LET'S USE ASEAN SUMMIT TO FORGE CLOSER COOPERATION

Monday, February 23,2009

February brought Valentine's Day and its celebration of love to every corner of the world, and Thailand was no exception - Thais love Valentine's Day and the special feelings that come with it.

Unfortunately, the positive effects of Valentine's Day did not last that long this year. The love bite faded quickly, much like the New Year celebrations, which were short-lived due to the political unrest and constant changing of the guard in Bangkok. Amid the economic downturn and the daily barrage of bad news in newspaper and on the local and international television news, however, opportunities exist - if we can only recognise them .

I believe Thais need more good news - it has a profound effect on people's well-being, confidence and general attitude toward life.

On the political front, our prime minister his displayed great energy, and the government's economic stimulus packages are taking shape in line with measures being taken around the world to restore order to the financial system and survive the recession.

There is room for improvement, however, as these measures have yet to translate into the kind of sustained good news that tells the economic layperson that he or she is actually benefiting - or will benefit.

"Good news" doesn't mean simply putting a positive spin on the government's policies - it means filling in the gaps between the public's perception and reality, and communicating the reasons for what the government is doing and why it is important that it continues to do so.

Maintaining public confidence is crucial : At the end of the day, economic recovery depends mostly on psychological factors.

The secretary-general of Asean, Thailand's Dr.Surin Pitsuwan, always mentions in his speeches that Asean summits are not just political gatherings : they are people's summits.

Millions of citizens of Asean member states have been or will be affected by the financial turbulence and economic recession. At the Asean Summit Hua Hin, to be held from February 27 to March 1, perhaps our government can initiate a 2009 Asean marketing Plan that aims not only to stimulate unity but also to stimulate economic collaboration for the next two years.

Long-term, tangible and measurable collaboration should be a key goal for the bloc.

Now is the time for the Kingdom to think outside the box and use the summit as a forum to encourage the kind of economics collaboration that would allow Asean to deal with the global recession collectively.

To name a few idea, Thailand could take the lead and stimulate spending on projects such as a "Visit Asean Year", "Visit Asean" tour package, "Buy Asean" weeks and a "Love Asean Ways" campaign.

Why not appoint an Asean Good Will Ambassador to lead a road show promoting trade and Asean countries' cultural attractions ?

Despite the threat of more political unrest, hosting the Asean summit could be a blessing in disguise. Thailand has a chance to relaunch its image, and to convince US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to drop by to develop some handy Asean contacts and get her fill of spicy Thai food, instead of bypassing us.

Has she forgotten where Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie got their tattoos, and where they take their holidays? The summit will presumably spark a flare-up in the country's political strife, which will draw media attention. We should try to take as many positives as possible from this international interest.

Kitti Chambundabongse

TOUGH TIMES CALL FOR SENSIBLE BEHAVIOUR

Monday, November 24, 2008

The alarm bells from the United States and European Union echo the fact that hard times are coming sooner. This year Christmas songs and New Year songs will not bring much joy to a lot of businesses, particularly the advertising business.

I think the Thai mood and mode of moving from 2008-2009 will not be hard. But 2009 will not be the same with no growth and probably, even a contraction.

Perhaps it will be worse than this year and the last two years when we did not see any real growth.

Politically, we are behaving like novices and not waking up to the reality because of our Thai-style democracy. But in the advertising business of managing changes, particularly during crises, the god of reality (yes god) will not allow you to play it the Thai way that long anymore!

Strategically, we should look at not only surviving but also growing.

Companies need to be restructured to be very compact and highly competitive and productive with minimum waste. Lay-offs may be inevitable, but then again do not do it for short-term tactical reasons. If growth is planned, the structure needs to be strong enough to accommodate growth in the future.

Our people, particularly our seniors, must shape up or ship out.

The demand for our brands from consumers will see shifting patterns that meed to be micro-analysed and focused on what we offer them and promise them.

Industry spending will be cut and re-utilised to minimise waste because our consumers are having less disposable income to spend.

My predictions are that this time the effects will do collateral damage vertically from high-end brands like fashion, cosmetics, cars, mobiles, jewels, tourism to name a few, down to detergents and toothpaste.

Clients need partners for growth and not an agency to help them spend. Accountability will be the key performance index measurement for return on investment.

