New CEO of Gojek Vietnam reveals new move when changing GoViet from ‘red team’ to ‘green team’

In the fall of 2018, GoViet spoke “Hi Vietnam” under the witness of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Gojek CEO at that time, Mr. Nadiem Makarim, said that choosing to build a private app and a local brand is inheriting the success of Gojek from Indonesia – building a brand “of people”. people “, recognized by the people.

“This is a Vietnamese company. We use red color, star symbol … These are images that are widely perceived by Vietnamese users. I want Vietnamese users to be brand owners, should give them the freedom to build their brand, “Mr. Nadiem said.

This approach is completely different from competitors like Uber and Grab – using an app and a unique brand in all markets.

But recently, GoViet abandoned the red color of the shirt, gave up the name of the only car-hailing unit with the word “Vietnamese”, changed the name to Gojek Vietnam, with the logo, uniform, proceeded to be an identical app with Gojek in Indonesia. With this move, does Gojek admit that the first step into the Vietnamese market with establishing a local brand is wrong? Has the advantages of a local Vietnamese business, the red advantage and the star-shaped logo no longer exist, or does the latter benefit merge with the higher Gojek?

Mr. Phung Tuan Duc – new General Director of Gojek Vietnam – had a lot to share with young intellectuals around this story.

* Wearing a new uniform, new company name, in a new position, how do you feel now?

A really new feeling, full of spirit. As one of the first people who founded and launched GoViet, I understand very well the mission and dreams of the company, the desire to bring more benefits to the Vietnamese people, to help bring a better life for people through technology products and services and create a social impact on our ecosystem. In the past 2 years, I witnessed the development of the company with many achievements in growth.

GoViet is the only company in the market that can simultaneously develop 3 Bike products (connecting passengers) – Send (connecting freight) – Food (connecting food and drink delivery) In the first two years of operation in the market, the number of orders on a two-wheel motorbike platform reached 100 million in the first year, and doubled to 200 million in the next six months. Currently, GoViet is connecting 150,000 driver partners and 80,000 restaurants with millions of customers.

The branding and app integration with Gojek is the company’s next strategic decision to accelerate development. We’ve been preparing for this change for a while now, and the two-year-old company’s birthday is a great time to launch a brand new, new app.

This change will give the company a lot of opportunities to provide a better experience, be able to provide better products and services to the market, bring more opportunities for income. , growth, revenue for partner communities – including restaurant and driver partners.

* Does this hot seat put you under pressure when two previous GoViet CEOs have resigned in less than a year?

The two seniors have many contributions to GoViet. I myself have also worked directly with them, and also learned from them about management experience and other valuable knowledge.

I understand the importance of this position is very large, the market can expect a lot from me and Gojek Vietnam. But there are two main factors that make me feel very confident when I take this position.

The first is GoViet’s group which is currently growing. From the original 5 founders, GoViet team now has hundreds of people in different offices in Vietnam. This team has been through many ups and downs of GoViet and they still stand, maintain a strong spirit, pursue ambitions, dreams of the company. Through the stumbles, we are fortunate to have many talented people continue to stay together, develop the company together.

Secondly, with this change, Gojek Vietnam is really standing on the giant’s shoulders, taking advantage of Gojek’s technology platform – a factor that has attracted a lot of investment of large companies. such as Google, Facebook, Tencent, Visa, Mitsubishi, Paypal … The giant’s resources plus the solid foundation of Gojek Vietnam’s ecosystem will help us carry out the great plans and aspirations of Gojek Vietnam. yourself in the future.

* You just mentioned the advantage of taking advantage of Gojek’s technology platform. Thus, the degree of leveraging technology from Gojek of GoViet before was not superior?

In the past, we developed our own app for the Vietnamese market, independent of Gojek app in Indonesia, based on technology support and Gojek’s expertise. However, for a customer traveling between many countries, having to open many different apps and customize the app according to customer needs is not convenient.

Gojek App in Indonesia will also be upgraded to a completely new version, and taking advantage of this world-class technology platform will help GoViet or Gojek in other countries to deploy new and available services. They can expand to new cities or customize features on their existing products more quickly and smoothly.

It is a global change, not just in Vietnam.

* There is an opinion that this brand and application consolidation proves the first step when taking the name GoViet and developing specific applications for the Vietnamese market is wrong. What do you think? Or was this step in the plan from the beginning?

Entering the market with a private brand reflects Gojek’s development strategy based on the understanding of the domestic market and development, changing its products and services to meet the needs of local market. For 2 years, this strategy really helped GoViet achieve success until today.

However, the market landscape is changing. In the current rapidly growing environment, more and more competitors enter the market. Besides, there is information about some other technology companies in the world who are struggling after the IPO or encounter certain difficulties in developing a sustainable development plan.

GoViet realizes that in order to develop in a competitive market like Vietnam in such an international context, it will need to take advantage of Gojek’s strengths – the technology platforms that have been researched and developed in Vietnam. a market that has many similarities with the Vietnamese market – to deliver a better customer experience, bring true value to GoViet’s customers and partner communities, and help GoViet focus on developing in long-term based on core values, get rid of the competition strategy by price or by promotion.

