growing confidence to tell its own stories.  They discuss how Vietnamese contemporary art has been under-documented; the artists and spaces that helped build the scene; how to explore it with only one week in Vietnam... and why a private studio visit might be the best place to begin. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

How do you get a Vietnamese fragrance into the top 10 men’s fragrances on Shopee in your first year... while both founders still have full-time jobs?  Enter Vy Nguyen and Ngu Phan (Peter), Co-Founders of Lenoir. They join Ian Paynton to share how they built a perfume brand around Vietnam’s students. From testing scents with friends and packing orders after work to discovering why customers kept buying samples, this is a story of trial, error and paying attention. We explore how gifting changed their business, why small freebies and personal touches matter, and what it takes to keep up with young Vietnamese consumers. We also get into the harder questions: staying ahead of copycats, adapting to a more competitive e-commerce market, and building customer relationships when the platforms control so much of the experience. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why starting with e-commerce can get you to market fasterHow listening to customers can change your businessWhat works with young Vietnamese online shoppersHow to find and test your unique selling pointHow to stay ahead of copycatsSend us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Before Ian Paynton co-founded WCC, and before journalist David Stout went on to report from Myanmar, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Balkans and Saudi Arabia, the pair spent their days making a print magazine about Hanoi. Fifteen years later, they reunite to remember what David calls “the best days of analogue Vietnam”. They revisit some of their favourite editorial assignments, from the 103-year-old woman living with four generations of her family to Ha Giang before mass tourism and the overlooked importance of Vietnamese tea. They also reflect on the extraordinary pace of Vietnam’s transformation, what Hanoi may have lost along the way and why, beneath its changing appearance, the spirit of the city remains unmistakably intact. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

What does Vietnam look like through the eyes of someone arriving at one of the most ambitious moments in its recent history? Ten months into his posting, Singapore’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Rajpal Singh, joins Ian Paynton to reflect on what he has learned so far — from the country’s infectious energy and optimism to its pace of change, its openness to outsiders and the ever-growing relationship between Vietnam and Singapore. In this episode: Why Vietnam’s energy can only truly be understood from the groundWhat makes this such an ambitious moment in the country’s developmentThe opportunities and learning curves facing newcomers to VietnamWhat the Ambassador has discovered about Vietnamese food, family life and hospitalityWhy Singapore and Vietnam are natural economic partnersWhat the two countries have in commonHow Vietnam and Singapore's relationship is expanding into technology, AI, sustainability and food securityChapters 00:00 — Introduction 01:00 — Ten months as Singapore’s Ambassador to Vietnam 02:10 — Feeling Vietnam’s energy from the ground 03:40 — Optimism, ambition and Vietnam’s next leap 05:50 — Learning Vietnamese and understanding the country 07:40 — Why Vietnam cannot be understood overnight 08:30 — Life as an ambassador 09:50 — Bun cha, bun bo Hue and bia hoi 12:00 — Discovering Vietnam as a family 14:20 — Vietnamese openness and hospitality 16:30 — Highlights from the first ten months 18:10 — The Vietnam–Singapore Industrial Parks 20:00 — What Singapore sees in Vietnam 21:50 — Why Singapore and Vietnam are natural partners 22:40 — Two countries that have overcome the odds 23:45 — Supporting Vietnam’s next stage of growth 24:35 — What comes next for Ambassador Rajpal Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Vietnam's young people have more opportunity than any generation before them. They are globally connected, ambitious, educated, and growing up in one of the world's fastest-changing countries. But beneath the optimism lies something else: pressure to constantly improve, build impressive careers, gain new qualifications, make their families proud, have a side-hustle, and somehow still figure out who they are along the way. In this episode, Ian speaks with youth development advocate Ha Pham about the hidden pressures facing Vietnam's younger generation — from self-improvement culture and social media to family expectations, identity, ambition, and the fear of being ordinary in a country that's moving fast. Listen now to learn: 🇻🇳 Why opportunity and pressure are rising together 🇻🇳 The fear of being ordinary in modern Vietnam 🇻🇳 How social media is changing ambition and self-worth 🇻🇳 The tension between traditional values and personal identity 🇻🇳 Why many young people feel they're living between two worlds 🇻🇳 What gives Ha hope for Vietnam's next generation Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

