Young workers refresh craft village products

Reaching young customers from social networks

Born in Chuon Ngo village (Chuyen My commune, Hanoi), a place famous for the mother-of-pearl inlay craft, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Chau (24 years old) chose to develop products from the mother-of-pearl inlay craft in a contemporary, minimalist and applicable design direction. Products such as hair pendants, necklaces, hand mirrors... were created by Ms. Chau with the desire to both inherit her family's heritage and bring traditional craft products into modern life.

In 2024, I founded the mother-of-pearl inlay brand and worked with colleagues to brainstorm production ideas and promote products. I take on the design and theme development, production will be undertaken by artisans, and a group of young collaborators will be in charge of operation and marketing," Ms. Minh Chau said.

Each year, Ms. Chau and her colleagues launch 2-3 collections, on average it takes 3-4 months to complete all stages. "Every time we prepare to launch a new product, we calculate the designs to suit the actual production process, but also closely follow the theme set out by the group. Depending on the quality and completion time, the price of hairpins will range from 19,000 - 280,000 VND/product, with products such as mirrors, photo frames... the price will be higher," Ms. Chau said.

Ms. Minh Chau's group prioritizes building images on the Instagram platform, considering this as the main channel to reach young customers. After completing and being ready for sale, the group will expand to other platforms to increase coverage to more people.

According to Ms. Chau, one of the difficulties in approaching customers is maintaining stable quality due to changes in ingredients over time. "Because they are handicrafts, not every product can be 100% perfect, or the fact that most customers are young people with specific requirements for colors, but we cannot accurately meet them because we still depend on ingredients...", Ms. Chau added.

Finding new directions for craft village products

Similar to Ms. Chau, Ms. Pham Thu Hoai (27 years old, Chuong village, Thanh Oai commune, Hanoi) chose to refresh products from the craft village by innovating the conical hat product line. Besides traditional models, Ms. Thu Hoai focuses on mini conical hats in the form of keychains with many sizes and colors, creating accents with printed details to suit the needs of young customers.

To complete a handmade keychain, the craftsman must go through many stages such as preparing the hat frame, selecting leaves, printing letters on the fabric... Each mini hat takes from 30 minutes to an hour of work, requiring meticulousness and carefulness from the craftsman. The selling price ranges from 40,000 - 110,000 VND/product, depending on size and level of finishing.

Currently, Ms. Thu Hoai is supported by her mother and grandmother in the process of crafting and perfecting products, both promoting the traditional craft of the craft village and maintaining a stable income for the family.

Besides the production stage, Ms. Hoai uses digital platforms such as TikTok, Shopee and uses social networks to promote products. Ms. Thu Hoai said that the content posted mainly revolves around the hat making process and product images, stories about the profession... thereby reaching more young customers.

Thanks to this approach, Ms. Thu Hoai's products gradually reach more customers, especially young people and those who need to find gifts with Vietnamese cultural imprints.

From her experience, Ms. Hoai believes that young workers have many advantages when participating in the traditional product manufacturing field. "I think it is the ability to create designs, take advantage of digital platform technology and build brands. When you know how to innovate forms and tell product stories, traditional values can be fully approached in a way closer to the modern market," Ms. Thu Hoai shared.

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