Marketing Communication Strategy of the Rice Bowl Products in Pontianak City

The purpose of this study is to identify and explain the marketing communication strategy used by Mbok Dower MSMEs in Pontianak in increasing product sales of Rice Bowl. The main theory used in this study uses the Marketing Communication theory proposed by Kotler. This research methodology uses a qualitative approach, a descriptive method in order to explain the focus and objectives of the research regarding the marketing communication strategy used by Mbok Dower MSMEs Pontianak in increasing sales. The results showed that the marketing communication strategy in increasing sales of their Rice Bowl products in Pontianak are such as: Combining three marketing communication strategies in the form of: marketing communications, sales marketing, and marketing events in marketing their business products, segmenting, targeting, and positioning so that the products sold are able to compete with similar businesses and are able to reach targeted consumers in marketing products. Owner Mbok Dower also implements a marketing mix consisting of product, price, place and promotion in which it is assisted by the use of social media, Instagram, as an alternative promotional media that can reach the entire Pontianak community and has been proven to survive even though it was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.


INTRODUCTION
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are strategic national economic sectors that concern the livelihoods of many people so that they become the backbone of the national economy.In Indonesia, the definition of MSME is regulated in the Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 20 of 2008 concerning MSMEs.Article 1 of the Law states that Micro Enterprises are productive businesses owned by individuals and/or individual business entities that have the criteria for micro-enterprises as regulated in the Law.Small business is a stand-alone productive economic business carried out by individuals or business entities that are not subsidiaries or branches that are owned, controlled, or become a part, either directly or indirectly, of medium-sized businesses or large businesses that do not meet the business criteria of small business as referred to in the bill (Tulus, 2009: 16-18).
The advancement of social media in the technology era has become a means to disseminate information.Thus, as explained by Farid Hamid and Heri Budianto (2011: 241), that the media is providing various information needed and determines the formation of certain realities, thoughts, and views about the world and social reality.The media is part of the cultural industry that is tied to the community communication system which is managed as an industrial organization that has its own interests and tendencies.The interests and tendencies of the media are determined by the social, economic, cultural, and political systems of the media environment that determine the construction of a framework of thought, work, and behavior in managing media and mass media.
Then in marketing their business products, currently business actors are required to be more observant in seeing opportunities and creating creativity in marketing their business products in order to attract public attention.Advertisements used to market their business products should not only be done using print media such as distributing brochures, establishing pamphlets, and banners but can be assisted with other alternative media to support the marketing of an ongoing business, as adjusting to increasingly modern technology by utilizing social media such as Facebook, Instagram, or other social media.By utilizing these media, business products can reach the community faster since today most of the people utilize these media as entertainment media, information seeking media, and social media.
Marketing strategy is one of the most vital things for a business actor to do.Marketing strategy or marketing communication is an important aspect in the overall marketing mission as well as the determinant factor in make the marketing work.In the last decade or so, the marketing communication component in marketing has become increasingly important.It has even been in the "claim" that marketing in the 1990s was communication and communication was marketing, the two are inseparable (Terence A. Shimp, 2003:4).
The culinary business is currently developing in Indonesia, one of which is happening in Pontianak.One of the growing culinary businesses is the Rice Bowl food business.Rice Bowl Mbok Dower is an MSME that sells various foods with rice as raw material with various types of side dishes such as beef, chicken, squid, tuna, and beef lung.In marketing their Rice Bowl, the business actors, are carried out online and offline marketing with the aim of disseminating information about their business products.The ways that this business owner uses in marketing their business products are by promoting the menus available at the Rice Bowl with various menu variants and attractive prices in various print and online media.
Mbok Dower is one of the Rice Bowl businesses engaged in the culinary field which has been established since 2016 in Pontianak.The owner of Mbok Dower's own business is a young entrepreneur named Dara.The Rice Bowl food product "Mbok Dower" comes with a distinctive feature on the food products offered which is the spicy taste with various unique spicy menu variants.This was done as a creative idea to introduce the brand owned by Mbok Dower among the tons of Rice Bowls products in Pontianak.
