Tung Hoang (Ethan), Managing Director of Alliance Mount, at the Forbes Vietnam Brand Conference 2026.
At the Forbes Vietnam Brand Conference 2026, Alliance Mount Managing Director Tung Hoang (Ethan) explored what earns customer trust as businesses grow. He also met with Worldpanel’s Peter Christou to discuss potential collaboration and connected with representatives from aviation and industrial development.
A brand can reach more customers and still give them fewer reasons to choose it. That tension was at the heart of the Forbes Vietnam Brand Conference, held on 12 November 2026 at The Reverie Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City. Tung Hoang (Ethan) represented Alliance Mount at the event, which brought together business leaders and researchers to discuss how companies can preserve a distinctive identity as they expand.
The programme approached that question from two directions. One panel examined how AI is changing the way customers discover and evaluate brands. Another looked at the decisions Vietnamese companies face when expanding abroad, including which markets to enter and how to build distribution. The conference also recognised Forbes Vietnam’s 50 leading brands for 2026. Forbes Vietnam event overview · Panel on branding in the AI era · Panel on international expansion
What Vietnamese shoppers are willing to pay for
In his keynote, Understand Vietnam’s Future Consumer, Peter Christou, General Manager of Worldpanel by Numerator Vietnam, examined what shoppers value when making everyday decisions. In Worldpanel’s August 2026 survey of 569 urban respondents in Vietnam, 85% said they prioritised shopping where they trusted the quality and origin of products, even at a higher price. Some 83% said they would pay more for better quality, while 78% said they would switch where they shopped for a better price or deal. Forbes Vietnam’s keynote coverage
For Alliance Mount, those findings highlight a distinction that matters for growth. A customer can prefer a product for its quality and still choose a different retailer for the purchase. As brands expand across channels, they need to make the reasons for choosing their products clear at each point of sale. Retail and distribution partners help shape that decision through how they present the product, explain its origin and handle questions after purchase.
How smaller households are changing demand
Christou also looked beyond current shopping habits to four shifts shaping Vietnam’s consumer market: rising incomes, lower birth rates, an ageing population and smaller households. One finding stood out. Worldpanel’s 2025 census showed that 26% of Vietnamese households had just one or two members. Its household panel also showed higher monthly spending per person among these households than the overall household average. Forbes Vietnam’s keynote coverage
That difference gives businesses a reason to look more closely at the household behind the purchase. A family and a person living alone might buy from the same category while valuing different things about it. A smaller household may find more value in a pack size it can finish or a product that takes less time to prepare. From Alliance Mount’s perspective, this is where consumer research can inform concrete decisions about product formats and distribution. It helps businesses see which parts of their offer should adapt as they reach new customers, and which qualities customers expect them to preserve.
Exploring future collaboration with Worldpanel
A highlight for Alliance Mount was Hoang’s in-depth conversation with Christou about potential areas for future collaboration. The exchange gave both leaders time to explore where their interests might align. Worldpanel’s research provides a relevant starting point for further dialogue because it brings together what consumers say they value and what household purchase data shows about where, when and how they shop. Both perspectives can help businesses understand whether a shift in demand is likely to last and what it might mean for decisions about reaching customers.
Tung Hoang (Alliance Mount) with keynote speaker Peter Christou, General Manager of Worldpanel by Numerator Vietnam.
Conversations across industries
Hoang also connected with representatives from STARLUX Airlines, Turkish Airlines and IDICO, among other organisations. The range of sectors offered a broader perspective on how companies earn trust as they grow. In aviation, customers experience a brand through a series of interactions across markets, from booking to arrival. In industrial development, businesses form their view of a partner over a much longer period, through infrastructure delivery and ongoing support. In both settings, customers and partners judge a company by how consistently it delivers as its operations expand.
Tung Hoang with fellow delegates, including representatives from STARLUX Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
For Alliance Mount, the conference offered a way to think about growth through three decisions: which customer expectations must be met consistently, where the offer needs to adapt, and which partners can help deliver it. Alliance Mount thanks Forbes Vietnam for bringing these discussions together and looks forward to continuing the conversations that began in Ho Chi Minh City.