Re:thinking Marketing

MarkPlus Midyear Gathering 08: Being a MarkPluser !

On 11 and 12 July, we hosted our MarkPlus Mid Year Gathering at Garden Hotel, Surabaya. This event was attended by over 150 MarkPlusers from Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Semarang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

In this midyear gathering, we discussed the 4P core values of MarkPlus that has been used for years but this time will be even more developed. Why is it so important? Because core values are the elements that builds the corporate culture of MarkPlus that differentiates us from others. This is the corporate PDB. But, the 4Ps are not marketing mix. It is the four passions inherent in every MarkPluser: Passion for Knowledge, Passion for Business, Passion for Service and Passion for People.

What is unique this year is that this time we invited our client to give input and even critique. Mr. Suwito Sumargo from GBT and Mr. Ahmad Rusdifahmi from Indosat graced our event and gave their insight. So we do not just preach the value of listening to customers, we practice it too! Kiai Adib, my friend from Islamic Boarding School Pesantren Langitan, was also invited to give spiritual guidance at Friday’s prayer for our Muslim MarkPlusers.

In the evening, we hosted our very own MarkPlus Idol. At this event, every MarkPluser showcased their talents at singing our new theme song “Being a MarkPluser”, specially created by Jacky Mussry. Every MarkPluser from various divisions competed to present their unique talents. It was such a joyous event!

Kiai Adib (left) from Pesantren Langitan

Mr. Ahmad Rusdifahmi from Indosat and Mr. Suwito Sumargo from GBT

MarkPlus Festival 08

MarkPlus Festival 08 “Marketing in the Challenging Landscape, Are You Creative Enough?” in Surabaya was a success. It is quite possibly the biggest Marketing Festival in Indonesia, and perhaps in ASEAN, with more than 1500 participants attending.

Prof Dr Ir Muhammad Nuh DEA, Minister of Communications and Information, commenced the festival with an official welcome. After giving his keynote speech, he presented the Surabaya Sparkling Award to six winning varsity teams from Surabaya. Following which he awarded the Surabaya Brand Awards to 21 brands in local, national, international and legacy category.

Overall, there were a total of 21 speakers and moderators from Jakarta and Surabaya including those from MarkPlus Inc themselves, disseminating presentations over three parallel sessions simultaneously. This event was ended with another plenary session graced by Dahlan Iskan, head of Newspaper Publishing Union (Serikat Penerbit Surat kabar / SPS) and seven leaders of various industry associations in East Java. I chaired as moderator for the last plenary session.

Earlier in the first morning session, I explained about the 8 marketing phenomena in the first semester of 2008, 8 reasons to forget the price war and 8 creative strategies to use in the second semester of 2008. With this festival, I urge fellow marketers to move away from the price war. We have to be even more creative entering this second semester.

One month before the MarkPlus Festival begun, I wrote an article every day for Jawa Pos and Radar Surabaya for over three weeks. I was given generous permission by Mbak Nany Widjaja, director of PT Jawa Pos, to write for both newspapers. The result was very effective looking at the enthusiasm we received from arek arek Suroboyo - the people of Surabaya - towards our column. They’ve even kindly requested for me to continue to write for both newspapers.

My hope for this Markplus Festival is that it would rouse the marketing spirit, not only in Surabaya, but so that its echoes can be heard throughout Indonesia.

me gave a presentasion during the plennary session

Minister of Communications and Information, Prof Dr Ir Muhammad Nuh DEA, opened the MarkPlus Festival 08

Founder and CEO of Jawa Pos Group, Dahlan Iskan, one of speakers in panel discussion session

Judging for the fifth time for Abang None 2008

For the last few days ago, I was buried by my routines as always. But there was one surprising moment, since I was chosen to be one of the judges of ABNON (Abang None) 2008 for the FIFTH time. Led by Mr. Rusdi Saleh, I together with Mr. Robert P Silalahi, Mrs. Rae Sita Supit, Mrs. Okky Asokawati, Mrs. Ratih Sanggarwati, and Mrs. Tity Koesoemo were responsible to deliver some material for all the Abang None’s contestants based on each of our expertise. We were lecturing as well as sharing our passion to them.

On 28 – 29 July 2008, these two days full of excitement. These days were the beginning of serial judgment for all the contestants. They were asked one by one by each judge. Not only to know their skill but also their knowledge. They are in fact the “ambassador” of Jakarta. Broad and wide knowledge must be blended together with interpersonal skill, to promote Jakarta to the world.

As I told you at the beginning, I have been being the judge for the fifth time. Each year I noticed, there will always changing among all the contestants. Enthusiasm and teamwork spirit are very strong this year. They all young generation of Indonesia evidently gave me back some kind of emotional support and strength.

