'4% growth' in Thai media buying in '07
Thailand is expected to record a 4-per-cent upswing in media buying in 2007, thanks to the settling down of financial markets after the coup and the prospect of the country maintaining political stability into next year, Universal McCann said yesterday.
Following the agency's extensive survey covering 13 key Asia-Pacific markets, advertising and communications spending in the region in 2007 is projected to increase by about 5.6 per cent this year. The 2007 gains will follow similar growth this year, with spending expected to increase by an annual 5.7 per cent. Universal McCann conducts annual surveys as part of its Asia Pacific Media Economics Series, which it publishes to provide clients and the advertising/marketing/media sectors with a road map to business development. In its latest 2006 half-year trend report on media economics, the firm surveyed businesses in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Universal McCann says "cautious optimism" for growth is the outlook among the Asia-Pacific markets for next year, with media spending being fuelled primarily by investments in China during the second half of the year ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. But concerns about rising production costs due to higher oil prices and inflation will dampen consumer sentiment. China will drive positive expectations for the region in 2007 and 2008. The Thai market is estimated to increase 3 per cent this year, followed by a 4-per-cent rise in 2007. In addition to the anticipated stabilising of the political landscape, the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport is expected to have a positive impact on the resilient tourism sector, helping to drive incremental media spending both from multinational and Thai companies. "We see consumer confidence starting to pick up again next year, which will help support a gradual rise in media spending. Thailand's economic fundamentals are all still very firm, and with a return to political stability, positive sentiment towards the market - both internal and external - should help fuel a respectable overall rise in advertising and marketing budgets," said Somyot Chairat, MD of Universal McCann (Thailand).
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