It is also planning an aggressive round of marketing activities, both to build awareness of the Office Depot brand and to stimulate the company's target groups - individual and corporate customers - to spend more at its outlets despite the current unfavourable economic and political conditions.

It has set aside Bt30 million for marketing, up from Bt18 million last year, said Office Club's assistant vice president for operations and marketing Kosit Lekhanont.

He said the company expected to open five new branches around the country at a cost of Bt10 million to Bt20 million each. All of them will occupy 800 to 1,000 square metres of floor space and are expected to break even within three years. This follows the opening of four such branches last year.

Kosit said the company fell narrowly short of its sales target in the first quarter of this year. The economic slow-down and political uncertainty are major negative factors influencing its performance, so it plans, with an increased marketing budget, to increase the frequency of marketing activities.

Office Club generated sales of Bt1.05 billion last year, representing growth of 23 per cent.

It is aiming this year at sales of Bt1.46 billion, with growth of 39 per cent.

The company is planning one major marketing campaign as well as other, smaller campaigns in every quarter this year.

Its general manager for merchandising and marketing, Supakorn Prathipasen, admitted that the company needed to build wider awareness of its Office Depot brand, but felt fortunate that the Central Group always knows the best locations for new Office Depot outlets.

The company is also planning campaigns to build loyalty among holders of its Depot Design membership cards. It currently has 130,000 members, an increase of 30,000 so far this year, and is aiming for a 15-per-cent increase.

The card is also a channel for promotion of Office Depot's 1,500 house-brand products. Members get a discount of 3 per cent on these products, which represent 20 per cent of products available in its outlets. By increasing its house-brand products, the company aims to make this 30 per cent by the end of this year.

Kosit said the office-equipment market was worth Bt71 billion. Of this, Bt20 million came from sales through modern trade channels. He estimated the market would grow by 10 per cent this year.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation