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The Rise of Digital Marketing in COVID-19 ridden Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic that has taken the world by storm over the past year has undoubtedly transformed Indonesia’s business landscape. CNN Indonesia (2020) reported that over 3 million people of the Indonesian workforce have been dismissed due to businesses’ inability to sustain them. Not to mention, CNBC Indonesia (2021) stated that around 30 million small to medium-sized businesses have closed down due to the pandemic. Whether it is the fact that many jobs have been lost, or countless businesses have closed down, it is undeniable that the pandemic has brought down its fair share of negative impacts. However, the pandemic has seemed to brought up many possibilities and opportunities as well, the most apparent in the form of ‘Digital Marketing’.

It is clear that the term ‘Marketing” has been around for a long time and that it is nowhere near an unfamiliar term to anybody. However, ‘Digital Marketing’ has only recently been heard of in the past decade or so, at least here in Indonesia. With the emergence of technological advancements and breakthroughs such as the smartphone and virtual reality, the business landscape was sure to be impacted. Especially with the addition of the pandemic, it is fair to say that digital marketing was to take over and change how Indonesian businesses would market themselves.

The pandemic has caused lots of people to stay home and visit stores less. And similarly, businesses have struggled to carry out their business processes due to the many restrictions brought on by the pandemic. And rightfully so, it has presented a golden opportunity for digital marketing in which businesses and their fellow customers had a direct line to each other not limited by distance, cost, and time. Customers and businesses could literally communicate as they see fit, and businesses were allowed the ability to creatively advertise themselves in a way they probably never have done before. This has been observed from the use of such digital marketing tools such as social media platforms and web sites. According to a study performed by Hootsuite (2020), it is estimated that an approximate 175 million Indonesians are active internet users and that 160 million of those users are active on social media. This provides businesses with the ability to market their products and services at an exponential scale that they previously would not have thought of if it was not for the pandemic

Because digital marketing is growing larger and larger by the minute, it can be safe to assume that Indonesia’s business landscape will never be the same again. With the vaccination program underway for the past few months and the number of COVID-19 cases expected to drop, who knows what digital marketing can help businesses achieve in the next year or so.

Dior uses “Kain Endek” from Bali in Paris Fashion Week

The Dior fashion house at the Paris Fashion Week presents a magical nuance. With a dimly lit stage set and an aesthetically pleasing glass mosaic background. What is aesthetic is not only that, but also the appearance of the Endek Bali cloth in the collection.

But that is not all that is unique, Dior wears the Endek Bali cloth as part of his collection. Endek Bali cloth is Dior’s choice of material for the Spring / Summer 2021 collection which is displayed at Paris Fashion Week on the afternoon of 29 September 2020 at Jardin de Tuileries, Paris.

Indonesian ambassador in France said that “The use of Endek Bali fabrics for the Spring / Summer 2021 collection by Christian Dior, is a high recognition of the beauty and quality of Endek Bali fabrics and contributes positively to the international fashion world. Hopefully, this will be an encouragement for people in Bali amid the challenges of Covid-19,”

From about 86 collections of clothing on display, there are at least 9 collections that wear this Endek cloth. This Balinese Endek cloth is not only applied by Chiuri as a material for clothing. She also wears this vintage, earthy tone fabric as part of her bag collection.

Based on the research conducted by the Christian Dior Team, the Endek Bali cloth is a cultural value that is very much in accordance with the work that Christian Dior wanted to raise.

The coordination and cooperation between the Indonesian Embassy in Paris and Christian Dior are carried out closely to ensure that the use of the Endek cloth is in accordance with the rules of Balinese culture and customs.

idEA: 25% Increase in E-commerce Sales during the Pandemic

Chairman of the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (IdEA) Bima Laga said the appeal for limiting face-to-face activities greatly affected the increase in online shopping transactions. Although purchasing power has decreased due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bima said transactions of basic goods, even products related to hobbies have increased.

Earlier, IdEA recorded a 25 percent increase in sales on e-commerce platforms during the pandemic. “Performance is basically improving. Indeed, it takes a greater effort to maintain good performance in the current economic condition,” Bima told Tempo, Wednesday, November 11, 2020.

Tokopedia Ekhel Chandra Wijaya’s External Communications Senior Lead noted that in the third quarter, sales of the food and beverage category nearly tripled during the pandemic. People who are more active at home also encourage an increase in the household category which has more than doubled and the health category increases almost 2.5 times compared to the pre-pandemic period.

“We will continue to focus on helping local business activists adopt digital platforms to sustain business and contribute to economic recovery affected by the pandemic,” Ekhel said.

Based on research from Google and Temasek 2020, e-Commerce remains the main growth driver for Indonesia’s digital economy. The research noted an increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) or the total value of e-commerce transactions by 54 percent annually to US $ 32 billion from US $ 21 billion previously. GMV e-commerce is also predicted to increase to US $ 83 billion in 2025.