Targeting The Market For Generation Z, Ridwan Kamil Opens Up Opportunities For Leather Jacket Design, Assisted Marketing Through His Personal Instagram

West Java Governor M Ridwan Kamil invites leather industry players in Garut Regency to take a class (ANTARA/HO)

BANDUNG - West Java Governor M Ridwan Kamil invites leather industry players in Garut Regency to 'level up.' To attract a wider market, industry players must utilize information technology as part of marketing.

This was conveyed by Ridwan Kamil during a visit to the Leather Industry Development Service Unit managed by the West Java Industry and Trade Office in Sukastreg, Garut Regency.

"Generation Z or millennial markets and abroad are promising market prospects for leather industry players in Garut. And to reach this wider market, we must start using information technology as a marketing tool," said Ridwan Kamil in his official statement quoted by Antara, Friday, January 7th.

With the help of marketing technical digitalization, it is believed that it can move the wheels of the economy which was sluggish due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The leather craft industry in Garut Regency, according to him, has great business potential but so far it has not developed much.

He noted that there were at least five main problems that caused the development of the leather craft industry in Garut Regency to stagnate.

The first problem is that the raw materials for making leather handicrafts are still not suitable for export. "The material is apparently not exportable. Because when tested in the laboratory, this level is not adequate," he said.

The second problem is that there are not many innovations in the design of leather craft products in Sukanggang.

This can be seen from the designs for the same product in several leather craft shops, almost all of them are similar.

According to Ridwan Kamil, one of the problems in sales is that products are not in accordance with current market tastes. "I offer if there are leather entrepreneurs who want to collaborate to produce Ridwan Kamil's designs, I'm waiting," he said.

He emphasized that he would not charge a penny for leather business players who wanted their products to be designed.

"If you want, please, I ask for a list of how many shops are willing to produce the goods that I design, starting from wallets, women's bags, shoes, jackets, all of which are made from Garut leather," he said.

Not only that, Ridwan Kamil, who currently has around 15 million followers on social media, is also ready to promote the leather products he designs.

"I am also ready to market the product, but of course the product must be in accordance with market tastes. I will post it later, I already have 15 million followers," he said.

The West Java Provincial Government will form an institution tasked with developing design trends for leather craft products. "If the craftsmen are compact, every year there will be a different trend. It doesn't repeat itself. So make a 'trendsetter,'" he said.

The third problem is that there is a waste problem in the post-production of leather crafts in Garut Regency which is a factor causing environmental pollution. The fourth problem is that leather craft business actors in the Sukanggang area still do not understand how to market their products digitally.

The majority of business actors still sell their products conventionally. Therefore, Ridwan Kamil asked entrepreneurs to use materials from plant waste to make some of their products.

The material in question is coffee and mushroom waste to be used as leather, which is currently in demand by world fashion brands. Meanwhile, the Acting Head of the West Java Industry and Trade Office, Moh Arifin Soedjayana, said that the Garut Department of Industry provides seven supporting machinery services.

"In 2021, the machining services in this leather service unit will provide the highest service, reaching 774 services," he said.

According to Arifin, the high level of this service shows the great need for leather business actors in Garut to use machines in the service unit that is supervised by the Food and Processed Packaging Industry (IPOK) sector.

"In the context of economic recovery, we continue to strive to increase the capacity of business actors in West Java, one of which is in Sukanggang, Garut," said Arifin.