One unpleasant example occurred to Motrin, a pharmacy company in USA, during the launch of their ad campaign via online (website and youtube) and in magazines. Stated later on, their campaign was actually intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies. Thus, Motrin created this ad.

As seen in the video, the company used statements that are considered offensive for many mothers, thus it sparked controversy instantly. Statements such as “Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion” and “it totally makes me look like an official mom” were not exactly favorable to mothers, which happened to be the products’ main target market. Later, the ad received negative responses by mothers through social media; such as blogs, twitter, facebook, and youtube.

Seeing moms’ outraged response, Motrin acted promptly to ease up their anger. They wrote apology letter to bloggers, which created sympathy among mothers who protested the campaign. They also retracted the ad from their website and distribution in magazines. They didn’t do a press conference either, which from PR perspective can be a good thing as doing it might just spread the crisis wider.

Again, learning from Motrin’s case, companies need to be very careful in developing messages or strategies that will be used for their products or companies. Otherwise, things could get a little ugly; especially with the rise of social media that allows news and conversations, both positive and negative, to spread very fast. What we can also learn from this crisis is that, from time to time, we could involve our PR people when we are developing marketing strategies for our brands. They could help by providing very useful insights when dealing with sensitive issues.

In the past, we had to rely on traditional means to pass on the information, for instance, by using fax machine or email to send press releases to journalists. Today, thanks to advanced information technology, we have new tools that will help the news be distributed in a more rapid and massive way. They are called social media.

One example of an institution that took advantage the use of social media is Innovis Health, an integrated healthcare system in North Dakota, U.S when their home state was hit with a huge flood. In addition to giving prompt medical care to the victims, the hospital took the initiative to help the local government by disseminating information on the situation to the people outside the area through an array of social media tools including blog, Twitter, and (drum roll please) one new site that perhaps we’ve never heard of before: Pitchengine.

Pitchengine allows you to have your own newsroom, and link your press release with other social media sites

It bills itself as a “Social media PR press release builder”. Essentially, it is a place where we can have our own virtual newsroom, which makes two-way communication even easier and faster than before. We can upload any press information to our newsroom which everyone can access, and there’s an RSS Feed option, so journalists who subscribe to our newsfeed can instantly get all our updates delivered to their mailboxes. Aside from this, one of Pitchengine’s innovative and most useful features is a facility to link your press release with other social media such as Facebook, Digg, and even Linkedin. Visitors to our newsroom can then spread the information to their social and professional circles just as quickly and easily, which then enables us to reach more people including those we probably cannot reach on our own.

All these things that meet the needs for us to maintain communication in a crisis & issue situation – spreading information in a rapid and massive manner, with easy access for everyone – make Pitchengine a helpful comrade for public relations professionals in doing Crisis & Issue Management.

In 2003 Lesley Sudiro was invited by Rapp Collins Worldwide, an agency known for its data driven marketing providing, among other things integrated solutions, brand planning and research as well as digital marketing, to set up a new agency in partnership with DDB Indonesia.

She has headed Rapp Indonesia since, running campaigns for clients such as Sony Ericsson. BAT, Bank Commonwealth, Frisian Flag, Ministry of Trade and Dancow Parenting Centre. The program and creative work for Sony Ericsson earned an award at the 2004 Promotional Awards for Asia and qualified for the 2004 Golden Globes.

“Maverick is delighted with Lesley joining us as her experience will considerably strengthen our marketing practice,” said Lita Soenardi, a partner at Maverick. “This is all part of Maverick’s continued efforts to raise the bar on creativity and ideas for our clients who, rightly, want much more of their communications consultancy than just media relations,” she said.

—ooOoo—

Maverick is a communications consultancy that provides strategic counseling on integrated brand communications and the use of social media as well as crisis and issues management. Its divisions also provide a range of services ranging from media monitoring and measurement to web design.

