Re:thinking Marketing

Judging at the (Regional Trade, Tourism, Investment) RTTI award

These past two days (14-15 May 2008) have been a weary and enjoyable burst. I spent 13 hours non stop a day in closed doors as one of the judges of the Best Governor/Mayor. The award judgment is made based on their achievement in Trade, Tourism, and Investment (TTI). I was very happy though, since I witnessed the enthusiasm of all participants in marketing their regions have grown higher. Some cities are so creative and even surprising. Sawahlunto, once a city famous for their coal mines trasformed their deserted mining sites into a tour site. They called it mining tour city. I thought this was just great.

This event is a cooperation effort between MarkPlus, Inc with the Indonesia Marketing Association (IMA) and the DPD RI. Its objective is to support and foster the growth of provinces and cities throughout Indonesia. This event also continues the Country Distinguished Marketing Award by Philip Koler to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Agustus 2007. The winner will receive the Regional Trade, Tourism, and Investment Award (RTTI) Award which will be presented by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himslef at the Indonesia Regional Investment Forum (IRIF) 2008 on 26-27 May, 2008 at the Hotel Ritz-Carlton Pasific Place Jakarta.

I have long encouraged the importance of marketing for places in Indonesia. Especially after the decentralization (otonomo daerah) which gave the challenge and opportunity for each region to optimize their revenue. The strategy in marketing places has been also written in a one of my books back in 2005, "Attracting Tourists, Traders, Investors: Strategi Memasarkan Daerah di Era Otonomi".

I hope that in the future all of the provinces and regions will move forward into a better phase, and evetually our beloved nation will prosper.

Photos from St. Petersburg

Here's more to see... No offense here... but these are some interesting shots I took... the blend of culture, life-style, and faith? Go figure... I think that in Indonesia, the exclusivity idea is becoming more inclusive.

Communism and Dior

The Victory Day Parade - flag with the symbol of communism

The Victory Day Parade - flag with the picture of Jesus

Photos from Warsaw and St. Petersburg

Hi everyone...
Early this week I just returned from my trip to Europe. I visited Warsaw, Poland and St. Petersburg, Russia. Two very beautiful cities. Very classic Europe. Here are some of my photos. The first one is the opening of the 1st Indonesia Expo - Central & East Europe by H.E. The Deputy Prime Minister of Republic of Poland. The second one is the Ambassador of Repulic of Indonesia for Republic of Poland, H.E. Hazairin Pohan in his opening speech. The third photo is Titiek Puspa at one of the jewerly stands. The fourth photo is me at St. Petersburg Central. More interesting photos from Russia with love will come along the way. Enjoy!

The 1st Indonesia Expo-Central and East Europe (IE CEE): One Stop Shopping for Indonesian Marketers and European Buyers

What is the IE CEE? It is a strategic event where buyers can take a closer look at the latest range of export quality products, investment opportunities and tourism packages offered by the Indonesian government, companies and tour operators. The four day event also offers one-on-one business meetings, seminars, and workshops between the 1000 Indonesian companies and their European counterparts. This event is a one stop shopping venue for TTI marketers from Indonesia and TTI buyers from Europe.
Furthermore, the first IE CEE will not only strengthen cooperation in the region of CEE, but also in Europe generally. The event is also fully supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Investment Coordinating Board, and State Ministry for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprise.
It is also the first event which involves a large scale of exhibitors, buyers, and investors for a specific regional market. The exhibitors come from the trade, tourism, and potential investment interest. The trade exhibitors come from various industries such as furniture, gifts and crafts, jewelry, cosmetics, food and agriculture products, paper and stationery, glassware, plastic, footwear, leather, and electronic equipments.
The investment exhibitors comes from industries such as mining, power plants, agriculture, construction, real estate, roads and highways, railways, and harbors. Through the event’s website, we can also search for the exhibitors company as well as the investment sector available. While the tourism exhibitors consists of at least 13 participants. The large scale of this event makes it an efficient way of marketing.
I would like to congratulate Ambassador Pohan and all of the other parties who make it possible for this event to be present. I would also like to wish all the best for all parties contributing and participating in this strategic event. Whether we are in trade, tourism, or investment, I am sure we can add value for ourselves and our countries. Through this event, I am sure that Indonesia can adopt this smart marketing way in times to come and in other places to come. Finally, I believe that this event will strongly support the “Visit Indonesia 2008” program initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia.

