“Ongoing economic fluctuations and the unpredictable political situation have obviously led to declining advertising spending,” MAAT chairman Triluj Navamarat said yesterday. “However, there are better prospects for 2017, with growth expected at 3-5 per cent thanks to the government stimulus package and the relaxation of the political situation.”
In the first nine months of 2016, ad spending fell by 6.1 per cent year on year.
The highest growth was in online media at 73.7 per cent, followed by out-of-home media such as cinema ads with 17.1 per cent, outdoor media such as billboards 16.6 per cent, transit 15 per cent, and radio 2.3 per cent.
Triluj said television remained a popular traditional medium despite an 8.4-per-cent drop in advertising spending, particularly cable and satellite TV, where spending plummeted by 36.8 per cent.
Ad spending on traditional TV channels declined by 10.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, digital TV has become an up and coming medium with 6-per-cent ad-spending growth last quarter, suggesting a shift in consumer behaviour towards digital television’s wide variety of channels and content.
“This clearly provides a good opportunity for digital TV producers to design content that suits consumer needs perfectly,” he said.
Of all media, print has undergone the most significant changes. Despite a drop in ad spending by 29.2 per cent in magazines and 17.4 per cent in newspapers, free magazines have gained popularity with their highly versatile formats, such as concept magazines, advertorials, and product-launch publications.
Versatility and content creativity have become a unique strength of print media, Triluj said.
Taking all this into consideration, MAAT forecasts that by the end of 2016 total ad spending will have fallen by 10 per cent compared with last year.
Spending on TV is expected to drop by 14.4 per cent, on radio by 6.5 per cent, newspapers 19.9 per cent, magazines 26.7 per cent, and out-of-home media 8 per cent.
In contrast, spending online is expected to grow by 30 per cent, transit advertising by 11.7 per cent, and cinema ads by 3.2 per cent.
He also noted that the suspension of all advertising including paid television commercials during the official 30-day period of mourning the loss of His Majesty the King was a factor.
Meanwhile, RS chief operating officer Pornpan Techarungchaikul said normal programming at Channel 8, one of the leading digital-TV channels, would be fully resumed on November 21.

The Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) – the state-owned agricultural marketing arm – is allocating about Bt10 million to buy 780 tonnes of Hom Mali rice directly from farmers during the current harvest season, for packing into 1-kilogram bags and distribution to visitors paying their respects to the late King at the Grand Palace.
PWO chairman Kriboon Suadsong said yesterday that the project formed part of the government’s plan to pay respects to the recently deceased monarch, while at the same time helping farmers.
The PWO will require volunteers to help pack the rice, which will be distributed as free gifts from November 14 to January 31, he said.
Meanwhile, to help maize farmers, the organisation will request a special budget from the Farmers Assistance Committee to purchase 100,000 tonnes from the market in a bid to increase the price of maize.
Kamchai Louiyapong, vice president for marketing at CRC Thai Watsadu, said that during the current market situation in which the price of rice was quite low, Thai Watsadu – as part of the community – welcomed the opportunity to provide dedicated space for free to farmers or local cooperatives, so that they could sell rice, or indeed other produce, directly to consumers.
“We will also fully help to promote them through every media we have, both online and offline. Our locations are quite convenient, easy to access and have bigger overall parking space. Interested farmers can make direct contact with the store manager or customer service department at any of our branches until the situation returns to normal. In some areas, these spaces can become community markets in the future, as we are pleased to support the building of stronger communities,” he explained.
Thai Watsadu operates 42 branches, most of which are located in agricultural areas in the North, Northeast and Central regions.
“We have always supported farmers via coordinated campaigns with the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives [BAAC], such as offering interest-free deals for three months and top discounts when making purchases at any of our agriculture departments. We see that any direct and indirect support will improve their quality of life and provide an opportunity for them to produce quality products,” he said.
At Thai Watsadu, farmers can buy good-quality and reasonably priced agricultural equipment, tools and many more products, Kamchai said, adding that the company would run a privilege campaign offering special discounts in the current situation.
“We will continue to support the agricultural sector with the BAAC, and work closely with the local community to raise the quality of life,” he said.
At the same time, Thai Watsadu is supporting farmers in collaboration with local government authorities.
Recently, Thai Watsadu’s Lampang branch started working with local bodies to allocate space at the store for farmers to sell rice directly to the public, free of any expenses.
The store also offers an area in front of the store for drying rice.
Pattaraporn Penprapat, deputy managing director for marketing and public relations at Central Food Retail, said that Tops – a business unit of Central Group – in collaboration with the provincial public authorities, was allowing farmers affected by falling rice prices to distribute qualifying products in Tops outlets by themselves.
“At this time, Tops consistently helps farmers through the ‘Tops with Public-Private Collaboration for Farmers’ campaign, which is the company’s policy to completely support the farmers,” she said.
Salinla Seehaphan, corporate affairs director of Tesco Lotus, said the retail giant this year had been supporting local farmers across Thailand via its direct-sourcing programme, under which it purchased more than 150,000 tonnes of produce directly from farmers.
For rice farmers in particular, Tesco Lotus lowered the prices of all packed rice in May and has kept the prices low to encourage customers to consume more rice to support farmers, she said.
In addition, one of the company’s 22 “Pracha Rath” projects supports rice farmers in Si Sa Ket province.
Tesco Lotus serves as a distribution channel for “Rice Buddy” organic jasmine rice, which is grown, milled, packaged and branded by the farmers themselves, with support from the BAAC, she explained.
Through Tesco Lotus, the farmers are able to sell their products directly to customers and have a much wider reach than before, while customers benefit from having access to high-quality organic jasmine rice, she added.
True Corp is another major private company lending a helping hand.
It announced yesterday that its parent, Charoen Pokphand group, would directly purchase white rice from farmers for sale at True stores and True Coffee shops, of which there are a combined 300 outlets nationwide.
True chief executive officer Suphachai Chearavanont said the rice would be sold at cost price, starting from the third week of this month.
PTT, meanwhile, will inaugurate its project for purchasing rice from farmers on Monday, in an event chaired by Energy Minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat.
The company has been |allowing farmers to sell their rice at participating PTT petrol stations around the country free of charge.