Informasi yang berasal dan berkembang di dunia maya sering kali menjadi sumber berita yang cukup diperhatikan oleh para wartawan. Tak mengherankan jika wartawan sering mengutip dan memanfaatkan Internet dan media jejaring sosial untuk meningkatkan kualitas liputannya. Namun, saat ini belum terdapat kajian akademik seputar pola wartawan di Indonesia dalam mengadopsi dan memanfaatkan internet dan media jejaring sosial untuk kepentingan jurnalistik.

Research Centre, The London School of Public Relations – Jakarta (LSPR), bekerja sama dengan Maverick Indonesia, menyelenggarakan survei pemanfaatan internet dan jejaring sosial di kalangan wartawan Indonesia. Kerjasama ini diwujudkan melalui penandatangan kerjasama oleh kedua belah pihak hari ini di Kampus B, LSPR di Jakarta.

”Tujuan survei ini adalah untuk mengetahui pola aktivitas wartawan Indonesia dalam menggunakan Internet dan jejaring sosial, ungkap Prita Kemal Gani, Direktur LSPR. Selain itu, hasil survei ini dapat membantu dan bermanfaat bagi kalangan akademisi dan praktisi Public Relations dalam berkomunikasi secara efektif dengan wartawan. Studi ini juga dapat bermanfaat bagi wartawan dalam memanfaatkan internet dan media sosial secara lebih efisien,” lanjut Prita.

Survei ini berlangsung mulai bulan Juni 2010 dan pengelolaan hasil survei akan selesai dalam waktu sekitar satu bulan. Para jurnalis hanya perlu meluangkan waktu 5-10 menit untuk melengkapi survei ini secara online di sini atau melalui link (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LSPR-Maverick-technographics) yang dikirimkan melalui email dan Facebook serta tersedia di situs web Research Centre LSPR dan blog Maverick.

Sebagai mitra dalam pelaksanaan survei ini, ”Maverick, salah satu perusahaan konsultan komunikasi, telah menggunakan dan melihat manfaat positif media jejaring sosial dalam praktek komunikasi,” ungkap Lita Soenardi, Direktur Maverick Indonesia. ”Oleh karena itu, kami sangat mendukung inisiatif survei ini dan berharap rekan-rekan wartawan dapat memberikan dukungan yang sama melalui jawaban-jawaban mereka.”

Ada pun seluruh jawaban dan identitas peserta survei bersifat rahasia. Hasil survei, meskipun demikian, dapat dipublikasikan sesuai kebutuhan tanpa menyebutkan narasumber. Rekan wartawan yang tertarik dengan survei ini juga dapat memperoleh hasilnya melalui Research Centre LSPR.

Pada sesi perdana ini, para peserta pelatihan diperkenalkan dasar-dasar public relations dan bersama-sama membahas hal-hal seputar komunikasi dengan para stakeholder di lingkungan/industri sekitar organisasi tersebut.

Antusiasme para peserta pelatihan tampak dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan mereka mengenai dunia PR dan bagaimana mengkomunikasikan program-program mereka kepada masyarakat luas. Sesi pertama, antara lain, juga mendiskusikan mengenai persamaan dan perbedaan kampanye di sektor swasta dan di sektor sosial.

Program Catalyst diselenggarakan oleh Maverick setiap tahun untuk membantu Lembaga Non-Profit meningkatkan komunikasi publiknya. Setiap tahunnya, tiga LSM diundang untuk berpartisipasi di dalam program yang diselenggarakan selama satu tahun penuh. Maverick tidak memungut biaya sepeser pun dalam penyelenggaraan program ini.

Tanpa disadari, kita sering mengucap kalimat-kalimat yang menyiratkan ketidakpedulian kita terhadap orang yang memiliki gejala autisme. Tapi apakah sebenarnya kita tahu apa itu autisme? Apa penyebabnya dan bagaimana menanganinya? Pertanyaan-pertayaan semacam ini kerap ditanyakan oleh banyak orang di Indonesia, termasuk oleh mereka yang tahu bahwa anaknya mengalami gejala autisme. Ini menunjukkan rendahnya pengetahuan masyarakat Indonesia mengenai autisme, dan hal inilah yang mendorong Gayatri Pamoedji mendirikan Masyarakat Peduli Autis Indonesia (MPATI) pada tahun 2004.

