Local media agencies are increasingly expanding into branded-content TV programming to reduce their reliance on commission-based service revenue.
Wannee Ruttanaphon, president of the Media Agency Association of Thailand, said intense price competition in the commission-based service market has hit media agencies hard, forcing them to lower their commission fees when they want to pitch jobs from multinational companies.
Sustaining business growth is the biggest challenge for media agencies, she said.
"Market competition looks to become even stronger with ad rates increasing annually," said Ms Wannee.
She said her own company, IPG Mediabrands, is also increasing its focus on branded content in line with the growing trend.
Dew Intapunya, the business development director at Ensemble, the branded-content unit of IPG Mediabrands, said its customers' marketing budgets have shifted dramatically towards branded TV programmes this year.
The company plans to produce four more branded TV programmes in addition to its existing Dance Your Fat Off Season 2 show.
"We intend to increase the proportion of non-fee-based content to 50% of total revenue within five years from 20% at present," he said.