Hutchison hires Burnett for Thai entry

BANGKOK: Hutchison Whampoa has awarded its mobile advertising account for Thailand to Leo Burnett following a three-way agency pitch.

by | 04/05/2002

It is understood that McCann-Erickson Thailand and Results Advertising had also pitched for the business.

Billings were not disclosed, but with rivals Advanced Info Systems, DTAC and TA Orange all spending between 1.2 and 1.5 billion baht (US$28-34 million) this year, industry observers believe Hutchison's budget would have to be in the same ballpark to compete. Hutchison is expected to launch operations late this year.

"I think we won the pitch because we were able to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the current state of the telecom industry in Thailand and the world,

said Burnett managing director, Pornsiri Rojmeta. "We showed that we could understand the future of the market and how this would relate to consumers.

Burnett also handles SingTel in Singapore and Smartone in Hong Kong.

"We offered an approach that was beyond 'mass' - which is a more difficult audience to reach. What we need to do is break through the clutter and make the budget more effective,

she added.

The high profile and aggressive launch of TA Orange on March 27 has sparked a price war that is expected to dramatically lower prices.