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.