Susilo all mixed up when it comes to public relations

Susilo all mixed up when it comes to public relations

Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta

The nation is facing a possible bird flu epidemic. The
government decides to act and just before the Cabinet meets last
Tuesday, the President discusses a campaign on the safe
consumption of chicken meat.

In a photo opportunity, the President holds up a poster for
the campaign. The headline on the poster reads: "Chicken meat and
eggs are nutritious foods."

DOUBLE TAKE: Is this a campaign to promote the consumption of
poultry and eggs or to educate the public on how to make sure the
chicken and eggs they eat are safe amid the possibility of a bird
flu epidemic? What sort of a cockamamie public relations advice
has the President been subjected to again?

Almost one year into his presidency, the photo of Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono holding up that poster, as Vice President Jusuf
Kalla looks on passively, is somehow emblematic of all that is
wrong with the President's public relations.

Here you have a man who is obviously full of integrity and
with concern about what is happening to his people etched on his
face. He probably instructed his communications aides to come up
with a campaign to educate people so that they would be safe from
the effects of bird flu. His people go away and come up with a
disconnected message. The local phrase for disconnect, ngak
nyambung, is extremely appropriate.

If there is a phrase to sum up the President's public
relations efforts over the past year, ngak nyambung would be it.
It would describe perfectly the tedious efforts his PR gurus have
put into building up his image, only to deliver messages that
come close to, but somehow never, address the real issues. The
result is lots of form without substance; window dressing without
the accompanying view.

The ongoing fuel crisis is a good example of ngak nyambung
communications. In moments of crises people expect their leaders
to give them an assessment of the situation, articulate how they
intend to lead the nation out of the situation, give them hope
for optimism and then spring into action.

What we get instead is window dressing. There were the appeals
to turn down air conditioners, the eschewing of warm western
suits for cool batik and the expediency of subsidizing the poor
with the money gained from slashing subsidies.

But when it came to action, it was a case of dithering and
murmurs of inevitable fuel price hikes. There has so far been no
eloquent articulation of a plan to lead Indonesia out of the
problem, the necessary steps that need to be taken and the
sacrifices required of each and everyone of us to free Indonesia
once and for all from the yoke of fuel subsidies. Why couldn't
the President's PR gurus have devoted as much energy to this
endeavor as they spent setting up photo opportunities of the
President in batik?

Then there was the video-conferencing brouhaha. Susilo goes to
Washington and uses video-conferencing to keep in touch with the
Cabinet. Good on him. In doing so he joins the countless legions
of top business and government executives who use technology to
keep in touch and help him make decisions. No big deal.

The window dressers, however, could not let this opportunity
pass. They had to create a media opportunity of it by inviting
the media to witness the first few minutes of this remarkably
savvy use of technology. The result is endless criticism and
speculation of a rift with his Vice President. Ngak nyambung
communication strikes again.

Indeed the President's image gurus' infatuation with
technology is now notorious. How many of us can forget the
incident where the President must have been advised to give out
his personal cell phone number to anyone who wanted to complain
about the government? Or when millions of Indonesians got a
personal SMS from the President telling them to stop using drugs?

The image gurus are also obsessed with creating photo
opportunities, thinking that they can boost Susilo's popularity
with images depicting him as a caring man of the people. Those
interested in getting the full catalog of cheesy promotional
photographs that have made it into the newspapers can pick up a
recent copy of a the curiously titled magazine Men's Obsession,
which demonstrates hagiography at its best.

As the President completes his first year in office there is a
loud call for him to replace his economic ministers. Perhaps the
President should also review the performance of his image
advisers who have failed to capitalize on the new
administration's greatest asset: Susilo himself.

In spite of all the PR muddles Susilo still has the goodwill
of the people at large. People generally like him. They think he
is honest, full of integrity and genuinely wants to move
Indonesia forward, but is hampered from doing so because of the
low caliber and integrity of those around him.

Entering his second year Susilo has to act fast and decisively
to show that he can rise above these limitations. If he fails to
do so, fickle public sentiment could begin to turn against him.
He needs to act and part of this action is to communicate
effectively in a way that is credible and that connects with the
people, rather than resorting to window dressing, platitudes and
lots of sound bites signifying nothing.

Almost a year after taking office what is the state of
President Susilo's image? How is he perceived by the public and
the media?

There will no doubt be a plethora of surveys on all sorts of
perceptions on all aspects of Susilo's presidency by next week to
commemorate his first year in office. Here, however, is an
unscientific and opinionated PR practitioner's view of Susilo's
public image:

Surprisingly, President Susilo has survived the first year
with his image quite intact, in spite of obviously appalling PR
advice, being surrounded by non-performing ministers with their
own agendas and having to face thorny issues such as the tsunami,
the falling rupiah and the fuel subsidy.

The writer is a partner at maverick, a public relations
consultancy specializing in crisis and issues management. He can
be contacted at ong@maverick.co.id.