PurpleAsia

PurpleAsia A dynamic team of brand consultants, we love working with brilliant brands that enrich people's lives

We believe sound strategic thinking drives great creative communication, which in turn builds stronger brands. Our team has been helping brands in Southeast Asia for almost 20 years with brand strategy, brand design and marketing communications. Whether your business needs help with a truly imaginative launch event, the creation of an entirely new brand, a brand review and relaunch strategy or a c

arefully crafted PR campaign, our team is here to help. We’ve been working with hundreds of businesses across dozens of sectors, many of whom have remained as loyal clients for more than a decade.

FROM THE CEO’s DESK: WHAT WE REALLY BUILDAt a noisy party last week, a stranger asked me what I do for a living. I start...
21/05/2026

FROM THE CEO’s DESK: WHAT WE REALLY BUILD

At a noisy party last week, a stranger asked me what I do for a living. I started to say "I run a branding agency" but stopped. After 25 years, that phrase feels too small for the work.

So I tried something else. You know that moment when you walk into a place and within ten seconds you've decided whether it's your kind of thing? That decision wasn't an accident. Somebody, a team like ours, designed it.

PurpleAsia helps organisations figure out what they should feel like to the people who use them. Sometimes that's a Philippe Starck residence on the Vietnamese coast. Sometimes it's a charity raising money for newborns who wouldn't otherwise survive. Sometimes it's a pet supplement brand trying to reach owners in regional Australia. Sometimes it's the launch of a superyacht, or a new restaurant, or a platform for one of the world's largest hotel groups...

Different sectors, different scales, same underlying questions—what is this thing actually for, and how should it make people feel?

The reason it stays interesting 25 years in is that you cannot fake a feeling. You can copy a logo. You can copy a slogan. You cannot copy the moment a guest decides they trust you, or a donor decides to give, or a customer decides to come back—THAT moment is what we work on.

In the end, the music was too loud and I never finished my answer at the party. But I've been thinking about it ever since.
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💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

DECODING LOCATION THROUGH DESIGNYou know the real estate adage: location, location, location. In this industry, location...
18/05/2026

DECODING LOCATION THROUGH DESIGN

You know the real estate adage: location, location, location. In this industry, location = value. Yet too often, maps are treated like technical necessities rather than strategic storytelling tools.

The strongest location maps don't show everything, they show the RIGHT things. They guide the eye from project → connectivity → lifestyle, turning infrastructure into convenience, adjacency into aspiration, and distance into desirability. They establish the project as an anchor, clarifying its connectivity through hierarchy, and curating surrounding amenities with intention.

When maps become overloaded, they lose focus. Key advantages disappear into the clutter and the story of place gets lost.

At PurpleAsia, we treat location mapping as an extension of brand identity, because we know how you frame a place shapes how people value it.

Want your location map to be more than a tick-box item? We've got you.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

11/05/2026

MYTHBUSTING: "PURPLEASIA ONLY DOES HOSPITALITY AND REAL ESTATE BRANDING"

From the CEO's desk.

It's a fair guess. Close to half our briefs over 24 years have been hospitality, tourism or property. The Caravelle in 2003. Four Seasons today. A wide spectrum of global brands and independents in between, and the developers and destinations that built modern Asia.

It's the other half I'd happily talk about more.

PA Launched Ducati into the Vietnam market. We strategised a 10-year brand vision for a private bank. We asked the chairman of a Hanoi diary company to sit under the boardroom table and see the world like a four-year-old. We repositioned a venerable flower grower in Dalat. A regional jobs platform. Global pharma. A diamond polishing factory. International schools, language centres, a university. F&B groups, fashion labels, a cinema chain. EVs and e-scooters. A handful of cruise companies. Some of the world's biggest spirit houses. Logistics fleets.

Hospitality is the spine. It's never been the whole body of work.

A year of Doing things right — AND doing the right things.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

EFFICIENCY IS NOT AUTHORSHIPVietnam’s design community is currently debating a fascinating question: when AI helps creat...
07/05/2026

EFFICIENCY IS NOT AUTHORSHIP

Vietnam’s design community is currently debating a fascinating question: when AI helps create type, where does craft end and automation begin?

