Dagadu attracts business with local humor
By Sri Wahyuni
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Many Indonesians know of Twilite Orchestra, one of the more popular orchestras here led by young composer Adie M.S., whose performance in various events is respectfully appreciated by its audience.
Here, young people don T-shirts with a picture of an outhouse from which certain "impolite" noises emanate. On top of the illustration is the inscription: Toilet Orchestra.
This humorous T-shirt is one among many of Dagadu Djokdja's production, owned by a group of 25 students of Gadjah Mada University's School of Architecture.
Dagadu's other products -- baseball caps, key rings, mugs, stickers, bags and bandanas -- are all decorated with pictures and inscriptions richly textured by local humor and puns.
For instance, one T-shirt has the acronym Badman written on it, followed by: Badung tapi ndak lupa mandi (Naughty, yes, but I never forget to take a bath).
Another T-shirt features the words: United Colors of Keraton, their own version of the fashion label Benetton. It is completed by a picture of women in traditional colorful clothes often worn at the Keraton (ancient Javanese palace).
When the students first launched the brand name nearly four years ago, they were only seeking an outlet for their creativity. PT Aseli Dagadu Djogdja is now a profitable business, and Dagadu products have become one of Yogyakarta's most popular souvenirs.
"They amuse me. They make me think 'What exactly is the shirts' message?'" a fan told The Jakarta Post.
The company's sole outlet is located on the lower ground floor of Malioboro Mall, on Jl. Malioboro, a street renowned in Yogyakarta for its sidewalk stalls and backpackers' accommodation.
It is always crowded with customers. An average of 1,000 T- shirts costing Rp 17,500 (US$5) each are sold every day.
The T-shirts make up about 85 percent of Dagadu's total daily sales, with a net profit of about 20 percent of the gross earning.
On the weekends, costumers sometimes have to queue to inspect and buy the products. The queue usually becomes longer during the Idul Fitri, New Year and school holidays.
During these peak seasons, the company opens an extra outlet, in the garage of its office in Pakuningratan, to accommodate the buyers.
"It's amazing, because it started out more just for fun rather than business," said Dagadu's public relations officer and promotions manager Suluh Pratitasari or Tita, as she is more commonly known.
Offer
The group started the business in January 1994 after the management of the newly opened Malioboro Mall offered the group a space to sell souvenir products without having to pay rent.
An initial working capital of Rp 4 million was collected from the members to produce their first merchandise of 150 T-shirts, 50 key rings and several stickers.
"The market's reaction was incredible. In two weeks we sold out," Tita said.
That's how the business began. More products -- both in terms of number and variety -- were created to meet the increasing demand. More people were recruited to handle the business. At present, Dagadu employs no less than 28 part-time workers, mostly students, and 23 full-time workers.
Although Dagadu's organizational structure has been changed several times and almost all of the initial shareholders are no longer involved in the daily activities of the business, the spirit of "fun" is still evident.
This spirit, however, was also blamed for glitches such as unmet deadlines of particular activities and poor bookkeeping, Tita said.
"But we're trying our best to make it more professional. Since last year, for example, we have been inviting experts every Saturday to evaluate what we've done during the week."
In four years, Dagadu has created about 450 designs for its souvenir merchandises. So far, the demand continues to grow but Dagadu insists on operating only one outlet in the mall and a temporary one during peak seasons.
"We have identified ourselves as the producer of Yogyakarta's souvenirs, so we refuse to open any branches anywhere," Tita said.
Maybe this is one of the reasons why people now buy fake Dagadus. Along Jl. Malioboro itself there are many vendors selling T-shirts or souvenirs with Dagadu's logo on them.
"Of course they're not original. That's why we have to remind our customers to be aware of fakes. We keep saying that we only sell our products at Malioboro Mall," Tita said.
To make it easier for customers to identify Dagadu's original products, especially T-shirts, a label is attached to each product. A hangtag, including a card with the T-shirt's graphic design printed on it, has also been added. A hologram sticker of the Dagadu Djokdja's logo has also been attached to the card.
"The card is designed in such a way that you can also make a collection out of it," said Tita.