Ad spending up 1.3% in Q1

Advertising expenditure in the first quarter increased by an estimated 1.30 per cent year on year to Bt26.35 billion from Bt26.02 billion as major brands ramped up their hot-season promotions, according to the latest Nielsen (Thailand) media survey.

March was the driver of this growth. Nielsen reported that last month major automotive, beverage, telecommunication and insurance businesses were key spenders after estimated advertising expenditure in January and February saw a 0.12-per-cent drop to Bt16.25 billion from Bt16.27 billion in the same period of 2012.

Coca-Cola was the big spender in March with Bt121.84 million, followed by Toyota with Bt108 million, Peptine supplementary health drink with Bt98 million, Nissan with Bt93 million, Honda with Bt76 million and Ichitan beverages with Bt57.9 million. 

Ichaya Santitrakul, founding partner at Brand Connections media agency, said many firms, particularly in the food-and-beverage, air-conditioner and travel businesses, would spend heavily on advertising throughout the hot season. 

During the first quarter, advertising spending via key media such as radio, newspapers, magazines, cinemas, outdoor and in-store faced a decline, while those via television, transit and the Internet continued to grow.

Spending via TV witnessed 4-per-cent growth year on year to Bt16.53 billion from Bt15.88 billion. Transit saw a 30-per-cent surge to Bt766 million from Bt588 million. Internet adverts registered a 53-per-cent increase to Bt210 million from Bt137 million.

Siwat Chawareewong, chief executive officer of mInteraction, a digital specialist agency, said Thailand had experienced rapid growth in digital advertising, including Internet adverts. The company estimates that by the end of this year, the value of adverts in this format will grow by at least 50 per cent.

Among those that faced a decline, cinema adverts saw a large drop by 22 per cent from Bt1.54 billion in the first quarter of 2012 to Bt1.2 billion this year. Newspapers experienced a 5-per-cent decrease to Bt3.5 billion from Bt3.69 billion. Outdoor adverts recorded a 7-per-cent drop to Bt1.01 billion from Bt1.09 billion. And radio and magazines saw slight drops to Bt1.4 billion and Bt1.2 billion respectively.