Mobile marketing ready for 3G impetus

The trend of mobile marketing is heating up in Thailand after the debut of thirdgeneration (3G) mobile services.

The Digital Advertising Association of Thailand forecasts digital ad spending will grow by 34.12% to 3.7 billion baht this year from 2.7 billion baht last year.

Mobile marketing will share 1.29% of digital ad spending, up from 0.76% last year.

Mobile marketing started in Thailand on the back of 3G mobile services and advertisers are looking to advertise on new media in a bid to spend their money efficiently, said Supachai Parchariyanon, managing director of McFiva, a Bangkokbased digital agency.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission reported that mobile ownership was up to 81 million users in the first quarter of this year, or 128% of the Thai population, up 4.1% from the same period last year.

It means that more than 20 million people own two mobile phones, making them an ideal medium to reach customers.

D2C Inc, a Japanese mobile marketing and advertising company, has acquired a 49% stake in McFiva to strengthen mobile marketing services in Thailand. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Takayuki Hoshuyama, chief executive of D2C, said the firm, established in 2000, has been expanding through subsidiaries and alliances with local agencies in China, Taiwan, India and Indonesia. It plans to seek partners in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Japanese firms are expanding overseas, particularly in Southeast Asia, where the young population is still growing while Japan is now an ageing society.

Mr Hoshuyama said D2C is spending 150 million baht to increase mobile marketing awareness, technical-related research and development, and people capability to tackle fierce competition.

Mr Supachai said McFiva aims to grow its revenue by 50% this year. Total Access Communication Plc, the operator of DTAC, set an ambitious goal of migrating all 2G customers to the 3G network within three years.

The country’s second-largest mobile operator believes about 80-90% of the 80 million total mobile subscribers in Thailand will shift to 3G technology by 2014. The number of 3G users is expected to reach 26 million this year.

Pakorn Pannachet, senior vicepresident of DTAC, said up to 3.5 million customers already asked to migrate to 3G services on the 2100-megahertz spectrum after a commercial service launch last week. DTAC has 26 million subscribers. ‘‘Our 3G customers are expected to