Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 12, 2012 Posted April 12, 2012 After fruitless attempts to recruit an advertising salesman in Bangkok, any tips from members of this forum are warmly welcomed. Many thanks and best wishes, James. Quote
Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 The successful applicant would be expected to foster links from the 221 advertising agencies in Bkk and would expect on-target earnings of around 70K THB per month. Best wishes, James. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 That's not a bad income, actually. I can't understand why the job is so difficult to fill. There is certainly enough unemployment in Thailand. If it were me, I would be all over it and would consider it a challenge, but that's me. I wonder if the lack of applicants possessing good English skills as well as fluent Thai is the problem. Would you offer the job to someone with less experience than you expected? Or mebbe the problem is it will simply take more time to find the right person. How long have you been looking? In any case, I wish I had a better answer since I am sure you have already thought of these ideas. Otherwise, try networking on popular Thai web boards where young candidates of a particular interest (marketing, advertising, business) might be easily found. Is it possible to promote someone from within for this job and then use other resources to replace that job? Try canvassing colleges, universities technical schools with graduates receiving credentials in the field you think best suited for a job of this type. Contact their job placement departments. So there's a couple of ideas. I think you will fill this position very soon. Hope this helps! Quote
Guest travelerjim Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 The successful applicant would be expected to foster links from the 221 advertising agencies in Bkk and would expect on-target earnings of around 70K THB per month. Best wishes, James. James...May I make a suggestion? If I were you...I would contact Thaiworthy...I know him! He is your man! He would work "magic" with your sales, ad and promo needs. Will soon be in Thailand - retired from major IT background in USA. Also will be living in Bangkok...a great catch for you and your company, IMHO. Good Luck with your search. tj Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 Flattery will get you everywhere, TravelerJim. Thank you for the recommendation. But I don't speak Thai. And the job requires a car and I have no intention of driving in Bangkok traffic. If only I were just 10 years younger, it might be a different story. Too late for me! I think Kokopelli would be far more suited. He is still in his forties, loves to drive, speaks fluent Thai and English and could sell ice to an Eskimo! He's all that and willing to work for peanuts! He is also extremely handsome as well! Such a deal! Quote
Guest Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 on-target earnings of around 70K THB per month. 70,000 thb per month has to be a very good salary for a Thai. Although, having never worked in sales, I wonder about "on target". I very much presume there's a basic salary and a commission element, which would bring an income of 70,000 thb if targets were met. As some companies may set over ambitious targets, the wise candidate might have to assess what is realistic, considering the product, the market and his own sales ability? Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 James, I found this while packing for my move to Thailand. I had forgotten all about it. It was given to me by my father many years ago when he owned an advertising agency. I thought it was interesting then, so I kept it. I think it is appropriate to post now. If you like it, feel free to use as you see fit. It contains a valuable lesson. You might have this translated to Thai as well and include it with your rate card upon inquiry. HOW TO CREATE A DEPRESSION A man lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were. He stood by the side of the road and cried, "Buy a hot dog, Mister." And people bought! He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his business. He brought his son home from college to help him. But then something happened . . . His son said, "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio? There's a depression on. The European situation is bad. The Asian situation is terrible. The Domestic situation is worse," Whereupon the father thought "Well, my son's been to College. He reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know." So the father cut down on his meat and bun orders, Took down his advertising signs, And no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell hot dogs. And his hot dog sales fell off almost overnight. "You're right son," the father said to the boy. "We certainly are in the middle of a terrible depression!" (You might want to change "hot dog" to street stall food or something more "Thai" than meat and bun orders.) FWIW, --tw Quote
Guest travelerjim Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 James, The above post by Thaiworthy tells it all...he is creative and always thinking. I still believe, from knowing Thaiworthy, HE is the man for you! With a good ad man like Thaiworthy ..."coupled with a Thai university marketing graduate" who knows how to get around Bangkok...the TWO of them together may make MAGIC and just be your answer for your company ad program. Think about TWO...One Expat & One Thai as an AD TEAM ... vs one sole salesman for your company. Good Luck! tj Quote
kokopelli Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 I do know two expats in Thailand who are looking for professional employment and have passed on the link to this thread to them. Just possibly there may be a match. Quote
Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 14, 2012 Posted April 14, 2012 Dear all, Many sincere thanks for all this positive help and advice. It seems that getting good marketing people in Thailand is a problem faced by many companies here but it is my hope that this thread will generate a suitable applicant. Very best wishes, James. Quote
bkkguy Posted April 14, 2012 Posted April 14, 2012 The successful applicant would be expected to foster links from the 221 advertising agencies in Bkk and would expect on-target earnings of around 70K THB per month. two Thai guys I know are media buyers at advertising agencies in Bangkok buying ad space for small to large local and international brands in the local media - they don't earn half of what you are offering, perhaps they are on the wrong side of the transaction :-) you are a free magazine in a limited vertical market, most of your current advertisers are small local businesses - what is your current circulation? what is your current advertising revenue? how much do you realistically expect this to grow in the next 12 months? what brands represented by the "221 advertising agencies in Bkk" do you realistically expect to be interested in advertising in your magazine? how much "extra" advertising space do you expect to have availabe for this new guy to sell this year and what percentage of that does he have to sell to make the 70,000 Baht? obviousy there is no reason why you should provide this information in a public forum rather than in a job interview but if you are going to make statements like that I think you might have a bit of a credibility problem if you expect to attract anyone with experience in or knowledge of the local ad market which is perhaps why you have not been able to fill this "very attractive" position bkkguy Quote
Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 15, 2012 Posted April 15, 2012 Dear Bkkguy, Many thanks for your thoughtful input. I am not sure what you mean by 'limited vertical market' but any advertiser who wants to target professional men would be well served by placing ads in OUT iT. We print 10K copies during high season and 8K in low season- the industry yardstick for publications like ours, distributed freely in public places- is four readers per copy. These figures are boosted by online readers who download the internet copy in 97 different countries. We can provide printers' certificates and Google Analytic's to substantiate these numbers. The amount of extra advertising space is limitless- extra ads will result in the addition of extra pages and an average of just a couple of ads sold each week would earn the earnings described- maybe you could point your two friends in my direction? Best wishes, James. Quote
bkkguy Posted April 15, 2012 Posted April 15, 2012 I am not sure what you mean by 'limited vertical market' but any advertiser who wants to target professional men would be well served by placing ads in OUT iT. We print 10K copies during high season and 8K in low season I know business do not grow unless owners dream but given the limited number of brands (as distinct from gay venues that currently advertise in Out) that seem to be willing to advertise in magazines distributed here in traditional distribution channels that really target "professional" (cough cough - let's not say "gay") men I am again curious what type of brands represented by the 221 ad agencies you realistically expect to attract to a magazine with an unudited circulation of 8-10,000 copies a month distributed mainly through small gay venues in a handful of locations in Thailand! The amount of extra advertising space is limitless- extra ads will result in the addition of extra pages and an average of just a couple of ads sold each week would earn the earnings described how many pages in your latest edition? your content to advertising ratio is already quite high - if this new staff menber gets his 70,000 Baht per month that is 10-12 new ads per month = 120-144 new ads per year = 30-144 new pages each month after 12 months depending on whether the advertisers want 1/4, 1/2 or full page ads - I assume you have plans to increase content to support this "limitless" advertising expansion? - maybe you could point your two friends in my direction? I've tried but they don't seem to take me seriously! bkkguy Quote
Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 16, 2012 Posted April 16, 2012 Dear Bkkguy, We have already carried successful ad campaigns for non gay businesses as you note and hope that a new salesman would increase this sector by introducing more brands that target professional men. We are also distributed in many non-gay venues in Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong and, of course the ads are on our website. Clearly, the editorial content would increase with more ad pages- you have no idea of the wealth of material that is available to me and it would be a joy to increase our current 92 page issues. Best wishes, James. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 16, 2012 Posted April 16, 2012 I'll throw a few thoughts into the ring. From the discussion so far, it would seem that at least part of your new target has to be the 'pink' dollar. Yet, from my admittedly limited exposure to brand advertising, marketing managers of these products are surely looking for a more squeaky clean gay association. I do happen to know well the CEO of one company which has the franchise for several top brands - names like Calvin Klein, Prada, Gucci etc (although these are not her companies). Frankly, she would never even consider advertising in a magazine which helps to promote the sex trade. She and her marketing people are fixated almost exclusively on hi-so publications. Bt. 70,000 is certainly a very large salary. A new Thai graduate entering the PR/marketing profession in one of the majors is currently getting Bt. 15,000 basic with perks - perhaps 10% more with lesser benefits in a smaller agency. Last point. I once worked on a specialist magazine here which did have a nice market. It died after 4 years when the publishers gave up trying to find new advertising streams. It was a well-edited, interesting, luxuriously produced magazine with a loyal band of readers, most here in Thailand but some overseas, and a substantial number of major establishments took free copies for display. It died only because the young marketing team totally failed to do their job. They kept on 'selling' the magazine as a niche product, totally incapable of understanding they should have been selling a general lifestyle magazine. I add this only as further illustration of how little inventiveness most younger Thais in the marketing/advertising profession possess. For TO therefore, I'd be looking much more at the expat market. But this sounds like I am telling you how to run your business, which would be foolish not only because of my limited knowledge, but more because you already run a successful magazine. Quote
Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 16, 2012 Posted April 16, 2012 Dear Fountainhall, Always a delight to hear your thoughts, thank you. Aware of the sensitivity that you mention, we do divide the advertisers between the editorial and guide sections in the hope of attracting the type of brands that you mention. Like you, I believe that the expat market is correct but would be delighted to be proved wrong. Very best wishes, James. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted April 16, 2012 Posted April 16, 2012 Bt. 70,000 is certainly a very large salary. A new Thai graduate entering the PR/marketing profession in one of the majors is currently getting Bt. 15,000 basic with perks - perhaps 10% more with lesser benefits in a smaller agency. Although he hasn't mentioned it here, I don't think Mr. Barnes is necessarily looking for Thais, but probably farang, especially if you consider the following quote I read on GBT. I think a farang would be more inclined to work for 70K, but not 15K. I am yet to be convinced that a Thai could do the job but am ready to review that! In the end, you may be quite right, FH. But this huge salary is derived only from new revenue and that particular Thai would need to be quite an extraordinary entrepreneur. Someone with that much ambition might eventually start his own magazine! I highly suspect Mr. Barnes has taken the task of selling most of the advertising space alone and may be looking to clone himself. Quote
Guest JamesBarnes Posted April 16, 2012 Posted April 16, 2012 Actually, what I am looking for is someone who can do the job, I don't expect them to be Thai but if they are, great! I am pretty sure that I have not sold any space in OUT iT, I am a writer, not a salesman. As for cloning myself- I don't think I could inflict another of me on the world!!! Quote
