Tetra Pak says ‘connected’ Thais engaged with brands

With 67% internet penetration and 133% mobile penetration, Thailand’s rapidly increasing “connected consumers” segment is redefining the rules of engagement for brands, the Tetra Pak Index 2017 reveals.

With Thais as the world leaders in the number of hours spent online via mobile devices (4.14 hours), and Bangkok as the city with the most Facebook accounts (24 million), the report indicates that winning over today’s empowered, connected consumers presents brands with an increasingly complex environment, along with novel opportunities.

Themed around “The Connected Consumer,” the 10th edition of the Tetra Pak Index is based on 70,000 samples from 57 markets.

The index explores the evolving world of digital and online consumers and how they connect with food and beverage brands. Results show that effectively engaging with this growing consumer group is critical for business growth. Versus the global average of 91%, Thailand has 97% smartphone device ownership, representing a large portion of consumers that purchase and connect exclusively via mobile.

Thais also show higher engagement with brands on social media, with 44% saying they follow brands they like, compared with the worldwide average of 37%. These rapid growth rates indicate that brands need to match this pace of change and evolve their strategies to thrive, by initiating, joining and helping shape connected conversations.

“Thailand is a strikingly digitally-connected society with liberal use of social media, often at the top of the global spectrum. In addition, the internet allows consumers to provide instant feedback and provides influence in an autonomous fashion.

This means that the platforms through which brands can engage Thais have tremendous opportunity. But content diversification is required to maintain the interest of this next group of powerspenders,” said Ratanasiri Tilokskulchai, marketing director of Tetra Pak Thailand.

The index also demonstrates how the customer journey is shifting from a relatively linear process to a complex network of multiple touch points. Greater connectivity and the proliferation of online platforms presents a challenge to brands, as consumers expect a consistent experience and messaging across all the touchpoints where they interact, especially on social media.

Third-party, user-generated content is becoming ever more important, particularly for Southeast Asia, where more than 1.5 billion people are now using social media monthly, with 95% accessing platforms via mobile devices — the highest ratio in the world. Product research and convenience are also other key factors that motivate consumers in this region to go online to shop.

Thailand is no different. By year-end the e-commerce sector is expected to expand by 20% and be valued at 2.52 trillion baht.

In addition, the report demonstrates that food and drink packaging has an increasingly important role to play in offering a gateway to greater consumer engagement. Reinforcing this interest is the 43% of Thai internet users saying they are “strongly” interested in food and related subjects.

Tetra Pak for its part, is offering packaging innovations, including digital codes printed on them, to improve traceability, allowing consumers to access information about the product right down to the source. The packages can also be transformed into platforms for two-way information flow, where brands can capture specific, valuable data about their consumers as well as share more information about the products themselves.

“Packaging is a stimulating component of engaging modern consumers. Having sold close to 190 billion packages in 2016, the potential reach of digital packages is substantially greater than any social media platform,” said Ms Ratanasiri.

“To drive this forward, Tetra Pak is piloting the use of new digital technologies like augmented reality in our packaging,” she said.