Campaigns, if loosely structured, will never work successfully in the long term. Concept words like brand owner idea must come from both sides, clients and agency teams.

Don't treat brand building, brand team, brand owner, as fancy words coined by clever marketers.

Believe in it, for they have one thing in common -"it's our brand" if we adopt it well, so will our consumers.

Our people, our creativity and our media must also be accountable and with insightful knowledge of the mind of consumers. Speak to them first, court them, understand them first, make an offer to them first, let our brands stay on top their minds during this crises period.

Thais are resilient. We can beat the odds.

Kitti Chambudabongse

NEW ERA DAWNING IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Monday, May 31st 2010

Part II

A revolution is underway where we should boldly shift to lead the change from dead-end business-as-usual tactics to transformation strategies that are deemed essential to create a sustainable society and promote social responsibility through our corporate and brand investment.

The journey will be long, but the era for total denial has ended.

Corporate leaders and marketers of the future should recognise the world is changing very fast such - just look at Thailand, South Korea and Greece to name a few - plus now we are starting at the looming European debt crisis.

For the sake of our companies, our brands and long-term marketing success, as well as to strengthen bonds between our corporate and brand images, we must implement revolutionary - not just incremental - changes in the way we think, live and work. We must adapt to reconnect and keep up with our consumers.

We cannot afford to take for granted any brad summary of what the masses in Thailand are seeking, the changes in their attitude, covering all dimensions of economic, social and political needs.

We should be working on budget efficiency and campaigns where we can implement and measure the working collaboration across boundaries.

Perhaps we can explore and put in place unprecedented solutions that move our corporate and brand positioning to gain a stronger share of hearts and minds and a bigger share of the market.

In the end, no viable path will succeed in the long term if the path does not take into account the needs of Thailand's future generations from all walks of life.

Kitti Chambundabongse

Bloom to gloom in 2 months

Monday, May 24th 2010

Part I...

Who would have thought in March this year, when we were witnessing an overheated situation in the media, particularly television prime-time shortage and overall surge in advertising spending, that we would be faced with the deadly events of May, which has politically affected our country's image and led to a loss in our long term stability.

It as a relief to see the marketing budget during our first quarter continue to shift between disciplines, but this was driven more by tactics and innovations than pure budget cut.

Creativity still remains alongside data and analysis and consumer insights, and will prevail more than ever before due to the fragmented society.

Asian companies, including Thailand, also have been substantially increasing their share of M&A.

Many local firms and international companies that were aggressively invested in organic growth during the recent economic downturn had started to spend since the last quarter of 2009 and the first quarter this year.

Car sales volumes were up in Thailand though the growth is not as big as in China, but it is still in double digits.

Now it is amazing how things have changed during the past two months regarding our political and economic outlook.

My mind is still trying to sort out the assorted mix of this morning;s latest political and economic news in newspaper reports, and another set of still-fresh memories of the sights and sounds of what transpired in out city during the past few days,

The government and the private sector were caught off guard by the scale of damage following the recent turmoil, not only because lives were lost and properties destroyed but because of the loss of faith in a sense of stability and safety.

The hope is not drive to redeem our sense of unity and pride and again reframe our thoughts to deal with, if not manage, our even more fragmented masses to sell our images and services for the future.

It is obvious now that what is happening is a necessary revolution. From now on, our government, private sector and individuals will be working together to create sustainable world, economically and socially.

It is a rude awakening.

Part II will follow

Kitti Chambundabongse

NEW WORLD OF FREE TRADE

FACING A NEW YEAR, AND THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF FREE TRADE

The Nation : Monday , January 25th, 2010

No one can claim that the year 2009 inspired confidence when it comes to doing business, or even just leading our lives.

Nevertheless, I do believe that, along with the hardship, the economic crisis taught us some lessons about how to cope, survive and adapt to unforeseen change.

Life goes on, despite the uncertainty of politics, the economy, the weather and the changing habits of consumers.

Now, I am negotiating my path - after a rough ride last year (the god of recession spares no one) - toward Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year next month.

My feelings and confidence level are positive relative to the same period last year. At least I know tune at the end of this year.

I believe Thai consumers weathered the recession well, even though we were squeezed into giving up a lot of things, but food, big screen TV, movies, smart phones and mobile services remain successful across the nation. We are still spending, albeit frugally, according to careful choices in terms of categories and brands.