MPATI adalah yayasan nirlaba yang memfokuskan kegiatannya pada pendidikan dan sosialisasi tentang autisme. Gayatri mempunyai passion terhadap hal ini karena ia sendiri mempunyai seorang putra yang mengidap autisme. Kegiatan yang dilakukan antara lain adalah: pendidikan, pelatihan, konseling, serta menjadi pusat informasi autisme Indonesia. Pada setiap kegiatannya, MPATI juga melakukan penggalangan dana dengan menjual kaos serta buku dan video (DVD) tentang autisme. Hasil dari penggalangan dana ini yang kemudian membantu MPATI mendistribusikan buku dan video kepada masyarakat kurang mampu di berbagai pelosok Indonesia.

Kegiatan terkini yang dilakukan MPATI adalah seminar dan peluncuran buku “200 Pertanyaan dan Jawaban seputar Autisme” yang ditulis sendiri oleh Gayatri dalam rangka memperingati Hari Peduli Autisme Sedunia (World’s Autism Awareness Day) tanggal 3 April lalu. Di acara tersebut, Maverick ikut berpartisipasi untuk melakukan media relations pada hari-H. Pengelaman ini sangat menarik. Tidak hanya karena Maverick memperoleh kesempatan untuk mendapat informasi dan pengetahuan lebih banyak mengenai autisme, tetapi juga karena kami melihat dan belajar tentang bagaimana sebuah yayasan nirlaba Indonesia cukup fasih dalam melakukan kegiatan komunikasi.

Gayatri dan Ibu Endang Sedyaningsih (Menkes RI) di acara peluncuran buku “200 Pertanyaan dan Jawaban Seputar Autisme” di Jakarta

Sebagai organisasi yang masih tergolong muda, MPATI memiliki cakupan yang cukup luas. Relawan mereka tersebar dari Sabang sampai Merauke. MPATI juga menyadari pentingnya kegiatan komunikasi dalam mencapai tujuan mereka mensosialisasikan autisme ke seluruh lini masyarakat di Indonesia. Mereka paham betul betapa media memegang peranan penting dalam hal ini. Tidak berhenti sampai di situ, Gayatri juga aktif menulis di blog pribadinyanya. Ia pun tak pernah absen membalas berbagai pertanyaan yang disampaikan kepadanya melalui situs MPATI, e-mail pribadi, maupun blog pribadi.

Sebagai yayasan nirlaba yang mengandalkan segala sesuatunya hanya dari para anggotanya, tidaklah mudah bagi MPATI untuk menggalang dana, melakukan sosialisasi ke berbagai daerah, sekaligus mendorong media untuk turut peduli dan meliput. And they’re doing a really good job on it!

Biasanya, komunikasi yang dilakukan oleh yayasan nirlaba seringkali tidak seluas yang dilakukan perusahaan umum lainnya. Hal ini dikarenakan mereka cenderung fokus pada pemberdayaan masyarakat daripada pemberdayaan SDM di dalam lembaga. Keterbatasan dana juga dapat menjadi salah satu faktor penyebabnya. Padahal pemberdayaan SDM adalah salah satu kunci keberhasilan utama yang pada akhirnya dapat membantu mereka dalam melakukan penggalangan dana.

MPATI adalah salah satu contoh yayasan nirlaba yang cukup berhasil melakukan kegiatan komunikasi. Selain karena kesadaran akan pentingnya kegiatan komunikasi dalam berbagai programnya, jaringan yang dimiliki para anggotanya juga luas.

