Local businesses must be able to compete competitively with businesses from Southeast Asia ahead of the entry into force of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015. At the very least, they must master the WOW concept initiated by an international marketing expert from Indonesia, Hermawan Kartajaya.
The presentation on the WOW concept was delivered by Hermawan Kartajaya in a Public Lecture at FIA UB with the theme 'Opportunities & Challenges for Future Business: How Future Leaders are Created & Transformed' in front of around 500 participants in the Hall of Building A, Floor 4 of FIA UB, yesterday (18 /5). The founder and CEO of MarkPlus, Inc. said that local businesses must start implementing ways so that consumers are not just buyers or service users. "Buyers or service users must be objects of loyalty to the brand to the point of saying WOW as the highest appreciation for our products. "The stages of consumer reaction are from OK, AHA, to WOW," explained the man who has written many books with world marketing expert Philip Kotler.
How to achieve it? Hermawan frankly shared the concept of the results of the research he had done. Although not easy, local business people can do it. Products that can reach the WOW level must be competitive. "Therefore, it must have three elements of enjoyment, experience, and engagement," he said.
Not only WOW Marketing, Hermawan also explained the concept of WOW Leadership. According to him, in the WOW Leadership a business business leader must master six aspects in order to lead his organization well, namely physical, intellectual, emotional, social abilities, personality, and moral aspects. “There aren't many leadership books that mention the physical aspect of a person in leadership, even though the physical aspect is also important. So if you want to be a leader, you have to watch your diet, you have to be diligent in exercising," he explained, which was greeted with laughter from the audience.
In the meeting which lasted for about two hours yesterday, this reliable Indonesian business adviser also motivated the participants which consisted of students, lecturers and representatives of the business world so they could become reliable marketers. The trick is with an approach between the seller and the consumer that is no longer limited to money, or because of social obligations such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) alone, but also more globally, especially human relations. "If you want to sell a product, it is more appropriate to use Community Approaches (community approach),” he explained.
The concept that he offers in his book Marketing 3.0 is actually a business marketing concept that he learned from the Prophet Muhammad's way of doing business. Honesty, according to Hermawan, is the basic foundation of all business activities based on the heart and love for consumers, not just because they want profit from product sales. “Even though I am a Catholic, I study Islam intensely, especially about the Prophet Muhammad's way of doing business. The honesty he built inspired me to write about Marketing 3.0," he explained.
In the Marketing 3.0 concept, a reliable seller, said Hermawan, must be able to blend in and enter the potential customer community, such as using various existing social media. Starting from WhatsApp, BBM groups, Instagram, Facebook, and so on. “In the end, we will also offer products. Buyers are also not uncomfortable because those who offer products are their own friends," he suggested.
The arrival of Hermawan Kartajaya to FIA UB is not only to give a public lecture but also to discuss further steps in developing the world of education in FIA UB. Among them, FIA UB plans to propose Hermawan Kartajaya as an Extraordinary Professor in the field of Marketing on the basis of his knowledge and expertise in the world of marketing which is well known throughout the world. Then, Hermawan and Sapta Nirwandar, former Deputy Minister of Tourism, also agreed to help develop the Master of Business Administration Program with a special interest in Tourism.
Finally, FIA UB also officially appointed Hermawan as the Board of Advisor of the ASEAN ESPRIEX International Business Model Competition. The international business modeling competition which is routinely held by the Business Administration Department of FIA UB which will be held in January 2016 will later send its winners as ASEAN representatives in the top event which will be held in May 2016 at Harvard University, USA. (ALA/RIZ/FIA, IKA of RADAR MALANG)
