Double-digit growth in ad spending seen
The advertising industry expects to see double-digit growth in ad spending this year, marking a solid recovery from last year's expansion of just 4 per cent to Bt105 billion, when business was severely dented by the devastating floods.
Surachet Bumrongsuk, country manager at out-of-home media agency Kinetic Worldwide (Thailand), yesterday said overall advertising expenditure growth would be above 10 per cent because of local political stability, the rise in purchasing power and business expansion in the Kingdom.
Out-of-home media spending, comprising outdoors, in-store and transit media, is expected to grow by 20 per cent this year.
The growth in ad spending is also fuelled by the improved quality of content on cable- and satellite-TV stations, which are operated by leading media and entertainment companies, namely GMM Grammy, RS, Workpoint Entertainment, and Nation Broadcasting Corp, and the largest subscription-based TV operator, TrueVisions.
Surachet said that despite the digital media, cable-and satellite-TV boom among viewers, marketers still had high confidence in the power of mass media like free TV and printed media. Out-of-home media are also alternative channels for creating effective marketing campaigns.
Following this trend, local broadcasters are considering increasing their advertising rates for selected airtime slots next year, particularly after market leader BBTV Channel 7 raised its rates for five prime-time shows by 4 to 6 per cent early last month, maintaining its no-discount policy, according to analysis by Bualuang Securities.
Channel 7 also increased its rates by 2 to 10 per cent for dozens of non-prime time programmes.
Given such a move by the market leader, the analysis forecasts that other key players like Bangkok Entertainment Company, the operator of ThaiTV3, could well raise ad fees for prime-time programmes in the first quarter next year.
Underlining this theme, analysis by Kiatnakin Securities suggests ThaiTV3 would be able to hike ad rates in the coming year as its programming maintained a high rating among local viewers.
Meanwhile, MCOT’s Modernine TV also said it is considering hiking ad rates for selected airtime slots next year, but it first wants to make sure that the channel’s newly revamped news programmes generate satisfactory income.
Chatchai Sarikulya, president of Royal Thai Army Radio and Television, or TV5, however insisted that his station had no plan to raise advertising fees next year.