Gayatri, misalnya, memiliki hubungan baik dengan banyak wartawan. Ia juga dikenal sebagai seorang public speaker yang handal. Ini membuatnya mudah berkomunikasi dan bekerja sama dengan banyak pihak untuk mensosialisasikan kegiatan-kegiatan MPATI, mulai dari media hingga calon relawan yang tertarik bergabung karena terinspirasi oleh kegigihan dan komitmennya. Seminar dan peluncuran buku MPATI yang lalu pun berhasil menggaet RCTI, Femina, dan radio Female sebagai media partner. Hasilnya pun memuaskan. Kunjungan ke situs MPATI mengalami peningkatan signifikan setelah seminar dan peluncuran buku.

Keberhasilan MPATI adalah contoh nyata, bahwa dengan pengetahuan serta kemampuan komunikasi  dan networking yang baik, yayasan nirlaba dapat berkembang dengan baik dan kegiatan-kegiatannya pun dapat tersosialisasikan secara maksimal. Hal ini sekaligus membuktikan; bahwa mendirikan yayasan nirlaba bukan halangan untuk memperoleh dukungan, mengembangkan organisasi, sekaligus meraih tujuan utama mereka.

Hari Kamis (18/03) bertempat di fPod, fX, tim Marketing PR Maverick berkesempatan berbincang-bincang dengan Ainur Rafikah (Fika), Marketing PR Radio Gen FM dan mendapatkan insight menarik mengenai kesuksesan radio tersebut.

Menurut perempuan berusia 27 tahun ini, keberhasilan Gen FM tak lepas dari dua pilar utama yang menjadi landasan mereka dalam menciptakan dan mempertahankan eksistensinya: riset dan inovasi. “Berdasarkan dua hal ini pula, Gen FM menggunakan word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) sebagai strategi awal kemunculannya.” Strategi ini terbukti mampu menarik—dan mempertahankan—perhatian pendengar radio di Jakarta, terutama kalangan anak muda berusia 20 – 24 tahun.

Di awal kemunculannya, Gen FM hanya memutar lagu tanpa adanya penyiar dan iklan. Banyak orang yang kemudian bertanya-tanya, “Ini radio apa ya?” “Lagu-lagunya bagus, tapi koq nggak ada penyiarnya?” Saat itu, khalayak hanya tahu, bahwa untuk menikmati lagu-lagu yang ‘gue banget,’ 98,7 FM adalah radio yang tepat. Rasa penasaran semakin menyebar ke banyak orang, yang pada akhirnya justru semakin rajin mendengarkan 98,7 FM. Pilihan lagu yang ‘pas’ dan ‘gue banget’ menjadikan hampir semua orang betah mendengarkan 98,7 FM.

“Lagu-lagu yang diputar di Gen FM adalah lagu-lagu pilihan pendengar yang kami peroleh melalui riset. Dari riset, kami jadi tahu, bahwa target market kami lebih suka mendengarkan lagu-lagu yang sudah hits daripada lagu-lagu baru yang belum terlalu dikenal,” ujar Fika. “Oleh karena itu pula, kami memutuskan untuk menjadi hits player, bukan hits maker.”

Pemutaran lagu tanpa penyiar dan iklan berlangsung selama 1,5 bulan sebelum launching Gen FM pada 9 Agustus 2007. Selama itu pula, Gen FM tidak melakukan promosi maupun memasang iklan sama sekali. Khalayak dibuat penasaran dengan keberadaan mereka. Tingkat penasaran yang tinggi ini berdampak positif pada brand awareness Gen FM karena pada akhirnya, launching radio ini menjadi sangat dinanti-nanti oleh banyak orang. Ini menunjukkan, bahwa WOMM memang memiliki dampak positif yang kuat karena mampu ‘meninggalkan bekas’ dalam benak target market.

