JKT48, More Than Meets The Eye

I can’t and won’t blame some people to not, at least, imagine a large group of pre-pubescent kids brandishing a plethora of colorful lightsticks while screaming their hearts out for some unintelligible Japanese mantras when they hear or read anything about the idol group that is JKT48. This large group of girls is proving themselves as one of the biggest sensation in Indonesian entertainment scene.

The ever-growing fanbase has evolved from a tiny band of fans cheering their idols in a small, temporary theater, into literally millions across the many islands of Indonesia that are willing to spend a lot of money to attend a special personalized meet-and-greet event, called the Handshake Event. The group itself has also gotten themselves a permanent theater to showcase their various setlists and events in one of Jakarta’s well-known shopping center.

The sheer kawaii factor and general cuteness of their member personas and of course boosted by the catchiness of their songs are often taken for granted, the public only sees what’s on the surface of the sugarcoated pop idols at face value. While it might be true that we can always accept JKT48 as mere celebrities or pop idols, there was and still is a grander scheme brimming behind their cheerful image, which has smartly and successfully blended the concepts of economic and cultural diplomacy, and had been executed flawlessly by Japan, both by their government and the private sector.

When we are talking about cultural diplomacy we are talking about an attempt made by a country to disseminate their own culture, whether it’s culinary, art or other tangible and intangible culture, to another country in order to achieve a greater understanding and relations between those two countries.

Often we think that cultural diplomacy always deals with traditional culture which of course has its intended effects but does not have the attraction to broader and arguably younger audience. This is where pop culture comes into play. Pop culture, and especially music can win the hearts and minds of the people in a widespread manner, and some countries like Japan has fully realized that their pop culture can become a spearhead to infiltrate another country’s potential and untapped market, which brings us from the pop culture diplomacy aspect to economic diplomacy.

It is not an easy task for any given country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade to get through another country’s market. Economic diplomacy is a long, arduous and exhausting effort and sometimes the result just couldn’t justify the means. All of these shortcomings can be cut short with a strong presence of pop culture diplomacy.

The simple fact that a pop culture icon exists can almost instantly create a strong rapport with the people of the intended country, especially when their hearts and minds are already taken. They will not only adore the pop icons, but that particular country as well, and when people are fond of a country, they will most likely trust and buy products from that country, especially when they’re being advertised by their favorite idols. Long story short, this is what actually happens in Indonesia and the writer believes that JKT48 is the spearhead of Japan’s revolutionary pop culture-cum-economic diplomacy.

Since their inception in 2011, JKT48 was produced and managed by JKT48 Operational Team which operates under the umbrella of Dentsu Media Group. Dentsu is listed as one of Nikkei’s top 225 companies in Japan, it is also one of the world’s leading media and advertising agency. By having such a strong and internationally-known agency on their side, it is only natural for JKT48 to be used as the focal point of their clients’ advertising needs in Indonesia.

After an arguably slow start with only Pocari Sweat ads in 2011, JKT48 has gradually developed a stronger fanbase and this led to more trust given to them in the next year. In 2012, JKT48 became the icons of Pocari Sweat, Rakuten, Laurier, Biore, Sharp and Pocky, it should be noted that all of these brands originated from Japan. In 2013, the list of products increased with the addition of Lawson, Honda, Charm and Indonesia’s IM3. Going into the year of 2014, KakaoTalk officially used JKT48 as their ambassadors in Indonesia.

All of the above shows that Japan has greatly benefited, and fairly so, by using this unique strategy of pop culture and economic diplomacy combination to get into another country’s market peacefully and to a maximum extent.

This particular area is something we are honestly still lacking of. I see no shame for us to admit our current inability to emulate what Japan has done so far in the field of cultural and economic diplomacy but as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. While the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs can always (and we really should) promote and preserve the beauty and elegance of our traditional heritage like Batik and Angklung for the world to enjoy, we must also re-think our strategy in developing our own pop culture.

This is not the right time for us to see pop culture as something superficial with no further effect apart from the entertainment factor. Pop culture, or should I say, a top quality pop culture has become the most effective approach in tapping a potential market. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, closely coupled with their private sector partners had seen this potential and executed it perfectly, and I believe with the right amount of will and understanding we will someday reach their level of sophistication.

JKT48 are not just an idol group, they are also a humungous advertising mechanism, a catalyst for a healthy gain for Japan and also Indonesia, while at the same time being a source of pride and joy for a lot of people here in Indonesia. They are simply more than meets the eye.