Ad firms told to cross creative front

By Budiman Moerdijat

JAKARTA (JP): Enhancing creativity and developing more professional personnel are the most formidable challenges lying ahead for the advertising industry, a noted executive believes.

Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Advertising Agencies, Yusca Ismail, said these elements were necessary to boost the quality of locally produced advertisements.

"There were a number of awards in the Citra Adhi Pariwara which could not be given to the nominees since they were below expectations," said the general manager of the Perwanal/DMB&B advertising agency.

He said the occurrence at this year's Citra Adhi Pariwara -- an annual industry award for members of the advertising association agency -- indicated the problems in stale creativity.

The sector has somewhat exhausted itself in terms of new ideas, he told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

"There is a lack of novel and fresh ideas in our advertisements...we need more advertisements which can 'excite' the public."

He said the small number of local qualified advertising executives were overburdened.

"As a result, the few professional people cannot concentrate on the quality of their work."

Yusca said the shortage was understandable as advertising was a relatively new sector in the country.

"We are still in the early stages of the advertising industry, especially in TV commercials."

That is where expatriate advertising executives comes in, he said.

Local advertising executives should gain knowledge of marketing communication from their foreign counterparts, he added.

"We should learn both the concept and the implementation of the concept."

Yusca described another obstacle as the time needed for local advertising executives to learn skills from foreign workers.

Despite affiliations of foreign advertising agencies with local operations since the early 1970s, transfer of knowledge, particularly in know-how for TV commercials, was disrupted when the government banned commercials from state-owned TV network, TVRI, in 1982.

"We had to start all over again when the government allowed the operation of private TV stations in 1989," Yusca said.

Advertising, public relations and business communications magazine, Cakram, reported in its latest edition that international advertising agencies, predominantly from the United States, continue to make their presence felt due to Indonesia's huge potential market.

These include Lintas (Ammirati Puris Lintas), J. Walter Thompson (JWT/AdForce), Ogilvy & Mather (IndoAd), DMB&B (Perwanal), BBDO, McCann-Erickson (Grafik), Leo Burnett (Kreasindo), FCB (FCB/Advis), DDB Needham (Fortune), Bates, Grey (Rama), Rapp Collins (Interact) and Dentsu Young & Rubicam.

But several local agencies, such as Subiakto Prisoedarsono's Hotline Advertising, have also distinguished themselves by creating popular and unique advertisements, Yusca said.

Cakram reported several Hotline advertisements had won a place in viewers' hearts.

Its TV commercial for Sanaflu cold medication, Belum Tahu Dia (He Doesn't Know Yet), garnered the highest total -- 28.6 percent -- of the more than one million votes mailed to private television station, RCTI, in a "Viewer's Choice" poll.

Another Subiakto advertisement, Xon-Cenya mana? (Where's the Xon-Ce?), for a vitamin supplement, was voted the audience favorite in a previous award program conducted by private TV station, SCTV.

Yusca said the advertising industry had focused on lucrative TV commercials since the emergence of private TV stations.

Data from Media Scene industry publication confirmed Rp 2.2 trillion was allocated for TV advertising last year. This comprised 53.2 percent of total advertising expenditures of Rp 4.1 trillion.

This year's TV advertising haul is projected to be as much as Rp 2.7 trillion, or 55.8 percent of the total.

Research

Yusca said a successful advertisement ideally involved market research to check whether the public understood its message.

"Unfortunately, since market research is quite expensive, not all advertisers or producers are willing to carry out market research prior to launching an advertisement," he said.

Foreign or multinational companies are usually the only ones to conduct market research, Yusca said.

"They believe in the benefit of market research, while most of the local advertisers do not fully understand its gains."

The advertising industry is also feeling the pinch in the economic crisis, he said.

"We are in a tougher situation since our clients will be stricter in spending their advertising budget. They will not launch, for instance, a three-month advertising campaign, but instead opt for a shorter term campaign.

"So we have to work harder because we have to find ways that with the same amount of money, or even less, the advertising campaign can be as effective as before."

He added that monetary woes had been exacerbated because many advertising agencies here use U.S. dollars to pay their expatriate employees, production expenses and office rental fees.

"That's why I call 1998 a year of uncertainty," he said.