Oh Africa

You must be fed up with the World Cup. I know I am, and not only because of the ridiculous and short-lived adventures of the French team in South Africa. So I swear, this post is the first and the last about soccer or the World Cup.

The Thai don't have a team in the World Cup, but it doesn't stop them from being interested, on the contrary. Betting on the World Cup is strictly forbidden (Thais do love betting money) but it doesn't stop them. It can go from a twenty bath (around 0,5€ ) bet between siblings to very big sums of money (so much that they are reports of girlfriends being driven to the sex industry to pay-off partners debts, or so says the Bangkok Post).

But my point is that the World cup is the summer's big event, and Pepsi went all the way with a rather vigorous (if classical) media plan and a commercial specially made for Thailand (for those who don't remember the international one is here, you will recognize the music).



So, to sum up: on the morning, when I am waiting for the BTS (the skytrain), the whole station is lined with the brand's World Cup identity and even if I don't watch it, I can hear the commercial playing on the background (there are screens in the station.)

Once I am in the BTS, even if I don't watch it, I can hear it playing from time to time (there are screens in the trains too.)
When I finally arrive in my building, I take the 19 story high ride in the elevator and there… Yes! You guessed right : still the Pepsi ad playing (there are screens in the elevators too, how crazy is that? )

And the worst thing is, I have never drank so much Pepsi in my life (I don't take side in the Coca/Pepsi war, I'm just an innocent bysander…)
But to be honest, it's not only because the advertising. The weather plays a big role, forcing you to drink often if you don't want to end like a withered plum , and from what I have seen so far, Coke's distribution is far from being to par with Pepsi's…

In Thailand, the score is 1 to 0 for Pepsi.

When in Rome…

do as Romans do. And when you're in Thailand, greet as Thaï people greet.



Ronald doing the wai is an easy starting point for a pretense of multiculturalism… At least kids seem to like it.

Of the superiority of the Can over the Bottle

In Thailand, glass bottles are still returnable, against a fee.
This leads to a serious packaging problem for drinks coming in bottles : if you buy a bottle of, say, Pepsi on the street, the merchant will pour the drink into a bag, give you a drinking straw, and keep the bottle!
It can be... surprising the first time one come across this habit. ^^

Concrete proof :


Needless to say this is not good news for all the brands out there who spent a lot of money marketing and branding their pretty glass bottles… In Thailand at least, they should have gone for plastics ones, or cans!

The times they are a-changin'

As you may have noticed the Advertising Eye underwent a few changes in subtitle and icon.
The reason is simple : I have moved from the UK (I won't lie, I already miss London) to Thailand. Bangkok to be more precise.
So the overdressed icon is gone in exchange for a less color-sensitive (red is not exactly the rage these days in Thailand) and more climate appropriate one.

I am in Bangkok for a bit less than two months now, doing an internship as an AD in the branding agency Creative In-House.

And being in Bangkok, it is difficult too ignore the more or less visible damages of the recent crisis.
The city went back to normal looking really fast. The street have literally been scrubbed by an army of volunteers the week-end after the end of the Red's Shirts occupation, Lumpini park is back to normal, all damaged plants have been replaced, but some traces remain, the more obvious being the burned dent in Central World, one of Bangkok biggest and most famous shopping center (well, it was still visible when I arrived last week, now it's hidden behind a big fence).
But the effects are not only material. Without even talking about longer term effects on political considerations, the fallout of the crisis in this normally peaceful country are still felt. It was a hard blow on the Thai economy, (in fact the first agency I was meant to do my internship with moved to Cambogia for the rest of the year, "just in case") and most of the big hotels in Bangkok are still almost empty. Even in the more Thai oriented-districts and on streets usually packed on friday night, half the club remain closed…

The thing is, Thailand usually very positive image as taken a serious blow (well, it still can't be worst than the one BP is going through).
In the "Nation" newspaper of last week, Branding professional Brenda Bence wonders if the country can recover from it.
Now I'm not an expert, but I do think it can, at the condition that nothing similar happens again. Tourism-wise, all positive associations with Thailand are still there, as well as the physical proofs, from the smiles to the heavenly beaches through all the cultural history, temples and various national parks. People forget easily (or don't pay attention to the news), and if everything stay calm the farangs should be back soon.
Regarding the foreign investors my guess is that it will probably be more difficult, but far from impossible: the country still have all the facilities and the trained manforce that were part of it's success. Thailand still has good long days ahead of being a shinny destination.