Saatchis won the business without pitching, after the Advertising Association of Thailand (AAT) informed KTB in mid-2005 that the 10 agencies invited to the review would not do so in the absence of the fee payment. The account was previously held by Euro RSCG Flagship. AAT president Chaipranim Visudhipol professed himself happy with the outcome. "This is fine, because the whole thing is to protect the industry from being taken advantage of in the pitching process."
The win coincides with Saatchis Singapore's win of UOB Bank's regional business, covering Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand -- where UOB recently acquired the Bank of Asia. Due to the conflict with Krung Thai, UOB's Thai advertising will be handled by sister agency Publicis, which has already unveiled a print ad to publicise the acquisition. "They were looking for a completely holistic approach, because obviously with banks when you go from corporate through to product, you're using just about anything in the marketing mix really," said Publicis Thailand CEO Ron Webb.
Saatchis swings Krung Thai work without a review
Saatchi & Saatchi has landed Krung Thai Bank's (KTB) 200 million baht (US$4.9 million) creative account, following a protracted review that was eventually shelved when the bank refused to pay the stipulated 100,000 baht pitch fee.
