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)