A recent experimental tool designed to auto-localise Latin fonts into Vietnamese typefaces has sparked strong reactions. Where some see acceleration, others see erosion. And honestly, both responses make sense.

Vietnamese typography isn’t simply a matter of 'adding accents'. Diacritics carry rhythm, balance, legibility, and cultural nuance. A well-crafted Vietnamese typeface requires optical adjustment, spacing intelligence, linguistic understanding, and years of trained judgement, in short, a human eye to see the friction that an algorithm is likely to ignore.

AI can absolutely assist the process—reducing repetition, speeding up testing, and removing hours of manual set up. BUT. There is an important distinction: Automation is not sensitivity, and generation is not design.

At PurpleAsia, we recognise that the most powerful workflows are human-led and machine-augmented. AI helps in creative practice, but it cannot replace the authorship required for culturally specific systems. When we flatten the process, we risk flattening the culture.

Where do you draw the line between augmentation and authorship? Sound off below.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER & CEO Matt Millard 24 years done. Today is Day One of Year 25. Purple was registered as a rep o...
06/05/2026

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER & CEO Matt Millard

24 years done. Today is Day One of Year 25.

Purple was registered as a rep office in Saigon in May 2002. Our first paying client was Saigon Children's Charity; the most recent piece of work we delivered for them is the jersey for this year's cycle challenge fundraiser. Same client, twenty-four years apart.

The work has taken us further than I'd have predicted back then. Projects on the ground in Atlanta, Auckland, Bangkok, Brisbane, Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kyoto, London, Nairobi, Paris, Sapporo, Seoul, Singapore, Vancouver, Yangon — and many more.

A few numbers from along the way:
400+ clients (and many more pitches, proposals, quotes)
more than 15 relationships past the 10-year mark
1 client who first signed in 2002 and is still with us — thank you, Accor
500,000+ miles on Vietnam Airlines along the way. Frequent flyer since 1999, for my sins.
The work I'm proudest of doesn't always come with an invoice. Pro bono and cause work over the years for Newborns Vietnam (where I sit on the board), Saigon Children's Charity, IOM, UNHCR, Loretto, Tiny Hearts of Hope, Rotary Club, Tu Du Hospital, Heartbeat Vietnam and the VinaCapital Foundation, Grace's Cookies, and others. Quietly, some of the best things we've ever done.

Year 25 is a drive towards peace and purpose. Good work for great clients. Doing things right — AND doing the right things.

To the team who's built Purple alongside me, and to every client who's trusted us with their brand: thank you. Here's to Year 25.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

CRISIS STEP ONE: DON'T SAY SORRY YETIn a world where news travels faster than verification, the pressure to respond inst...
04/05/2026

CRISIS STEP ONE: DON'T SAY SORRY YET

In a world where news travels faster than verification, the pressure to respond instantly can be overwhelming. But the first move in a communications crisis isn’t actually an apology; it's control.

Too many brands rush to issue statements before understanding the situation when really they should pause and assess before activating.

When you apologise, you're acknowleding guilt. Instead, publicly confirm that the issue is being reviewed, activate your crisis team, and establish internal clarity before shaping external messaging. Because while, of course, speed matters; precision matters more.

A well-managed response typically follows three phases:
→ Recognition – acknowledge the situation and show responsiveness
→ Evaluation – understand what happened before defining responsibility
→ Resolution – communicate action, accountability, and next steps

An apology only works when it’s informed, sincere, and backed by substance. Without that, it risks sounding reactive, or worse, performative.

The brands that navigate crisis best are the ones prepared for them.

Do you have an established framework? Let's talk.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

OFFICE CLOSED FOR HOLIDAYSTo honour Reunification Day and International Labour Day, the PurpleAsia offices will be close...
30/04/2026

OFFICE CLOSED FOR HOLIDAYS

To honour Reunification Day and International Labour Day, the PurpleAsia offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday (30 April and 1 May). Our business will resume on Monday 4 May.

