Brand advertising dominated by three product categories<\/p>\n
\"Now products are looking for people. Previously, it was
\npeople looking for products\" -- Paul W. Kamardi of Matari
\nAdvertising.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There is an interesting profile of change in
\nIndonesia's society, sketched by marking changes in product
\ncategories which have been at the top of advertising expenditure
\nover the last 25 years, since advertising became a serious
\nbusiness in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"It's interesting business because it tells so much. It's like
\nthe archaeology of our times,\" Eleanor Modesto, unit head of
\nCitra Lintas, says. \"It tells you so much about what is
\ninteresting to people, from among the communications that are
\nbeing beamed to them, what \"sells\" to them and what ethic is
\ncurrent.\"<\/p>\n
According to figures published in the advertising industry's
\nmagazine Cakram in August this year, the 10 largest product
\ncategories in Indonesia, in relation to adspend during the first
\nsemester of 1995, January to July, were pharmaceuticals, personal
\nhygiene products, food and beverages, real estate, cigarettes,
\nautomobiles, printed media, public corporations, banks and
\nfurniture.<\/p>\n
Over the range of media, from television and radio to
\nnewspapers and magazines, the highest expenditure by far was
\nachieved by the following three product categories:
\npharmaceuticals, personal hygiene and food and beverages.<\/p>\n
The recent push in pharmaceuticals not only has big companies
\nlike Konimex behind it but also a proliferation of many small
\ncompanies in the competition. The domination of pharmaceuticals
\nis not only due to the number of players in that category, but
\nalso in part to government public health awareness campaigns.<\/p>\n
The total advertising expenditure for each of these products
\nwas in excess of Rp 146,000 million during the first half of
\n1995. Top-ranked pharmaceuticals stood at Rp 157,487 million,
\nwhile third-ranked food and beverages stood at Rp 146,952
\nmillion. The very high concentration of adspend in these three
\ncategories is far in excess of the remaining seven of the 10
\nhigh-ranking categories.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon is not confined to urban areas in Indonesia.
\n\"The penetration of personal care products in the rural areas is
\nquite high. Toothpaste usership is almost 100 percent. Shampoo is
\nalso quite high, about 80 percent to 90 percent,\" Eleanor Modesto
\nestimates. \"Cigarettes are a sort of a staple for the lower-
\nincome group. They would give up what we consider basics, like
\nsugar, for cigarettes.\" Cigarettes are also well established in
\nIndonesia as a major industry, and as a major corporate tax
\ncontributor.<\/p>\n
Anomalies do exist. There is a suggestion that the high
\nconcentration of advertising for certain types of medicine seems
\nto contradict the fact that 60 percent of the population is under
\n30 years old. Though a lot of brands are going after a very young
\ntarget audience, some products being sold in Indonesia would seem
\nto deny that there is a youth majority in the population. High
\nsales of antacid pharmaceuticals suggest that there is a
\npredominantly maturing, aging population in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Advertising expenditure drops away very sharply after these
\nthree high-flyers. For instance, real estate, which is ranked
\nnext after food and beverages and fourth in terms of adspend,
\ncomes in at a modest total of Rp 58,726 million, according to
\nCakram.<\/p>\n
In fact, the ball-park figure for the remaining six
\ncategories, from real estate to furniture, is between
\napproximately Rp 58,000 and Rp 39,000 million. This shows that
\ncertain personal care and lifestyle products dominate the
\nadvertising push.<\/p>\n
Between them, advertising expenditure on the three major
\ncategories was at just under Rp 300,000 million. This was more
\nthan double what was spent on the other categories combined
\nduring the first semester of this year.<\/p>\n
In each of the top three categories the expenditure was
\nhighest in television media. The adspend for the top three
\ncategories on television is massive, with products like Sunsilk,
\nVicks, Pepsodent, Dancow and Gudang Garam frequently making
\nappearances during the commercial breaks.<\/p>\n
The family brand name toothpaste, Pepsodent, is at the top of
\nthe 10 brands in terms of largest adspend during the first
\nsemester of 1995. This is a Unilever product. Figures sourced
\nfrom Monirad and SRI Adex, published in Cakram in August 1995,
\nshow that during the first semester of this year Rp 13.6 million
\nwas spent on this popular brand of toothpaste. Pepsodent was in
\nthis same position last year, top of the lot.<\/p>\n
The adspend for the remaining nine specific brands were, in
\ndescending order: Biuti 3 in 1 shampoo, Suzuki, Bendera milk,
\nRinso, Gudang Garam, Sunsilk, Vicks, Djarum and Dancow. The
\nlatter, with its \"Aku dan Kau\" campaign, had recorded an adspend
\nrise of 64 percent, and Vicks recorded a rise of 118 percent.<\/p>\n
Outside this group of the top 10, other products recorded
\nsharp rises in their adspend during the first half of this year.
\nAdvertising expenditure on some of these other products, such as
\nthe alcoholic beverage Anker Bir, rose steeply.<\/p>\n
Over the 1992 to 1994 (to September) period, total advertising
\nexpenditure in terms of product, makes for another interesting
\nprofile. Figures sourced from Matari Advertising and SRI,
\npublished in Cakram December 1994, show for example that there
\nwas a very sharp rise recorded in the advertising of education.<\/p>\n
Adspend does not equal sales. But the profile it suggests is
\nvery fascinating.<\/p>",
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