Aegis to form Myanmar joint venture; two more Thai units planned

Media and digital communications firm Aegis Group plans to form a joint venture in Myanmar early next year and to add two more subsidiaries in the Kingdom, according to Aegis Media (Thailand).

Vichai Suphasomboon, chief executive officer at Aegis Media (Thailand), said yesterday that the parent company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, plans to form a joint venture with a local media agency in Myanmar by March.

This expansion follows the trend of international businesses flocking into the land of 60 million people as some international sanctions against the military-dominated government have been lifted.

The parent company will fund the investment in the JV, he said.

Meanwhile, Aegis Media (Thailand), the country's second-largest media agency, plans to establish a new event-organising firm next year to support increasing demand from both existing clients and targeted new ones.

He added that brand activation had become a key marketing communication strategy used by leading companies in the country over the past couple of years, as it is seen as enabling firms to engage directly with end consumers.

In light of the digital-media boom and the Kingdom's expected complete upgrade to third-generation mobile connectivity next year, the company also plans to acquire a stake in a local digital creative agency to strengthen its services in digital media.

Currently there are seven subsidiaries under the umbrella of Aegis Media (Thailand). Carat is a media planning agency; Vizeum offers media planning and consulting services; isobar is a digital-media specialist; iProspect provides search marketing and social media planning services; and Posterscope is an out-of-home media agency. The remaining two firms were established this year: Idea Avenue, a digital agency, and D2D, a marketing-effectiveness consulting firm.

This year, Aegis Media (Thailand) anticipates more growth with 30 brand portfolios evenly distributed among international and local clients, 10 of which were added this year.

Next year, the company aims to secure at least six new clients from the banking, soft-drink, insurance and real-estate segments.

The company targets 17-per-cent growth to Bt12 billion in billings next year from an estimated Bt10 billion in billings this year. This year it anticipates a 16-per-cent surge from Bt8.6 billion last year.

source: The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Aegis-to-form-Myanmar-joint-venture;-two-more-Thai-30196525.html