You Don't Know Vietnam
Forget what you thought you knew about Vietnam. It's no longer that, as you're about to find out. Hit subscribe for conversations about trends, culture and business from one of the world's fastest growing markets: Vietnam. Hosted by Ian Paynton, co-founder of We Create Content, a content agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam.
Episodes
74 episodes
E74: How this side hustle fragrance brand won over Vietnamese students
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...
E73: Remembering a Hanoi we once knew — with journalist David Stout
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 la...
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E72: What Singapore’s Ambassador learned from his first 10 months in Vietnam
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 h...
E71: Vietnam's young people have never had it better. Or is there something we're missing?
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: press...
E70: I was the US ambassador to Vietnam. Here’s why I’m betting on its future
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 gr...
E69: Go live or get left behind: inside Vietnam’s e-commerce boom
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 ...
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E68: The 9 cultural truths your brand MUST master to get started in Vietnam
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...
E67: Growing IRONMAN Vietnam: lessons in community, planning and reading the room
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...
E66: Building a life in Vietnam: identity, business, and the search for home
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 ...
E65: What GDP headlines don’t tell you about Vietnam’s 'era of rising'
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,...
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E64: Let’s talk about Tết, baby — has Vietnam’s biggest holiday changed forever?
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 Y...
E63: Reduce emissions AND grow economically? Why Vietnam can do both
Michaela Baur is the Country Director of GIZ Vietnam, a German development agency with more than 30 years of experi...
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E62: Keeping soul, changing shape: Vietnam’s evolving identity
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 anc...
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E61: Factory towns, gig work, and the untold side of Vietnam’s economic boom
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 ...
E60: Why foreign leadership styles fail in Vietnam (and how to fix yours!)
Many foreign leaders arrive in Vietnam full of confidence — armed with a leadership style that’s worked everywhere else. But within weeks, frustration sets in. Teams seem hesitant, feedback is quiet, and quick wins are nowhere to be found. In t...
E59: Navigating the grey area that can decide life or death for business in Vietnam
"That grey area or that almost darkness within a conversation can be life and death. And if you don’t have the trust to be able to have an honest conversation, you can meet an impasse and never move forward," says CBRE's
E58: Eat alone? Not in Vietnam — the F&B localisation playbook
What makes Vietnamese dining culture so unique—and why do so many global F&B brands stumble here? In this episode, Ian Paynton speaks with Loan Vu, hospitality expert and co-founder of SNL’s Diner in Hanoi. Loan shares how she’s adapted an ...
E57: The future of retail in Vietnam — with e-commerce veteran Benji Lamb
If you're on LinkedIn and interested in Vietnam, you've probably already heard of Benji Lamb. He's the founder and CEO of Asia Circles, a com...
E56: Copywriting, killer audio ads and a drone show fail — the state of advertising in Vietnam
What’s really going on in Vietnam’s advertising scene? In this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, we sit down with creative director Espin Hoan to unpack the fast, loud, and ever-changing world of Vietnamese advertising. We explore why...
E55: Can Hai Phong become Vietnam’s Shanghai?
In this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, Ian Paynton travels (virtually) to Hai Phong — Vietnam’s third-largest city and rising industrial powerhouse — to speak with
E54: Why slow is better in speedy Vietnam – with kombucha entrepreneur Faya Nguyen
In Vietnam’s fast-paced F&B landscape, where trends explode and vanish overnight, kombucha entrepreneur Faya Nguyen chose a different path — and it’s working. In this episode, Faya shares how she grew her brand Cultra Brewery from ...
E53: Meet the stand-up comedian who made Durex Vietnam hilariously hyper local
Meet Ankita Ghosh, a creative director and stand up comedian who is based in Ho Chi Minh City and runs Saigon International Comedy. In this episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, she talks about the state of stand up comedy in Vietnam right now, wh...
E52: Is Vietnam's richest demographic being ignored by brands?
Vietnam’s Gen Z may get all the attention but there’s another demographic with deep pockets and untapped potential. In this episode, Ian Paynton speaks with Lai Tien Manh, Managing Director of market research and branding agency MiBrand to unco...
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E51: Redefining "Made in Vietnam" with the rise of homegrown innovation
Thomas Binh Do is the Director for Global Business and Cooperation at VINASA, the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association. Using his experience working with more than 600 of Vietnam's tech companies, Thomas explains why Vietnam is so well ...
E50: Patriotism and PR disasters: What global brands MUST know about Vietnam
On the 50th episode of You Don't Know Vietnam, we talk to PR expert Minh Duc, who shares why 2025 is such a big year for Vietnam's PR and media sector. He reveals what you need to know about Vietnamese patriotism as a global brand and how you c...
