For while using Western ideas and technology, Thai creators focused on goods and customers, to devise campaigns that make products part of people's lives in ways not distorted by foreign artifice. That is why Bhanu and his kind work on the street, get in touch with shoppers, see what makes them tick and catches their fancy. One unintended by-product of the cultural shift is the replacement of Western creative people by Thais, for whom tapping their own psyche and culture comes naturally. In addition, focusing on the advertisers' marketing objectives rather than just coming up with prize-packed ads have led agencies to reorganize. Many dropped the traditional division between creative, media planning and account management departments, and combined personnel from all three into teams servicing individual customers.
Some big advertisers seem more than satisfied.
Pleased with Bhanu's accolade-winning McDonald's ads, Dej Bulsuk, the president of the fast food chain's local franchise Mc Thai, aims to get even more creative support and solutions. We are happy that they always come up with great new ideas that support our marketing plans. Over at Results Advertising, an Ogilvy offshoot, similar ideas and methods have taken root. The client team approach has also pushed staff to give even more. We breathe, we think, we work.