In this 70th episode, former US ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius shares a rare, first-hand view of Vietnam’s transformation; from post-war recovery to one of the most dynamic economies in the world today. We get into the long arc of Vietnam’s growth, the mindset driving its progress, and the optimism that continues to define it. And why, despite any challenges, Ted is still betting on Vietnam as a place to live, raise his family, and do business.  Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

E-commerce in Vietnam is big, but it's about to get A LOT bigger. Right now, it’s sitting at around 12–15% of total retail. But it’s growing at 2–3x the speed of offline, and the way people buy in Vietnam is changing fast. In this episode, Ian Paynton sits down with Ryan Molloy, CEO of Redfern Digital, to break down what’s actually happening on the ground.  We get into:  Why TikTok Shop has overtaken Shopee in just a couple of years  The shift from search-based shopping to discovery-led buying  Why live streaming has gone from “nice to have” to non-negotiable  What it really takes to launch and scale an e-commerce business here We also workshop a real example — what Ryan would do if he had $100K to launch a new brand in Vietnam today. If you’re thinking about entering Vietnam, or trying to understand where commerce is heading more broadly, this is a useful one. Because Vietnam isn’t just growing fast. In many ways, it’s skipping steps — and rewriting the playbook as it goes. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

You know the score! Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world right now. But most global audiences and brands still don’t understand how it actually works. Sure, they see the headlines, but it's a difficult place to immediately understand from the outside. How to actually understand life on the ground? In this episode, Ian Paynton is joined by Huy Nguyen, CEO of Pencil Group, a network of cultural marketing agencies that looks at Vietnam through a different lens: not as a market, but as a set of communities, values, and behaviours that shape everything from decision-making to brand building. Together, we break down the cultural truths your brand must master before entering Vietnam — from why culture should be treated as infrastructure, not decoration, to the role of family, regional nuance, national pride, and the hidden signals in everyday communication. If you’re a brand or marketing director thinking about entering Vietnam — or already operating here and wondering why things don’t always land — this is essential listening.  Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Triathlon participation in Vietnam has grown nearly 30x in a decade. And Danang is about to host its first full-distance Ironman. In this episode, Ian Paynton speaks to Rob Zamacona, the General Manager of Sunrise Events Vietnam, about what it really takes to build an event of that scale here. We unpack what Ironman's growth reveals about modern Vietnam: the power of community, how nothing important happens overnight, and why “reading the room” might be the most valuable business skill you can develop for getting things done in Vietnam. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

