Promotion girls spice up Jakarta Fair

Promotion girls spice up Jakarta Fair

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lina, as she prefers to be called, swivels her head from left to
right, which causes her long black hair to swing in all
directions.

Slowly smoothing her hair back in place with her left hand,
she smiles as she greets visitors, both male and female, as she
hands out promotional brochures to people who seem mesmerized by
her looks.

"The secret," she said, "is to get people's attention with
anything you have. If it is your hair or your eyes, then so be it
and use it, because the objective is to hand out all these
brochures.

"You do not expect me to give you a detailed explanation about
water pumps, do you? You are not a homeowner and I know nothing
about water pumps," said Lina, who works at an exhibition stand
for a water pump company.

Lina is one of the more than 10,000 promotion girls tending
some 1,140 exhibition stands at the Jakarta Fair 2003 in
Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, whose main duty is to attract
visitors, mostly men, into buying their products.

The presence of the girls certainly sparks up the fair, which
runs until July 13, as many businesses believe that pretty faces
mean good business.

Jimmy, who owns a stand at the fair, said: "When I started
operating a stand at the Jakarta Fair in 1995, I looked after my
own stand and got such a low revenue.

"However, when I started to recruit promotion girls for my
stand a few years ago, my profits tripled. Oh ... I sell sexual
performance enhancement drugs."

He explained that he usually contacts a modeling agency to use
the services of promotion girls. During one event at the Jakarta
Fair, he needed about six to 10 girls at his stand.

"The agency usually charges me between Rp 75,000 (US$9) and Rp
350,000, per person per shift, depending on the girl's knowledge,
experience, personality and, ultimately, looks," he said.

There has been some criticism directed toward promotion girls'
knowledge and personality for becoming companies' marketing tools
as many of them are hired only for their looks, and are usually
not given any information on the products being sold.

"I never get a proper explanation from a promotion girl as
they are mostly clueless about the products they are selling,"
said Aji, a visitor at the fair.

However, people often underestimate what the promotion girls
are capable of accomplishing as salespersons, while like most
men, Aji submitted when several very attractive and persistent
promotion girls persuaded him to buy some products that he did
not need.

"I just bought a bottle of honey and a bottle of car shampoo,
whereas I hate sweet stuff and I do not own a car.

"Are we (men) weak and stupid? I guess we are," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, Vanya, 28, said that she had been working as a
promotion girl for about nine years and has made a career out of
it.

"I was originally signed by a modeling agency as I wanted to
become a professional model or a movie actress. During the lean
years when there were no modeling jobs, I became a promotion
girl.

"However, the more I realized that the competition in the
movie and fashion industries was too stiff, I shifted directions
and tried to find an alternative way to make a living," she said.

She said she soon decided to develop her own network from the
many trade events she had frequented, and managed to make a
career out of being a promotion girl from one trade event to the
other, without having to rely on the help of an agency.

"I have traveled as far as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong,
Taiwan and Dubai, with all expenses paid for by fair organizers
and I was given a good sum of money for it," she said.

However, she recognized that promotion girls were often
associated with "brainless beauties" as most companies did not
put any effort into developing the girls' knowledge on the
products being sold and instead utilized them as part of the
companies' marketing strategy of flaunting sex appeal to sell
products, even though it was often unnecessary.

"We help businesses generate money and I like doing what I do
and being acknowledged for my looks. For people like me who have
failed in other endeavors, this job can boost self-esteem," she
said.