We hope you have a wonderful long weekend planned with your friends and family!
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

HAPPY HUNG KINGS' DAY!Hung Kings' Commemoration Day, one of the most important holidays in Vietnam, honours the 18 Hung ...
27/04/2026

HAPPY HUNG KINGS' DAY!

Hung Kings' Commemoration Day, one of the most important holidays in Vietnam, honours the 18 Hung Kings of the Hung Dynasty, which lasted for 2,600 years and laid the first foundations for ancient Vietnam. The stories of the Hung Kings play an important role in the spiritual, cultural, and historical life of Vietnamese people, teaching us about the nation's history and the responsibility to protect and develop it in our own way.

For Hung Kings' Commemoration Day this year, employees are entitled to a day off (today, Monday 27 April), hence our offices are closed today and will resume work tomorrow (Tuesday 28 April).

We wish you a joyful holiday filled with significance.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

THE EBB AND FLOW OF BRAND LANGUAGEMost brands use language as a map, describing a place with a list of predictable adjec...
23/04/2026

THE EBB AND FLOW OF BRAND LANGUAGE

Most brands use language as a map, describing a place with a list of predictable adjectives. But very little of it actually makes you feel anything. At PurpleAsia, we've thrown the thesaurus away, moving beyond 'vibrant', 'dynamic', and 'well-connected' because these words don't actually create energy; instead, we start with the vibe and personality building tone-of-voice systems where the structure does the heavy lifting. We incorporate verbs that imply movement, e.g., life unfolding, spaces opening, people gathering.

When every line carries momentum, the meaning follows naturally, going beyond explanation to create a narrative that moves like the place itself. Because before your audience understands what you're saying, they should feel the vibe of who you are.

Ready to build a voice that moves? Let's talk.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

COMPANIONS ACROSS EVERY LANDSCAPEAt PurpleAsia, we believe deeply in social responsibility. For years, we have partnered...
20/04/2026

COMPANIONS ACROSS EVERY LANDSCAPE

At PurpleAsia, we believe deeply in social responsibility. For years, we have partnered with Saigon Children's Charity, using our craft to support their mission of changing lives through education. Our role in the annual Charity Cycle Adventure (CCA) is to translate a gruelling physical journey into a visual one. Having had our Chairman participate in the race for many years, we understand the grit required, and we design the event's key visuals and jerseys to reflect that.

For this year’s route (26–30 March), we let the terrain tell the story. The jersey graphics are a dynamic, topographical narrative of the 400km path:
- The misty, romantic highlands of Mang Den (1,200m above sea level).
- The dense, primary forests and deep valleys of the Kon Chu Rang nature reserve.
- The sweeping, peaceful coastal paths of Quy Nhon and Tuy Hoa.

By translating hills, forests, and river systems into a sporty, abstract graphic language, we created a vibrant kit that reflects the actual environment the cyclists conquered.

Our partnership with saigonchildren is built on shared endurance: a lasting commitment to showing up and doing the work. Want to see how we translate complex narratives into visual identities? Let’s talk.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

THE POWER OF STRATEGIC SILENCEThere is a common desire in branding to explain everything, to name every feature and high...
16/04/2026

THE POWER OF STRATEGIC SILENCE

There is a common desire in branding to explain everything, to name every feature and highlight every idea to ensure nothing is missed. But in the race for completeness, many brands lose their mystery.

In our work, we often (strategically) choose to hold something back, because when every detail is revealed at once, there's nothing left to discover. And without discovery, there's no hook.

We design brands and experiences that allow space for curiosity and moments of realisation. Whether we are branding a landmark like Union Square or a luxury residential project, we prioritise the confidence to cleverly say less. The strongest brands don’t show you every door; they give you a reason to find your own way in.

Are you leaving enough room for your audience? Let's talk.
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🚀 [email protected]
💥 +84 (0)28 6277 7050

Address

Hoang Anh River View, B01. 07 Level 1, Block B, 37 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng
Ho Chi Minh City

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 18:00
Thursday 09:00 - 18:00
Friday 09:00 - 18:00

Telephone

+842862777050

Website

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