Energy drink hits TV as sales climb

Each of the two new 90-second spots is a collage of scenes focusing on the weakest points of the Thai social fabric, and shows individuals and groups turn over a new leaf: college students reject gang violence; civil servants refuse bribes; CD vendors refuse to sell pornography; and girls reject sexy clothes in favour of Thai dress. "We did research in three provinces to find out what exactly people found annoying about society, and we came up with 30 issues which we have tried to combine," said Witawat Jayapani, chief executive officer of Creative Juice\G1, which created the campaign. Far from being a depressing look at challenges yet to be overcome, "the campaign encourages people to change and creates hope for the country", he said. The two TVCs will eventually be replaced with four 60-second versions, featuring a mix of old and new scenes. The 150 million baht (US$3.8 million), three-month campaign also includes radio and print ads, as well as events. The 'Dare to change' theme is part of a larger 'Real man' concept launched last year, which projects the ordinary man in the street as the country's true heroes. Besides being in line with regulations restricting energy drink ads to social messages, the brand's focus on Thai identity and national pride repeats a formula that has proved popular with locals. The first 'Dare to change' ad topped Media's Adwatch survey (Media, January 30), with 94 per cent recall. The agency is hoping to go further with the new spots. "We want to make the music from these commercials popular," Witawat said. "The concept is like in We are the world -- you have different people from different walks of life singing (solo), and you have the group singing together." With its 32 per cent share, Krating Daeng claims challenger status to M150's more than 40 per cent stake. It expects to see sales rise by 20 per cent this year, above the 15 per cent expected for the industry, raising its stake to 35 per cent.