Security and good PR essential for marketing

Security and good PR essential for marketing

Agus H. Canny
Contributor
Jakarta

For healthy growth in investments or for businesses to
flourish in any country, security is inarguably one of the most
vital factors, especially in view of the current horrors spread
worldwide by various terrorist attacks.
The most recent is the bombing of JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta,
which has diluted investor enthusiasm, both foreign and domestic,
for putting up money or opening new ventures here.

The question is whether it is only the government and its
security apparatus that should bear the responsibility in every
preventive action. To be fair, terrorism concerns everyone. So,
shouldn't each of us, including business enterprises, contribute
as much as possible?

One industrial estate in Jakarta, Jababeka, for example, has
for years now taken steps to ensure the security of its tenants.
Besides complementing it, they are meant to enhance the
conventional, tight security system of the vicinity. Establishing
community relations and community development aimed at empowering
and improving the welfare of communities surrounding this huge
estate are just two of a long list of Jababeka's PR activities.

Another reason for doing this is that Jababeka sincerely
believes that a disadvantaged community can be a cause for
instability, leading to negative or harmful reactions. To
minimize this, in cooperation with the Center for Cultural
Studies of Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Jababeka has
engaged in social mapping to identify the needs and perceptions
of the surrounding communities, who are very much stakeholders as
well. In this way, appropriate policies can be arrived at and
solutions to problems can be found.

The policies are implemented in coordination with the local
administration, such as production of potable water distributed
to the local public. Another form of aid is guidance and
financial help for cooperatives owned by local residents. Carried
out in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood, these activities
have created a positive image about this socially oriented
industrial estate. In this kind of mutually beneficial
relationship, the surrounding communities have a sense of
ownership, which makes security problems much more manageable.

With security taken care of in every possible way, including
care for the communities, marketing for Jababeka has also become
relatively less burdensome. Heavy promotion or aggressive
advertising are no longer necessary, as positive word-of-mouth
recommendation from the evangelists -- the comfortable tenants --
does most of the promotional work necessary. Needless to say,
occupants of this industrial estate are major corporations with
influential clusters and networking that can indirectly create
more business once these existing tenants are served well,
especially from a security aspect.

Marketing gurus Al Ries and Laura Ries wrote in their book,
The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, that a number of
brands were born and succeeded in the market based on excellent
PR instead of bombastic advertising. Following suit, Jababeka is
also a believer in credible PR and its ability to persuade
customers more convincingly. Of course, conventional advertising,
to a certain degree, is still used.

Michael E. Porter, expert on marketing strategy from Harvard
Business School, said that low security or disrupted security
hamper economic development and increase costs. Concurring with
his statement, Jababeka has concluded that security is one of the
vital keys for a successful marketing of industrial estates and
that it is well-nigh impossible to run a credible PR program in
an area that has a high crime rate. A number of companies, Porter
further said, spent some 20 percent of their total outgoings on
security, which tremendously hurt their profits. Bad security
also affects employee performance, flow of raw materials and
shipment of finished goods. No wonder investors think more than
twice before deciding on the most suitable site to build their
factories.

Security has become one of the most "fragile" items, and many
studies have shown that the more stable communities may be, the
easier it is to manage and market an industrial estate, as it is
perceived to be less vulnerable.

It is high time industrial estates realize that the abstract
side of managing security -- caring for communities -- is no less
important, but rather, much more effective. (The writer is
general manager of PT Kawasan Industri Jababeka)