about me
I’m Nguyen Tran
a Vietnamese creative-business-developer currently working in HCMC.
with 10+ years of experience across creative agencies and in-house marketing. I have worked at leading agencies including Geometry, TBWA, and Square, and most recently served as Marketing Manager at VinFast. Now as Business Director at Creatalk, I focus on building thoughtful, culture-led brand solutions.
You don’t know much about me. Let’s fix that. Here are a few facts, opinions and perspectives - a peek into my brainium.
My “10 random things”
1. The best ideas are simple and human.
2. I can’t remember the last time I was bored. It’s been years.
3. Early career preferences, in order: soccer (midfielder), advertising (writer), tennis (baseliner), social psychologist (mind magician).
4. Wine not beer. Honestly, I don’t know.
5. I love, love, lurrrrrve psychology. I constantly soak up the newest studies like a bone-dry sea sponge, and put their insights into every idea I’m working on.
6. I used to have debilitating OCD. Now I just have OCD.
7. I’m a health freak. Eating, exercise, sleep, you name it.
8. My FIRST name is Nguyen (Nguyên). Somehow, it’s totally hopeless to recognize it with a popular LAST name here in Vietnam – Nguyen (Nguyễn) – without the diacritical mark. It’s always confusing the foreigners that I’ve met.
9. I love to write.
10…except passwords. I mean, I’d probably use something stupid simple and not creative at all like “password” for anything password protected on my site.
Been There. Built That
• Led brand work for VinFast VF 6 and VF 7, helping drive over 30% revenue growth, win 4 Better Choice Awards including one Grand Prix, and bring VF 7 closer to pop culture through first-time partnerships with shows like Rap Việt, Anh Trai Say Hi, and Anh Trai Vượt Ngàn Chông Gai. Because sometimes, a car needs more than a spec sheet. It needs a personality.
• Got recognized as Leader of the Year twice. Different rooms. Different chaos. Same survival instinct.
• Worked across automotive, gaming, esports, FMCG, insurance, education, real estate, technology, luxury, and lifestyle. Basically, I’ve had to learn how many different kinds of humans want many different kinds of things.
• Spent years moving between agency and client side, which taught me that good ideas are not enough. They also need timing, budget, politics, stamina, and someone stubborn enough to protect them.
• Now building two creative businesses from different sides of the same belief. At Creatalk, as Principal Shareholder, CMO & Head of Planning, I help businesses understand who they are, what value they create, what story they should tell, and how brand strategy can become part of the way they grow. At Salti, as Co-Founder, CMO & Head of Planning, I help turn those ideas into real-world experiences people can step into, share, amplify, and remember. Same obsession, different playgrounds.
• Sometimes invited to share about Creative Concept Development at AJC and Swinburne Vietnam, mostly trying to convince students that simple ideas are harder - and usually better.
• Occasionally sitting on the jury side of marketing and business competitions, which is a fancy way of saying I get to observe young marketers, ask uncomfortable questions, and quietly hope the future is in better hands.
peace :")
