Decoding TikTok’s Media Effectiveness and Efficiency in Vietnam
Vietnam’s media environment is undergoing rapid transformation. While traditional channels such as television and out‑of‑home (OOH) continue to play foundational roles in building broad reach, digital video has emerged as a powerful complement, not simply a substitute. As audiences fragment and attention patterns shift, marketers increasingly need to understand how different channels contribute to brand outcomes when working together.
To answer this, Kantar conducted a comprehensive CrossMedia meta-analysis of 21 campaigns across Vietnam, evaluating how platforms – from television and OOH, to digital ecosystems – drive brand awareness, motivation, and consideration, which together provide a comprehensive view of media performance.
The findings shed light on how digital and traditional media work together in Vietnam’s media landscape. Among the media channels analyzed, TikTok demonstrated outstanding performance in driving key brand metrics:
— In terms of brand awareness, its effect is 2.1 times that of television.
— In driving purchase motivation, its effect is 2.6 times that of out-of-home advertising.
— To achieve the same brand impact as TikTok, television requires approximately 50% more budget.
— Out-of-home advertising costs 40% more.
— Other digital media costs 20% more.
Across all channels measured, TikTok consistently delivers higher brand-building efficiency, suggesting that short‑form video is reshaping where impact is most efficiently generated in Vietnam.
3Cost per share of Brand Impact refers to share of wallet divided by share of Brand Impact, Brand Impact comprises of an aggregate of all metrics across Awareness, Association and Motivation buckets
— TikTok + TV: +14% incremental reach, along with +18% synergy in driving consumer motivation.
— TikTok + OOH: +38% incremental reach while achieving +29% in cost efficiency.
These synergies demonstrates the positive effects that high efficiency digital platforms bring – extending the physical exposure of offline advertising into a digital narrative space where users can interact, share, and co-create.
Insights from Media Mix Optimization Simulations
To further quantify the value of including TikTok in a cross-media plan, Kantar conducted simulation exercises comparing traditional media allocations against hybrid plans. Simulation scenarios indicate that optimising GRP distribution delivers the strongest outcomes:
— When a brand reallocates 500 incremental GRPs from television to TikTok, total campaign cost improves by 12%, while overall
brand impact increases by 1.7x.
— Similarly, shifting half of the OOH budget to this platform can achieve a 29% cost reduction while delivering a 1.7x increase in impact.
Across all channels measured, TikTok consistently delivers higher brand-building efficiency, suggesting that short‑form video is reshaping where impact is most efficiently generated in Vietnam.
Implications for Marketers
This study provides a full‑mix, data-driven perspective on Vietnam’s media architecture. The evidence suggests that traditional channels continue to play an essential role in building baseline reach, while high-efficiency digital video platforms such as TikTok increasingly drive marginal gains in motivation and consideration.
For 2026, the most effective approach is not digital substitution, but rebalancing — testing new equilibrium points where TV, OOH, and digital ecosystems collectively maximise reach, impact, and cost efficiency.