Mbok Dower opened outlets in several locations which are located on Sultan Abdurrahman Street, Ruko Perusda, Tanjung Raya 2, Komyosudarso, and Sungai Raya Dalam, and they open every Monday to Saturday.The Pontianak city is a strategic city, because Pontianak is the capital of the West Kalimantan province.Pontianak is the center of government for the West Kalimantan province as well as the center of education in West Kalimantan, therefore the crowd level of Pontianak always increases every year.With this increasing level of crowd, many people have started to open businesses such as cafes, food stalls, and other businesses.In running their business, many business actors not only highlight their business products, but also decorate the location of their place of business the best they can do.Thus, Pontianak people are interested in not only enjoying the food or drinks available, but also the ambience of the place.
Based on the description that the author has described above; the author aims to conduct research as a final project in which fulfilled by examining aspects that become the marketing strategy of Mbok Dower SMEs in marketing their business products.The author examines the research entitled "Mbok Dower Marketing Communication Strategy in Increasing Sales of Rice Bowl Products in Pontianak City".

MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Strategy is a word that comes from the Greek "stratego" which means planning enemy hostilities using effective sources (Arsyad, 2005: 25).Strategy is a broad overall priority or direction taken by the organization, namely choices about how best to achieve the organizations mission (Kaye, 2005: 3).Communication strategy is a combination of communication planning with management communication to achieve the goals that have been set (Effendy, 1999: 35).
Thus, the definition shows that the strategy in the question of this study is to explain what must be achieved, how resources and activities will be allocated for each product market in determining environmental opportunities and challenges, as well as to achieve excellence.The strategy to be used must be considered, selected, and adapted to the goals of the organization.In other words, strategy is a tool to achieve organizational goals in relation to long-term goals, follow-up programs, as well as resource allocation priorities (Rangkuti, 1997: 2).Then, in the field, the strategy is carried out in several stages.The stages of the strategy consist of three stages which are strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation.
Marketing communication is a two-way exchange of information between parties or institutions involved in marketing.All parties involved in the marketing communication process do the same way including the listening, reacting, and talking until a satisfactory exchange relationship is created.Information exchange, persuasive explanations, and negotiation are all part of the process (Magdalena Asmajasari, 1997:1).
Communication in marketing can be divided into three important parts (Oka A. Yoeti, 1990:141) which are; a communicator who acts as a sender, a receiver who will receive news from the communicator, a tool to convey messages in the form of a channel that acts as a news channel media.
Marketing communication is an attempt to convey messages to the public, especially target consumers, regarding the existence of products in the market.The concept that is generally used to convey messages is referred to as the promotional mix.Called the promotion mix because usually marketers often use various types of promotions simultaneously and integrated in a product promotion plan.There are five types of promotions commonly referred to as the promotion mix (Sutisna, 2002:267) which includes Advertising, Face-to-face Sales (Personal Selling), Sales Promotion, Public Relations and publicity, and direct marketing.

METHOD
Based on the problems that the researchers raised regarding marketing communication strategies in the business world, the approach that the researchers used was a qualitative approach so that researchers could explain in as much detail as possible.According to Ibrahim (2015: 52), qualitative research is a research method that emphasizes the interior aspects of the data in order to obtain the quality of the results of a study.The method used in this research is descriptive method.
