Dentsu Aegis Network Thailand aims to acquire more independent digital agencies to enhance its advertising network's competitiveness, as digital ad spending in Thailand is expected to grow by 20-30% this year.
Executive chairman Vichai Suphasomboon said the company will focus on digital ad agencies that have performed well in the past three years.
"We're looking to acquire either large or mid-sized independent digital ad companies to strengthen our network and secure a leading position among ad agencies in Thailand," he said.
The group's three companies in Thailand -- Isobar, iProspect and Columbus -- are not enough to support increasing demand from digital advertising clients, said Mr Vichai. Having more companies under its umbrella would benefit the network in the long term.
Digital media is becoming more accepted and used among advertisers and Thailand is seeing rapid growth of internet users, thanks to easier access to faster broadband internet.
Ad spending on digital media is expected to reach 10 billion baht this year as online media has already become the main medium for fast-moving consumer goods, according to the Digital Advertising Association Thailand.
Dentsu declined to provide further details about the independent ad companies it wants to acquire.
In 2015, the group made an acquisition of Thai independent digital ad agency Flex Media and then merged it with its subsidiary iProspect.
Mr Vichai said that while digital advertising is on the rise, the group is still focused on TV advertising clients and their massive ad budgets.
According to Nielsen Co Thailand, ad spending on TV (digital, analogue and cable/satellite) represented more than 68% of total ad spending of 107 billion baht last year while digital ad shared about 10%.
The Media Agency Association of Thailand said TV ad spending stood at 77.9 billion baht last year, down from 88.8 billion baht in 2015, due to the sluggish economy and the shift of ad budgets towards online media.
The association predicted ad spending on TV this year will grow 16% while radio will see flat growth, but newspapers and magazines will decline 22% and 20%, respectively.
Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) was launched in 2014 after Japanese ad agency Dentsu Inc successfully acquired Aegis Group, a media agency in Britain, creating many agencies under the same umbrella to focus on marketing communications and digital media.
After the merger and the launch of DAN, Mr Vichai said the group has grown more than 10% per year in terms of revenue and billings.
Dentsu Aegis Network Thailand has three business divisions: brand agency, media agency and digital agency.
Last year, the group had more than 100 ad clients in various business categories in Thailand.
Mr Vichai projects the Thai operation's ad billings will grow more than 10% this year.