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