However, the final judgment hasn’t come yet, all the contestants should wait until fourth of July, where I and the other judges will need to decide one couple (Abang & None) Best of the Best to promote our Jakarta city.

AIESEC, New Wave, People to People

Last Saturday I held an internal meeting at my office, discussing about the idea of New Wave Marketing. It lasted the whole day... from morning till night. In the afternoon, I excused myself for a couple of hours to attend an invitation from AIESEC. I was asked to deliver a keynote speech on "Think ASEAN". The AIESEC event is a part of their 60th year anniversary celebration. It was held at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel in Jakarta. Dozens of people attended the event. Most of them were AISEC members from Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Malaysia. AIESEC is a unique organization for me. They are global minded, young, and inclusive. I believe that these young people will become the future generation of world leaders.

In today's borderless world, where technology has enabled the acceleration for social connections, everybody can have a say. About a decade ago, the Asian economy was led by Japan. Other countries mostly followed. These past years, China and India has taken the spotlight for Asia's most dynamic economy. Other countries, such as South Korea is also growing strong. What many people have forgotten is ASEAN. ASEAN actually has a unique differentiation and is also playing an important role in today's world economy. I can say that it is the most peaceful region in Asia. The countries in ASEAN are also quite similar in terms of social-cultural. ASEAN is also becoming a single market as well as community. One great example of a multinational company which has viewed ASEAN as a single market is Toyota. That is why they have been very successful in their Kijang brand throughout ASEAN. The reality of globalization is actually creating regionalization. That is another reason why ASEAN is becoming more important.

Becoming a community is not as easy as it may sound. We must be more familiar and connected with other people throughout ASEAN. Through the dynamics in social technology, we are entering a new wave era. In order to embrace the new wave phenomena in ASEAN, all members must not only connect in the government level (G2G) and business level (B2B). They must also build a strong bond between people, or what I call people to people (P2P). Here is where AIESEC can play an important role. Connecting people to people!

And, by the way... if you want to find out what I discussed at my office for one whole day... just keep in touch with my blog and my facebook profile.

Empowering Marketing: My new tv show on Jak TV

How important is marketing in a company? Very important! It plays a strategic role in any business. Would you like to know real experiences from top chief marketing officers? Then, make sure you set your tv for my new show. Here is more about it...
My new show on JakTV is called "Empowering Marketing" presented by the Jakarta Chief Marketing Officer Club and supported by the Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing. In this one hour show, I will invite a high profile executive from a company or organization. Together, we will discuss about the important role and significant contribution of marketing in their working environment. The show has started for several episodes now, featuring Mr Guntur Siboro from Indosat, Mr Joe Kamdani from Datascript, and Prof Jitendra Singh from Nanyang Business School of Singapore. I obtained many valuable insights from all of them. I hope to share it with all of you. Some upcoming famous names are Mr Agung Adi Prasetyo from Kompas Gramedia Group, Mr Purnomo Prawiro from Blue Bird Group, and Mr Johnny Darmawan from Toyota Astra Motor. So, stay tuned for Empowering Marketing on JakTV every Monday at 10 pm. I hope you will enjoy it.

A Short Story from KL

Today, I've just arrived at Jakarta. Yesterday, I went to Kuala Lumpur for a short trip. In KL, I met with my friend, Professor DR. Samsinar Md. Sidin. She is the Dean of Graduate School of Management (GSM) at Universiti Putra Malaysia. We had dinner together at JW Marriot Hotel. We had a great conversation during the dinner.

I also got an invitation to the launching of Heitech Village 2 from HeiTech Padu Berhad, one of Malaysia’s leading ICT Solutions and Services provider.They have just launched a World-class Datacenter located in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam.

HeiTech Padu Berhad is one of our client in MarkPlus Malaysia. We helped them formulize their company's tagline: Truly Transformational.This tagline has become a part of their corporate's philosophy.I felt really proud when I saw that our contribution are proven valuable for them. Congratulation for HeiTech Padu Berhad! Hope in the future we can colaborate together again.

Invitation Cover Letter from Heitech Padu Berhad

The RTTI Award Night...

Last Monday I attended the RTTI Award at Ritz Carlton. For the province level first prize went to Gorontalo, North Sulawesi and Yogyakarta came in second, while the third place was shared between Riau and Middle Kalimantan. For the kabupaten level, Lamongan won first place, Sragen won second, and the third spot was shared by three cities Lebak, North Bengkulu, and Kolaka. For the kotamadya Sawahlunto came in first, follwed by Banjar, and then Bogor.
Congratulations for all the winners!

The Winners!
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Me speaking...

Indonesian Idol singing...