WOMM berlaku efektif pada consumer oriented product / service. Dengan sifatnya yang seperti virus yang dapat menyebar dengan cepat, WOMM dapat berdampak positif bagi brand maupun perusahaan. Gen FM sudah membuktikan hal ini. Berawal dari menyebarkan informasi kepada teman-teman terdekat karyawannya bahwa ada radio baru yang memutar lagu-lagu yang sedang hits di kalangan anak muda, Gen FM dengan cepat menjadi populer di berbagai kalangan (saat itu, nama radio belum diumumkan kepada khalayak). Inilah yang disebut echo affect. Pada saat seseorang memberi testimoni kepada orang lain tentang kelebihan produk atau jasa yang ia gunakan, orang tersebut akan meneruskannnya kepada beberapa orang lainnya, dan begitu seterusnya.

Salah satu tantangan WOMM adalah sifatnya yang tidak terencana dan tidak terkontrol. Hal ini merupakan kelebihan sekaligus kekurangan WOMM. Testimoni tidak terencana dan tidak terkontrol dianggap sebagai pendapat paling jujur konsumen. Dan karena testimoni tersebut murni dari konsumen, hal ini dengan sendirinya menambah kredibilitas brand atau perusahaan. Jika testimoni yang diberikan adalah positif, dampaknya pun akan positif; begitu pula sebaliknya.

“Ini tantangan bagi Gen FM karena kami tidak bisa mengontrol apa yang akan dikatakan pendengar,” kata Fika. “Tapi karena sebelumnya sudah melakukan riset mengenai hal-hal yang disukai dan tidak disukai target market, kami berani tampil dengan apa yang sudah kami miliki dan saat itu kami yakin, bahwa program-program yang kami siapkan akan disukai pendengar.”

WOMM dapat mendorong khalayak untuk merasakan sendiri (experience) kehebatan sebuah produk atau jasa, dan dorongan ini dapat dilakukan secara lisan maupun tulisan. Di era internet saat ini, WOMM memiliki dampak yang lebih maksimal dengan adanya beragam perangkat online, termasuk situ-situs jejaring sosial yang saat ini banyak didiskusikan dan dipergunakan banyak kalangan untuk memasarkan produk maupun jasa mereka; seperti: blog, facebook, twitter, dll. Kombinasi antara WOMM dan new media akan menjadi kekuatan tersendiri dalam memasarkan sebuah produk atau jasa. Tinggal bagaimana memanfaatkan WOMM agar sejalan dengan tujuan brand atau perusahaan.

WOMM berhasil membuat Gen FM menjadi populer dengan cepat, bahkan sejak awal kemunculannya di industri radio Jakarta. Dengan semakin populernya Gen FM saat ini, tidak sedikit pengiklan yang ingin memasang iklan di radio tersebut. Padahal, dari hasil riset yang mereka lakukan, target market mereka lebih senang mendengar lagu daripada omongan penyiar ataupun iklan. Mampu kah Gen FM menjaga konsistensi dari hasil riset mereka demi kepuasan pendengar? Atau pada akhirnya kepentingan bisnis yang akan mengambil alih? Let’s just watch and see.

Clients often ask us for examples of who used social media well in Indonesia. One of the candidates must be Blitz Megaplex. We’ve been observing them and they seem very savvy and get the point that social media is about engagement, not just pushing marketing messages.

To this end they have build an admirable fan base of over 81,000 fans in the Facebook page, with a good level of interaction from their fans through clever use of videos of films being shown in their cinemas, among other things.

They have also their website and Twitter account and it is in Twitter today that @blitzmegaplex gave an admirable display of how an organization can win people over if you really listen to them, maintain an open mind and address the issues with honesty.

The story with Twitter today, as far as we can reconstruct from the timelines,  is that Twitterer @ifahmi was watching Clash of the Titans when he spotted three kids scared out of their wits by the movie, which was rated R. He Tweeted:

Dear @blitzmegaplex, you’re my no 1 cinema. However, I hate you for not enforcing the rating system. 3 little kids watching Frozen? C’mon!