In this research, the primary data and secondary data that the researcher obtains directly from the research object is aligned with the research focus.The data is obtained through in-depth interviews, non-participant observation, and documentation, by indirect observation and direct observation of the object.Data analysis techniques in qualitative research include interview transcripts, data reduction, analysis, data interpretation and triangulation.From the results of data analysis, conclusions will finally be drawn.At the end, the researchers checked the validity of the data through three techniques, including persistence of observation, triangulation, and adequacy of references.Communication strategy is a panning communication guide with management communication to achieve the goals that have been set (Effendy, 1999:35).The stages of the strategy consist of three stages, namely strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation (Rangkuti, 1997:2).In achieving the goals that have been set in company's vision and mission, Mbok Dower's MSME vision is to become an MSME engaged in the culinary field that provides confidence in taste, delicious, cheap, and can be enjoyed by anyone in the city.This vision must be in line with good marketing communication in order to create brand awareness and a good product image that is hoped to be a trigger in the increase of the Rice Bowl Mbok Dower products sale which are favored by consumers.
The Mbok Dower MSME owner in the Pontianak is the most decisive person and is fully responsible for designing, formulating, implementing, and evaluating the marketing communication strategy carried out.According to Rangkuti (1997:2), the formulation of strategy includes several things, one of which is identifying opportunities and threats external to the organization.The Mbok Dower MSME owner in Pontianak does this identification by segmenting consumers by determining the target market according to demographic segmentation (Handes, 2018: 58), namely gender (gender), age and occupation as well as regional segmentation such as choosing the location of the Mbok Dower shop opened.
The owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak started marketing communications by creating brand awareness and a good product image to consumers.Aaker in Handes (2018: 117), explains that brand awareness means the ability of a prospective buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is part of a certain product category.The role of brand awareness in the necessity of brand equality depends on the extent to which the level of awareness is achieved by a brand.
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design of a product or service or a combination of these intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.Brands also leave a sense and experience in the minds of consumers regarding the benefits of products produced by the company (Handes, 2018: 109).In this case, the owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak is trying to make this Rice Bowl known and remembered by users through marketing communication programs that are carried out in order to create good brand awareness of Rice Bowl Mbok Dower.Highlighting the products offered from competing products is also very important so that users know the differences and advantages of a product with other products.
Fanggidae in Handes (2018:72), defines positioning as a strategy in marketing activities that aims to create differences.Advantages, benefits that make consumers always remember a product.This product differentiation is made by the owner of Mbok Dower from other competitor products, both by highlighting the super spicy taste and providing menus that do not exist in competitor products such as beef lung, squid, and gravel which are used as menus in the Rice Bowl package.
In formulating the strategy, the owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak also carries out the stages of strategy formulation, namely choosing a particular strategy to use is the task of the strategic planner by considering the advantages, disadvantages, compromises, costs, and benefits of all strategies.The selection step is to identify, evaluate, and choose a strategy (Rangkuti, 1997:2).This is the task of the owner of Mbok Dower as a marketing communication strategy planner.

IMPLEMENTATION OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGY MBOK DOWER RICE BOWL PRODUCTS IN PONTIANAK CITY
The stage after strategy formulation is strategy implementation.Strategy implementation is often called the action stage in strategic management.The implementation of the strategy is often considered the most difficult stage because it requires discipline, commitment, and sacrifice.This is because the formulation of a successful strategy does not guarantee the implementation of a successful strategy (Rangkuti, 1997:2).In marketing communication, it can be divided into three important parts (A.Yoeti, 1990, 141), namely: First, there must be a communicator who acts as a sender.The sender of Mbok Dower UMKM in Pontianak is the owner and his husband who always help in promoting his business products.In addition, the sender is also carried out by influencers in collaboration with Mbok Dower.Second, there must be a receiver who will receive news from the communicator.Receivers in marketing communications for the sale of Mbok Dower Rice Bowl products are users and potential consumers.Third, there must be a tool to convey messages in the form of a channel that acts as a news channel media.
