Speaking at a two-day seminar held by the Thailand Direct Marketing Association at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, OgilvyOne Worldwide managing director Kanokporn Nitheranont and MSN Thailand Co Ltd managing partner Michale Tiwa York disagreed on the number of local Internet users in Thailand. Kanokporn said there were 13 million; York said only 8 million.

However, they agreed Thailand had about 30 million mobile-phone users at the end of last year.

Kanokporn said the number of people using both channels had increased beyond all predictions, indicating these media channels had become important. He said some companies were already using the great potential of these channels by advertising through them to attract new customers, gain customer databases, increase sales and strengthen customers' loyalty.

The Internet and mobile phones, which allow audiences to interact with the brands, are also good channels for direct marketing, because they communicate directly with targeted customers and often receive quick responses.

He said companies like Nokia, Ford and Nike already used the Internet as a marketing channel. Their marketing budgets vary in accordance with the brands' targets, countries covered and channels and methods of communication. Some of them pay almost nothing, while others pay in the eight digits. Kanokporn said that above all, creative ideas were the most important aspect.

He said IBM introduced a new computer system by creating a short animated music video featuring a frog that was living unhappily, working hard day and night to help its colleagues solve computer problems. The music video was posted on a website, and thousands of people copied it to their friends. This was an example of a "viral" advertisement.

Meanwhile, discussing the mobile-phone channel, ARC Worldwide business director Supavadee Tantiyanon said industries like telecom operators, credit-card firms and others were choosing to send SMS messages to targeted customers.

The problem is many such companies incorrectly exploit the channel by sending lots of messages each day, causing annoyance and making people feel that the advertisements are too intrusive.

The global standard for this practice is to send no more than seven messages per year per person, but in Thailand the culture seems to be to demand customers' attention. Supavadee said such marketers should study consumer behaviour, in order to learn a better approach.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation