Corporates seek new ways to get their brands on TV
DESPITE having to tighten their belts amid the economic slowdown, corporates are seeking ways to maximise their advertising budgets through brand engagement via TV shows, major ad agencies say.
“We are anticipating an increase in assignments from our clients that want to be a part of TV programmes as a value-added service on top of spending money on TV commercials, particularly after their businesses have been hit by economic uncertainty,” said Pawat Ruangdejworachai, vice president of Media Insight.
Media Insight is a subsidiary of Media Intelligence, a strategic partner of Japanese public relations and advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc.
Pawat said brand engagement could be done in several ways such as sponsor announcements, product tie-ins, computer graphic inserts and marketing activities.
Major broadcasters like Channel 7 and Channel 3 have welcomed this marketing strategy but apparently use this method more on non-prime-time programmes than on prime-time shows.
On “Journey the Series”, aired on Channel 3 after midnight, Media Insight is working with Toyota Motor Thailand to use its cars in the show, he said.
Toyota was among big advertisers that slashed their advertising budgets in the first quarter of this year, according to Nielsen Thailand. Toyota Motor Thailand spent Bt1.22 billion to publicise its brands and products via different media, a 17.45-per-cent decrease from Bt1.48 billion last year.
Another big corporate, Unilever (Thai) Holdings, cut its ad budget by 31.25 per cent to Bt2.43 billion, and Beiersdorf (Thailand) slashed its budget by 38.3 per cent to Bt886.7 million.
On the other hand, Pawat said new digital-TV players like Workpoint TV, One 31 and GMM 25 were aggressive in seeking advertisers that wanted to experiment on marketing efforts with them while facing a sluggish economy.
Ensemble, a branded-content development unit of IPG Mediabrands, recently announced its partnership with content producer TV Thunder to create a new talent show, “La Banda Thailand”.
Dew Intapanya, managing director of Ensemble, said “La Banda Thailand” would be the third international format airing on Channel 3 under the partnership after “Dance Your Fat Off” and “Hidden Singer Thailand”.
“Ensemble is a specialist in branded-content creation. We acknowledge the importance of unique content that is able to respond to clients’ needs and sponsors because such TV content reaches and engages directly with target customers,” she said.
GroupM is another ad-media management firm that has been actively involved with this kind of activity. It is working with top brands like Clear shampoo, Ford passenger cars, Gatsby Moving Rubber hair wax, Sofy and TMB Bank to produce the current season of “Thailand’s Got Talent” broadcast on Channel 3.
Rattakorn Surbsuk, trading partner of GroupM, said in a previous interview that advertisers needed more options to engage with target audiences.
Amid a sluggish economy, they were also looking for a value-for-money solutions.
