EQUIL clarifies

EQUIL clarifies

We wish to comment on the article Build strong local brands
before going regional, warns Kotler, which appeared in The
Jakarta Post on Nov. 25.

We fully concur with the writer that indeed some local and
regional events still use imported water as a sign of their
inferiority complex for local products, and their esteemed regard
for things imported.

However, the article has erred on two counts:

* "Foreign bottled mineral water was served to the
panelist..." The natural mineral water served to the panelists
was indeed and proudly, the product of Indonesia with its strong
brand already well known in the ASEAN region. The product, EQUIL,
was born and grown in Indonesia, and has also been exported to
Europe and the Middle East. EQUIL also won the Laurent Perrier
Champagne Award in the Netherlands in 2004.

* "...host Indonesia has many local mineral water brands
attractive enough to prompt ..."
The sentence should read "... host Indonesia has many local
bottled drinking water brands to prompt..."

Reason: There is only one natural mineral water in Indonesia
with the brand EQUIL. The other so called "mineral waters" that
the writer has in mind are just bottled drinking water, or Air
minum dalam kemasan.

Here, once again, the Post has failed to differentiate natural
mineral water from bottled drinking water, thus perpetuating the
confusion that has long existed in the minds of many Indonesian
consumers.

We have written to your paper several times on this issue, and
we even offer to do a presentation before your editors and
reporters so that similar mistakes can be avoided. Our offer is
still open.

MORGEN SUTANTO, EQUIL, Jakarta

Note: Thank you for the clarification.

--Editor