Dagadu products flourish amid fake threat

Dagadu products flourish amid fake threat

By Tjahjono Ep

JAKARTA (JP): Yogyakarta is popularly known as gudeg city
after the popular food, student city for its numerous schools and
cultural city for its rich cultural life. One day, it may also be
known as Dagadu city.

Dagadu is a new but familiar word in Yogyakarta's
tourist industry. When you stroll along Malioboro street, don't
be surprised if a pedicab driver greets you with, "Where do you
want to go, bakpia Pathuk, Dagadu or batik Ngasem?" Pathuk is
popular for its traditional snacks, bakpia, while Ngasem is known
for its batik.

Foreigners, however, may not be familiar with Dagadu, but
domestic tourists have long known it as the producer of various
products, ranging from souvenirs, T-shirts, hats, bags and
accessories, all with the flavor of Yogyakarta. Dagadu calls its
products alternative souvenirs.

Although the products are colored by Yogyakarta, they can by
no means be considered ethnic. Rather, the products feature the
social interaction of Yogyakartans, including how they view their
social reality, the dynamics of the community and humor based on
the lives of locals.

Dagadu's public relations officer, Pratita, said Dagadu was
trying to create a new image of Yogyakarta based on day-to-day
life in the city.

"Everything from Yogyakarta, from its jokes and plesetan
(slip-of-the-tongues) to its artifacts are translated into our
designs," she said.

Dagadu does not look at Yogyakarta as a mere object, but as a
subject and source of inspiration for Dagadu's designs, she said.

She said everything about Yogyakarta, its romanticism, traffic
jams and even the crowd of traders along Malioboro, was a source
of inspiration.

Dagadu uses the older Djokdja when referring to the city to
accentuate Yogyakarta's deep history.

Through its business, Dagadu -- which literally means "your
f**ing eyes" in Javanese -- shifts the meaning and connotation of
the profanity into a friendly welcome.

Dagadu, through its products, is also trying to show that
Yogyakarta is not merely a city of romance or culture, but has
another, more complicated side.

Some people also see Dagadu as criticizing Yogyakarta, but in
a backhanded way.

"So, the impression is (our products) are cute but fresh,"
Pratita said.

Dagadu may remind people about Bali's Joger, whose products
are also known for their creativity.

The difference is that Dagadu uses a mixture of languages,
including Javanese, Indonesian, English and Dutch. And Dagadu's
products are specifically targeted toward certain markets, namely
those Indonesians who understand the humor of Yogyakarta. For
this reason, foreign tourists are not a priority in Dagadu's
marketing.

"Maybe for foreign tourists the jokes will be understood
differently," Pratita said.

A sampling of Dagadu's humor includes: United Colors of
Keraton (instead of United Colors of Benetton), Toilet Orchestra
(a play on Twilite Orchestra) and Everyday is Sunday in Djokdja.
When people are splashed while passing ponds in the Kewek area
along Malioboro, the company comes up with: Kewek, Bridge of
Troubled Water. Alon-Alon Waton On Time (Slow but on Time) is
inspired by the Javanese saying, Alon-Alon Waton Kelakon (Slow
but Sure).

"Our point is, to make something funny and smart, there's no
need to use violent, vulgar words. Those (products) with violent
or vulgar words are not Dagadu's products," the head of Dagadu's
design studio, Arba'i, said.

Students

Dagadu was founded in 1994 by 25 students from Gadjah Mada
University. Twenty-three of the students came from the
Architecture Department, one from the Psychology Department and
another from the Natural Sciences Department.

Before setting up their business, the students designed T-
shirts for campus activities. Deciding to strike out into the
world of business, they came up with an initial investment of Rp
4 million and opened Dagadu. Only eight of the 23 founders are
still active in the business, while others have left to pursue
careers in architecture.

Wondoamiseno, one of the architects of the Malioboro Mall,
gave the students their start by offering them a counter at the
mall. Dagadu rented 20 square-meters of space for Rp 13,000 per
square-meter. They were told they would not have to pay for the
space if their business failed to break even. But from the
beginning, the company was reaping profits.

They business continued to grow, and beyond all their
expectations Dagadu won the MTV-ANteve Youth Award in October
last year.

Dagadu has 10 employees manning the counter in the mall, all
of them university students. They work for four and a half hours
a day earning Rp 200,000 a month. After working for the company
for eight months, counter employees are replaced by new students.
And there are a lot of students eager to work at Dagadu's
counter. The company once received 500 applications for the 10
positions open. This means Dagadu can be more selective in hiring
its employees. Requirements for counter employees included: a
knowledge of tourism in Yogyakarta, the ability to speak Javanese
and English and a minimum grade point average of 2.75 for Gadjah
Mada students and 3.0 for students from other universities.
Dagadu also maintains a close relationship with its former
employees, including inviting them to Dagadu-sponsored events.

Dagadu's turnover is currently about Rp 5.5 million (about
US$700) per day. Everyday, Dagadu sells around 200 T-shirts for
Rp 27,500 each, along with other products, including hats, mugs,
keychains and stickers.

Dagadu's profit margin is around 20 percent to 30 percent,
depending on the item sold. Most of its customers are younger
people, such as students and tourists.

The company's success has made it a prime target for
counterfeiting, with these fake products being sold openly.

Pratita said counterfeiting did not have a great affect on
Dagadu's turnover, but the company was concerned the fake
products could damage its image.

Apart from poor quality of the counterfeit products, traders
sell their goods unethically, forcing consumers into making
purchases. Also, some of the counterfeit products tend to be
anarchist and improper.

According to Kedaulatan Rakyat daily, potential damage to the
company from the counterfeit products is around Rp 1.98 billion a
year.

A seller of counterfeit Dagadu T-shirts, Nanang, not his real
name, said they were not counterfeiters because Dagadu's
trademark was not yet patented. He even thanked the architecture
students for providing them with a new opportunity to earn a
living.

Faced with this situation, Dagadu decided not to open any new
outlets. Its products are only available at two locations in
Yogyakarta: on the lower ground floor of the Malioboro Mall and
on Jl. Pakuningratan, as well as over the Internet.