Joger: The Anti-Marketing that Works

by D. Manggala (Sep 3, 2005)

If you speak Indonesian and read the above words from Joger Bali, it is likely you will smile. Joger Bali is a shirt and handicrafts store in Kuta which claimed itself as "pabrik kata-kata" or, almost like "words manufacturer". One of its famous slogan is Bali Bagus, Joger Jelek or Bali is Good, Joger is Bad. There are many more wordplays which are funny and original. The common theme is Joger has never claimed to produce a good product, but, in contrast, it always says Joger is bad. And the most interesting thing is the store becomes one of the icon of Kuta and Bali.

In addition to its creativity in the wordplay and design, there is one other Joger uniqeness: it is exclusive. There is only one Joger store on this planet, so if you want to buy its products, you must go to Bali (or ask someone to go to Bali). Joger, according to an article in Kompas, only allows maximum 12 pieces/items per transactions by a customer. Therefore, in the middle of competition that want to sell products as many as possible, Joger wants to limit its sales. The profit margin for exclusive items should be from its premium price, which is likely the Joger's business model. But still, with only one store, we need to admire the owner for being exist as a different person among the common bussinessmen. The owner, Joseph T. Wuliandi a.k.a Mr. Joger, said his business is not profit oriented, but happiness oriented....:)

The marketing technique of Joger is the anti-marketing, and it works successfully. Of course, we cannot expect all products and services in the world will use the anti-marketing technique.We just need to consider that the anti-marketing may work for our business.Personally, Joger is my favorit example of small business; not only for the creativity, but also for the guts to keep the business small enough to be managed despite its potential as a mass producer.

Small is beautiful.