Companies ad budgets grow with the economy

Companies ad budgets grow with the economy

JAKARTA (JP): Industrial and financial companies have begun to
increase their spending on advertisements to take advantage of
improvements in the country's economy, seminar participants
addressing the country's advertisement spending said on Thursday.

Prominent government critic and economist Sri Mulyani said
that many companies had begun to place advertisements in order to
correct their images, which had been "distorted" as a result of
the economic crisis.

Sri said companies "included in the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency's (IBRA's) list of the 200 biggest debtors
are placing big ads to give the message that they are still in
operation and exist in the market," Sri said during the seminar
organized by The Jakarta Post and D&R weekly magazine.

General manager of advertising company PT Perwanal D'Archy
Yusca Ismaiil said that many companies had increased their
advertisement budgets, which had been severely cut due to the
economic crisis.

He said that riding on the early onset of Indonesia's
economic, total domestic advertisement spending this year could
increase by about 25 percent.

"Spending on advertisements will be about Rp 4.5 trillion
(about US$642.85 million) this year, as compared to Rp 3.6
trillion last year on better economic conditions," he said,
quoting the latest report by market research firm AC Nielsen SRI
(Survey Research Indonesia).

He said the Rp 4.5 trillion 1999 projection was equivalent to
the 1997 advertisement spending figure.

He said some companies had already begun their advertisement
activities, particularly companies in the car industry.

"The car industry has made a good start with intensive
advertisements. Given the greater availability of housing loans,
banking will soon follow suit and real estate will do the same,"
he said at the seminar.

Speakers at the seminar included Sri Adiningsih of the
Gadjahmada University, operations director of private television
station RCTI Nenny Soemawinata and food company executive
Sudhamek AWS.

Speaking of the recovery in advertisement spending, Nenny
Soemawinata of RCTI said her clients currently had to file
advertisement orders two months in advance, compared to only two
weeks in advance during the crisis.

She said she was convinced the positive outlook would continue
because there were new product categories for advertisements
which would soon appear.

She predicted foreign lubricant oil makers would soon begin
intensive advertisements, following the government deregulation
measures which had allowed them to distribute and sell their
products directly in Indonesian markets.

She also said foreign banks were set to pursue an aggressive
advertisement campaign.

"We can already see there are many foreign bank branches in
Jakarta and other big cities. They have done the advertising and
will do much more."

Nenny said State-owned companies would also use advertisements
in order to boost their performance levels, because they were now
required to operate professionally.

"The government privatization program, by which these state-
owned companies are sold to foreign parties, are also forcing the
state-owned companies to market themselves for good marketing and
a better image."

She said social service advertisements had also been gaining a
momentum and would continue to display strong growth in the near
future.

Nenny said that in the domain of television advertising,
traditional advertising mainstays such as products advertising
hair care, cigarettes and traditional medicines would continue to
dominate advertisement spots. (udi)