The tools used in marketing communications can be divided into two, soft selling and hard selling.The hard selling carried out by the Mbok Dower owner in the city of Pontianak includes personal selling (face-to-face sales), sales promotion (sales promotion), direct marketing (direct marketing) (Handes, 2018:208).In the IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) marketing communication model, there are five types of promotions (Sutisna, 2002:267), namely: Advertising, Advertising is one of the most widely used forms of promotion by companies in promoting their products.Advertising is commercial and non-personal communication about an organization and its products that are transmitted to a target audience starting with mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, outdoor billboards, or public transportation (Handes, 2018:174).The owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak made Rice Bowl advertisements through posters and advertisements through Instagram social media on Pontianak's Instagram social media accounts for information, besides that the advertisements were also assisted by influencers who have large followers in the city of Pontianak.In line with Kumar and Sharma (2022) stated that Social media affects the sales process.Then, face-to-face selling is an oral presentation in a conversation with one or more potential buyers with the aim of making a sale.In the presentation there is a direct interaction between the seller and the prospective buyer.This interaction will affect whether the prospective buyer will decide to make a purchase or vice versa (Handes, 2018: 209).It is relevant to Ibeh, et.al. (2022) mentioned that personal selling strategies brings a positive impact on market performance.
According to Sutisna (2001:315), the advantages of personal selling include: Personal selling involves direct communication with consumers (face to face).The Mbok Dower MSME owner in the city of Pontianak conducts direct marketing communications to consumers.Messages from personal selling are more persuasive than publicity advertising in the mass media.The approach to consumers can make it easier to persuade consumers to buy the products offered as conveyed by the owner of Mbok Dower regarding the face-to-face promotion.The face-to-face communication process makes potential consumers pay attention to the message conveyed by the seller.With face to face communication, education about products can be captured more easily because of full attention to the explanations conveyed with other promotions.
In personal selling, the communication flow process is two-way, so that consumers can directly ask the seller about the product.This two-way communication makes it easier for Mbok Dower MSME owner to answer questions from potential customers.Sellers can convey complex messages about product characteristics that cannot be conveyed by advertising with any media.The explanation directly delivered by the seller will be more detailed and easier to understand by consumers and potential customers.As mentioned by Shutaleva, et.al. (2022) the formation of a personal brand is built to a greater extent on the level of individual emotional perception.
Sales promotion, sales promotion or sales promotion consists of all marketing activities that try to stimulate the occurrence of buying action in a short time.Kotler, Armstrong, Ang, Leong, Tan and Tse in Handes (2018: 212), several tools that can be used in sales promotion activities: 1) Samples are a small number of products offered to be tried by consumers.Sampling is the most effective but also the most expensive way of introducing a new product.The owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak started this marketing communication strategy by focusing on distributing samples to users.With the distribution of this sample, it will grow brand awareness and a good brand image and will later affect the increased sales of Rice Bowl products.2) Price packs (also known as cents-off deals) offer consumers savings from the regular price of the product.Price reductions are marked directly by the manufacturer on the label or package.The price package can be sold at a discounted price package.This is also what the owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak does by conducting discount programs, packages for students, and giving gift vouchers to consumers.
3) Advertising specialties are printed with product or company names to be finally handed to consumers as gifts.Mbok Dower MSME provide advertising specialties to users by providing give away and up-to-date programs.4) Contests, sweepstakes, and games are promotional events by giving consumers the opportunity to win prizes.This has been done by the owner of Mbok Dower by holding a free menu for consumers who can answer questions and give prizes through the giveaway that was held.
Publicity is any form of communication about a company or product that does not require payment.This is closely related to public relations.Mbok Dower MSMEs in Pontianak had collaborated with influencers and MSMEs throughout the city of Pontianak in case of natural disasters in the regions.Mbok Dower MSMEs helped by donating cash and basic necessities collected by the MSMEs community in Pontianak.
