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