RI kids, a jumbo market

RI kids, a jumbo market

By Rikza Abdullah

Indonesian children are a huge market in the country but
producers and advertisers have yet to optimize efforts to develop
this potential.

JAKARTA (JP): A primary market, Indonesian children have a
total annual income of about Rp 5 trillion, said a business
consultant.

Some 20 percent of the figure is saved, 20 percent spent on
transportation and the remaining 60 percent for purchasing food,
beverages, toys, etc.

Children get their income mostly from their parents and some
from their relatives, allowances and work.

"Indonesian children are an influence market, which creates
total demands of more than Rp 30 trillion (US$2.63 billion) a
year," Handi Irawan, managing director of Frontier Marketing and
Research Consultant, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

According to a one-month survey conducted in April by Frontier
in five cities, children in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang
and Medan receive an average of Rp 1,825 each in pocket money
from their parents everyday.

The information was gathered from interviews with 2,500
children aged between seven and 13 years, and 1,500 mothers who
had children between four and 12 years of age.

"As an influence market, children mostly influence their
parents in the buying of milk, candies, biscuits, beverages and
comic books," Handi said. "Some parents even take their
children's suggestions into account when buying automotive
vehicles, television sets and medicine."

He estimated that the goods bought by parents under the
influence of their children may be between Rp 30 trillion and Rp
45 trillion in value every year.

Agoes Soehianie, a data analyst at Frontier, explained that
the results of the survey indicated that 94.7 percent of the
children influenced their parents in the buying of candies, 90.4
percent in the buying of comic books, 87.6 percent in the
purchase of biscuits, 83.3 percent in the picking of recreational
places to visit and 23.6 percent in the purchase of television
sets.

Role

More than 20 percent of the children had a role in the choice
of medicine and 12.4 percent in the selecting of medical doctors
to consult.

"The data show that children have bigger roles in the
selection of some goods and service, while parents have stronger
say in the selection of others," Handi commented.

"If producers or service providers set good targets in their
promotional work, they will surely be able to increase their
sales."

In promoting candies, biscuits, comic books and recreational
places, for example, companies should direct their messages to
children, on the hope that they would influence their parents.

But promotional messages on medical services should be
targeted at parents, he said.

Advertisements on milk could be targeted at both children and
parents, he added.

He said television was the best medium for promotion. "But
companies with lower budgets can use the print media for
advertisements."

Frontier's survey showed that 55.8 percent of the children
watched television in the late afternoon, 26.7 percent in the
evening, 15 percent at about noon and only 2.5 percent in the
morning.

Sherina, according to the children, is the most popular
television commercial personality, followed by Joshua, Tasya,
Tamara Bleszinsky and Ari Wibowo.

The magazines liked most by the children were Bobo, Power
Game, Aku Anak Saleh and Kawanku, while the most popular comic
books were Sinchan, Doraemon, Dragon Ball and Detektif Conan.

Media

Djokolelono, creative director of advertising agency McCann-
Erickson Indonesia, said at a seminar on targeting advertisements
at children in Jakarta on May 17 that leaflets, brochures and
announcements on school notice boards were effective media for
promotions of products for intellectual development as they are
formal.

For fascinating products, displays that allow children to see
and touch would be most effective, while for the promotion of
products that need image development, television would be the
best medium, he said.

He said children liked commercials that have humor, adventure,
feature famous children or cartoon figures, interesting scenes
and easy-to-imitate music.

However, he warned that advertisers should not promote
products that might nurture hedonism. "Products to be promoted to
children must be beneficial to their health," he said.

Handi said children were an attractive market segment because
their demands were dynamic and increasing steadily from year to
year. "Because children's interests are not stable and can be
influenced by education, companies that attract their interests
will enjoy a significant growth in sales," he said.

PT Mitra Adiperkasa, a retailer of sporting equipment and
fashion products, among others, has, since two years ago,
expanded its business to products for children.

"People of up to 20 years of age are a potential market
because they compose a large sector of the population in a
country," said Ria Novyanti, general manager of Mitra Adiperkasa.

The company, she said, now operated 20 Kids Station stores and
more than 20 outlets under the name of Oshkosh B'Gosh in several
towns of the country, including Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang,
Yogyakarta, Denpasar in Bali, Medan, Makassar in South Sulawesi
and Manado in North Sulawesi.

Kids Station stores sell toys, story and comic books, fashion
products and stationery of various trade marks, while Oshkosh
B'Gosh outlets sell fashion products for children under the trade
mark of Oshkosh B'Gosh.

"We attract the interests of children by offering a large
variety of products and providing entertainment facilities at our
stores," Ria said, adding that her company would open 10 more
Kids Station stores later this year.

Hanna Subintoro, assistant general manager of Toys "R" Us
Indonesia, told the Post that her company last year enjoyed a 30
percent growth in its sales of imported and domestically produced
toys and goods for children because it continually developed its
sales strategy.

She said the company, which operates three outlets in Jakarta,
continually updated its goods to catch up with the development of
children's interests.

"As we are expecting a 35 percent growth in sales this year,
we are now looking for a location in East or North Jakarta for
the opening of a new outlet," she said.

Bambang Arief Bembie, a businessman in Bandung, even created a
new market for children by producing mini motorcycles using land
mower engines.

Assisted by about 60 workers at his home, he assembles up to
90 mini motorcycles per month, some sold domestically and some
exported.

The broadcasting of Teletubbies by Indosiar TV station, has
developed a new market for Teletubbies dolls, some of which are
imported and some domestically made. Video compact discs (VCD)
and books carrying Teletubbies stories are also on sale at market
places.

Handi said companies could also retain the loyalty of children
as their future customers or their future market if they could
develop their awareness and preference of the products.