Marketers must adapt to buyers' shift to mobiles

"Of the 27 million Internet users [in Thailand], 40 per cent search for information they are interested in via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This number is expected to rise next year, while a number of Internet users are enjoying consuming video content via YouTube and social websites," said Ariya Banomyong, country manager for Google Thailand.

Media agency Mindshare has reported that more than 1.6 billion searches are performed on Google alone every day. The firm found as well that mobile search traffic has continued to grow significantly in the country.

While searches via desktop computers grew by 25 per cent this year, mobile searches saw 120-per-cent growth.

Ariya said this ongoing development would present opportunities for companies to communicate and engage with consumers in a diverse market.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, founder and director of Tarad.com and president of the Thai E-Commerce Association, said companies should look for ways to make it easy for potential customers to find their products and services through search engines or social networks.

"Utilisation of big data is also important, not only for creating brand awareness but for real-time assessment and effective and tangible return on investment," he said.

Tiwa York, managing director of Sanook.com and Dealfish.com, said marketers could monitor consumers’ conver-sations about brands and products in social media. This would help them respond faster and engage with customers in some cases. To cash in on the rise of data searches via mobile devices, Dealfish has developed a mobile portal for customers.

Traditional advertising still needed

However, Tiwa acknowledged that some online marketers also needed to invest in advertisements via influential media such as television and newspapers to enhance brand awareness and bring customers to their websites.

Dealfish.com launched its brand via television commercials to inform customers and persuade them to experience its service on the website.

Wannee Ruttanaphon, president of the Media Agency Association of Thailand, confirmed this, saying: "Traditional media like TV and print remain key outlets that have a big impact on Thai consumers."

She also suggested that TVC should not only contain an entertainment but also have inspiration and be more attractive to customers to share the TVC to their peers in social media.

On print advertising, Wanna Swuddigul, chief marketing officer at Ek-Chai Distribution System, the operator of the Tesco Lotus retail chain, said her company opted to seed augmented reality codes into its printed adverts to make them more interesting. With this mix of old and new media, customers can engage more deeply with brands.

These five marketing and online specialists shared their ideas with marketers at a Nielsen conference on consumer trends last week in Bangkok.