Advert spending could plunge 8% this year
Play
IF the economy grows by less than 3 per cent this year, the Thai media industry could suffer an 8-per-cent drop in advertising spending as corporates tighten their belts, the Media Agency Association of Thailand has warned.
“Current business sentiment does not seem to meet our expectations. Advertising expenditure in the Kingdom is slowing down,” said MAAT chairwoman Wannee Ruttanaphon.
“In the first half, we estimated that overall spending had suffered a decrease of about 2 per cent from the same period last year. This forecast was based on actual spending.”
She acknowledged that the poor economy was directly influencing advertising expenditures.
As the export sector performs poorly in line with the global economic slowdown, the Bank of Thailand is now considering lowering its growth forecast for this year’s gross domestic product to less than 3 per cent. Many corporates, including those in fast-moving consumer goods, are taking a cautious approach in preparing for this tough situation by tightening their belts and cutting their advertising expenditures.
Given that reality, the MAAT now fears that the advertising industry will suffer an 8-per-cent drop in spending this year, she said.
To deal with this challenge, television broadcasters are also managing their costs after making major investments in content, while maintaining their current advertising fees to retain clients.
RS chief operating officer Pornpan Techarungchaikul said that despite obtaining better TV ratings, Channel 8 would not raise its advertising rates this quarter because the company was concerned about business sentiment amid the economic slowdown. Channel 8 has also decided to postpone until next year its plan to produce new dramas for its weekend programming.
Kematat Paladesh, president of Bangkok Media and Broadcasting, the operator of PPTV channel, said he could not see an opportunity to raise advertising rates amid this tough situation.
Nawamin Prasopnet, managing director of Mono Broadcast, said cost management was very important for a newcomer like its Mono 29 channel in the digital-TV business.
Recently, Mono 29 was awarded the broadcasting rights to films distributed by Sahamongkol Film International. This will be another challenge for Mono Broadcast in terms of cost management this year. But Nawamin said his company still saw room to increase its advertising rates, particularly in prime-time slots.
