Newin shares the secrets of his successful 'second life'

IF SOMEONE HAD told you a decade ago that Newin Chidchob was going to be the keynote speaker at an advertising event, your side might have split open. Perhaps the organiser had fallen under Newin’s political spell? No, there is now fresh proof that the man is fully disengaged from politics, the profession he once seemed born to pursue. 

Not only has he made his hometown squad, Buriram United, one of the top football teams in Southeast Asia, he’s built a car-racing circuit that’s made Buri Ram the capital of Thai motor sports. 

And that was quite sufficient to earn Newin the keynote speaker’s spot at the annual “Leo Burnett’s Cannes Prediction” event in Bangkok, whose theme was “Are you ready to mutate?” 

In fact Newin seemed like the perfect fit. No longer is Buri Ram “just another province on the way to somewhere else in Isaan”, as Newin has proudly declared. It’s a major destination. He’s now comfortably described as “the former politician” and more often than not “the owner of Buriram United”. 

That’s perhaps the reason Leo Burnett Thailand chief Songkran Sehesompbe chose Newin to give the big speech at his big annual event. And so there was Newin, in a Buriram United jersey bearing the Chang logo (the team’s main sponsor). That led to a nice little joke with Songkran, since Leo Burnett has conceived several ad campaigns for rival Singha. “It’s okay,” Songkran told the laughing audience, “I got permission from my client.”

Newin explained how he had to “think outside the box” in turning Buri Ram into a recognised and admired “brand”. Changes in the media and the way people behave helped, he said. “The social media are a ‘Cinderella world’ that can make you a dog or a god overnight.” In approaching a potentially massive “audience”, he ruled out traditional means of advertising. “I’ve handled Buriram United for five years without any ad agency,” he said. “We have our own team to take care of that.” And every member of that team is under 35. “Anyone older than that and their thinking might be too old-fashioned,” he said. 

Even without an ad agency pitching its pluses, Buriram United earned Bt230 million in one year, Newin pointed out. “There’s hardly any logo space left on the shirt!” Sponsors have always been well rewarded. “When they spend money on my team, I always think, ‘What can I do to give them more?’” That’s why seats at Buri Ram’s football stadium are half price for customers of Muang Thai Life Assurance and Yamaha. 

What had been a completely unknown team started turning up regularly in Google searches after Newin began bringing in players from South Africa and Spain. “My dream is to make Buriram United as famous as Manchester United,” he said. 

Meanwhile he’s channelling some of his energy into the province’s new racing circuit, which he said is an attempt to turn the noise pollution of street racing into “noise money”. Still unwilling to take a break, Newin is also building a 60-room hotel with a football theme. “I could have gone for more than 100 rooms, but my investment is designed only to trigger others, not to reap profit for me.”

After an hour of Newin’s can-do cheerleading, many of the businesspeople in the room were feeling tempted to undergo a little “mutating” of their own. Chameleon Newin’s latest form is definitely a motivational speaker.