Recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009, Batik is more than just traditional clothing for Indonesians, it represents identity and icon of nationalism. It's not only popular among the older generation, various modern batik designs have found their own market among the youth, even reaching international markets.

Indonesian celebrities have played a significant role in promoting batik on the global stage. For example, famous singer Agnez Mo wore a batik dress at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai in 2023. 

Source:  Instagram @agnezmo

The acceptance of batik among international celebrities has been both surprising and a source of pride for Indonesia. One of the members of the boyband Super Junior, Leeteuk, shared a photo on his Instagram wearing a special batik outfit. In the photo, the boyband member from Korea mentioned that the batik he was wearing was designed by the former Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil.

Source:  Instagram @xxteukxx

Seeing this, it's no wonder that the batik industry in Indonesia has experienced rapid growth, thanks to various initiatives from the government, private sector, and individuals. It's undeniable that the quality and variety of designs are unique strengths and attractions of Indonesian batik. The collaboration between these strengths and support from different parties has ultimately brought batik to the international market.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded batik export earnings of 17.45 million US dollars. Based on case studies of batik producers who have successfully entered national and international markets, the use of social media and e-commerce platforms, as well as certain events, has greatly helped in product exposure and sales of batik itself.

(Source: Ekspor Batik Aromaterapi Tingkatkan Kesejahteraan Perajin Perempuan Madura, Kompas, 2024)

In today’s digital era, social media plays many roles in various aspects of life, one of which is helping business owners to create brand awareness among their customers. It's no wonder that both well-known batik artisans and micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) are competing to market their products on social media. Many of them will take advantage of national celebrations or other big days to offer attractive promotions or simply update their packaging so that the products received by customers give a unique impression that is easy to remember.

E-commerce platforms also greatly assist businesses in distributing their brands to places or regions that may not be accessible from offline stores. In fact, many batik entrepreneurs use e-commerce as one of their main strategies to reach global consumers. With the best quality products and attractive offers, buying for batik online becomes easy and enjoyable.

However, the existence of certain events and support from the Indonesian government is equally important in introducing batik to a wider range of society. This is proven by the many special events, such as national and international batik exhibitions. One of the annual events that stands out is the International Handicraft Trade Fair (INACRAFT). Organized by the Association of Indonesian Handicraft Exporters and Producers (ASEPHI), this exhibition serves as a bridge to introduce batik and other Indonesian handicraft products to a larger market. This is in line with ASEPHI's goal of promoting and expanding the market for Indonesian handicraft products to showcase the newest local brands with the best quality. At INACRAFT 2024, batik products still dominate the exhibition—out of the total 48 participants, 80% of them offer batik products, followed by textile and fashion products.

Clove Research tries to summarizes that, based on the explanation, it seems that the marketing strategy for batik in the national and international markets can be built or created starting with brand awareness, which can be done both online and offline. The existence of social media and e-commerce platforms is quite helpful in this digital era, but it needs to be strengthened with business owners' understanding of their target market. Therefore, to overcome these challenges, business owners or producers need to improve the quality and verification of their products to ensure successful marketing.

Some recommendations from Clove Research to increase Brand Awareness include:

1.       Invest in thorough research

Conduct in-depth research to identify the right target market and the unique selling point (USP) of the business to attract consumers.

2.     Organize event marketing

Organizing marketing events is one way to increase brand awareness. However, business owners also need to identify and evaluate the events that have been held to measure their effectiveness.