Forecasts are for even better times ahead for Thailand and
Singapore, where annual advertising expenditure in '99 grew nine per
cent and three per cent respectively over the previous year.
Thailand's advertising industry continues to recover as total
billings for 1999 exceeded 41,568 million baht (US$1.1 billion),
up nine per cent from 1998, according to the Advertising Association of
Thailand (AAT).
Press advertisements grew the fastest, up 39 per cent to 8,113 million
baht in 1999.
AAT president Pornsiri Rojmeta predicted 2000 would be an even better
year for Thailand's industry, with growth between 10 and 15 per
cent.
However, she hoped that growth would not be higher than predicted,
because that would be detrimental to the sector's future.
"I would hate to see growth figures jumping from between 28 to 32 per
cent each year like during the economic boom in Thailand.
"It was not good for the industry and affected the professional quality
of the industry as there was no time to train new staff," she said.
After experiencing negative growth for the first three quarters last
year, Singapore adspend picked up significantly in Q4, with a 21.8 per
cent increase over the same period in 1998.
This brought overall growth for the whole year to nearly three per cent,
reaching a total of S$1.22 billion - in 1998, the market shrank
by seven per cent.
"Key players are re-evaluating their advertising investments for 2000 in
the light of deregulation and increased competition," said ACNielsen
Singapore/Malaysia managing director and chief client service officer
Lennart Bengtsson, who said the finance, Internet and telecommunications
sectors would "lead the charge into further recovery" this year.
OMD Singapore general manager Gan Boon Guan said the final result showed
a return to confidence among advertisers in the Lion City.
"There is improved optimism compared to a year ago, when everyone was
adopting a 'wait and see' attitude," he said.
Mr Gan said the entry of new brands into the market this year would
ensure even healthier growth in terms of adspend.
Telecommunications giant SingTel was the biggest advertiser of 1999,
recording S$39 million in adspend.
Direct competitor M1 spent S$20 million.
With the Singapore government bringing forward to April the full
deregulation of the telephone market, the telecommunications sector is
poised for even more heated activity.
"We have already seen some very aggressive advertising from StarHub in
print and radio since December, months ahead of its official launch in
April," said ACNielsen's Mr Bengtsson.
Several product categories in the top 10 rebounded strongly, registering
double-digit growth; these included retail, banking and investment,
computers, media, and pharmaceuticals.
However, the property category remained soft, declining for the second
consecutive year to register a drop of S$15 million.
Newspapers saw six per cent growth and commanded a 50 per cent share of
the market; TV's share dropped three per cent to 33.6 per cent.
Poster ads were the best performer in terms of growth, up 20 per cent
over 1998, edging share of market to three per cent.
Both magazines and radio also improved, splitting the remainder of the
adspend pie between them.
Internet companies in Singapore increased their advertising spend by 100
per cent last year, compared with 1998, according to analysis provided
by OMD.
The total spend in this category was more than S$15 million, of
which a major portion went into a combination of television and print
advertising.
The top Internet advertisers were ISPs Singnet, Magix, Pacific Internet
and newcomer StarHub.
Together, they contributed to half of the total spend in this
sector.
- Additional reporting by Tom Racette, Bangkok
THAI ADSPEND (1999 vs 1998 in Baht '000s)
Year -on-year
MEDIA 1998 1999 change (%)
TV 25,379,157 26,032,304 3
Radio 3,386,429 4,111,365 21
Press 5,851,401 8,113,059 39
Magazines 2,083,382 2,011,947 -3
Outdoor 1,220,135 1,042,385 -15
Cinema 174,529 257,745 48
ALL MEDIA 38,095,033 41,456,796 9
Source: Advertising Association of Thailand
