Vietnamese athletes make money from personal branding: Building an image with influence

For a long time, Vietnamese athletes have been considered diligent, hard-working, and diligent in training, but not everyone is good at communication skills, or even better, creating a personal brand to build an image that has influence in the eyes of fans.

What is missing in Vietnamese sports ?

"Don't do interviews, I'm... shy," said an athlete who competed at the Asian Games to the writer, upon returning from the Asian tournament. Despite being professionally trained and having competed in many big and small tournaments, this athlete still felt nervous when standing in front of the camera.

In the same mood, midfielder Tran Thi Hai Linh of the Vietnamese women's football team jokingly said that the pressure of competing at the 2023 World Cup, where she and her teammates faced players from the US, the Netherlands, and Portugal, could not compare to a few minutes of answering interviews. "I feel nervous, even more nervous than when I compete," Hai Linh affirmed. In the Vietnamese women's team, except for seniors who are familiar with the press and media such as Pham Hai Yen, Huynh Nhu, Chuong Thi Kieu... most of the players are shy about answering interviews, do not want to go on air because... they do not know what to share.

"Swimmer" Anh Vien built a very successful swimming teaching brand after retiring.

PHOTO: MINH TAN

When he was coaching the U.19 Vietnam team at the PVF Youth Football Training Center 6 years ago, Coach Philippe Troussier once gave the young players an interesting test. According to tradition, when the press appeared, the U.19 Vietnam team would send 2 players to answer the interview. But that day, Mr. Troussier let the whole team stand in line to answer. A few players answered coherently and confidently, but most stuttered. A young player shared that the pressure of competition probably did not make the players as nervous as being on camera. Coach Troussier said that letting the whole team stand up to contact the press was a way for him to test the players' mettle.

Coach Troussier is not unnecessarily careful, because it is not uncommon for athletes to sometimes, due to their tactless behavior, damage their own image or displease their fans. There was once a former Vietnamese player who went on social media to argue with the audience, which ended up hurting both sides. Or there are also athletes who, when under pressure, choose to withdraw, close their hearts to everyone, become shy of public opinion and no longer want to appear in front of crowds.

The above stories come from one reason: athletes have not been taught interview skills, or how to interact with the media and fans. While this is an important foundation for Vietnamese athletes to build their personal brand and earn income.

Not only building a personal image, but if they learn soft skills, athletes can communicate well with coaches, teammates, media and fans, create good relationships and build a positive image. Soft skills also help them interact better with teammates (especially in team sports), have enough capacity to analyze situations, find optimal solutions, overcome difficulties in competition and life. At the same time, athletes can easily integrate into new environments, adapt to changes in training and competition.

Expert Doan Minh Xuong, Head of the School Football Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation, analyzed: "Teaching soft skills for athletes needs to be conducted systematically, interwoven when they are still sitting in the front seats, when they are young athletes. The characteristic of sports is that athletes often live and practice in a closed environment, rarely interact with society, and spend most of the day on the training ground or within the four walls of the gymnasium. Therefore, training communication skills and image building is even more important. However, it is necessary to teach thoroughly, interwoven with professional training, and not just teach "firefighting" with seminars and sharing sessions. Because like professional skills, soft skills need time to absorb and apply. Vietnamese sports need to be socialized, need the cooperation of businesses to be professional and methodical from the smallest details, avoiding outdated thinking patterns."

NEED TEAM TO BUILD IMAGE FOR ATHLETES

Current top athletes and former athletes such as Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Tien Linh, Nguyen Hoang Duc (football), Nguyen Thi Oanh (athletics), Nguyen Tien Minh, Nguyen Thuy Linh (badminton), Nguyen Huy Hoang, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (swimming), Hoang Xuan Vinh (shooting)... are all bold in front of the camera, answer interviews confidently, and are always close to fans.

Efforts to learn and hone themselves both professionally and in life help athletes build a name for themselves, but to develop their personal image, athletes also need a team, image representatives, media companies, press... to support them.

Expert Doan Minh Xuong emphasized: "International athletes when competing always have a "team of wives and children" accompanying them to help from expertise to behind the scenes. Of course, top athletes are taught very carefully about how to behave in front of the camera, or how to maintain a clean, professional image. However, they do not do everything alone, but have a team behind them taking care of every detail, so that the athletes can focus 90-95% on training and competition. Recently, I have seen the appearance of support teams more frequently when Vietnamese athletes compete, but only stop at famous athletes, while most Vietnamese sports are still taking place quietly.

The Department of Sports and Physical Training in particular and the sports industry in general need to be more aware of building the image of athletes, and of the sports industry itself. Because only when creating a positive and widespread image, athletes can easily find a "livelihood" before and after retirement. Don't think that sports are only about competing and achieving results. In the era of social media development, athletes have enough means to improve their image, participate deeply in mass sports, and promote their brands. The problem lies in the mindset of managers to support athletes to the extent. That's why I think Vietnamese sports must be professional, find a way to reach out to businesses and fans more." (continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vdv-viet-nam-kiem-tien-tu-thuong-hieu-ca-nhan-xay-dung-hinh-anh-co-suc-lan-toa-185250720210827954.htm