Dispelling the old misconception that “Negative budget equals decline” can go away. Especially in this era of relentless technological advancement, although Thailand’s digital advertising budgets have decreased, this simultaneously signals a revolution toward “Hyper-targeted” marketing strategies aimed precisely at specific customer groups, where brands spend less but achieve more accurate results.
Amid a crucial test for the advertising and marketing communication industry, Thairath Money had the opportunity to delve into the vision with Sorada Sonprasith, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe Thailand, a major global network agency in communications and marketing, and, importantly, as the new president of the Digital Advertising Association (Thailand) or DAAT, after more than 11 years of experience within the association.
Taking the helm of the industry’s forefront this time, Sorada painted a picture of her first-year mission, highlighted global trends, and pointed out that amidst economic storms and AI disruption, what will sustain this industry long-term is not just tool use but truly creating business value.
Sorada began by pinpointing DAAT’s core mission to drive business and support industry personnel, viewing the association’s role in two main dimensions. The first dimension is acting as a mediator to set professional standards, especially now that issues like ethics and AI governance, budget management, and coping with digital media inflation have become essential topics requiring clear guidelines across all sectors.
The second dimension is human capability development. Because the world moves so fast that marketing science becomes new every day, the association plans to launch a new project called “DAATU” (DAAT University), a learning space offering intensive classes and workshops every two months. It will transfer knowledge and real use cases from expert committees in technology and industry standards to personnel at all levels—from corporate companies and agencies to freelancers—to collectively elevate the industry’s capability.
One hot topic causing alarm in the industry is reports of digital advertising budgets dropping into negative territory for the first time. Sorada clarified as association president to correct misunderstandings that this phenomenon does not mean the industry is contracting or declining as many fear but actually reflects greater “efficiency.”
In the past, advertising budgets might have been spent to create broad awareness, but now, with full readiness in technology and data, integrating platforms, first-party data, secondary data, and third-party data creates an operating system that can track consumer behavior in a single journey, leading to precise personalization and individualization.
Advertising becomes targeted; brands spend less but get the same or better results. Moreover, some budget hasn’t disappeared but is redirected into innovation and marketing technology (MarTech) investments for long-term foundations.
Looking at global marketing directions, Sorada shared interesting insights from the global stage at Cannes Lions, noting that although AI was the top seminar topic at 28%, the second most impactful topic at 24% was “Brand Building,” marking a global awakening among marketers.
Many brands have focused on performance marketing because it delivers immediate sales results in tight economies. However, this cycle returns to basics: marketers realize that without strong brands, brand loyalty, or emotional connection with consumers, no matter how good the technology-driven performance is, consumers won’t think of or choose those brands. Future marketing direction is not about choosing between brand or technology but smartly integrating both.
Amid concerns that AI might replace creative thinkers and advertisers, Sorada offered a sharp perspective, reminding workers that “AI has no emotions.” Creativity and idea value remain human assets; AI is just an assistant that shortens work time and speeds up advertising production to make visuals clearer.
“People will not disappear; those who use AI will be highly valuable and continually employed. But those who don’t use AI will be the ones who fade away from this industry,” Sorada said.
She also revealed her personal lifestyle using various AI tools systematically daily—from Perplexity AI for deep research, Notta for meeting transcription and summaries, processed further in ChatGPT, and Gamma for quickly creating documents and slide presentations.
However, the most important thing is that “the person giving commands must have ideas in their head,” because if humans lack understanding and sharp business ideas, they cannot ask questions or input prompts to maximize AI’s potential.
Another issue Sorada expressed concern about as association president is international studies showing organizations tend to reduce hiring new graduates by about 10% due to AI's arrival. Sorada has a different view, urging careful consideration by executives.
From a business perspective, cutting entry-level staff may improve short-term profits, but socially and for building the next generation, it cuts youth growth opportunities, contradicting many companies’ CSR policies. Publicis Groupe Thailand’s management chooses a gradual approach: although hiring slows per technology efficiency (e.g., needing 10 people instead of 20 to expand revenue), they select new graduates ready to use AI in the organization for effective training. In a world changing every six months, past success can’t guarantee the future, and good leaders must not cut people’s opportunities.
When asked about key obstacles preventing Thai digital advertising personnel from fully stepping onto the global stage with pride, Sorada answered frankly: the “language barrier.” Many young professionals have excellent skills and ideas but lack English communication skills, missing important chances for international training or work.
However, today this barrier has significantly reduced thanks to technology, online learning platforms, and AI that can train speaking and evaluate pronunciation anytime, anywhere. Opportunities are now wide open; it depends on individuals’ time management and effort to break their own limitations.
Finally, regardless of how the world shifts to different content forms—short-form, social-first, or influencer marketing—the core of marketing communication remains understanding “humans.” Technology helps determine the best time, place, and context to reach consumers.
For young people, marketers, and content creators, Sorada advises that the only way to grow sustainably in this industry is to “Never Stop Learning.” Don’t cling to old mindsets or past successes. Study many use cases, learn quickly, dare to try new things, and remain flexible and adaptable because in today's digital world, nothing is permanent.
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