Four agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather and incumbent DDB, were invited to pitch for Surya Slims, which is targeted at young urban Indonesians.
The low-tar cigarette brand was introduced to compete with Sampoerna’s mild cigarette brands, Sampoerna A Mild and Sampoerna Menthol, which dominate the segment.
Sampoerna has led the mild category since 1989, when it launched the A Mild brand, and now commands 70 per cent market share. Surya Slims also competes with Djarum, which has its own mild and menthol brands.
Gudang Garam has been incurring revenue losses through its mass-market, low-margin brands, and the company has been banking on its low-tar products to spur growth.
However, the launch of Surya Slims came at a time when the Government revealed plans to start limiting cigarette production to 240 billion sticks per year by 2010.
Indonesia is the world’s fifth largest tobacco market, where 63 per cent of men smoke. Smoking among women is becoming more popular in urban areas.
Cigarette advertising is still permitted across all media in Indonesia, although promotions are only allowed on TV and radio after 9.30pm. Packs can only be shown in print as a two-dimensional object with relevant warnings in bold.
Indonesia and North Korea are the only countries in Asia that have not signed the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Gudang picks local shop for creative
JAKARTA - Indonesian cigarette brand Surya Slims, launched last year by the country's largest cigarette producer, Gudang Garam, has assigned creative duties to local agency Cabe Rawit Pariwara.