We collaborated with ‘Xe Om’ riders or motorcycle taxis to create the Colgate Hidden Foods Directory.The ‘Xe Om’ riders know every nook and cranny of Ho Chi Minh City. They know where all the hidden alleyway restaurants are.The ‘Xe Om’ riders are very popular with commuters since they are especially cheap and fast.It was strategically smart and cost-effective to work with them, as we only needed to provide them with vests that hold the directories and they were happy to wear them as it identified them and gave them a point of difference in their own cluttered market.

We used only 20 ‘Xe Om’ riders. They willingly wore our vests for free as we provided them differentiation from others as well as opportunities for more business. Over 1,000 directories were picked up in the first 5 days of launch.Compared to paying a promoter girl an average of US$2,300 a month and merchandising rental space of an average of US$137,000 a month (for 35 supermarkets), we had spent only US$238 on 20 vests and US$620 on 1,000 directories.We are now in the process of preparing for our second edition of the directory covering more restaurants.