DO SEA wins Red Bull's creative and strategic mandate in Vietnam

Red Bull has named newly-launched independent agency DO SEA as their creative and strategic partner for Vietnam, successfully toppling incumbent Ogilvy in the market. The exact financial terms of the win are not known, but Campaign can report the account size runs in “high six-digits.” 

Red Bull is the premium energy drink in the Vietnamese market and it falls under the ownership of the Thai food and beverage conglomerate TCP Group. In Vietnam, TCP Vietnam Co., Ltd. oversees all operations related to the Red Bull brand, aligning its strategies with those of TCP Group in Thailand. 

Campaign learns that DO won the account after a three-way competitive pitch in Q4 that involved incumbent Ogilvy and Dentsu in the final stages. Reportedly, four components of the business were up for pitch: Strategy and creative, and a separate media pitch for Red Bull and Warrior. While DO won the strategy and creative for Red Bull, Campaign understands that Ogilvy has retained the other three components. 

Currently, Publicis holds DO’s media account for Red Bull in the market. DO did not pitch for the media side.

Matthew Collier, the managing director of DO SEA, expressed his satisfaction with winning an iconic brand in Vietnam. “Myself and ECD Beer Poonnotok have both lived and worked in Vietnam previously and having that market insight aligned with category experience and our desire to get to good work quickly were recognised by TCP and resulted in a win we’re incredibly proud of.”

Executive creative director Beer Poonnotok added: “No better way to start our DO journey with an iconic brand like Red Bull. Personally, my passion and connection with the brand runs deep on so many levels. We put work in front of the client that not only excites us, but will also have a significant impact on both the brand and the culture in Vietnam.”

DO was officially launched in May 2023 following the acquisition of Ambient Digital Group, a regional Digital Media & KOL Agency. As a result, the agency is able to integrate creative, digital, and KOL divisions under one roof. They are currently working on the creative and production process for Red Bull and new work is expected to be launched in Q2 2024.

(Shawn Lim contribued to this story).