From ST25 Rice to MoMo, NTTU Students Tell the Story of Brand Building

ST25 Rice, MoMo digital financial service, coffee, an educational brand, and an entire academic major featured together at the final round of the 2nd Go Global Competition. Facing five distinct “problem statements,” students from the Faculty of Business Administration at Nguyen Tat Thanh University (NTTU) had to craft stories, identify their target audience, and directly defend their proposals against inquiries from corporate experts.

Recently, the Faculty of Business Administration at Nguyen Tat Thanh University held the final round of the 2nd Go Global Competition at Campus 331 Do Muoi, An Phu Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

Go Global is designed to simulate the process of building and developing brand identity. Knowledge of e-commerce, international business, marketing, sales, human resources, and more is integrated into a unified business challenge, alongside critical skills such as analysis, problem-solving, decision-making, communication, presentation, active listening, and teamwork.

Accordingly, competing teams proactively defined their own topics and implementation approaches. Consequently, the competition placed learners before questions closely aligned with real-world business operations: who is the product for, which core message needs to be highlighted, and what approach is most suitable for the chosen customer segment.

Participating in evaluating and accompanying the teams in the final round were MSc. Pham Thi Quynh Ny – Head of Human Resources Training & Development Department, Central Retail Vietnam Group, and MSc. Bui Nguyen Bao Duyen – Director of Gia Bao Good Food, Business Development Director of ONEX Logistics.

The 2nd Go Global Final Round created an interactive environment for NTTU Business Administration students to apply branding, marketing, and business knowledge to practical challenges

When Brand Storytelling Meets Market Reality

Storytelling was emphasized right from the preliminary round. According to the rules, each team developed a narrative for a brand, product, or service, aiming to build emotional connections, foster empathy, and establish trust with customers. Following the selection process, five teams advanced to the final round.

During the final round, teams presented their projects through video clips, posters, and live presentations. In the Q&A session, the Board of Judges focused on the teams’ approach, core message, and the persuasiveness of their solutions, while requiring members to thoroughly justify the choices embedded in their proposals.

Teams presented their projects in turn, explaining their storytelling frameworks and defending their ideas directly before the Board of Judges

From a corporate perspective, MSc. Bui Nguyen Bao Duyen shared that the Q&A session served as an opportunity for teams to test the logical consistency of their ideas. While a narrative arc can evoke emotions, when placed within a commercial context, executioners must also account for target customers, market dynamics, feasibility, and brand differentiation.

According to MSc. Bui Nguyen Bao Duyen, confidence and a creative spirit were highly commendable qualities across all teams. However, any real-world proposal can always be examined from multiple perspectives. The ability to receive questions, re-examine initial assumptions, and adjust arguments accordingly is just as essential as defending the original idea.

Questions from the judges closely addressed each specific project: Who is the target audience? Why choose this core message? What makes a brand memorable? This was precisely when teams had to demonstrate their depth of understanding regarding the product and end-users, rather than relying solely on pre-prepared presentation scripts.

Inviting corporate representatives to participate—ranging from evaluation roles to professional exchange—also established a feedback channel for academic activities at NTTU’s Faculty of Business Administration. The constructive feedback offered during the competition allowed learners to gain authentic market perspectives on the solutions they designed.

MSc. Pham Thi Quynh Ny and MSc. Bui Nguyen Bao Duyen joined the evaluation panel, asked questions, and shared practical insights with competing teams at the final round

From Vietnamese Family Meals, “Mam Dat” Claims Top Honors

Following the presentation and Q&A sessions, Go Far secured First Place with their project “Mam Dat – ST25 Rice Brand: Nurturing Memories in Every Meal.”

Selecting ST25 rice as their focal product, Go Far refrained from relying solely on well-known technical features of the rice grain. Instead, the team grounded the brand in the imagery of family meals, where memories of togetherness and emotional connection are evoked through an essential everyday staple of Vietnamese life. Consequently, the key message “Nurturing memories in every meal” served as the unifying narrative throughout the project.

A representative from Go Far shared that the main challenge was not choosing ST25 rice, but discovering a storytelling angle relatable enough for listeners to recognize their own cherished experiences.

“When rice is mentioned, we immediately think of home-cooked family meals. We wanted Mam Dat to be remembered not just by its product name, but as something that rekindles familiar moments of gathering. During the Q&A, we realized that an emotionally resonant story still needs to be defended with solid logic and customer insights,” shared a Go Far representative.

For the team, “Mam Dat” also served as an opportunity to synthesize knowledge across customer research, communications, and brand strategy within a single project. From initial concepts to content finalization, every strategic decision had to reinforce the central narrative the team aimed to convey.

While Go Far created a touchpoint rooted in family meal memories, other teams explored vastly different domains. The Powerpuff Girls won Second Place with their project “MoMo Quick Loans – Timely Support, Complete Love”; Global Pioneers claimed Third Place with their project on Laura Cafe.

Two Consolation Prizes were awarded to The Storytellers for “NTTU – Accompanying You to Shape the Future” and Alpha Girls for their project on NTTU’s E-Commerce major. Alongside team awards, Tran Thi Hien and Truong Thuy Ngoc Thuy were recognized in the Outstanding Individual category.

Spanning ST25 rice, digital finance, coffee, and higher education, the diversity of subjects required distinct customer definitions and tailored messaging strategies. The common thread lay not in a predefined storytelling formula, but in each group finding a compelling rationale to make their product meaningful and memorable to audiences.

MSc. Pham Thi Quynh Ny and MSc. Bui Nguyen Bao Duyen joined the evaluation panel, asked questions, and shared practical insights with competing teams at the final round

Good Storytelling Is Not Enough: Students Must Defend Their Ideas

Speaking at the event, Dr. Bui Van Thoi – Vice Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at Nguyen Tat Thanh University – emphasized that Go Global was organized to give students opportunities to solve problems closely aligned with real-world workplace environments.

According to Dr. Bui Van Thoi, academic knowledge forms the foundation; however, when executing a project together, students must also learn how to collaborate, delegate tasks, handle conflicting opinions, and articulate their perspectives clearly. It is precisely this collaborative process that helps students recognize both their strengths and areas requiring further development.

Dr. Bui Van Thoi – Vice Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, sharing with students the value of applying knowledge to practical problems, honing teamwork, debate, and proposal defense skills

The 2nd Go Global competition illustrates how NTTU’s Faculty of Business Administration brings academic activities closer to reality, where students directly develop projects, present, debate, and receive feedback from lecturers and business experts throughout their studies

Go Global served as an opportunity for students in NTTU’s Faculty of Business Administration to experience a workflow closely matching professional practice: from conceptualizing ideas, constructing stories, and delegating responsibilities to presenting and defending proposals before lecturers and corporate leaders. Consequently, what students gained from the competition went far beyond a single ranking, extending to mastering how to transform knowledge into concrete deliverables, actively listen to feedback, and refine their own methodologies.

By introducing real-world challenges directly into the curriculum, NTTU’s Faculty of Business Administration continues to expand opportunities for learners to gain practical exposure, experiment, and build valuable experience prior to entering the professional workforce.

Written by: Cam Thach

Photos: Media