This was reTweeted by @mistymaitimoe

Within a short while @blitzmegaplex replied and soon a conversation was raging over how the the problems the cinema had in enforcing their rating system when parents felt they were the ones who could and should decide on what their children watched. (I’ve

The conversation was heated at times but at all times @blitzmegaplex proved good listeners and was able to be upfront about som of the problems they faced over this issue. The result is that after a while even their most ardent critics on this issue acknowledged that @blitzmegaplex was doing a good job addressing the issue and getting in on the conversation. Some even volunteered to help Blitz enforce entrance to cinemas according to ratings.

So good one Blitz. If only more companies can grasp that Twitter can be such a useful tool to address customer complaints and address customer concerns. I’d be really interested in knowing how many people Blitz employs to Twitter on behalf of the company, and the organizational structure behind it. It’d be cool to find out and it’s be a great example for other businesses to use social media properly.

Many of them are good friends or at least acquaintances with established Net identities/personas. So it was a bit surprising to see what they were inviting me to join. The invites were actually for products or brands that were irrelevant to what they themselves usually blogged or Twitted about.

It was as if I woke up to read in the papers that a sports editor in an influential newspaper had written a review on the Cobra Starship concert for the newspaper’s music column.

Something wasn’t right.

The reasonable inference from this spate of invites is that the Indonesian marketing communications community has come to the conclusion that new media–Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social network platforms–matters. And that they need to get in there to secure their share of voice.

So, what they do is this: they approach the most influential Twitterers/bloggers/Facebookers they can think of. They ‘incentivize’ them to mention their products. And to invite their “friends” and “fans” to join a Facebook fan page or visit a website where they are running a competition or some other activity to attract “followers.”

Think of this as the Web 2.0 equivalent of seeking out influencers to endorse your product.

The thing is that it works. For the short term anyway.

Marketers who have used these digital influences have seen spikes in the number of Facebook fans, the number of Tweets about their brand/activity and perhaps even increased visits to their websites. These gains are short-lived, however, both for the marketers and the digital influencers.

Why marketers will eventually fail after the first flush is because of this: at some point, the Indonesian online community will wise up to what is happening and resent the manipulation.

Moreover, many of these activities and campaigns are sporadic and are not part of an overarching strategy to engage their audiences. At some point, their audiences will turn away because these marketers and their brands fail to realise a truism of new media: that if they want to succeed, the brand needs to become content generators. They must become media themselves. And what they need to churn out is content–that is relevant and useful to their audiences, not some cheap short-term thrill.

What is more disturbing, however, is what harm this short-term gains could potentially do to the digital influencers who, so far, have been a genuinely refreshing new force in the influence sweepstakes.

Many of them today enjoy great respect and strong followings. They are virtually as influential (some would argue more) than some of the traditional media. Their influence is such; that a single Tweet or blog posting would generate dozens, if not hundreds of responses. Their calls to action, especially for social causes, result in concrete activities and their fund raising efforts for causes net hundreds of millions of rupiahs.

They are a great bunch. So, it is sad to see these digital influencers eroding their personal brands by accepting pieces of silver to push a product or campaign that is irrelevant with who they are or what they normally write or talk about. At some point, the more critical thinkers among the online community, as already happens, will start to question the integrity of these influencers. Once it builds into a groundswell, these influencers could stand to lose all the influence and prestige they have worked so assiduously to build up over the years.

This is not to say that a blogger/digital influencer shouldn’t or couldn’t profit monetarily from their brand equity as a digital presence. On the contrary, they have every right to make good money for being able to build up huge followings. But they have to be careful of maintaining and nurturing their personal brand equity as, say, a film star or sports star would their reputations when endorsing products. They need to be as selective as these stars in choosing which products/brands to endorse as it could make or break their own reputations in the long run.

In this case, the digital influencers have to learn to say ‘No’.

