The company withstood the consequences of the economic downturn and produced satisfactory results, with increased revenue signalling increased confidence of advertisers.

A sales increase of 12 per cent over the previous year was witnessed by Classifieds. Organising seminars aimed at strengthening customer relations, it also held three contests designed to stimulate reader interest and encourage advertisers. But perhaps its biggest event was the launch of Chevit Ngarn in September 2000, a new Thai language tabloid published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that features work and career tips with 'personnel wanted' and other Classified advertisements. It is distributed together with the Bangkok Post and sold separately on newsstands, at 5 baht per copy.

The Display Department had a very successful year with an increase in revenue of 33 per cent. Special features like --Your Money and e2001 -- Your Digital Technology proved feasible. Holiday Time, an annual special feature of the festive season (1-31 December 2000), gave away Baht 1.3 million in prizes to the lucky quiz winners.

The 12th Student of the Year Contest and the Ovaltine Story Writing Contest were highlights of the Bangkok Post Student Weekly's marketing activities in the year 2000. The Student Weekly Club, established with an objective to build closer relationships between school/university students and the Bangkok Post Student Weekly, and boost the Bangkok Post's image to organisations involved, organised such activities as a Family Rally, English Camp, Adventure Camp, Crossword and A Math Games, Friends Help Friends and Sports Day at Lumpini.

With 163 publications out in the year 2000, Supplements earned a 14 per cent increase in revenue, compared to last year. One of its proudest moments was highlighted by a joint promotion campaign among three major entities that gave away two luxury cars to readers. This campaign attracted more than 25,000 entries and secured a significant amount of revenue for the company.

The International Advertising Sales maintained its contact with 15 worldwide official representatives, advertising agencies and overseas clients, mostly in Asia, and represented many publications including the Bangkok Post.

Challenges in the past year included efforts that were agent and media-oriented. Agents were pushed harder to sell, and were provided with a list of prospects to track their performance. There was also more emphasis given to self-advertising in the Post web site.

The Educational Services programme is marketed largely through such events as seminars and workshops, carried out by the department's own staff, and by direct contact with teachers through the bulk sales staff. There are also periodic in-house ads to announce new programmes and features. Last year, its staff averaged about two seminars and workshops per month, largely in the Bangkok area, but also as far afield as Rajabhat Loei. The Chiang Mai Bureau was also active in arranging promotional events. The year 2000 was the first year in which the Chiang Mai Bureau targetted the business community, as well as the academic community, with workshops conducted at an industrial estate in Lamphun and another for the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce.

Allied Printers seized the opportunity afforded by online communications to expand its market overseas. With support from the Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, its participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair 2000 in Germany was a big boost to Allied Printers. The year 2000 saw a 50 per cent increase in international orders from clients all over the world. At the same time, its local market share remained stable. This success in sales and marketing activities saw a 19 per cent increase in sales revenue from 1999.

Aggressive subscription marketing programmes that offer a variety of attractive premiums and special promotions were organised. As English is becoming a key to improving the prospects of future generations of Thais, the Bangkok Post showed commitment to supporting this learning process by launching the Masters of the New Millennium programme, which delivered donated subscription copies to more than 130 schools, higher learning and research institutes, and public libraries throughout Bangkok.

Electronic Publishing hosted two very successful online web contests that drew hundreds of contestants. The Thailand Web Carnival bangkokpost.com took part in the high-profile web fair, Thailand Web Carnival, where the bangkokpost.com booth attracted a great deal of attention, perhaps more than any other single booth at the event.

Together with Asia Books, bangkokpost.com produced attractive co-branded bookmarks, distributed at all Asia Books outlets in Thailand during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Earlier in the year, eye-catching bangkokpost.com bumper stickers were distributed to newspaper subscribers and the Bangkok Post staff.

There was also strong participation in talks at technology conferences throughout the year in Bangkok on the topics of web development and trends in the fast-paced and ever-evolving Internet arena.

With a strong subscription base, the Bangkok Post ran aggressive subscription marketing programmes that offered a variety of attractive premiums and special promotions.

The year 2001 puts a clearer focus on marketing efforts and a firmer emphasis on the spirit of teamwork, leading to a much more powerful product portfolio. As the slowly improving economy continues to contribute to a more refined advertiser attitude, the company's adept marketing teams will be even better equipped to maintain its leadership position in the industry. Increased involvement in community issues, highlighting the English language, will be regarded as a tool to increase and strengthen sponsorship and contributions towards the development of knowledge and education.

Recent progress in information technology has been in the forefront, with advances in publishing and printing technology gaining a competitive edge.

As the company's marketing forces begin to grasp the vast opportunities offered by the Internet, planned investments in this new technology are bound to promote efficiency and capitalise on the great potentials of e-commerce at the same time.

A major effort will be made to increase market visibility and profitability. As a result, dynamic targets and directives will be implemented to combine the company's forces to better satisfy the market that it serves.