Check out their web at: http://www.indonesiaexpo-cee.com

Leaving for Warsaw, Poland

Tonight I will be leaving Jakarta for a trip to Europe. My first stop will be Warsaw, Poland. I will attend the First Indonesia Expo-Central & East Europe (IE CEE). I was invited by the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia for the Republic of Poland, HE Hazairin Pohan. I have known him for quite some time and find him as a highly competent diplomat as well as a smart marketer. Before, he was the long serving Director for Central and East Europe (CEE) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of our encounter was at a workshop two years ago.
A couple years ago, in early July 2006, I was asked to conduct a workshop for approximately 30 high profiled Indonesian diplomats. The mission was to share a marketing framework and mindset for them to be able to play the role as a marketer for Indonesia. The workshop was located in the classic city and capital of Romania, Bucharest. One of the concrete outputs from the workshop was Indonesia’s positioning statement as “exotic and resourceful”
Through the years, Ambassador Pohan has longed the idea of building a stronger cooperation with the CEE countries and Indonesia. Both parties have a great deal of potential that is yet to be unleashed. Through the initiation of a large scale exhibition of Indonesian offerings, he brought up the idea of bridging a seemingly distance between Indonesia and the CEE. Generally, the event is intended to bring closer the markets of Europe and Indonesia and the entailed business opportunities, as well as obtain more insights of our unique culture.
Looking forward for that!

Dinner at Mushroom resto

A week ago, I was invited by my ex-personal assistant, Probo, to have a dinner at Mushroom. Mushroom, a Chinese food restaurant targeted for family with value-for-money concept, is a part of his family business. It is located in one of fast growing areas in Jakarta, which is in Mega-Glodok-Kemayoran mall in Kemayoran,
I went there not only just had dinner but also to had meeting with the head of MarkPlus Institute of Marketing – an education division of MarkPlus, Yuswohady, and the president of Indonesia Marketing Association, Junardy. We were served with special menus from Mushroom, namely sup bibir ikan, Mushroom fried chicken marinated with garlic and cashew, broccoli and mushroom sautéed with garlic, and jamur special Mushroom, accompanied with fresh fruits and Chinese tea. My favorite menu in Mushroom is “Jamur Special Mushroom”. It is actually fried and spiced mushroom. It is crispy and spicy!

Congratulations to Probo for his restaurant. I am happy to see more of our young marketers take the challenge as entrepreneurs!

Implementing the fifth C

A couple days ago I was invited by a large telecommunication company to deliver a presentation on how technology plays an important role in marketing. The audience were invitees by the company, reaching almost 200 people. Since their specific business is B2B, I presented the idea of the fifth C. I guess most of you are familiar with the other four Cs. The 4C model was designed to serve as a simple yet powerful model in analyzing your business landscape.
The first C is change. Change itself has five elements in it. technology, political-legal, economy, social-cultural, and market. The second C is competitor. The third one is customer. The last C is your company. Based on the three Cs, your company must than build a marketing architecture. Here is where the nine core elements of marketing comes in place. But we'll discuss about that later.
So, why the fifth C? I came up with the idea specially for the case of a company that needs to integrate all the four Cs in a responsive manner. These days, a company can not rely on a "command and control approach, but must adopt a "sense and respond" approach.
What is the fifth C? Simple. Connector. It is the technology enabler which connects the change, competitor, and customer in an effective and efficient manner. It is the means for achieving efficiency in gathering the four Cs information before we start managing deeper in our marketing activities. If we can implement such a system precisely, we can create a more on-to-one segmentation and targeting. Also a more solution based marketing mix. Lastly, we can create more value adds on our process and service.