T

he city government is optimistic about generating Rp 13 trillion (US$1.11 billion), an increase of 15 percent on last year'€™s sales, when it turns the capital into a shopping mecca during the Jakarta Great Sale held from June 7 to July 19.

Despite hiking sales targets and adding participating shopping malls, the city administration and the festival committee are to use a marketing strategy similar to previous years to promote the event to domestic and foreign customers.

Ellen Hidayat, the deputy head of the Jakarta Great Sale committee and the chairwoman of the Indonesian Shopping Center Association (APPBI) Jakarta chapter, said the marketing strategy was more or less the same because of the limited promotional budget.

'€œIf the festival looks similar [to previous years], it is related to the budget. I wish we had a big budget. Currently, we rely on sponsorship, which has its limits,'€ she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

She said the committee'€™s promotional efforts included ads on local media channels, banners in the capital and some billboards in strategic places in big cities.

To grab the attentions of prospective shoppers from neighboring countries and the Middle East, the committee has cooperated with the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita).

The event is also being promoted by national carrier Garuda Indonesia through its in-flight magazine.

This year'€™s festival will see a late midnight shopping event involving 15 malls on June 21 and 22, as well as entertainment at the malls.

The committee says it wants visitors to spend more money by continuing the '€œShopper Card'€ program, which allows shoppers to hold a card and accumulate points to join a lucky draw to win a Volkswagen Tiguan.

'€œThis year, we'€™re emphasizing UMKM [micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises]. We'€™re providing more space in shopping malls where the UMKM can display creative products. Muslim attire, batik, handicrafts and the like will be on offer,'€ Ellen said, adding that retailers were also asked to sell products rarely found in local and foreign markets.

She said a similar program was held last year, but the number of shoppers fell far short of the target.

The festival also encourages shopping malls to give a Betawi nuance to their decorations, as the malls will also be judged in a competition.

The sale is an annual event to celebrate the city'€™s anniversary and competes with the Great Singapore Sale held in the same month but over a slightly longer period.

The latter has a dedicated website that gives clear guidance to shoppers on promotions, such as tax free information, boarding pass holder privileges and deals on hotels and city tours.

MasterCard holders alone spent almost $1.5 billion in the two month event in Singapore last year. Indonesia ranked third in the top five countries contributing to this spending.

Jakarta Tourism Agency head Arie Budhiman admitted that the promotion and marketing strategy for the festival was still a conventional one.

He cited budget limitations as the biggest reason behind this.

'€œThe problem is the budget. Such a big event should be an opportunity to build this city'€™s brand, so it needs adequate promotional funds. However, we do not have a big budget and we cannot even afford to launch intensive promotion in the major media outlets of Singapore,'€ he told the Post over the phone.

He said his agency had always faced hurdles when it tried to propose a bigger promotional budget to the City Council.

This year, the agency secured Rp 85 billion to promote the entire 2014 event.