Better Choice Awards (BCA) – the prestigious national annual award honoring innovative products and services aimed at consumers – will officially return for the 2025 season with a series of groundbreaking changes. After two strong initial seasons, BCA 2025 promises to expand its scale, closely update to new consumer trends, and continue to be one of the key activities in the National Innovation Day event series, taking place from October 1 to 3, 2025.
Better Choice Awards is an initiative co-organized by the National Innovation Center (NIC) and VCCorp Joint Stock Company, under the direction of the Ministry of Finance, with strategic support from various agencies, organizations, industry experts, and the Vietnamese consumer community.
This award evaluates products not only through a panel of experts but also through direct voting from consumers, thus accurately reflecting real needs and creating a wide-ranging impact on consumer behavior in the market.
So, what’s new for this year’s Better Choice Awards?
The first and most notable point is the introduction of the Consumer Finance Awards (CFA) – a completely new category aimed at honoring innovative solutions in consumer finance. In the context of booming consumer financial services, CFA emerges as a specialized playground, recognizing innovations in payment, credit, digital banking, investment applications, and comprehensive financial ecosystems.
Secondly, the Better Choice Awards 2025 integrates an unprecedented scale event: the Vietnam Mobility Festival (VMF) into the framework of the Car Choice Awards (CCA). Taking place from October 1 to 3, VMF not only provides users with real experiences of new car models but also serves as a gathering point for numerous interactive activities, performances, and industry seminars. This is a close combination of user experience and expert evaluation, laying the foundation for more authentic voting and award presentations.
Throughout the season, there will be a special content line titled “Rising with AI”, clearly reflecting global shifts and the demand for AI application in all aspects of life. Categories such as Smart Choice Awards and Innovative Choice Awards this year will be significantly expanded to welcome AI-applying products and business models serving Vietnamese people. Notably, Better Choice Awards 2025 will focus on AI products “Made in Vietnam,” which are highly applicable and community-friendly.
Fourth, the categories of this year’s award system are being updated to closely align with new consumer demands. The Smart Choice Awards expands its criteria in three directions: integrating Vietnamese AI, green energy-saving technology, and seamless connectivity between devices, services, and cloud platforms.
Meanwhile, the Innovative Choice Awards will for the first time recognize breakthroughs in various fields such as digital health, intelligent transportation, education on digital platforms, and AI solutions supporting small and medium enterprises. These updates clearly demonstrate the organizers’ efforts to authentically reflect market movements while creating an equitable playground for startups, research institutes, and even large corporations.
Not stopping there, a completely new activity called KOC Better List will also be launched, gathering tech-savvy consumers (KOC) to evaluate products on a weekly basis. This evaluation phase will take place during the voting period from August 25 to September 14. After three weeks, the highest-rated products will be honored with commemorative awards at the gala night on October 3, 2025.
The detailed list of categories for the Better Choice Awards 2025 season is currently being finalized by the organizers and is expected to be announced on August 25, ensuring updates closely aligned with consumer trends and fully reflecting market movements.
Better Choice Awards 2025 Gala: More Than Just an Event
Not only focusing on expanding content, Better Choice Awards 2025 will also comprehensively upgrade the presentation, communication, and community connection experience. This year’s gala, scheduled to take place on October 3 in Hanoi, will continue to be invested in as a remarkable technology art event. Award-winning products will have their stories “told” through stage performances combined with AR effects, music, and lighting, helping to bring the product experience closer to the public in an emotional and creative way.
Additionally, this year’s program will mark the appearance of a series of large-scale, in-depth side events. Notably, after the award ceremony, there will be an AI Hackathon event, gathering young developers and startups to create AI application solutions with practical value, promoting innovation in the community.
Moreover, Better Choice Awards 2025 will launch a special talk show series named “Creating the Nation – Proud of Vietnam,” airing periodically on the Government Electronic Portal from August to November 2025. The program will introduce exemplary Vietnamese figures – from scientists, engineers, doctors, startups to inventors – who are continuously creating positive changes in society through technology innovation and personal efforts.
In particular, a series of seminars on AI, semiconductor technology, and quantum technology will also be organized in parallel during the event from October 2 to 3, featuring leading experts from Vietnam and around the world – including Nobel Prize winners or recipients of the Tate Medal from the American Physical Society. This will be the first time such internationally renowned experts appear at a high-level technology forum in Vietnam, promising to create profound dialogues and open up practical cooperation opportunities.
Better Choice Awards is a prestigious national annual award co-organized by VCCorp Joint Stock Company and the National Innovation Center. With the expected theme this year being “Breaking Through” and the overarching spirit of “Proud of Vietnam,” the award affirms the spirit of overcoming all limits, promoting innovation, and breaking down old barriers.
Better Choice Awards honors pioneering innovative businesses and products that differentiate themselves and meet the needs of modern consumers – aiming for sustainable development and practical value.
The award officially kicks off with a press conference and opens for nominations starting August 7, 2025. The nomination phase will end on September 1, 2025, followed by the nomination, voting, and scoring process from August 25 to September 14, 2025. The official award ceremony will take place on October 3, 2025, in Hanoi. For any inquiries during the nomination preparation process, please contact email [email protected] (Ms. Vi Hạnh)