Politically and economically, there is still hope, though the road ahead may be long and winding.

Perhaps this February, your Valentine's Day will be filled with romantic pink. Don't forget your red and yellow roses, though for these are the colours of happiness.

Thanks to the Asean Free Trade Agreement ( AFTA ) the difference now may be that my roses, my watched and the clothes I wear may come from Asean member countries. The grouping has some 500-million-plus inhabitants.

This year, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year fall with the same week. I wish I had statistics to show me the total spending we can expect on roses and "ang pao" (cash-stuffed red envelopes) in Asean.

AFTA however, is little understood by many businessmen, consumers and the general public.

With its many potential upsides and downsides, AFTA will eventually shape a new era of competitiveness, thereby affecting Thai small and medium-sized enterprises in 2010 and beyond.

Now we must look at marketing and at potential nre consumers, as more brands will be geared toward these 10 markets, thus the target consumers will also be bombarded with more choices. One brand will never fit all. As a result, opportunities arises and so are the threats pertaining to image and prices.

With the Asean + 1 agreement, which brings together AFTA and China, I think the market will offer many more choices to consumers. Marketing executives at SMEs must arm themselves well with knowledge in manufacturing, market segmentation, law and technology.

Assistance from the government and educational institutions will play a major strengthening role. The stronger that Thai brands' image and quality are, the better the chances for our SMEs to not only survive the influx of foreign brands, but to thrive beyond our borders. This is something that will be vital to our economy.

Staying defensive mode will never be enough. Thai consumers have an amazing habit of changing their minds. They are image-conscious and price-sensitive.

Many organisations, particularly big corporations, have been preparing both offensive and defensive strategies for the short, medium and long terms and are making efforts to train new generations of managers and staff to be more competitive.

Needless to say, our consumers are getting smarter and wiser with the aid of technology such as mobile devices and social networking, which have become powerful tools for reaching out to new communities.

So while free trade brings more choices, new skills and technologies will help us find services, brand ratings, and country of origin information. Our brands must be reinvigorated and be at the forefront of consumers' minds.

Kitti Chambundabongse

THE AMAZING THAI MEDIA AND MARKETING LANDSCAPE

The Nation : Monday February 15th, 2010

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year celebrations have just passed by. Somehow or other, this year our economic outlook has started to stabilise relative to the fear in 2009.Things are looking up and the momentum is swinging towards the plus sign, but growth remains elusive.

Since January, most businesses seemed to echo sighs of relief. The marketing and marketing communications media industries, both traditional and non-traditional, have been buzzing with campaign after campaign.

We should not be any worse off than in the Tom Yum Kung period or the recession of 2009.

I am merely saying from my hot seat that, "things will get better this year even though it does not necessary mean it's going to be great".

Like at many other companies, I will continue to trim off the excess fat, but I will at the same time invest more in people, tools and services well in advance to make sure that the return on these investments will bring more value to clients and the company.

Coming out of recession with a new mindset is a necessity for all leaders - whether politicians or businessmen, or us as consumers.

The fact remains that growth remains elusive, the sky is still cloudy and the new norm is here for us to deal with in a period of economic uncertainty. We absolutely need to redefine our goals, our services, our brands' value to our consumers and our customers.

The god of recession did not spare anyone, as I said once, but we can learn a lot yet again from 2009's experiences.

We learn how to grab the chance to become more valuable as a company to our clients, who were at times desperately looking for help in rethinking their business and marketing strategy in order to give consumers good reasons to spend during the economic downturn. Even during the upturns as well, because of competitive market forces and the fast shifting of our consumers' insight, their media viewing and their social behavior.

Evidence is clear and proven again in basic relationship marketing that many brands that were consistently giving innovative value and benefits and relevance hype, emerged on top and managed to grow while their industry showed a drop in growth and consumption.

The bottom line in marketing your way out of recession boils down to honing your brand relationship with consumers.

The economic environmnet has helped us frame a new direction to stay head of chenges in consumer behavior. They also were affected and posibly reframed their choices of brands, products and services.

Consumers in the post-recession era may become even more demanding and digital and cable-minded and depend a lot on search engines to "google" for choices of brands and "tweet" their brand choices or brand rejections to the world. The holistic marketing model may as well include the options of "Plan A, for good times" and "Plan B, for bad times", to be well equipped for any economic or financial uncertainty.