KBank will also invite commercial banks and other organisations to use the technology, said Somkid Jiranuntarat, vice chairman of Kasikorn Business Technology Group (KBTG), the IT subsidiary of KBank.
In the initial stage, a system called OriginalCert API will be used to certify letters of guarantee (LG), which will simplify and speed up the LG issuance process for customers. Relevant parties will be authorised to access and use electronic LGs in a swift, accurate and secure manner.
The OrginalCert API service can also be used by other participating commercial banks and organisations.
Somkid said the KBank would soft-launch the system to a sample of customers in the first quarter of next year before launching it commercially before mid-2107.
He said KBank had recognised that blockchain technology was a turning point for future business concepts and models, so it had collaborated with IBM on a pilot project using IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric infrastructure. This is used to design applications in diverse organisations with a common standard and the unique features of private blockchain.
Blockchain will be used to certify original documents by focusing on accuracy under a common standard, risk mitigation, swift verification and security enhancement.
It has been designed to be suitable for both corporate and retail customers. Blockchain will help secure data storage and authorise access by selected organisations or banks.
The technology helps reduce operational procedures of organisations and related parties.
Parnsiri Amatayakul, managing director of IBM Thailand, said blockchain and cloud computing had the potential to play critical roles in improving business transactions, adding that this project promises considerable benefits for the financial industry and beyond.

The first Asia-wide start-up event, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, gathered eight start-ups from five Asian countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia – and also welcomed the presence of some growing Myanmar start-ups.
A Thai start-up took top honours.
The competing start-ups represented a diversity of industries: marketing services, energy, artificial intelligence, tourism and education. They were MyanZen from Myanmar, Skootar and TakeMe Tour from Thailand, Vase from Malaysia, Buzzally and Socian from Bangladesh, and EcoEnergy and Fori Mazdoori from Pakistan.
Paing Hein Htet, chief operating officer of MyanZen, expressed his delight at participating in the competition, as it meant a lot to the start-up.
“This event brought to us other talented start-ups in the region, and international experts from Google, Golden Gate Ventures and Telenor Group who actively shared their experience and expertise. As it aimed at penetrating not only the Myanmar market but also the regional market, we came up with new ideas and inspirations,” he said.
“As we had a chance to discuss and share knowledge with other start-ups, we came to know more about their markets, and could decide if our products would be suitable for their markets or not, and thereby we got ideas to find ways to expand.”
MyanZen provides technologies to integrate social-media sales seamlessly with social-network platforms. It is currently running the Beta version, and is expected to launch next month, once it has 100 sellers. It aims to provide users with a fast and competitive option for e-commerce.
“Now we have linked with Facebook. Additionally we will partner with Viber, Line and Instagram in the near future. So if a user posts his ad by using our app, it may simultaneously reach out to all these four social networks. It will definitely lead to more convenient order tracking,” he said.
Aung Ye Kyaw, managing director of White Merak, a comic-reader app that provides the very first marketplace for Myanmar comic artists, also found the event helpful. He said it shed light on how the start-up ecosystems in other countries function, and provided some facts about other countries.

Passion
“Funding is vital but we need to consider who is about to fund us. In our case, we need investors who understand and have a passion for comics. If not, we will not get far. This event helped us understand what types of investor want what kinds of start-up,” he said.
Nyunt Win Aung, co-founder of GoP Travels, which provides a one-stop platform for booking tour packages targeting local travellers, shared a similar view.
“This event was cool and had great discussions with other neighbourhood start-up founders. We got some seed funding from Phandeeyar and Telenor Myanmar,” he said.
At the event, Thailand’s TakeMe Tour took top honours as “Digital Winners Asia Champion 2016”. After their winning pitch, the team will return to their home market with 100,000 Norwegian kroner (more than Bt427,000) in initial expansion funds, and a wealth of support, networking and knowledge to expand their business into neighbouring markets.
TakeMe Tour was created by two young talents, Jinda-Apiraksa Amornched and Noppon Anukunwithaya. The Bangkok-based firm focuses on providing consumer access to the largest collection of one-day tours in Thailand.
According to Jinda-Apiraksa, chief executive and co-founder of TakeMe Tour, the firm focuses on growth in Thailand first, and then will expand into Myanmar starting with the funds from Telenor Group.
“An event like DWA is a dream come true for start-ups like us. We started with the DTAC Accelerate programme and have advanced to this point to be able look at expansion into other markets. Then to have the calibre of speakers and their personal advice at the event is priceless,” he said.
With an ambitious target of becoming the largest marketplace made by the local experts, the start-up has now partnered with more than 10,000 experts in 45 cities across Thailand. Jinda-Apiraksa believes the company will become successful in a short period of time, as everyone loves to travel.
Johanna Staaf, Telenor Group’s director of new ventures, said all the teams were strong and dynamic contenders.
“Bringing together some of the brightest start-ups from across Asia in our first Digital Winners Asia event was not only inspiring, but an exciting indication of the extraordinary talent and growth in this region. On a broader scale, having the ability to host such diverse groups under numerous innovative categories in a market with a burgeoning tech future like Myanmar is a true honour,” he she said.
Gunnar Sellaeg, Telenor Group’s head of product innovation, said the event was a natural move for the Norwegian telecommunications company as it experienced strong growth in this region.