Dentsu reels in Thailand's international tourism brief

<p>BANGKOK: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is poised to </p><p>appoint Dentsu and Siamese D'Arcy to its international and domestic </p><p>accounts respectively following a lengthy pitch process. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Separate pitches were conducted for the international and domestic </p><p>accounts because they required different briefs and the (TAT) wanted to </p><p>give domestic agencies a chance. Siamese D'Arcy pitched against Kantana </p><p>Group, Cool Dee and Batey Ads; while Dentsu pitched against Siamese </p><p>D'Arcy and McCann-Erickson. International incumbent Leo Burnett declined </p><p>to repitch. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Siamese D'Arcy was well placed to pitch for both because it is part </p><p>owned by local founders - Pandis Diskul and Vichai Suphasomboon - said </p><p>Bill Hickman, Siamese D'Arcy's executive director. But it would have </p><p>been a challenge for domestic agencies to pitch for the international </p><p>brief as it required having a global network to service the account, he </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Dentsu plans to launch its first international campaign for TAT around </p><p>December, coinciding with the peak tourism period. "The brief was about </p><p>getting tourists to stay longer in Thailand so we showed a lot of </p><p>strategies and ideas around that," said Kazuhiro Nobuta, Dentsu MD. The </p><p>upcoming campaign will retain Burnett's "Amazing Thailand" tagline. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>