Emerging from recession is the amazing Thailand media landscape, like cable services with hundreds of channels, more than 600 radio stations and the rapid growth of social-network marketing both online and via satellite and cable.

The next generation of media and search engines will facilitate more expectations and more choices. The convergence of tecknology of new media services will became more vital to marketing communities. The launched of the iPad and the app store in the Android system did not reflect only technology or gadgets. They are indicative of conversational media that no marketers or brands can afford to ignore despite the questions regarding measurement in terms of return on investment.

At the other end of the amazing social network through satellite and cable in our country, if you recall "Pa Cheng", the old Thai lady who primitively brewed magic potions or medicinal home remedies that cured (perception) the desperate group of people and lured them as her loyal customrs, or the Pa Cheng network via cable and workd of mouth in the traditional fashion.

The influx of cable gave Pa Cheng the chance to have her own TV programme - yes, the old lady was a one-woman show - not like Oprah Winfrey, but good enough to draw many hopeful people in the lower socio-economic stratum to buy and most of all believe in her non-branded magic potion, which was made from god knows what !

Both social networking, like Twitter, Facebook, and these cable services, and freedom are creating an impact on our marketing communications world both above and under the ground. The technology is changing dramatically and the general population is becoming more IT-literate, multi-tasking and multimensional.

The impact is big on the consumer behavior of all socio-economic classes in our country. The question is, how many more will there be like Pa Cheng, or Poo Dang - the fertiliser network - and how many more like Steve Jobs, Facebook and tweet me please?

My focus this year will be devoted to bringing backroom digital talents into front line and limelight alongside the marketing strategist and marcom solutions.

We now have the ideas, we have the media, we have the technology and we have the information. What's left is the how and what is the hook to capture our elusive consumers,

Living and working is extraordinary, don't miss it.

Kiiti Chambundabongse

The aeroplane-paper-toy Hmong boy

MONG AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY

The Nation : Monday, September 28th 2009

Paper is a constant presence in our lives. In this electronic age, we still use and recycle a lot of it everyday. Changing the way paper is manufactured, consumed and used is a major factor in reducing the carbon footprint.

Looking back, a simple paper toy was a mainstay of my childhood - and has been for children all over the country for decades. But who would have thought that a humble piece of paper, skillfully crafted into the aeroplane, could pit contestants against each other as the subject of an international competition ?

A recent paper aeroplane contest in Japan has not only brought fame to our country but also got people thinking about our bureaucratic system, our human values, our ability to empathize and the way heroes and champions are made.

This is the story of the making and marketing of Hmong boy Mong Thongdee (no relation to Todd Thongdee), and his team of Thai champions, who emerged victorious in the competition.

Mong achieved 10.53 seconds of flying time with his paper aeroplane to grab the championship for himself and his team.

Mong has been granted Thai citizenship, and become a goodwill ambassador and a symbol of our love for His Majesty the King.

This turn of events simply makes one smile with pride, augmented as it is by one's own fond memories, and representing as it does an example of the potential of the much-touted creative economy.(provided the Government is serious about marketing and promoting it, with the private sector as a key player)

Marketing and media firms take note : I could never have imagined that a little boy and his simple paper toy could enhance Brand Thailand - and at the same time add some shine to the PM's mark.

These days our lives are overwhelmingly occupied with the mega-plans, mega-projects, mega-objects, mega-buildings, mega-brands and mega-games. Along comes the little Hmong boy with his little paper plane, armed only with his mega-competitive spirit "successfully disrupting" our routines with his victory, and putting him at the centre of attention among his Thai team-mates.

This case of a simple game being used to build a country's image should win a marketing award. This disruption of the status quo really choked me up, and has added to the slew of awards our Thai kids have won lately in student competitions. Mong and his friends have added value to the "Amazing Thailand " brand.

But without Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's approval, our controversial Hmong champion would not have had the chance to compete at all. This was a timely executive decision that not only added strength to the branding of Thailand but also added strength to the PM's brand as well. Mong's 10.53 seconds won a championship, a country's hearts, reams of newspaper space and electronic media time - and was a major coup for the government.

While nobody is laughing all the way to the bank, everyone is richer, with huge deposits and withdrawals of truth-telling - all born of the simple street game.