Direct marketing is also carried out by Mbok Dower MSMEs by spreading program.The sale was carried out by selling directly at the Mbok Dower counter to facilitate the sales and increasing turnover.In the implementation of this marketing communication strategy, there are media planning (Handes, 2018: 241) including: Above the Line: Print media (newspapers, magazines, brochures, catalogs).In this print media, the Mbok Dower MSME owner in the city of Pontianak communicates marketing through newspapers about the sale of Mbok Dower Rice Bowl products.In electronic media, the owner of Mbok Dower conducts marketing communications through local radio in the city of Pontianak.On social media, the owner of Mbok Dower conducts marketing communications by creating social media accounts for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.It is in line with Khamaludin, et.al. (2022) stated that social media marketing has a significant effect on marketing performance.
Next, Below the line consisting of exhibitions held by Mbok Dower MSMEs in Pontianak, which carried out by opening open booths at several culinary events held by the MSME community in Pontianak and also events held government such as at Megamall Pontianak.The event carried out by the owner of Mbok Dower in the city of Pontianak is to carry out a collaboration program with the MSME community throughout the city of Pontianak.Product sampling is carried out by the team leader and sales in several marketing communication models such as personal selling, sales promotion, and publicity.

STRATEGY EVALUATION MARKETING COMMUNICATION RICE BOWL PRODUCTS IN PONTIANAK CITY
The last stage in the strategy is to evaluate the strategies that have been implemented.At this final stage, there are three activities including reviewing external and internal factors that form the basis for formulating the applied strategy, measuring performance by comparing results and taking collective action (Rangkuti, 1997: 8).
In the marketing communication strategy, the owner of Mbok Dower always evaluates after the promotion program by reviewing internal and external factors that become problems during the implementation of marketing communications.Evaluation is carried out to see the impact after the completion of the program in order to measure performance and compare the results whether they are in accordance with the concept of activities and company goals.
Owner Mbok Dower took corrective action by opening space for all employees to provide useful input in running the business in the future.The obstacles experienced by Mbok Dower MSMEs in the city of Pontianak are basically not too complicated, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, obstacles arise due to limited community activities due to PPKM regulations.
While the obstacles obtained from competitors, only occur in the difference in prices, bonuses, and menu variations offered in Rice Bowl products.Schifman and Kanuk in Handes (2018: 120), attitude has three components, namely: Cognitive component, attitude is based on what is known about the object of attitude, in other words attitude has an element of perception formed through knowledge.The affective component concerns feelings towards the object of attitude, comfortable or uncomfortable, likes or dislikes and so on.The conative component is the behavioral component towards the brand, to achieve brand loyalty.
Brand loyalty has several levels including: mobile buyers, habitual buyers, as well as buyers who are satisfied with the brands they consume, like the brand, and committed buyers.At this level, all companies must try to create users at the highest level, namely committed buyers, where this buyer category is a category of loyal buyers, and they have pride in using a product.So it is difficult to change consumer loyalty to a product.
However, at the stage of satisfied buyers (buyers who are satisfied with the brands they consume), their perceptions can still be changed and turning away to other products which have different price changes, risks, and so on.Owner Mbok Dower continues to explore and try out the most appropriate marketing communication strategies to use in increasing sales of Rice Bowl products.
Based on the exposure of data interviews obtained from the owner of Mbok Dower, among several marketing communication models, the most effective marketing communication models are personal selling and sales promotion.In terms of the effectiveness, marketing communications can increase product sales by 30%.

CONCLUSION
Marketing communication strategy in increasing sales of Rice Bowl Mbok Dower products in Pontianak City, the owner performs several stages including: segmentation and targeting, product differentiation and positioning, as well as determining strategies and holding some programs.At this early stage, the owner focuses on increasing brand awareness and building a good brand image in order to increase sales of Rice Bowl products.
The implementation of marketing communication strategies in increasing sales of Rice Bowl Mbok Dower products in Pontianak City can be seen from several programs that have been implemented with the integrated marketing communication model IMC (integrated marketing communication) such as advertising, face-to-face sales, sales promotion, public relations and publicity, and direct marketing.At the evaluation stage of the marketing communication strategy, the owner evaluates by reviewing external and internal factors, measuring performance by comparing results and taking corrective actions.