* There is an opinion that the GoViet brand sounds more friendly in Vietnam than Gojek, and the new uniform color is more easily confused with Grab. What do you think?

I always love the word “Vietnamese”, and I also feel quite sorry to say goodbye to the GoViet name and brand.

However, the values ​​that GoViet brand has brought to the market as well as the values ​​that Gojek can bring to the ecosystem of the platform in Vietnam, I think will be big enough to make every people feel excited, believe in and accept this change.

In terms of color, logo, brand, Gojek was established in 2010, derived from the word “Ojek” meaning motorbike in Bahasa Indonesia and has always been a blue brand. Gojek’s logo in mid-2019 has changed with a wavy circle with a center dot. The new blue logo, which represents a transformation from Jakarta-based ride-hailing service to Southeast Asia’s leading super-app, is a consistent image in other countries. I think with specific characteristics and meanings, Gojek will be difficult to confuse with other brands in the market.

* Are there any inconveniences arising for customers and partners from this merger? Downloading a new app, for example …

At the present time, customers and partners do not need to perform any actions other than clicking to save information on the GoViet app – the data will then be automatically transferred to the new Gojek app. In the coming time, when the Gojek app is officially launched, customers and partners will receive a notification to download the new app, users only need to follow the instructions to be able to use it.

Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest smartphone coverage in the region, and installing and logging into a new app I think is not too difficult for Vietnamese users who are curious and easy to find. adapting new technology. Users after transferring the application will immediately experience many new features more convenient.

* Do you believe in the loyalty of current GoViet customers? In your opinion, what percentage of old users will download new apps?

The loyalty of GoViet customers is expressed in many numbers. In recent years, GoViet has grown from zero to more than 150,000 driver partners, 80,000 restaurants, and millions of users in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

And within a few days after we announced our app consolidation and started letting users save the information to move on to the new app, we were very impressed with the high percentage of users who completed this step. This shows that GoViet is bringing products and services that are truly valuable and loved by the market. Therefore, the transition from GoViet app to Gojek app, I believe will not be a hassle.

* After changing the brand and application, what will the new chapter of Gojek Vietnam look like?

This platform really helps Gojek in Vietnam overcome the biggest hurdle in the past, which is the ability to deploy new services and features quickly and consistently, which will meet them. needs, bringing a better experience to customers. That is also the mission and desire throughout from the time GoViet founded the company to date.

The steps in the coming period also revolve around the theme of how to improve, expand and expand Gojek Vietnam’s products and features to better meet the needs of customers. Consumers participate in their ecosystem, thereby expanding opportunities for income and revenue for Gojek Vietnam’s partners.

* What about cashless payment and four- wheel drive?

Certainly these two products will also be two of the many Vietnamese market products that are quite looking forward to at Gojek Vietnam. And as I say, unifying the technology platform will help make new products faster. Currently, I have not allowed to share details. By the time the app officially launches and after that, we will share more information.

* So is the previous application hindering much in updating new features?

The old app has many features that Vietnamese people love – expressed by the growth in orders as well as the number of app downloads and customers using GoViet. But the new application will have many more advantages.

Vietnam and Indonesia are similar to the huge two-wheeler community compared to other countries in the region such as Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. So, in the first 2 years, in order to enter the market quickly and develop the best, two-wheelers is the GoViet segment focused on developing, and truly making a difference for its brand. Services developed on two-wheelers are also the secret of Gojek’s success in Indonesia.

* Can you tell us a little about the changes in the upcoming products of Gojek Vietnam?

After launching, for the first time, we will continue to maintain the best of 3 services such as GoBike, GoFood and GoSend as today. There will be many new features, such as those related to safety issues – also one of the needs that consumers increasingly want – such as sharing the trip itinerary for others, or the call button. emergency during the trip to handle the situation that arises.

Gojek Vietnam will also have more features for customers to interact better in Gojek’s application, such as the feature that allows customers to chat with each other instead of only customers chatting with drivers, or grapes. Small customer to participate in the implementation and when done can receive gifts of Gojek.

Those are some examples of small changes. There will be many major changes in products and services deployed from now until the end of the year.

* Recently Gojek cut 430 employees due to the influence of Covid-19, how is Gojek Vietnam affected?

Gojek had to make a difficult decision to close some products and services that users no longer needed during the Covid-19 period, such as some GoLife and GoFestival services in Indonesia – and related personnel. These areas have been affected at Gojek headquarters.

I would like to emphasize that this application change and trademark of Gojek Vietnam is completely unrelated to Covid-19. This plan has been prepared for a long time, and with the goal of bringing better applications and better value to Vietnamese users. It is not related to Covid-19.

* What are the specific goals of Gojek Vietnam this year and next?

Changing the brand and application gives Gojek Vietnam the ability to deploy new services, upgrade existing products, expand to new cities. Gojek Vietnam will focus on exploiting this advantage to continue to bring about positive effects on society in a sustainable manner through positive changes to our ecosystem.

* Thank you Sir!