‘No’ to products and campaigns that are not consistent with their own personal brand image. And ‘No’ to marketers who want them to blindly write good things about the products and brands. It’s like being a selective award-winning film star who rejected an offer to act in a cheesy TV production, by saying: No.

I am reminded of a conversation with Mr. Brown.

He is one of Singapore’s most prominent digital influencers. And also a “brand”, which has maintained and enhanced its value all these years; even though he has very successfully parlayed his influence for commercial purposes and endorsement of brands.

His secret, he once told me when he was here for Pesta Blogger, was that he always tried to remain true to who he is as a blogger/podcaster/Twitterer/videocaster/digital influencer.

If clients want him to write about their product or brands, he would only say yes if it is something that was relevant and interesting to him or if it’s something he would normally write about. And even then, he would insist to them that their sponsorship bought them the right to him testing out their product and writing about it; not a guaranteed endorsement from him -in other words he would write what he wanted and what he actually saw or felt about the product or brand.

By doing so he may lose some potential clients. But in the long run he comes out tops because his integrity is intact. And yes, he openly discloses who is sponsoring him.

Indonesia is progressing into an exciting stage for marketers and digital influencers in terms of communicating with consumers. There is much potential to do it right, and also a huge opportunity to screw things up, both of the marketers and the digital influencers. Let’s hope this posting will trigger some thoughtful introspection that leads to a brighter future of everyone playing in the digital spheres.

____

*Mammon: wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion. It was taken by medieval writers as the name of the devil of covetousness, and revived in this sense by Milton.

It was a bit surprising for me, a PR consultant, to receive an invitation from the Ministry of Finance for a ‘Foreign Press Meeting’ event held last Tuesday (9/3). However, looking closely at the cc list I noticed that many other PR consultants, including those from consultancies, corporations and the public affairs officers of numerous embassies.

Intrigued, I decided to attend the event with a colleague.

The event itself started, as usual, late. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani spoke about how upbeat she was for the Indonesian economic and fiscal performance in 2010. Bloomberg’s Bureau Chief Greg Ahlstrand moderated. The content want it smacked of a propaganda session where, the thinking must have been, if they bombarded you with enough good news you will begin believing it. Obviously none among the organizers were familiar with the industry phrase of how “you don’t BS the BS-ter”.

Be that as it may, the whole afternoon was not a total loss. I had the good fortune of meeting my Facebook friend Arif Budisusilo, Bisnis Indonesia Editor in-Chief while were waiting for the event to start, and we had a good chat.

The chat started with me asking if rumors were true that at a time when other newspapers were laying off staffs, Bisnis Indonesia was actually adding new members to and reshuffling the editorial team.

Passionate as he is, Mas Arif opened up. “This is a three-year long worth of preparations,” he said. “We are venturing to the online media as of February 1, 2010.” The additional new recruits and transfers from local bureau, along with reshuffle in the editorial team are to support our new strategy to focus on online. Soon Bisnis.com will be different from other news portals.

Mas Arif admitted that it took him three years to soften the ground inside Bisnis Indonesia. From 2007, he started to persuade people in the daily, with different tailor made approaches, from one-on-one talks to sending people to seminars, to show the big picture that the future is online. Journalists’ flow of work was also bended to suit this goal.

Similar situation, though with a different context, was also experienced by Maverick. We started off in 2006 with the idea that new media will profoundly change the way businesses and corporations communicate with their consumers. Our biggest obstacle was clients’ resistance to the idea of new media, as if Facebooking, Twittering and blogging was only some teenagers’ pastime not worth the consideration of serious businesses. Like Mas Arif, we approached clients personally and conduct free seminars on new media.

Three years later, Maverick started its New Media Division and we have not looked back. In fact, companies have started looking around for consultancies who understand new media and inevitably they came to us because of our experience and also because we are the organizers of Pesta Blogger, Indonesia’s largest national gathering of bloggers. Now we count among our new media clients Axis, Citi Indonesia and Coca-Cola Indonesia.