Plan B forms joint venture to tap digital advertising

SET-listed Plan B Media Plc, an out-ofhome (OOH) media service provider, has established a new joint venture firm, SRPB Media Co, to tap the growing digital media advertising.

With 20 million baht in registered capital, SRPB Media will be 45% held by Plan B, with the remaining 55% owned by Sky Region Media Thailand Co.

Plan B chief executive Palin Lojanagosin said the new joint venture firm will help further strengthen the company’s leading position in the OOH media segment.

SRPB Media will focus primarily on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Mr Palin said the main purpose of SRPB Media’s establishment is to penetrate its client bases in Bangkok, notably that of SMEs, which cannot afford Plan B’s largescale digital billboards.

“We believe SRPB Media will be instrumental in driving sales revenue to the group while offering more flexibility for brands with limited budgets.

“Most SMEs have limited budgets for advertising on out-of-home media; I believe SRPB Media will help fill this gap, ” said Mr Palin.

Sky Region now operates 14 digital billboards covering many areas in Bangkok, such as Pratunam, Nana, Silom, Rama IX and the Victory Monument.

According to the Digital Advertising Association of Thailand (DAAT), digital advertising spending this year is expected to continue growing after rising 17% last year to 9.47 billion baht.

Spending for 2017 is forecast to surge by 29% to reach 12.2 billion baht.

Last year’s t op spending categories i ncluded communications, nonalcoholic drinks, skincare products and motor vehicles.

For 2017, the association predicts that top spenders will come from those same four categories as they seek to generate greater brand awareness and engagement with consumers.

Digital media is now becoming the main channel as advertisers increasingly shift their spending there.

Thais spend a lot of time using social media, while they also create and share content as a means of engaging with brands. Advertisers want to be associated with social media given its strong popularity. Currently, more than 80% of Thais use the internet every day.

The average internet user in Thailand spends four hours per day on a mobile device or five hours daily on a desktop PC.

Plan B reported revenue growth of 20.7% in the second quarter to 740 million baht and bucking the sluggish trend in the media market. Net profit for the quarter was 121 million baht, up 9.4% from the corresponding period a year earlier.

For the first six months, Plan B had a net profit of 222 million baht, up from 171 million baht in the first half of 2016.

Mr Palin said Plan B is confident of achieving 20-25% revenue growth this year from 2.44 billion baht last year. Of the total, OOH media service is estimated to represent 1.2 billion baht, up 20% on year.

PLANB shares closed yesterday on the SET at 6.10 baht, up 15 satang, in trade worth 38.6 million baht.