Southeast Asia: Samsung retains DYR and taps Bangkok PR

The Korean electronics giant has also moved its media account to Initiative from MEC.

The reviews come as Samsung shifts its focus to the high-end of the market, and targets a 50 per cent increase in sales to 38 billion baht (US$962 million) this year. "We have an aggressive business expansion plan, setting an objective to be one of the leading premium brands in Thailand," a Samsung spokesman said.

To this end, the company has pledged to launch 90 high-end products this year, and allocate one billion baht for marketing.

Both DYR and Bangkok PR have been handed primarily brand-building briefs, covering the entire range of Samsung products in the Thai market. This is grouped into three broad categories: consumer products account for 50 per cent of annual sales, followed by mobile phones at 40 per cent and IT products at 10 per cent.

"Previously, the focus was on the benefits and functionality of each individual product, which meant they were product campaigns rather than branding campaigns," said DYR CEO Sohn Chongsrichan. "Now the focus is linking the products back to the brand." The agency, which has held the account for four years, retained the business following a three-way pitch involving TBWA and Leo Burnett.

The shift of focus from product to brand is a logical second step, now that Samsung's products are well known in the market, Sohn said. The market is very competitive, with product innovations advertised almost daily, he said, so the question is "how are we going to glue consumers to the brand".

The agency will expand its existing 10-man team to include more account servicing and creative staff, Sohn said, and its CRM arm, Wunderman, will also be roped in to help, particularly in database management.

On the PR side, the job will be to project Samsung as a premium brand, according to Bangkok PR managing director Hasan Basar. "The product performance is already there, we need to make sure that perceptions catch up with reality." Samsung is currently number one or two across several categories in which it competes, he said.

The consultancy will handle all aspects of PR for the company including corporate and consumer PR, as well as community relations work. Basar anticipates the biggest challenge to be Samsung's sheer size. "It's a big company with many different business units," he said. "We have to make sure that all the units, and corporate needs move in the same direction."

Bangkok PR is currently working on a programme to build awareness of Samsung's global sponsorship of the Olympic Games, including a competition to nominate four Thai torchbearers to travel to Athens.