New marketing plan a must to enlarge market percentage
New marketing plan a must to enlarge market percentage
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian companies must escalate their marketing strategy
from the customer satisfaction level to the sensational level in
a bid to snatch the largest market share in coming years.
"What they're doing now is only at the level of customer
satisfaction. Their marketing strategies have to go to the level
of customer experience where the keyword is sensation," marketing
consultant Hermawan Kartajaya said on Wednesday during a seminar
titled "Seizing the 2004 Market with Integrated Marketing
Communication (IMC)".
IMC is defined as a process for managing the customer
relationship that drives brand value. It takes forms such as
above the line advertisement through electronic and print media,
and below the line advertisement using direct mailing, public
relations and sales promotions.
"This is the sensational communication era, you can't do
average stuff anymore. Go to entertainment pools like theaters,
cafes, and learn from entertainment people to find sensational
ideas," Hermawan said in the seminar held by The Jakarta Post.
General manager of Telkomsel Erik Meijer, who was among the
speakers at the seminar, said that the method had worked in his
company.
"We got free media coverage for our the new features of our
Simpati GSM card," he said, referring to an off-air Simpati event
where he and several of Telkomsel's managers had their heads
shaved by Miss Universe 2003 some time ago.
His statement is supported by the general manager of Bates
Indonesia, Deli Makmur, who said that having a unique style of
delivering a message would differentiate a brand from the others.
"Differentiating your brand from the competition is the
biggest challenge faced by advertisers and advertising agencies,"
he said.
Another topic discussed in the seminar was the effectiveness
of below the line advertisement. Lia Sunarjo, general manager of
Euro RSCG Active, took the example of Nescafe Ice, which only
spent 10 percent of its advertising budget for above the line
advertisement.
"We spent the rest on below the line, such as holding
entertainment events and launching the product on campus. The
result was an increase by 20 percent of our brand's total market
share within four months," she said.
This statement was amplified by Hermawan who said that using
traditional media such as television or magazines to advertise
products was no longer the most effective way.
In his presentation, he stated that 75.2 percent of a
consumer's decision to purchase was influenced by word of mouth,
which is a form of below the line advertisement, whereas only
50.6 percent was based on television exposure.
"This word-of-mouth method will be beneficial to our company
as the cost will be lower and at the same time we will get our
message across," he said.