Thailand to shine: MCCann
As the economic boom in China continues and Asean moves towards economic integration in three years, the heads of global marketing, communications and media agency McCann Worldgroup are optimistic that business in Asia including Thailand will continue to
"Though economic downturns and debt crises are occurring in the US and several European countries, Thailand maintains strong performance in the market, partly due to its economic stability and economic momentum from the Asia region, particularly China," chairman and chief executive officer Nick Brien said yesterday.
This year global advertising expenditure is estimated to see year-on-year growth of 4-5 per cent; in Asia, growth will be 8-9 per cent, while Thailand witnesses an increase of about 8-10 per cent.
Brien expects that his firm will outperform all of those growth figures, particularly in the Thai market. That is why McCann Worldgroup held its regional leadership conference from Sunday to yesterday during April 1 to 4 in Phuket.
Charles Cadell, president of Asia Pacific, said the Thai market presented a wide range of business opportunities.
"Once the Asean Economic Community is fully implemented as one single market with a 600-million population in three years, we will see the rise of Indochina’s consumer power. This will have a big impact on the advertising and communication industry because our key clients are already out there with relaxing trade block in this trade bloc," Cadell said.
However, Brien noted that many challenges lay ahead in the next few years, including transformations in digital communication technology, which will bring about changes in consumer behaviour. Currently, advertising expenditure via the Internet in the Kingdom accounts for only 2 per cent of the total media industry.
Meanwhile, revenue from digital-advertising service fees is still low but the firm continues to focus on total marketing solutions via different platforms and media channels to build customer engagement with its clients’ brands.
