Disposable baby diapers have become common products in Indonesia, but the ratio is still lower compared to neighboring countries. Still, consumers prefer the use of cloth diapers despite its impracticality.
This may be due to the small number of local entrepreneurs who produce these products to meet domestic needs. There are only three to four local factories producing disposable baby diapers throughout Indonesia. Therefore, to fulfill the need for this product, consumers in Indonesia tend to buy imported brands that are obviously more expensive.
Seeing the opportunity, Michael Gunawan, along with his two friends who are both alumni of the University of Surabaya (UBAYA), decided to leave their previous jobs and became entrepreneurs. In 2006 they chose to pioneer the local brand of disposable Popoku baby diapers under the banner of PT. Zensei Indonesia, with Michael Gunawan as President Director.
“The ratio of the use of disposable baby diapers in Indonesia is still low at 0.3% per baby per day. Local companies in this field of production are still minimum, having only 3 or 4 factories with 7 to 8 local companies, while a small country like Malaysia has 12 factories. We see this as a great opportunity, “said Michael Gunawan.
Starting with a factory in Gresik, East Java and 30-40 marketing personnel, PT. Zensei Indonesia started production of Popoku in that year. Success was not immediately achieved. Popoku had to face tough competition with some other imported and local brands that already dominated the disposable baby diaper market. They also had to attract the consumers who were interested in imported branded products at that time.
“At first it was difficult. Just imagine, all the mothers we surveyed preferred imported products. On the other hand, many still did not want to move from using cloth diapers rather than disposable diapers. Entering the market was also difficult, as there were already three established brands that were difficult to compete with.” said the man who experienced 13 years as General Manager at a company producing these sanitary napkins.
Together with his team at PT. Zensei Indonesia, Michael then decided to conduct a survey to find the weaknesses of their competitors. They accelerated the marketing of products in eastern Indonesia such as Surabaya and other East Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan to Papua afterwards.
Michael and his team were also working closely with many Posyandu and maternity hospitals to hold educational events about babies and educate mothers about the benefits of using disposable diapers.
“We were traveling by ourselves to distribute our products to retail centers starting from Java. We thought brand image was the most important thing at that time. “Why don’t we distribute Popoku to various regions despite the low quantity of production?” The first half of the year, our visible static shows a boom, and finally we believed Popoku will succeed in the future.” he continued.
Five years after launching, Popoku had become a successful product. In 2010, Popoku was crowned as the fourth most preferred baby diaper brand, along with local brands and other imported products. Demand did not only come from Eastern Indonesia alone, which was the focus of the distribution area at the beginning of the business, but also from Jakarta and surrounding areas.