Indomie: Leading the Instant Noodle Market in Indonesia since 1972

Photo by ABHISHEK HAJARE on Unsplash

Almost every Indonesian loves Indomie, an instant noodle’s biggest local brand in this country. The tasty local flavors, convenience, and affordable price are some reasons why Indonesian love Indomie so much even by Indonesian ex-pats who living abroad. Indomie is available in over 100 countries around the world, with 19 billion packs annual production capacity.

Indomie has been produced by PT. Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur since 1972. The first Indomie product introduced was Indomie Chicken Broth Flavor which at that time suited the taste of the Indonesian people. Now, Indomie has been a pioneer in the innovation of instant noodle products in Indonesia for more than four decades and remains popular with the public. (Rizki Muzakir, 2019)

Brand Strategy

According to Carly Stec, 2020: Brand strategy is a plan that encompasses specific, long-term goals that can be achieved with the evolution of a successful brand. A well-defined and executed brand strategy will lead to the success of the company to market its product. According to the Instant Noodles Industry in Indonesia: Analysis of Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020–2025) report,

Indomie is the most selling brand in Indonesia with a market share above 72% in 2014. While Indonesia is the world’s 2nd largest market for instant noodles with sales of 13.4 billion units in 2014.

This statement shows that Indomie has a well-defined and executed brand strategy. Now let’s analyze the Brand Strategy of Indomie.

Segmentation

Indomie segments its customers based on:

• Geographic: Each Indonesian province has its local flavor. For example Mie Kocok Flavor for people living in West Java, Rendang Flavor for people living in West Sumatera, Soto Betawi Flavor for people living in Jakarta, and many more
• Demographic: Customers are segmented based on their gender, age, religion, and level of income. For example, Indomie has been producing Bulgogi flavor to target Millenials who are heavily influenced by K-Pop or Korean culture.
• Psychology, Personality, and Lifestyle: Customers are segmented based on their background. University students who are living far away from their families tend to have Indomie as their emergency meals if they don’t have any money left. On the other hand, Indomie also targets people with high income by producing The premium version of Indomie at a higher price.

Targeting

By heavily customized their product to fit all the needs of their customers, Indomie targets all Indonesian regardless of their age, gender, religion, etc.

Positioning

PT. Indofood as the manufacturer of Indomie successfully positions itself as an Indonesian local taste instant noodle that will make Indonesian remember their homeland.

Let’s see the 4Ps of Indomie:

1. Product: The product offering by PT Indofood is an instant noodle with various Indonesian local tastes, named Indomie. Indomie continues to innovate its product by creating new flavors regularly to fulfill their customer tastes.
2. Price: Indomie offers various prices based on the type and flavors. According to the Indomaret website, an Indonesian convenient store, as of today (September 20, 2021), The cheapest is the standard one which offers 2600 IDR/pcs (0.182 USD/pcs) and the highest is Indomie Premium which offers 4900 IDR/pcs (0.343 USD/pcs).
3. Place: All Indonesian provinces including more than 100 countries (Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and Middle Eastern countries.).
4. Promotion: Indomie advertises its products via advertisement on media, digital marketing, events, sponsorship, etc.

Elements of the local brand strategy that enabled Indomie to achieve this success

Various innovations and strategies were carried out to maintain Indomie’s position as a Brand Market Leader for instant noodles in Indonesia. By segmenting the customers based on their geographic location and create various local flavors to fulfill their local tastes, Indomie has successfully highlighted the distinctiveness of cuisine and the variety of cultures that exist in Indonesia. Not only that, but Indomie also has successfully catch-up with the latest trend by creating Korean-like flavor to satisfy the young millennials who are heavily influenced by Korean modern culture (K-Pop, K-Drama, and so on)

References:

Putri, E. (2017, December 20). 11 local brands all Indonesians love. Culture Trip. https://theculturetrip.com/asia/indonesia/articles/11-local-brands-all-indonesians-love/

Muzakir, R., Erlangga, R., Yuliocaesar, & Ukarno, Y. S. (2019). Strategy of PT. Indofood Sukses Makmur Makes Indomie as a Brand Market Leader in Indonesia. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology , 4(1).

Stec, C. (2020, November 11). Brand strategy 101: 7 essentials for strong company branding. HubSpot Blog | Marketing, Sales, Agency, and Customer Success Content. https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31739/7-components-that-comprise-a-comprehensive-brand-strategy.aspx

Note:
This article is written based on University of The People Marketing Management (BUS 5112) written assignment by Fristy Tania in September 2021