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Embracing the Era of Storytelling: Why Indonesian Brands Need to Start Telling A Better Story
[May 26, 2016]

Embracing the Era of Storytelling: Why Indonesian Brands Need to Start Telling A Better Story


JAKARTA, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by its vision to help and support Indonesian companies bring their brand stories to global newsrooms, PR Newswire successfully held its inaugural Media Coffee event on May 12 in Jakarta with the theme "How to Tell Your Stories to the World: Challenges of Going Global for Indonesian Communication Professionals". The event was opened by Yujie Chen, Senior Vice President of PR Newswire, Asia Pacific, followed by three esteemed speakers: Nia Niscaya, Director of International Tourism Promotion at the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Indonesia, Prita Laura, News Anchor of Metro TV, and Justin Doebele, Chief Editorial Advisor of Forbes Indonesia and Vice President of Jakarta Foreign Correspondent Club. The keynote speakers shared their insights on how Indonesian brands should strategize their storytelling to connect with global audiences. The archived video of the event is now available upon registration.

Keynote speakers (from the left): Justin Doebele, Chief Editorial Advisor at Forbes Indonesia and Vice President of Jakarta Foreign Correspondent Club, Prita Laura, News Anchor at Metro TV, Nia Niscaya, Director of International Tourism Promotion at Ministry of Tourism, Government of Indonesia, and Yujie Chen, Senior Vice President of PR Newswire, Asia Pacific.

 

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Partnering with Perhumas, the leading professional association for public relations practitioners, and Bubu Kreasi Perdana, one of the largest digital advertising agencies and web developers in Indonesia, the event brought together more than 80 senior communications professionals from some of the biggest brands in Indonesia to examine the current challenges and opportunities facing the profession.

Filling the Communication Gap: It is Never Too Early to Tell Your Brand Stories

With its young and tech-savvy demographic, growing middle class, thriving consumer sector, and the Indonesian government's commitment in starting an infrastructure boom, Indonesia is an exciting growth market for foreign investors. Yujie Chen kicked off the event by giving an overview of the optimistic economic outlook in Indonesia and why brands need to start delivering their stories to global audiences. Some of Cen's key highlights in the presentation include:



  • According to the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer report, trust in business (71%) in Indonesia is the highest among nine APAC countries surveyed. However, Chen stated that there is still a communication gap that brands need to fill in order to build credibility and awareness among international audiences.
  • Marking its 110th anniversary, news releases still remain a powerful tool for communicators and serve as credible sources of information for media professionals and investors.
  • Adapting to the rapidly changing media landscape, news releases have evolved from mere text-only company statements to engaging communication tools that allow interaction with consumers and enable lead generation.
  • Capitalizing on the fast-growing market opportunities, it is time for Indonesian brands to step up their storytelling game and strategically position their brands as the drivers of growth and leaders of innovation in order to draw more attention from foreign investors and generate international businesses.

Big Bet on the Tourism Sector: the Case of "Wonderful Indonesia"

Home to beautiful landscapes and a rich cultural heritage, Indonesia is achieving increasing growth in the tourism sector, with more than 10 million foreign visitors in 2015 and a 7.2% annual tourism growth. Nia Niscaya stated that the Ministry of Tourism has set a significant rise in target at 12 million foreign arrivals for 2016. Here are some of her key highlights on how the Tourism Ministry has successfully wooed the world with its award-winning "Wonderful Indonesia" global campaign:


  • Recognizing the positive contribution and impact of the tourism industry on the Indonesian economy, the Tourism Ministry has engaged in a full-scale strategy to run the "Wonderful Indonesia" campaign, allocating 30% of its communication budget for branding.
  • It is critical to share your brand stories and success with external audiences as it gives them confidence to trust your brand and buy your product.
  • The Tourism Ministry is adapting to the global standard in its communications efforts in order to reach a broader audiences. It is essential to forgo the business-as-usual approach and engage your audience in fresher ways.

Think like a Journalist: Be Clear, Be Timely and Highlight the Human Interest

While the proliferation of media is providing communicators more opportunities to reach and engage their audiences, the amount of noise on the Internet is creating challenges for communications professionals to make their stories stand out. As Prita Laura said in her presentation, "Every media is unique and each outlet has different needs." The job of communicators if they want to get their stories featured is to better understand the journalists' needs. Here are a few tips from Laura:

  • Sending a clear message is essential when it comes to storytelling in business. Every storyteller needs to adapt to journalists' way of thinking as well as mind-mapping.
  • Communicators need to be prepared when journalists call for an interview or do follow-ups.
  • Make sure that your news story has the following key elements: prominence, proximity, timeliness, novelty, impact, conflict, human interest, and usefulness.

What Does the International Media Want From Your Communication Outreach?

For the attendees who were interested in getting their story featured in the international mainstream press, Justin Doebele divided his presentation into two key parts: "content and access". Here are some of his key highlights:

  • Besides the basic facts and figures, journalists also look for multimedia elements in a news story to help them engage their audiences, such as photos, videos and infographics.
  • At Forbes, journalists tend to look for F.O.B.B - First, Only, Biggest, and Best - in news writing and reporting. Indonesian brands should incorporate those key elements when crafting their news stories and pitching to journalists.
  • It is important to connect local elements and news to something global so international journalists can quickly grasp the essence of your story. For example, Taman Mini, a popular recreational spot in Jakarta, is the "Disneyland" of Indonesia.
  • Provide journalists easy access to all the key information they need to write your story.

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About PR Newswire's Media Coffee

The goal of Media Coffee is to enable communications professionals to hear from leading media organizations on how their respective companies work, providing insight into their specialist areas, giving advice on achieving coverage and informing them on effective targeting of journalists within their sector and how to build a mutually beneficial relationship.

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire (www.prnasia.com) is the premier global provider of news release distribution and multimedia platforms that enable marketers, corporate communicators, public relations practitioners and investor relations professionals to leverage content to engage with all their key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry in 1954, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, distribute, target and measure text and multimedia content across traditional, digital, mobile and social channels. Combining the world's largest multi-channel content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to tell their stories to the world.

For further information, please contact:
PR Newswire's Asia Marketing Team
+852 2572 8228
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160526/8521603408
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