YDM Thailand officially launched and revealed revenue growth of more than 100% after South Korean giant YDM became a shareholder. Within two years, it expanded its network to 7 companies covering all areas of digital marketing services, and announced plans to continue shaking up the industry with new platforms, while targeting a stock market listing by 2020.

YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd., under Yello Digital Marketing (YDM) of South Korea, is one of Thailand’s leading providers of digital marketing solutions. Mr. Tanapon Subsomboon, CEO of YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd., held the press conference “Together to the New Era of Digital Marketing” to officially launch YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

The event also introduced the group’s 7 affiliated companies to support business expansion and growth both in Thailand and across Southeast Asia, as well as 3 new investors: Intouch Holdings Public Company Limited through the InVent project, N-Vest Venture Co., Ltd., and Premier Advisory Group Co., Ltd., manager of the SME Private Equity Trust Fund by the Government Savings Bank and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. This marked a major new chapter in Thailand’s digital industry, with the shared goal of becoming Thailand’s No. 1 digital marketing group and taking the company public through an IPO by 2020.

Mr. Tanapon Subsomboon, Chief Executive Officer of YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd., said, “We are very pleased to move forward under the name YDM Thailand, with strong capabilities as one of Thailand’s leading digital marketing groups providing fully integrated digital marketing solutions under the concept ‘DRIVE.CONNECT.GROW.’ We are therefore ready to move forward without stopping, serving as an important driver of the digital economy by connecting the capabilities of every company in the group so that the company, clients, partners, and investors can grow together sustainably.

“YDM Thailand is a digital marketing group that works together as an ecosystem, where each company supports one another and collaborates to help clients achieve the highest possible success in business. YDM Thailand focuses on four main digital business groups: Digital Marketing Consulting, Digital Marketing Solutions, Digital Media, and Digital Marketing Platform.”

The CEO of YDM Thailand added that this official launch also came with three new investors — Intouch, the Government Savings Bank, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand — to move toward “The New Era of Digital Marketing,” driven by new technology and innovation. The funds from this investment will not only increase the company’s operational flexibility, which has been growing by more than 100% each year, but will also be used in part to expand investments into new businesses. The company expects to launch at least four new platforms within the year to further shake up the digital marketing industry.

There will also be the launch of additional new companies, along with highly capable management teams to strengthen the group’s businesses. In addition, having YDM South Korea, a unicorn-level startup, as an investor gives us access to new technologies and platforms used in digital marketing. Combined with support in funding, connections, and business networks from the three new investors, this creates opportunities for us to develop new technologies and innovations that will drive digital marketing in Thailand to grow even faster.

Mr. Kim Sirithaweechai, Deputy Director of Investment Management at Intouch Holdings Public Company Limited, said of this investment that they saw the potential and continuous growth of YDM Thailand as a leader in the digital marketing market with expertise in advertising technology. The company also operates a fully integrated digital marketing business, has strong partners from YDM, experienced and specialized teams and affiliated companies, as well as founders who are determined to grow the business and whose development approach aligns with Intouch’s policy. This led them to invest 30 million baht through the InVent project.

“We are interested in the digital agency business and see opportunities in the continuously growing digital marketing industry. According to the Digital Advertising Association (Thailand) (DAAT), digital advertising in Thailand in 2018 was expected to grow by another 16%, reaching a value of 14.33 billion baht. This investment also connects opportunities to exchange innovation in digital marketing, enabling the development of new products and services for the company and clients within the Intouch group.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Pichet Thammavipak, Deputy Director of the Government Savings Bank, Corporate and Government Customer Group, said of the investment in YDM Thailand that the SMEs Private Equity Trust Fund, jointly managed by the Government Savings Bank and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, approved a total investment amount of 60 million baht to support Thai digital entrepreneurs so they can compete and grow strongly, which will have a positive impact on the overall digital advertising market in Thailand.

“YDM Thailand is a full-service digital marketing provider capable of meeting clients’ needs comprehensively. The bank believes that this investment will support the company’s rapid growth, driven by the market trend of increasing spending on online advertising. In addition, the bank is confident in founder Mr. Tanapon, who has more than 20 years of business experience and has continuously developed the business, adapting very well to the rapidly changing digital market.”

Ms. Chatchanee Chantcharoenphong, Director of Investment Management at the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said that new entrepreneurs in both the SME and startup groups are an important mechanism for driving the country’s economy into a new era. The Stock Exchange places importance on developing the capital market for the benefit of all sectors and has promoted businesses of all sizes to grow with quality, expanding support to startup and SME entrepreneurs in order to create a complete ecosystem. This financial support through the SMEs Private Equity Trust Fund is believed to be another important step in strengthening SME entrepreneurs who contribute to driving the Thai economy.

Regarding the overall digital marketing landscape, the CEO of YDM Thailand, as an expert and veteran in the field, believes that digital marketing in Thailand still has significant room to grow. A key factor making digital media increasingly prominent and attracting higher advertising budgets is technology, especially Big Data, which makes digital media highly efficient, precisely targetable, and measurable, resulting in very high ROI for digital advertising.

At present, the amount that brands spent through digital media in Thailand in 2017 totaled 12.402 billion baht, growing by more than 30%, but this represented only around 10% of total advertising spending. This means the share of digital media advertising in Thailand remains very small and still has considerable potential for further growth in the future, similar to other countries such as China, where digital advertising accounts for approximately 57%, the United Kingdom 60%, and the United States 30%.

In addition, the press conference introduced YDM Thailand’s 7 affiliated companies as follows:

Adyim: A Digital Marketing Solution Hub, one of the earliest providers of online marketing services in Thailand, growing from 3 employees to more than 100 today. It has served more than 500 leading brands, offering services ranging from online strategy, idea creation, social media planning, online media buying, bloggers, influencers, SEO, SEM, website development, video production, mobile applications, data analysis, Big Data, and more.

Gottimize : A Performance Media Agency specializing in planning and buying online advertising media focused on tangible results, with clients including leading companies and global agencies, and annual billing of more than 100 million baht.

Alt65 : Owner of the Revu platform, specializing in creating product reviews through micro influencers across all product categories, with more than 8,000 reviewers in its network and more than 10,000 online reviews created.

Adpocket : A Mobile Screen Lock Ads application, the first and only one in Thailand that turns the mobile phone screen into advertising space carried with consumers everywhere at all times, with a user base of up to 5 million people.

Doer :  A Freelance Management Platform for software development, with more than 200 freelancers working through the system. Thanks to its quality management system, Doer can handle large-scale projects without issues.

AVG : A digital marketing company focused on the China market and Chinese tourists in Thailand, and the only company in Thailand that is an official partner with all three Chinese giants at the same time: Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba.

Nawin :  A Creative Consulting company with world-class creative “Golf” Nuntawat Chaipornkaew helping advise clients from brand thinking through finding new business models and even advertising ideas.