Dr. Thanh Herbal Tea, the drink of banquets and gatherings

	2008 - the booming year of Tan Hiep Phat
	Phuong Uyen Tran's father and mother harmonious traits: Yin and Yang building Tan Hiep Phat's success
	Five Steps to Success: Setting Price

Mr. Thanh Quy Tran

My father (Mr. Thanh Quy Tran) led the project himself, against the advice of some of his marketers who did not believe in the project. How wrong they were.

The Vietnamese people are well versed in Eastern medicine, and there is a very popular type of tea called Tra Atiso, or artichoke tea, which is renowned for its liver-cleansing properties. It is very common to buy bags of herbs from the TCM store, take them home, and boil them in water.

He decided to develop a drink, which retained all the attributes and goodness of TCM but was much more convenient—a very similar strategy to Zero Degree Green Tea. At the time the R&D team had 180 products under development, but my father instantly saw the benefits of developing one that helped to release inner heat. Spotting trends has always been his genius.

The drink he came up with uses nine traditional herbs that all have a cooling effect on the body. They include honeysuckle, good for chest infections; spruce, also good for the chest and throat; which helps to reduce inflammation; chrysanthemum, which has a soothing and cooling effect; monk fruit (a small melon), which is particular!), licorice, which reduces liver fire; rosemary, which promotes wound healing and has anti-bacterial properties; and cucumber, which is also cooling.

The advertising is unashamedly populist and plays on the theme of family and community. For example, one recent advertisement had a young man threaten to tear up his marriage certificate because his wife was lazy and spent her entire time playing video games rather than helping his mother with the cooking and cleaning. It played into a stereotype about southern women.

Northern women are viewed as strong and capable. The north is prone to natural disasters such as typhoons and flooding, which never affect the south.

As a result, northern women are commonly viewed as being far more organized. But after the wife in the advert drinks Dr. Thanh Herbal Tea, she is revitalized and full of energy. The marriage is saved, the mother-in-law is happy.

Phuong Uyen Tran and Mr. Thanh Quy Tran

A second recent piece featured two rival bicycle drink vendors who suffer a crash after racing each other down the street. Both are seriously hurt, but after drinking a bottle of Dr. Thanh Herbal Tea that has fallen on the road, they are not only able to dust themselves off but also decide to work together. They create a far more successful business than either of them had when they acted alone. The message is twofold. Dr. Thanh Herbal Tea not only physically cools the body but also takes the heat out of angry situations.

On a more general level, it makes Vietnamese consumers feel good because one of our national characteristics is that we like to think ves as helpful people.

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