In this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, Ian Paynton is joined by Gauthier D'haenens, a Vietnamese-born Belgian adoptee who returned to Vietnam as an adult searching for his biological parents — and instead found a very different sense of belonging. Gauthier shares his deeply personal journey of growing up feeling like an outsider in Europe, returning to Vietnam to reconnect with his roots, and ultimately choosing to build a life here despite never fully fitting into one box or another. Together, Ian and Gauthier explore what it means to live between cultures, how Vietnam can strip away old identities and force new ones to emerge, and why grief, distance, and belonging are some of the least talked-about realities of long-term life abroad. The conversation also dives into Vietnam’s evolution beyond the usual Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City narrative, why Danang is emerging as a serious tech and lifestyle hub, and what global leaders consistently misunderstand about building businesses and teams in Vietnam. This is a reflective, honest episode about adoption, ambition, wonder, and the quiet sacrifices that come with choosing Vietnam — and why, for many, the country has a way of confronting you… and changing you. In this episode, we cover: Growing up Vietnamese in Europe and returning to Vietnam as an adultSearching for biological parents — and making peace with not finding themIdentity, belonging, and the emotional cost of living far from homeWhy Hanoi can break you — and why that mattersDanang’s rise beyond tourism into tech and innovationWhat Vietnam’s future could look like, and what it risks losing along the waySend us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Vietnam is no longer just a fast-growing economy or a low-cost manufacturing hub. It is entering what many local leaders now call an era of rising — defined not only by economic momentum, but by diplomatic agility, cultural confidence, and a new generation reshaping the country’s future. In this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, Ian Paynton speaks with Hang Vu, Managing Partner at RSI Consulting, about what Vietnam’s rise really looks like on the ground — beyond GDP headlines and investor hype. Drawing on her experience as a corporate leader turned market-entry advisor, we unpack What Vietnam’s rapid growth looks like on the ground — from mindset shifts to changing consumer behaviourThe move from resilience to reinvention in Vietnamese business cultureThe rise of cultural confidence and creative industriesThe role of Vietnamese women as both guardians of tradition and pioneers of changeCommon mistakes international companies make when entering VietnamBamboo diplomacy and how it shapes Vietnam’s global positioningWhat success could look like for Vietnam’s era of rising over the next decadeThis episode is essential listening for global business leaders, investors, and anyone seeking a deeper, more human understanding of where Vietnam is heading — and what it takes to succeed here in the years ahead. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Tết has always been Vietnam’s most important moment of the year — culturally, emotionally, and commercially. For some categories, it can account for up to 40–45% of annual sales. But something feels different now. In this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, Ian Paynton sits down with Cimigo's Richard Burrage, a long-time Vietnam resident and one of the country’s most experienced consumer insight leaders, to unpack how Tết is changing — and why many brands and marketers haven’t caught up. Drawing on nationwide consumer research and focus groups, Richard explains why Vietnam is spending differently, gifting less, celebrating more quietly, and approaching Tết with a very different mindset. For senior leaders looking beyond the hype, this episode offers a grounded, on-the-ground view of cultural change — and why understanding the “new Tết” may be critical to getting Vietnam right. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Michaela Baur is the Country Director of GIZ Vietnam, a German development agency with more than 30 years of experience working in Vietnam. Today, Ian asks the question on the tip of everyone's tongue: Can Vietnam really become a high-income country by 2045 AND reach its net zero target by 2050? Michaela explains why Vietnam is choosing to pursue economic growth and emissions reduction in parallel, not sequentially, and why, while it's very ambitious, it's also very smart. She breaks down Vietnam’s four major reform thrusts for the next decade and why they’re being tackled together rather than in silos. Drawing on GIZ's experience in Vietnam, Michaela shares concrete examples of the agency's high impact work. She also gives five things outsiders must know about getting things done in Vietnam – from genuine curiosity about the country and its history, to working at eye level with Vietnamese partners. If you care about climate, growth, or doing business in Vietnam, this episode shows why Vietnam might just become a global example for how to do both. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Vietnam is changing shape fast — but its soul hasn’t moved an inch. In this episode, Ian sits down with Vinamilk creative director Chieu Pham to unpack the cultural codes that remain constant beneath the country’s rapid transformation. From ancestor worship and family rituals to emotion-driven storytelling and Vietnam’s unique sense of humour, Chieu explains why global brands so often misread the market — and what they must understand to get it right. She shares 15 years of insight across ad agencies and national brands, and why authenticity beats polished cleverness every time. She also dives into gender dynamics inside Vietnam’s creative industry, the rise of influencers, and the future of Vietnamese cinema. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

Vietnam’s economy is booming. Foreign factories are multiplying, GDP is surging, and global investors are calling it the next Asian powerhouse. But who’s really benefitting from this rapid growth? In this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, Ian Paynton speaks with journalist Lam Le, known for going beyond the headlines to tell the human-centred stories behind Vietnam’s economic rise. She explains what life looks like for the factory workers assembling products such as AirPods and MacBooks, and for gig-economy drivers caught in relentless algorithmic cycles. From ageing out of factory work at thirty-five to the quiet ambitions of women retraining as beauticians, Lam paints a vivid picture of the people powering Vietnam’s rise — and offers advice for global businesses looking to employ here responsibly. Send us Fan Mail If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops. This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam. You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn, and follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok and X.  A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.