Matari gets Garuda image overhaul job

Matari Advertising has won the Rp35 billion (about US$4.1 million) Garuda Indonesia account, following what was described by the advertising industry as the "pitch of the year" which involved 16 local and multi-national agencies. The account is one of the largest handled by any agency in Indonesia for a single product. Matari, which has been tasked with running a two-year marketing communications campaign aimed at improving Garuda's image, took a bold approach when pitching for the account. "While the other agencies tried to sell how beautiful Indonesia is, we told Garuda to admit that they have big problems, to invite customers to keep telling them how unhappy they are with Garuda, and to commit to change," said Ken T. Sudarto, the chairman of Matari Advertising. "We did warn them that the approach could backfire if they don't deliver what they promise, but I think they have reached a stage where they don't have a choice." The state-owned carrier has been suffering from a bad image due to inefficiencies blamed on corruption. In 1998, a decline in the travel business amid the regional economic crisis forced the airline to axe unprofitable routes and reduce its fleet size. Last year, the company began operating on a profit again after a new management took over and introduced measures to improve its services. Matari's advertising strategy for Garuda, said Mr Sudarto, is to pre-empt the audience with a series of full-page ads in major newspapers, accompanied by longer-than-usual TVCs, using the tagline 'Garuda is now different'. He explained : "In the first ad, Garuda will thank its customers for their complaints. The second ad will state the improvements Garuda has made and its commitment to bringing more improvements. "The third ad will invite the audience to try them out. By the second year, the ads will feature the public stating that 'Garuda is indeed different'." Below-the-line communications will focus on training customer relations staff to handle complaints at every airport in Indonesia. "They need a complete overhaul to their image," said Mr Sudarto, adding that although Garuda has made significant improvements in their operations, they fail to be convincing. "No one believes it," he said. However, he praised Garuda for making the pitch transparent. Matari had pitched for Garuda several times in the past, but Ken said that this was their first fair pitch. "They had 20 or 30 people in the room explaining how the points were scored," he said. Several consultants were also brought in to assist in the selection process.

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