Online video is predicted to be the next big thing in online communication tools to promote brands, thanks to the high penetration of budget smartphones and on-the-go lifestyles.
Arpapat Boonrod, managing director of global media research company TNS Thailand, said digital media dominated the lifestyle of Thai people. They spend an average of 4.2 hours a day on online media, far surpassing the 2.6 hours spent on traditional TV screens.
The Connected Life 2014 global survey by TNS found that Thais own three digital devices on average, while the global average is 3.6. Thailand is a mobile-centric country, with a mobile penetration of 80% driven by budget smartphones.
Personal computers have a very low penetration in Thailand, in contrast to European countries where people spend their leisure time on televisions and computers.
Thai people use online media mostly for socialising via Facebook rather than sending personal messages. Facebook, YouTube and Line are the top three social platforms, which have seen dynamic adoption among Thais, while other social media platforms such as China's WeChat and South Korea's KaKao Talk have recently entered the battlefield.
Ms Arpapat said although digital media seemed to dominate and change behaviour, the majority of Thais (40%) still relied heavily on TV, while only 14% were heavy online video users.
To cope with the rapid change of media consumption in Thailand, collaboration between traditional and new media is the best way for brands to communicate with target customers, she said. Brands should create online videos on a customised basis, adopt a multi-screen tactic and an on-the-go approach to create an effective strategy.
Moreover, brands should learn how to transform their online users into their real customers because Thai people prefer to make purchases offline but research product information on the internet.
Surasak Lhuengusakul, co-founder of digital agency BrandBaker Co, said the proliferation of social media had created both true demand and consumer complaints. There were 4.6 billion messages generated by Thai internet users in 2014, mainly from Twitter, followed by Facebook and Instagram.
Those messages represent a trove of precious big data that brands should not take for granted but should analyse and apply to their marketing strategies.
BrandBaker yesterday introduced an analytics tool called Brand Monitoring Tools to tackle massive volumes of data.
The tool can help companies evaluate competitors as well as manage their online reputation. This will also help brands know where their customers are and what they really want.
Rathiya Issarachaikul, account management for Facebook Global, said Thai Facebook users actively upload videos and the uploading of brand videos and content on Facebook rose 3.6 times globally between 2013 and 2014.
A clip of 15-30 seconds is deemed the most appropriate length for an online video by Thai users.