I hope my TV commercial can do an effective job of selling this image for 15 seconds, with the 12 year-old boy i cast flying his paper aeroplane - a plane that carries his dreams.

"Amazing Thailand " is not all about the City of Angels alone : we are perhaps accidentally unearthing the hidden talents of our creative economy bit by bit, which is a wonderful change from the crowded news shows and crowded streets full of colours, paradoxes and controversy.

Perhaps we have a lot of catching up to do with the developed world in terms of technology, but we will not be running short of creativity and innovative ideas in the next decade - of this I am sure.

With Peth Osathahnugrah as CCO, Bangkok University has undergone a similar kind of shift to a Creative University platform. Students will gain not just academic knowledge, but also be encouraged to come up wit creative ideas that will see them contribute to Thailand's creative economy and eventually benefit their career paths as well.

Maybe our government can launch a campaign that encourages us to "Just do it...Ideas inside ".

Kitti Chambundabongse

"Lin Ping", A great branding story

WHY BABY PANDA LIN PING IS A GREAT BRANDING STORY...


Monday, August 31st 2009 ( The Nation )

When conditions are dire and people are losing their nerve over political uncertainty, economic volatility is bad news, one is trying to take stock at the mid-year mark of what is happening that impacts us most from marketing and advertising public relations point of view. I cannot ignore the fact that the panda marketing story may be regarded as one of the most successful campaigns ever.

Whether the Lin Ping panda brand story and event was orignally invented or not is not relevant because the story deserves the credit due to a successful campaign ans is worth studying. It can be described as an opportunity to promote the zoo or promote happiness by creating something new, something different to break the domination of bad politics and unpleasant speculation of the state of the economy in newspaper and broad-casting media.

Perhaps we can learn something about PR and advertising hype impact, by tracing the story back to the root of its origin - goodwill panda diplomacy between Thailand and China - when we first adopted the two pandas in the Chiang Mai zoo.

Doom and gloom had swirled around the global economy, which domectically affected many coorporations and companies in thier mid-year performance report. News of slashed advertising budget and staff retrenchment abound. Bursting out like lightning was the birth of a little panda -with no name - for the first time in our country. Imagine me, which I am not, a marketing communication professional who plans this "birth of Lin Ping Panda" from the beginning, I would be praised for the success of the campaign for sure.

It is as thought the "Lin Ping Branding"as a brand story was concieved, invented to continuously stimulate the long-awaited product and brand new model from a marketing point of view. The manufacturing process of the product was softly communicated phase by phase by attempting to reproduce a baby panda. People were anxiously awaiting for the birth of the baby. From that point onwards, it's like a never ending story being told free everyday by major media.

The "Lin Ping Branding" was created by way of getting people to participate, even pay to get involved in naming " Lin Ping" with some 22 million participants or 60 percent redemption rate which was absolutely amazing. A marketing manager and an agency executive handling a good brand would be happy with the promotion redemption rate of 20 to 30 percent let alone 60 percent achievement.

The people had chosen "Lin Ping". But the brand story did not stop there. Everyday people became very involved and engaged with the Lin Ping brand. It is like a reality show where we are witnessing the gradual process of growth of our little panda, day in day out. Lin Ping is bringing happiness and smiles to our community and disrupting the bad news, bad politicians and bad business. From Panda Diplomacy and Panda Marketing, similarly, a baby Thai elephant recently born in Australia also had a fair impact in terms of creating news and hype among Australians and Thais. From panda mania to elephant mania, it's a beautiful way to promote not only zoo, but coming with it are the augmented benefits of promoting the countriy, promoting goodwill and promoting happiness among the general public as well. For months we read about Lin Ping, talk about Lin Ping, are curious about Lin Ping and even start to love Lin Ping.

Panda is panda, so is Koala bear, or other rare animals found in different parts of the world. They have been in existence for centuries. Somehow, the building of the panda mania or the Lin Ping branding story, has been quietly growing on you, like a good product or a good brand.

A vey basic theory of 5P'at its best. From concept to the market place, it takes the right mix of ideas and a myriad of other factors to navigate our brand to give our consumers " a love bite " that will last like the Lin Ping panda story.

Let's celebrate the hundred days of Lin Ping's birth soon.

Kiiti Chambundabongse