Bali to host first regional forum on advertising media

Bali to host first regional forum on advertising media

The Asia Pacific Media Forum (APMF), the first regional Asian
conference on advertising media, which will be held in Bali on
March 14 and 15, next year, will again put Indonesia in the
world's spotlight.

It was Indra Abidin, an executive of the Asian Federation of
Advertising Associations (AFAA) and chairman of the Jakarta-based
Fortune Indonesia Tbk, who first thought of the need to organize
an advertising forum in the Asia-Pacific region.

Indra came up with the forum at a meeting of the executive
board of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA)
in 1999 in Pattaya, Thailand, and it gained support from other
AFAA advisers, particularly Datuk Mohamad Jaafar (Malaysia),
Gautam Rakshid (India), Kazuo Miyakawa (Japan), Senyon Kim (South
Korea) and Vinit Surapongchai (Thailand).

Below are excerpts from an interview with Indra, who is also
conference steering committee chairman, and Gunadi Sugiharso, who
together with Baty Subakti, sit as the co-chairman of the
organizing committee as well as Achjuman Achjadi, the organizing
committee's president for convention.

What is really the objective of the forum?

APMF is an international forum designed to discuss the global
situation and development of the advertising media, particularly
in relation to the interests of the advertising industry in the
Asia-Pacific region. This is a new forum that, it turns out, has
been long awaited by advertising media practitioners.

The first APMF, to be held in March next year, is expected to
be attended by some 300 participants, half of whom will be from
abroad. The conference will discuss issues in advertising media,
such as the changes and trends in the advertising media and
consumers' habits in media consumption, and their links with
product marketing. The conference will also discuss the
consequences of these changes to the media, advertising
companies, media specialists, research companies, advertisers and
other parties which are related to advertising media. The forum
is expected to raise the standards of the advertising industry in
the region.

What is the benefit of hosting the APMF in Indonesia?

Hosting this forum is important for us for several reasons.
First, as Indonesia is an archipelago with a great diversity of
subcultures, the media play a decisive role in the success
of a campaign. If Indonesia can overcome its communication
problems or find the best routes using its advertising media, all
countries in this region can similarly succeed or benefit.

Indonesia is relatively rich with experience concerning the
development of advertising and social marketing. A forum like
APMF will be very useful as a learning process for all parties,
particularly for Indonesia's advertising players. Thirdly,
Indonesia is endowed with a huge number of human resources.

That's why hosting APMF will greatly support efforts to
develop the human resources in the advertising sector in
Indonesia and in other countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Above all else, this forum can help improve Indonesia's
image in the international arena and bring in foreign exchange
earnings from foreign participants.

Will this forum also discuss the latest developments in
advertising media?

Technology will be definitely influence the development of
advertising media. Therefore, the forum has invited speakers to
talk about the technology, digital television, interactive media
and also TV programming. The speakers are among others Mr. Todd
Miller from Sony, USA, Toru Koizumi from Dentsu, Japan, Ms. Sue
Adams from Fremantle and a speaker from CCTV China which lately
has been progressing very fast.

The forum will also discuss different approaches to challenge
advertising clutter in traditional media and the impact of
technology that provides the consumer with tools to avoid ads.
Mr. Ashish Bhasin from Lowe India is going to share his
experience in the forum.

Has there been homogeneity to the development of the
advertising media in Asia and the Pacific?

Of course, many countries in Asia and the Pacific share some
common problems, such as the influence of communication
technology on the public's media consumption habits. A rapid
development of the cell phones and their more sophisticated
capability thanks to the developments in cell phone technology
are a phenomena that all countries in this particular region
are facing.

In many countries, you can also find growth in advertising. No
two countries share a common growth in their advertising
spending. Indonesia and China enjoy the highest growth rate. Then
there is contrast in the ratio between city dwellers and rural
people in different countries.

Compared with India and Thailand, Indonesia has been left
behind in terms of the development of specialist media companies.

An APMF forum allows us to realize how we compare with other
countries so that we can be ready for and manage the changes that
will face us.

What has been the most important change in Indonesia's
advertising media during the last four years?

The fact that national-scale television stations have
increased from five to 11 within a short time. Then, there is the
establishment of a great number of local television stations.
As a consequence, the average rating of a television program has
dropped.

This change means advertisers have had to spend more to ensure
their advertising reaches the same number of consumers. The
planning and management of advertising budgets has, as a result,
become more complicated and requires more specialized expertise
along with more sophisticated data, tools and equipment.