Yogyakarta goes international

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Governor Hamengkubuwono X launched Yogyakarta's new image on Saturday in a bid to make the sultanate town better known among other big cities in the world.

The new brand image "Jogja: Never Ending Asia" which was designed by MarkPlus&Co in association with Indonesia Marketing Association (IMA) Yogyakarta Chapter and Daniel-Michael, in affiliation with Landor Associates, was introduced in a celebration at the Hyatt Regency Yogyakarta.

Some prominent CEOs of national and multinational companies, as well as senior journalists from Asian countries, including Indonesia, attended the event.

Hermawan Kartajaya, MarkPlus&Co's president director and Indonesia Marketing Association's president, who was behind the branding strategy told reporters here that the new brand "Jogja: Never Ending Asia" was part of a vision to inspire Yogyakarta to become the leading economic region in Asia for trade, tourism, and investment in five years.

The color of the word Jogja is green and yellow for Never Ending Asia.

"Our research showed that 'Jogja' instead of 'Yogyakarta' or 'Yogya' would be better memorized as a brand name to market Yogyakarta since for most international audiences "Y" is a difficult letter as the first letter in a word for reading and spelling," he said, adding that 'Jogja' could be easily pronounced.

Hermawan said that the font style 'Jogja' was designed based on authentic handwriting of Hamengkubuwono X. (23)