"Our main reason is that Thailand is an emerging market where many things have improved significantly and many creative works from Thailand have shown much more added value than those from other countries," Mark Ingrouille said.
US-based global communications agency McCann Worldgroup announced that it will move its Southeast Asia regional headquarters from Singapore to Bangkok within two weeks.
McCann Worldgroup (Thailand) CEO Mark Ingrouille said the relocation was in line with the company's vision of Thailand as a promising future market, particularly in the area of advertising and communications, despite the country's political uncertainty and economic slowdown.
"Our main reason is that Thailand is an emerging market where many things have improved significantly and many creative works from Thailand have shown much more added value than those from other countries," Mark Ingrouille said.Ingrouille said that as the regional headquarters, the Bangkok office would make all significant management-level decisions and would also oversee McCann's seven offices within the region. He said operating costs and the amount of billings were not the main reasons for relocating the regional headquarters to Bangkok.
The Thai office does not contribute the highest growth in terms of billings. The front-runner is McCann's operation in the Philippines. The main reason is that Thai people have good creativity, English capability and skills. And also its business in Thailand has doubled over the past four years.
In making the Bangkok office its regional headquarters, the company has invested 180 million baht to set up a new office building, which houses eight affiliated companies; MRM Worldwide (CRM and digital), McCann Erickson (strategic consultation), Universal McCann (media), Weber Shandwick (PR), McCann Design, Momentum (experiential marketing), McCann Healthcare (consultancy) and Retail momentum (in-store).
McCann has 37 corporate clients in Thailand. New clients this year include Hundred Pipers, Goodyear tyres and Ivy fruit juices. The company generated US$165 million (5.65 billion baht) in billings last year, 21 percent up from 2005. It is aiming at 18.5-percent growth this year, despite the slowdown in Thailand's advertising industry.
McCann's growth will be driven by its consultant services, particularly in digital media as well as experiential and event marketing, which has shown good expansion. For example, its MRM Worldwide Thailand, a part of McCann Worldgroup (Thailand) which now maintains nearly 700 websites, was appointed last year as a production center for online advertising and marketing in Asia Pacific.
Ingrouille said modern consumers were consuming more on digital devices, particularly mobile phones and Internet connections. The company plans to increase its staff, particularly by hiring Internet and digital specialists who will work for digital media, from 14 people last year to 32 people this year. He added that the ideas would be applied to McCann's operations in China, India and Singapore next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment