Brand advertising dominated by three product categories

Brand advertising dominated by three product categories

"Now products are looking for people. Previously, it was people looking for products" -- Paul W. Kamardi of Matari Advertising.

JAKARTA (JP): There is an interesting profile of change in Indonesia's society, sketched by marking changes in product categories which have been at the top of advertising expenditure over the last 25 years, since advertising became a serious business in Indonesia.

"It's interesting business because it tells so much. It's like the archaeology of our times," Eleanor Modesto, unit head of Citra Lintas, says. "It tells you so much about what is interesting to people, from among the communications that are being beamed to them, what "sells" to them and what ethic is current."

According to figures published in the advertising industry's magazine Cakram in August this year, the 10 largest product categories in Indonesia, in relation to adspend during the first semester of 1995, January to July, were pharmaceuticals, personal hygiene products, food and beverages, real estate, cigarettes, automobiles, printed media, public corporations, banks and furniture.

Over the range of media, from television and radio to newspapers and magazines, the highest expenditure by far was achieved by the following three product categories: pharmaceuticals, personal hygiene and food and beverages.

The recent push in pharmaceuticals not only has big companies like Konimex behind it but also a proliferation of many small companies in the competition. The domination of pharmaceuticals is not only due to the number of players in that category, but also in part to government public health awareness campaigns.

The total advertising expenditure for each of these products was in excess of Rp 146,000 million during the first half of 1995. Top-ranked pharmaceuticals stood at Rp 157,487 million, while third-ranked food and beverages stood at Rp 146,952 million. The very high concentration of adspend in these three categories is far in excess of the remaining seven of the 10 high-ranking categories.

The phenomenon is not confined to urban areas in Indonesia. "The penetration of personal care products in the rural areas is quite high. Toothpaste usership is almost 100 percent. Shampoo is also quite high, about 80 percent to 90 percent," Eleanor Modesto estimates. "Cigarettes are a sort of a staple for the lower- income group. They would give up what we consider basics, like sugar, for cigarettes." Cigarettes are also well established in Indonesia as a major industry, and as a major corporate tax contributor.

Anomalies do exist. There is a suggestion that the high concentration of advertising for certain types of medicine seems to contradict the fact that 60 percent of the population is under 30 years old. Though a lot of brands are going after a very young target audience, some products being sold in Indonesia would seem to deny that there is a youth majority in the population. High sales of antacid pharmaceuticals suggest that there is a predominantly maturing, aging population in Indonesia.

Advertising expenditure drops away very sharply after these three high-flyers. For instance, real estate, which is ranked next after food and beverages and fourth in terms of adspend, comes in at a modest total of Rp 58,726 million, according to Cakram.

In fact, the ball-park figure for the remaining six categories, from real estate to furniture, is between approximately Rp 58,000 and Rp 39,000 million. This shows that certain personal care and lifestyle products dominate the advertising push.

Between them, advertising expenditure on the three major categories was at just under Rp 300,000 million. This was more than double what was spent on the other categories combined during the first semester of this year.

In each of the top three categories the expenditure was highest in television media. The adspend for the top three categories on television is massive, with products like Sunsilk, Vicks, Pepsodent, Dancow and Gudang Garam frequently making appearances during the commercial breaks.

The family brand name toothpaste, Pepsodent, is at the top of the 10 brands in terms of largest adspend during the first semester of 1995. This is a Unilever product. Figures sourced from Monirad and SRI Adex, published in Cakram in August 1995, show that during the first semester of this year Rp 13.6 million was spent on this popular brand of toothpaste. Pepsodent was in this same position last year, top of the lot.

The adspend for the remaining nine specific brands were, in descending order: Biuti 3 in 1 shampoo, Suzuki, Bendera milk, Rinso, Gudang Garam, Sunsilk, Vicks, Djarum and Dancow. The latter, with its "Aku dan Kau" campaign, had recorded an adspend rise of 64 percent, and Vicks recorded a rise of 118 percent.

Outside this group of the top 10, other products recorded sharp rises in their adspend during the first half of this year. Advertising expenditure on some of these other products, such as the alcoholic beverage Anker Bir, rose steeply.

Over the 1992 to 1994 (to September) period, total advertising expenditure in terms of product, makes for another interesting profile. Figures sourced from Matari Advertising and SRI, published in Cakram December 1994, show for example that there was a very sharp rise recorded in the advertising of education.

Adspend does not equal sales. But the profile it suggests is very fascinating.