Thailand: Ad spending tumbles 2% in January

• Feb 16, 2017

Advertising spending on all media outlets fell by nearly 2% year-on-year to 8.07 billion baht in January, says Nielsen Thailand.
But the spending drop in January improved on the 11.7% contraction for all of last year, which was attributed to the economic slowdown, weak consumer consumption and the national mourning period.
Among all media outlets, magazines saw the biggest ad spending drop in January at 40.9%, followed by cable and satellite TV (-20.7%) and analogue TV (-10.2%).
In contrast, cinema enjoyed the highest ad spending rise at 46.4%, followed by in-store media increasing 43.5% and transit 40.7%.
Ad spending on the internet fell by 4.6%, the first decline in many years. Online ads had enjoyed strong growth the past few years after many brands and big companies switched to online media to access younger customers who stay connected many hours a day.
Ad spending on digital TV rose by 5.9% in January after the broadcast of entertainment content returned to normal.
Entertainment content and ads were prohibited to be broadcast on TV and radio for one month after His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away on Oct 13.
The ban hurt the entire ad industry, with ad spending in November shrinking 42.7% year-on-year.
Media analysts are pinning their hopes on economic improvement and higher consumption this year, led by the government’s investment in infrastructure megaprojects and various stimulus measures.
“After the negative results of 2016, we hope ad spending will have a big rebound this year,” said Triluj Navamarat, chairman of the Media Agency Association of Thailand (MAAT).
The MAAT predicts a clear recovery for the advertising industry with a 10% rise in total ad spending this year, citing an improving economy and budget reallocation following the mourning period as its justification.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1199261/ad-spending-tumbles-2-in-january