Articles

Proposed Marketing Communications Strategy for a New Fighting Brand: A Case Study for SIG

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This study investigates the launch of a fighting brand in the cement industry, focusing on the challenges faced by a market-leading company with an existing flagship brand amidst emerging economical players. The goal is to enable the fighting brand to compete aggressively while avoiding cannibalization of the flagship brand, thus maintaining market leadership. Using a qualitative approach, primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with internal informants, small contractors, and heads of masons, while secondary data came from the latest Brand Equity Index report of 2023.

Key findings reveal that masons equate price with quality and prefer application-based cement for profitability. Differentiation is crucial to minimize cannibalization risks. The study proposes a new target for the fighting brand with detailed psychographics and behavior, aiming for a targeted marketing strategy and communication. Insights for communication management and marketing are provided, suggesting marketing activities based on the 5A model to ensure successful brand management. The study offers new perspectives for the company and the cement industry, emphasizing the importance of a multi-brand strategy to address future challenges.

Proposed Marketing Strategy to Increase Revenue Through Product Differentiation (Case Studyat Cement Inc.)

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The cement industry is currently facing intense competition due to the lack of significant recovery in retail demand following the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an increasing number of competitors. This has resulted in a surge in oversupply, reaching up to twice the demand, and a decline in utilization to 52%. In order to survive, cement companies release their own economy brands, including Cement Inc. In 2020, Cement Inc. released its fighting brand in Java to fight the eco-brands, using their current premium brand from Sumatra, Semen PDG. Cement Inc. will also release Semen MDK in late 2022 to counteract market confusion about Semen Padang. The total number of brands to compete in the last decade has increased tremendously due to the rising eco-brand trend. In three years, Cement Inc.’s fighting brand portion has grown to 24.6%, indicating a shift in the market towards more economical products. This situation is leading to a decrease in the Cement Inc. revenue, as there is no product differentiation between the premium and fighting brands.

We conducted this study to explore potential solutions to increase revenue by implementing a fighting brand strategy that incorporates product differentiation. The research address three critical questions: (1) What is the internal and external analysis? (2) What is the proposed recommendation for marketing strategy to increase for Cement Inc. through product differentiation of Fighting Brand? (3) What is the implementation plan for the marketing strategy?

The investigation began by examining the cement market condition, evaluating Cement Inc.’s strengths and weakness, as well as the market’s opportunities and threats, using quantitative and qualitative approach to investigate internal and customer’s understanding about the difference between main brand and fighting brand, as well as the expected differences. By the internal and external analysis, the study proposed the new segmentation, targeting, and positioning to propose the new marketing strategy using marketing mix 4Ps through product differentiation for fighting brand to increase Cement Inc.’s revenue in both premium brand and fighting brand. This study limited on retail market in Java, which is characterized by intense rivalry.

Proposed Business Strategic Improvement to Accelerate Waste Management Business Unit at Building Materials Company (Case Study at Cement Inc)

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The rising environmental concerns and regulatory measures in Indonesia have created new opportunities for the expansion of waste management services in the cement sector, specifically by utilizing thermal technology. The Waste Management Unit (WMU) of Cement Company presents substantial strategic opportunities for expansion and development. After undergoing a merger and acquisition, Cement Inc experienced a transformation and has now become a state-owned firm. This change offers WMU Cement Inc further opportunities for growth and expansion. The objective of this research is to identify the most effective strategy for the Waste Management Business Unit within the Cement Company using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. The study explores three fundamental research question: (1) What is the current situation for WMU Cement Inc in terms of market, money, customer, and organization? (2) What are the obstacles inside the organization and in the external environment that hinder the acceleration of waste management services in Indonesia, resulting in limited value creation for the company? (3) What are the suggested recommendations and strategic choices for the company to enhance its value absorption?

The study used the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) framework to perform a comprehensive evaluation and evaluate three strategic options for the waste management division: retaining it within the cement firm, expanding it to the cement group as a whole, or establishing it as an independent entity. The results of this study indicate that the most favorable choice (40.6%) is to establish WMU as a separate entity, which offers greater advantages compared to fully integrating with the parent company (30.9%) and keeping the current business operations (28.4%). By creating WMU as an independent organization, it may effectively avoid market and pricing cannibalization amongst its subsidiaries and optimize operations. WMU Cement Inc possesses the capacity to assume a leading role in waste management services by offering waste solutions to all SIG subsidiary plants and other cement makers, including ITP. The benefits of this method include autonomous operations, targeted management, rapid decision-making, and varied income streams achieved via the cultivation of specialized skills and expertise in waste management. This decision presents a chance to attract targeted investments and collaborations that promote innovation and expansion in waste management.

Marketing Strategy Using new wave Marketing Approach to Increase Customer Loyalty in Cement Industry (Dynamix Case)

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Cement Industry is becoming more dynamic; a decade ago, market conditions were still very ideal, with demand and production in balance, but the presence of new entrants tightened competition, forcing Dynamix to survive in the face of an attack from low-cost cement products This study was conducted to determine what can be done to preserve and boost sales through effective marketing strategy and a focus on customers. The investigation began by examining the market’s dynamic competition and evaluating Dynamix’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as potential risks posed by competitors or emerging market segments in Indonesia. The presentation is carried out in a systematic and detailed manner to offer recommendations that meet the needs of facing against competitors. To gain a comprehensive understanding, a study approach was used that included both quantitative and qualitative analysis to investigate the stages of the customer’s decision-making process when choosing which product to use.

The study also examines literature on marketing strategy, using the most recent techniques as a reference, where the theory has been applied by various companies. Having the right theoretical framework will be one of the main base foundations in providing insight and perspectives to build the most effective marketing plan. With this research, it is hopes to contribute Dynamix journey to meeting future challenges by implementing the explained strategy of focusing on target customers through recommended activities in terms of communication material selection and marketing activities. Hopefully, this study will be able to make Dynamix the leading cement brand in Indonesia.

Accelerating Industry 4.0 for Plant Efficiency Case of PT. Bangun Perkasa

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Industry 4.0 buzz has moved from hype to investment and real benefit today. Many companies expect to significantly increase their portfolios of digital products, services, and operations. Hence, the companies have a mission to have highly digitalized horizontal and vertical value chain processes. The cement industry as one of the heavy manufacturing industries a has target to increase plant efficiency. It will include equipment efficiency, energy utilization, productivity, and production maintenance cost by implementing the transformation.
Cement market competition become more challenging and harder in Indonesia with the growth of new cement players. As the result, capacity was getting higher and higher. Even though the demand increase was not significant so the utilization of the cement industry drop to 60% approximately. Therefore, the need for cost efficiency is more urgent for business sustainability and one of the key factors is Industry 4.0 transformation.
This research will focus on the assessment and actual implementation of Industry 4.0 in the cement plant PT. Bangun Perkasa. PT. Bangun Perkasa is on level 3 with the predicate “Company is at MATURE step in Industry 4.0 transformation” by using INDI 4.0 (Indonesia Industry 4.0 Readiness Index) tool from Indonesia Ministry of Industry. As a result, most technologies that are considered as important to be accelerated and deliver more benefit for plant efficiency are big data analytics & advanced algorithms and smart sensors.