L

ocal clothing brands and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are finding that festivals and pop-up markets give their businesses a boost, as they allow them to engage directly with customers while promoting their products and expanding their networks.

Firman, 30, the owner of Plug n Play, said he regularly participates in festivals and pop-up markets ever since establishing his Bandung-based clothing brand.

“Even though we can expand our promotion through social media, such as Instagram and Facebook, events like this enable us to engage directly with our customers,” he said recently at the 2017 JakCloth Festival at Gambir Expo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. He further explained that such events allowed him to assess the customer response to his products.

JakCloth is a major festivals with events held not only in Jakarta but also in other regions of the country, namely Surakarta and Purwokerto in Central Java, Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, and Lampung.

Jakcloth project officer Naufal said the festival was aimed at facilitating and promoting local clothing brands, so that they could expand their businesses and thereby help develop the creative industry in the country.

“I think local clothing brands in Indonesia are still struggling. Therefore, we want to facilitate them to promote their brands through this event,” he said.

“In terms of quality, the shirts, denim jeans and T-shirts sold by local clothing brands at the festival are as good as those sold at department stores,” he added.

He further said the prices of local brand items were generally lower than those of foreign brand items.

He emphasized the need for local clothing brands to keep inventing and developing their products, so that they can maintain their business in the creative industry.

Besides featuring local clothing brands, the festival also presented local food.

Bakso Goreng Gajah, a Tangerang-based bakso (meatballs) franchise, is a local success story of how businesses can grow through the participation in various festivals.

Established in 2015, the brand has gained in popularity over time.

Yuni, the person in charge of the stall at Gambir Expo, said the business had boomed over the past two years, thanks to the business owners’ active participation in various events and festivals.

“Before this [event], we participated in the Jakarta Culinary Festival in Senayan City, Central Jakarta, in September and Pekan Raya Indonesia around October and November in BSD, Tangerang, Banten,” she said.

“The customers were really enthusiastic, and we were able to seal franchise deals by participating in such festivals,” she added.

Nuri further said that Bakso Goreng Gajah would participate in up to three separate events a month. These kind of events had helped the business grow popular. (sfr)