Photo: Baan James Jirayu
Thai marketing firms are increasingly looking to the country’s top superstars to attract customers, but since there’s only a limited supply of big names, the prices for their ‘services’ have skyrocketed.
Top stars can now expect to earn THB200,000-350,000 for just 2-4 hours of product promotion at an event. Several years ago the standard rate was just THB100,000.
The man of the moment is TV star Jirayu “James” Tangsrisuk who recently signed a record THB14 million advertising contract with AIS. The heartthrob was catapulted to fame after starring in Suparburoot Jutathep, a soap opera that became an overnight success. James is so beloved that hundreds of Thais have even named their babies after his character.
Other top presenters include Nadech Kugimiya, Yaya Urassaya, Chompoo Araya, and Aum Patcharapa.
To guarantee exposure and results, marketers say they prefer to invest in superstars rather than lesser-known celebrities. Consumers tend to feel that the brand has more credibility if it has a celebrity presenter. This has resulted in viewers seeing one celebrity in various commercials.
Piyawan Leelasompop, vice-president for marketing at Central Department Store Co, said superstars also draw traffic to the store during promo events, boosting the sales.
“One customer printed a picture from Araya’s Instagram with her luxury bag and told our sales representative she wanted one of those,” said Ms Piyawan.
However, some business operators disagree. Tan Passakornnatee, founder of Ichitan green tea, believes the superstars are not needed to promote their brand.
Tan said his company’s marketing costs are about 10 times lower when not using celebrities. Instead, he features himself as the presenter for the brand and seems to get the same successful results, the Bangkok Post reported.
