Thought Leadership
Open for Registration
Opening Remarks
Driving Growth in an Insurgent Driven Environment
Growth today is increasingly being shaped by insurgents: brands that move faster, stay closer to consumers, and challenge the conventions of established categories. In this environment, scale alone is no longer an advantage. Winning requires incumbents to combine the strengths of scale with the speed, obsession and mindset of an insurgent. This session explores how leaders can build that mindset to unlock real, sustainable growth.
The New Luxury: Human Connection in an AI-Driven World
As AI increasingly acts, decides, and transacts on our behalf, businesses are racing to automate every interaction. But in removing friction, are we also removing something people increasingly value: genuine human connection? This session explores the emerging tension between efficiency and empathy, and why the next frontier of innovation may not be more automation, but designing experiences that make people feel understood, valued, and genuinely connected.
CEO Panel
The Next Growth Bet: Where CEOs Will Invest and What They Will Stop
How CEOs choose between new customers, innovation, new channels, and existing businesses; what earns investment; what they stop funding
Architect Marketing System For Growth - How Quick Commerce Enables Future Shopping Behavior
Vietnamese shoppers have stopped planning and started needing. Demand no longer follows the promo calendar; it is triggered in the moment, and the brand that can be reached within minutes wins. Explore why quick commerce is not just a faster channel but a new demand curve, and why winning it means building marketing infrastructure rather than running more campaigns. You'll learn how to connect the ad, the shelf and the doorstep into one marketing system that turns moments of need into acquisitions & habits.
Beyond the Launch: Turning Cultural Relevance into Commercial Growth
A successful launch is only the beginning; lasting growth comes when a brand becomes part of culture. In this session, we’ll explore how technology brands can connect with music, creators, and communities to build meaningful engagement. Most importantly, how can that engagement turn into product trial, purchase, and advocacy?
C-Suite Panel
The New Growth Equation: Balancing Brand Building, Performance and Customer Value
A discussion about connecting long-term brand relevance with immediate results. Panelists could examine how to combine media, digital commerce, personalization, and customer-facing experiences to drive growth while earning consumer trust.
Morning Closing & Networking Lunch
Afternoon Welcome
SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 Showcase
Coca-Cola Celebr-Ate: Rewiring the 5-Minute Meal
When Gen Z's food decisions happen in a fleeting 5-minute window, traditional advertising arrives too late. Discover how Coca-Cola Vietnam rewrote the rules of quick-commerce by turning live micro-moments and football goals into instant, 13x sales surges on Grab. Join us to explore how fusing 1st-party data with real-time intent transformed everyday cravings into an unstoppable growth engine.
The Next Growth Opportunity: Making Habits More Habitual
Discover how making habits more habitual unlocks more frequent brand choice and turns consumers’ everyday routines into business growth, by integrating brand offerings, technology and partnerships into one connected ecosystem.
MMA Session
What Do Not Change in a Changing World – SMILES Marketing
We live in a world that is changing faster than ever: technology, consumer behaviors, media channels, and market dynamics continue to evolve at an incredible pace. Yet amidst all these changes, some fundamentals remain timeless. So “What Does Not Change in a Changing World” and how the SMILES Marketing framework helps us stay grounded in the fundamentals that continue to create more value for consumers, brands, and businesses.
SMARTIES AWARDS VIETNAM 2026: Knowledge Partner Analysis
Powered by Toluna, SMARTIES Insights 2026 dives deep into the data and stories behind Vietnam’s most outstanding marketing cases — revealing the trends shaping the next wave of creativity, technology, and consumer connection.
SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 Showcase
Không Một Mình - We Got You
SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 Showcase
KitKat Turns a Global Heist into Vietnam's PR Win
Faced with a massive KitKat heist in Europe and without a large budget or a perfect six-month plan to respond, see how the brand stepped outside the traditional 'insight-to-solution' framework to embrace agile PR and real-time community engagement. Discover how letting go of corporate control and simply playing along with our consumers helped turn a distant crisis into a surprisingly impactful brand moment in Vietnam
