ANALYSIS: Advertising - Thinking Thai keeps sparkle alive. Thai agencies have zeroed in on the country's love of a hearty chuckle to create fresh work

It may have been just barely pipped to the post for the Best of the Best prize at last month's Asian Advertising Awards, but Thai entries endeared themselves to the regional advertising community with their trademark humour, wit and edge. As other markets in Asia continue to blame the late '90s financial crisis and shrinking ad budgets to justify a poor showing, both factors don't appear to have stopped Thailand from producing some of the most creative and inventive campaigns in the region. This despite challengingly low budgets that are also a fact of life in Thailand. Which may explain why Leo Burnett Thailand's managing director Pornsiri Rojmeta is so nonchalant about the issue of Thai creativity. "Thai ads are creative. Everybody knows about that already." Pornsiri's right. Thailand continues to rack up awards from top shows around the globe, including five of the past 13 Best of Best prizes at media's Asian Advertising Awards, although it lost the top prize to Mumbai this year. Thailand was one of two Asian markets along with Japan to make the top 10 list of most awarded countries in last year's second annual Gunn Report. Compiled by Donald Gunn, Leo Burnett's former director of creative resources worldwide, the creative dynamism of eighth-placed Thailand is unmatched in Southeast Asia. Its creative vitality places it ahead of regional economic powerhouses like Singapore (in 10th place) or Hong Kong (16th spot). But the point is to determine what makes Thai advertising sparkle, to find an explanation for its success. Is there a uniquely Thai creative process. Some strange secret? Is it something in the water? Perhaps the water theory isn't too far off. "Look at the food we eat - it's spicy, it's sour, it's hot, but it's never ever bland. And food is very reflective of a society," says Pornsiri. Indeed, relatively undisturbed by colonisation or war, Thailand has developed an expressive culture that stands apart from its neighbours, says Kriengsak Niratpattanasai, social commentator and committee member of the Top Advertising Contest of Thailand Awards. "In comparison to Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism, this culture encourages individualism, youthful idealism and tolerance for divergent views," Kriengsak says. Charuvarn Vansiri, chairwoman and chief executive of Lowe Lintas and Partners, agrees. "I think it goes back to Thailand being a free country, never having been colonised, so we are very tolerant of other beliefs. That fosters an environment where the creative mind thrives." Charuvarn is speaking from experience - her agency's creative thinking earned it a place among the world's top 10 creative agencies last year. "There's a tremendous lust for life here and that comes through in everything, in the food, in the way people express themselves, the nightlife," says Philip Eisenbeiss, senior vice-president and business development director at Lowe Lintas. "When it comes to the visual arts, Thailand is absolutely, stunningly rich. There are so many great Thai artists, great draftsmen, you can see their work in the architecture, in the wall paintings and murals in the temples. There's a great natural talent that fits in well with advertising." Yet despite the wealth of native talent, many cite Australian Barry Owen, who headed Ogilvy & Mather's creative team, as the man who put the local industry on the winning track. Owen, now 54 and retired, sparked a trend in the late 1980s by creating television spots for Singha beer that incorporated lush scenes of Thai life coupled with conservation - images and ideas never before seen in Thai advertising. Younger creatives like Ctar Sudasana Na Ayudhaya of Siam Studio, and Thor Santasiri of TBWA Next & Triplet Advertising followed suit, eager to look to their own culture for inspiration. Korn Tepintarapiraksa, creative director at Ogilvy & Mather, also adopted the idea. "I try to project the reality of Thai life in my work. It can't feel fake at all, the characters have to be sincere for me." Thinking Thai has paid off for Korn, 45. He picked up the Best of the Best at the recent Bangkok Art Directors Awards for Wrangler Jeans' "Torture" TVC, which was a serious contender for the top prize in the Asian Advertising Awards. "I give credit to Barry Owen. He used to tell me, 'If you don't feel free, you can't create good work.' That's what I remind my team, to do whatever they want - keeping the budget in mind, of course. Later we can figure out how to make the idea relevant to the product." In a nation that enjoys a good chuckle, thinking Thai has also encouraged creatives to douse their work with a liberal dose of humour. Gunn describes humour as one of the more powerful tools in advertising. The use of it, he adds, is particularly strong in the top-ranked markets like the US and Britain. It also accounts for Thailand's strong showing in Gunn's 2000 report. In Thailand, the humour is both light and dark, evident in the "Torture" TVC. A young woman washing her philandering partner's jeans and finds a note in one pocket and a red bra in another. Angered by her find, she takes her frustration out on the jeans, literally torturing it with every brush stroke. Having an understanding client helps too. Korn says: "Fortunately, with Wrangler, the client was very trusting. They didn't really agree to the idea at first but they finally trusted our judgement and they were very happy with the results. I give a lot of credit to good clients, clients who let us take risks." Of course ideas that win awards are pointless unless they sell the product, but a focus on the consumer is at the heart of the best Thai work. Ethan Schoonover, e-business director of Lowe Lintas, observes: "I think it's something cultural, maybe it's to do with the service culture here, but there is a tremendous focus on what will please the consumer." The best creative executives are focused on what the consumer responds to, rather than - as Korn says - just "trying to impress the juries". So what is it that speaks to Thai consumers? "Thais want to be entertained. People's lives, especially since the economic crash, are difficult and they want something to make them feel good and get their minds off the bad things," says Maitree Ariyasajjakorn, executive creative director at local agency SC Matchbox and a Cannes award winner. "Finding a new way to do this is my challenge." Another possible source of the fresh ideas is the youthful idealism that Kriengsak mentioned. At 37, Eisenbess confesses he's already beginning to feel like a veteran thanks to art directors as young as 22 taking hold of the reins. "It's true, the average age is very young, even the account executives are really young," he says. "You walk around and you see all these kids, and then you go to Hong Kong or Singapore and the age difference is quite dramatic. And that's a big part of it - it's a young industry, and those that aren't young physically are young at heart." Back in Burnett's Idea Room, Pornsiri contemplates the future of the industry. "It's a difficult time for advertisers, you have to compete with the remote control, the web, so many more distractions." As well, the financial crisis has taken a toll on many of Thailand's smaller agencies, and the larger ones have been forced to come up with leaner management strategies to stay competitive. But fortunately there's a crop of upcoming creatives who have retained the Thai touch, complete with the dark humour, which makes Thai advertising so memorable. Maitree of SC Matchbox recounts: "As part of a workshop we run, we gave some students a brief to develop a Nike ad. And one of the students came up with an ad that featured a Nike-clad jogger, walking his dog. "The jogger is holding a leash, and the leash is attached to a collar - but in the collar is just the dog's head, leaving a trail of blood. Nike shoes make you run fast! What a great way to say that!" Maitree can't wait to set his proteges loose on the world. And with cutting-edge ideas like these in the works, Thai entries could well take home the prizes for a long time to come.

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