UNAIR NEWS - Directorate of Career Development, Entrepreneurship Incubation, and Alumni (DPKKA) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) held a webinar on Thursday, June 22, 2020. The activity carried the theme of The Journey to Develop Brand Image in FMCG Industry by collaborating with Otsuka.

The webinar speaker was Andiek Mursid PS SSos, Head of Region Brand Communication (HRBC) East PT Amerta Indah Otsuka. He likened brand image building to a baby, which requires long planning. Even after birth, we cannot just let it go.

"After we plan well, the brand is born. Is the baby, after birth, able to stand up, find food, or live? Then we must love this baby, feed it, milk it, and check its health. The same goes for newly released brands," he said. 

Andiek strongly emphasized that planning must be done before releasing a brand. Companies can conduct surveys, product trials, target markets, etc. If not, he equates it to planning for failure.

Ensure Product Strength

Product is the basic elements that should be the focus before building a brand image. According to Andiek, the product itself should be able to speak about its strengths independently. Ensure the product's advantages and strengths are clear before determining the future strategy.

"The product itself must speak. The product itself must provide benefits, be beautiful, environmentally friendly, in accordance with the law, and not violate the norms that exist in society," he explained.

Make sure the company is clear.

Second, Andiek continued to make sure that the company was clear. So, the product must have clarity on who made it and where the capital came from, and all supporting aspects must be clear. Don't build positive things, but the basis is unclear or illegal.

"The company must be credible. The company must be clear must be healthy. If the company is unhealthy, violates the law, and has problems, how can we build a brand image?" he continued.

Determine the Distribution of Party

Third, Andiek mentions manpower, the party responsible for carrying, distributing, and promoting the trademark. The manpower must be people who can associate a brand with themselves. 

"It's like if someone is Otsuka, a health company. The employees must be healthy, have a healthy lifestyle, and exercise diligently. Those who previously smoked try to reduce smoking. So if you join a health brand, bring it to his personality," he added.

Product Marketing 

Finally, Andiek revealed that product marketing is equally important to expand the product's reach to the public. Promoters must ensure that the brand image of the product circulating in the community is the brand image being built. 

"People have their perception, and brands have their perception. Well, marketing brings together the wrong perceptions in the community to reach the brand image that this brand wants for the community," he concluded (*).