Alcohol marketing in non-western countries : Thailand

1. Alcohol marketing in non-western countries : Thailand Thaksaphon Thamarangsi International Health Policy Program thaksaphon@ihpp.thaigov.net

2. Outline of presentation • Thailand: situation in brief • Thai marketing regulation • Marketing practice: Product, Price, Place, Promotion • Synthesis part • Difference between domestic and international operators • Difference between advertising in Thailand and Western countries • The way forward

3. Thailand: a perfect emerging market for alcohol industry • 65 million population, 95% Buddhism & 4% Moslem • Country in transition: modernization, increase income, fade of religion faith and social control, globalization • Sky rocket increase in per capita consumption (recorded alcohol) 0.26 in 1961 >> 8.47 L of pure alcohol per adult in 2001, since then quite stable • Particular growth in western-style beverages • 12-time growth in beer consumption in 16 years, 1987-2003 • Gradual decrease for domestic distilled beverages (Thai style/ indigenous style), since the liberalized market campaign, in 2000 • Unrecorded alcohol still has substantial proportion, estimated to be 2 L/capita/year • Stable in drinker prevalence, 1/3 of adult • High gender discrepancy, female drinker prevalence~10% • Increase prevalence among teen and young adult, particularly female • Steady increase in drinking frequency, still yet 50% drink not more than once a month High per capita consumption from low drinker prevalence and low drinking frequency, therefore very high drinking volume per occasion

4. Thai alcohol market: at a glimpse • End of production monopoly in 90s • Affected by economic agreements (cheaper imported beverages), modern trade system • International operators has invaded Thai market since, and focused not only premium market sectors (like before) • Yet still oligopoly Share of production and imported volume by beverage type, 2005

5. Marketing regulations • Promotion regulation revised in 2003, known as ‘Partial Ban’, enforced between 2003-2008 • The new Alcohol Consumption Control Act 2008, • Raises minimum purchasing age (on- and off-premises) from 18 to 20 years • Bans sale and drink in many public venues: religion, education, park, etc • Revise advertising again, subject for further regulation (expected to be announced soon): No advertising, except to promote social value which brand and logo can be broadcasted- but not product or quality of beverage Confusing stage for both regulator and operators Operators enjoy free-riding at the moment

6. Advertising control: in summary Alcohol advertisement is regulated in three dimensions; content, channel & time and place, and warning messages. Prohibited contents include; • Drinking pictures and sounds and consumption encouraging • Linking to corporate image in unclear manner • Give away or lucky draw campaign • Linking to sexual and life success and health benefits • Using celebrities ( sport/music/movie stars) as presenter(s) Channels • TV and radio: allow only 22.00-05.00 • Billboard: 500 meters to educational venue

7. Advertisement budget categorized by types of alcohol beverages, Thailand Beer Whisky Source: Foundation for consumers

8. Marketing practice: Product • Diversification of beverages: i.e. three segments of beers • New beverage for new customer segment • Introduction of never-seen-before beverages, tailored to customer groups: RTDs, Alcoholic Frappe • Westernization of alcohol market • Anglicized domestic products: i.e Spy, Blue, Golden Knight, Cavalier Trooper • Localization of low-end products: ESAN (North-Eastern) Beer, TAI Beer • Observation: Naming beers names that are linkable to met-amphetamine/ ‘Kick effect’: i.e. Red horse, Archa (literally horse) • Adaptation to Thai context: Alcoholic Frappe, Beer girl

9. Marketing practice: Product

10. Marketing practice: Price • Mushrooming of cheap/ economy grade beverages • Disproportion to income growth • A can of beer [1.28 standard drink] is sold at 10-20 Baht (0.25-0.5 USD) • A 660 ml. bottle of 6% beer [3.18 standard drink] at 30 Baht (0.75 USD) • Beer price still higher than cola (from very cheap cola price), generally cheaper than milk and mineral water

11. Marketing Practice: Place • High accessibility: 110 population/1 outlet, 7.5 minute on average • licensing procedure and fee are no barrier • Modern trade: introduction of convenient stores to every community • Substantial proportion of unlicensed outlets • Better transportation • Effective distribution system • Point of sales: 58.64% grocery store, 17.18 convenient store, 5.3% supermarket and discount store, 0.85 from shop in petrol station: therefore 81.96 % off-premise sale • Contract between producer and outlet

12. Marketing practice: Place

13. Marketing practice: Promotion • Integrated advertising • Relationships between over and below the line promotion i.e. budgets for mobile advertisements such as ads-on-vehicle, and on-drinking-site promotions increased by 583% and 148% in one year after the 2003 Partial ban • Modern advertising channels • Sponsorship still play a big role

14. Integrated marketing

15. Integrated advertisingFrom TV to Website to drinking venue TV spot Website On site promotion

16. Exempted area: internet

17. Logo advertising

18. Sponsorship & social donation • Mainly unregulated • Well designed for customer groups • Broadcasting of sponsorship by surrogate products • Advertise on social donation • Many events are gradually replaced by ThaiHealth Promotion Foundation, funded by 2% extra surcharge of alcohol & tobacco excise tax

19. Sponsorship: sport

20. Sponsorship: entertainment event

21. Sponsorship: cultural events & donation

22. Alcohol industry: Cunning entrepreneurs

23. Give away & Lucky draw campaign

24. Beer Girl system

25. Ad-on-the-go

26. Advertising monitoring system • Setting up the hotline center in Health Ministry, yet still reactive to complaints • Practically no punishment • More effective through academics: Media Monitor project • NGOs & civil society can effectively support regulation enforcement

27. Pitfalls of current advertising control Policy content • Comprehensiveness: unable to cover below-the-line and modern advertising channels • Poor punishment Policy downstream • Poor implementation • No official and evaluation mechanism

28. Differences in promotion practices: domestic and international operators • Advertising contents and channels: decreasing discrepancy, learning from each others • International operators: relation to its main company • International operators: use of regional and international advertising themes • Domestic operators: can use the locality themes

29. International themes

30. Differences in alcohol promotion Thailand and Western countries • Differences mainly come from promotion regulations and cultures • Difference in content: extent, not direction • Sensitive issues include sexual appeal, and family drinking

31. Generalization of Thai experiences to others • Emerging market countries will suffer most from alcohol advertising in the long run. These is are the most populous areas. • Thai marketing control is strong and comprehensive, compared to other middle and low income countries, yet it cannot stop the recruitment of new drinkers

32. The way forward • Alcohol is a globalized problem, but policy is confined to national boundary. We need international mechanism to control alcohol marketing. • The concept of ‘Alcohol as no ordinary commodity’ should be the backbone principle for any policy decision. To have this the connection between knowledge segment, advocacy and policy makers should be strengthened. • Knowledge generation, sharing and utilization are as of paramount important

33. Scenarios analysis

34. Thank you