Jamjaras Co., Ltd., under YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd., has revealed a turning point for the upcountry market in 2024, identifying culture and regions of thought as key variables and introducing a new term, “Cultural Brand Insight.” Consumer insight data will serve as a compass to guide brands and marketers in winning the hearts of the mass market amid challenging conditions. The company has laid out a strategic roadmap to connect communication beyond borders, target specific groups in the upcountry market, move beyond traditional communication limitations between urban and provincial consumers, and create fresh content based on diverse creative stories that align with consumers’ preferences, helping brands grow in line with market demand through a better understanding of upcountry consumer insight.

Mr. Tanapon Subsomboon, Chief Executive Officer of YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd., said that building brands in a rapidly changing market is an endless challenge for brands and marketers. Consumers’ living conditions, behavior, needs, and values can change every hour and every day. Yet one thing that hardly changes is their “life foundation,” or the beliefs and values rooted in their place of origin. This is the same principle behind Jamjaras, YDM’s spearhead in helping brands strategically reach upcountry consumers. Looking at the direction and trends of the upcountry market in 2024, he sees a new definition and a new challenge: helping brands move beyond the old area-based communication model to communicate broadly with both urban and provincial consumers, while still reaching specific consumer groups effectively. This reinforces YDM’s strength as a Marketing Partner working alongside clients to drive business success on their marketing journey.

Mr. Somyot Chairat, Managing Director and Executive of Jamjaras Co., Ltd. under YDM Thailand, said that over the past several years the Thai economy has faced circumstances that have caused consumer behavior and market demand to shift in many ways within a short period of time. This has also triggered adaptation in the “upcountry market,” creating a challenge that brands and marketers need to reanalyze. It is time to step out of the old framework that defined the upcountry market purely by geography—North, Central, South, and Northeast—because that may no longer apply. In 2024, the upcountry market should be redefined according to consumer behavior and living patterns. Therefore, geography should no longer limit communication boundaries. With many lifestyle factors such as education and work, migration has become normal. People living in an area may no longer be native to that area—for example, people from the Northeast are now dispersed across Thailand and also live and work in many countries around the world.

In 2024, the upcountry market is being redefined by the term “Cultural Brand Insight.” It is no longer limited by geographic territory, but driven instead by “regions of thought”—that is, the personal values, culture, beliefs, and mindset that create a new challenge for brands and marketers in reaching target groups without borders. From Jamjaras’s perspective, when targeting consumers who have different cultures but belong to the same group, brands need to unlock content creation that is creative, fresh, relevant to real-time situations, and built on diverse and original stories that truly understand consumer insight. Brands must be able to analyze deep consumer data in each area in order to develop accurate strategies, while also using the power of people by building teams with expertise and contextual understanding of local areas. This improves borderless communication, reaching target groups through language, food, clothing, and the right KOLs, in order to conquer a borderless upcountry market in today’s measurable era.

“The strategy for penetrating the upcountry market focuses on individual consumer groups, understanding the consumer’s ‘identity,’ and communicating sincerely, with emphasis on local language. This helps increase the chance of reaching consumers, along with the use of music, culture, and the right KOLs to attract attention and create positive experiences with target groups. This is a key strategy through which Jamjaras will help brands win the hearts of the mass market under the new definition of ‘Cultural Brand Insight.’ At the heart of communication is understanding the consumer’s ‘essence’ and reaching their ‘identity’ sincerely, without feeling shy about using local language, food, or clothing. For example, strategies may emphasize local dialects, music, and vocal styles unique to each region; food strategies may highlight local dishes that consumers are familiar with and proud of; and influencer strategies may select KOLs who were born in the local area and share the same cultural mindset and beliefs as the target audience. The result is the ability to attract attention, build closeness, and make consumers familiar with the brand through effective communication, with the goal of creating long-term relationships and driving brands toward success in the upcountry market now and in the future,” Mr. Somyot concluded.

Credit : https://www.brandbuffet.in.th/2024/02/jamjaras-cultural-brand-insight/