1. Introduction
1.1 Research Background
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research Background
A ccording to Anholt—GfK Roper Nation Branding Index (2009), Indonesia as a nation ranked 41th out of 50th country in its attempt to develop the country’s image. This result comes from the negative perceptions people have about Indonesia, especially China, Australia, and United Kingdom which published more than 50% negative news about Indonesia (Prodjo, 2016).
Most of the negative perceptions browsed from Google showed the topic of poverty in Indonesia which was caused by corruption. Transparency International (2017) showed that Indonesia has a relatively high corruption index (37 out of 100), making Indonesia ranked 96th out of 180 countries around the world. Other than corruption index, image of Indonesia is seen as being prone to terrorism due to bombing attacks (Rivett-Carnac, 2016), in which the latest terrorist attack happened in May 2017 when a group of terrorists, suspected to be the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group mounted suicide bombs in Kampung Melayu bus station and cause three deaths and ten injured (Oktavianus, 2018).
Apart from that, Indonesia is actually a country abounds with natural resources. Thus, in order to prevent the overshadowing negative perspectives, the need to repair this negative image is significantly necessary. The concept of branding has traditionally been associated with companies and their products or services, but nowadays it is also used in the shaping of reputations of nations (Marandu, et.al., 2012). The “nation branding” concept focuses on the underlying assumption that every nation is considered as a brand; either attained through its conscious effort or created by chance to articulate a new image for external consumption and to revive national pride at home
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(Kaneva & Popescu, 2011). Anholt (2007) used the terms “competitive identity” to replace “nation branding” with the thoughts that there must be always a fierce competition between countries to gain global prestige, influence, and means which can be observed from its country’s tourism, brands, people, culture, policy, and investment (called as Hexagon of Nation Branding).
Figure 1. The Hexagon of Nation branding (Anholt, 2008)
Compared to a company’s brand management which implements marketing and promotion, a country should utilize more abstract and complex way supported with the cooperation with the elements of country (Anholt, 2007).
Hosting a sport mega-event has increasingly been recognized as a powerful agent in the imaging, re-imaging and branding of cities and nations (Higham and Hinch, 2009). Berkowitz et al. (2007) were among a limited number to connect these impacts with the nation brand, stating that sport mega-events create “a great branding opportunity” for nations.
Cornelissen (2008) suggested that the hosting of the mega-event was part of a larger national agenda for nation building as well as showcasing the state as a “global middle power”.
The significance of sport mega-events to the nation is evidenced by its previous staging of a COMPETITIVE
IDENTITY
Exports
Governance Tourism
People
Investment Culture and Heritage
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Cup of Nations (football), the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, and so on. The Asian Games 2018, in this case, representing mega-sport events hosted by the nation so far.
Proclaimed as “Energy of Asia” due to Asian Games’ newly assigned rotational hosting policy the following quotation from President of Indonesia states that one of its main objectives for hosting the event was to facilitate nation branding: “It could boost our name in the international community” (Cook, 2017).
The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the 18th Asian Games, XVIII Asiad, and Jakarta–Palembang 2018, was a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from August 18th-September 2nd 2018. For the first time, the Asian Games were co-hosted in two cities; the Indonesian capital of Jakarta (which is hosting the Games for the first time since 1962), and Palembang, the capital of the South Sumatera province. Events were held in and around the two cities, including venues in Bandung and some places in the provinces of West Java and Banten. The opening ceremony was held right a day after Indonesia’s Independence Day (August 17th 1945). Both opening and closing ceremonies of the Asian Games 2018 were held at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia.
All 45 members of Olympic Council of Asia with the total of 11.720 athletes participated in 465 events (40 sport disciplines). Finance Minister of Indonesia disclosed the total cost for arranging this particular mega-sport event was approximately USD 3.2 billion, of which USD 2.4 billion being spent on infrastructure development associated with the games (Mahadeo, 2018).
Such events may provide an opportunity to create or promote an image and also re-brand a nation (Anholt, 2007; Florek & Insch, 2011). For example, the Olympic Games have long been used to serve the imaging or re-imaging of places (Higham & Hinch, 2009). Florek & Insch (2011) cite the case of Sydney and the Olympic Games 2000 that accelerated the awareness of
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Australia as a destination by up to 10 years while they also cite the case of Germany's image being “softened and boosted” through the hosting of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Nadeau, O’Reilly, and Heslop (2013, p. 13) note the perceived nation brand benefits for emerging nations from hosting sport mega-events:
“Many emerging nations have risked a great deal in betting that hosting of a mega-event can be a fast-track to world recognition and reputation enhancement, and there is considerable evidence that this bet has payoffs in positive impacts on country images and reputations as producers of products and as tourism destinations.”
The high media profile of mega-events can be harnessed to increase the awareness, prominence and standing of places as well as serve as an agent of change in terms of imagery and place meaning (Chalip & Costa, 2005; Florek & Insch, 2011; Higham & Hinch, 2009). Sport conveys an emotional and symbolic value that few other types of events can. Rein & Shields (2007) explain how sports stimulate an “emotional heat” between the participants and the audiences that can symbolize the energy, vigor, and strength of an emerging nation in ways that eco-branding, museums, and other cultural attractions, for example, cannot. Sport events also offer the potential to build strong associations between specific people (participants and spectators) and particular places (Higham & Hinch, 2009). Higham and Hinch (2009) also note the growing prominence of sport in terms of place identity and the potential for sports to offer 'authentic cultural experiences of place'.
Indonesia as one of the newcomer in the race of modernity, following the path of first generation NIC (Newly Industrialized Country)—Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan, and South Korea declared that reaching a continuously and fast-growing economic growth is the goal of most of ASEAN countries (Prozorovskii, 2016). So far, Indonesia has made significant
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modernization breakthrough in the 70-90-ies of the twentieth century which brought the country into a number of second-generation NICs with the help of colonialism in promoting and explaining modernity to backward parts of the globe. Holding a title as host country of the Asian Games in 1962 evidently brought up popularity to the country. At that time, Gelora Bung Karno stadium hall was the first international scale-stadium hall ever made by the first president of Indonesia—Soekarno and noted as the most majestic stadium hall in Asia and the second biggest in the world. However, after the 1997-1998 monetary crisis, economic position of Indonesia weakened, and it took years to return to its previous level of development, yet at the same time it has to solve a lot of problems, ranging from the struggle against corruption and the manifestations of separatism, to weakening inevitable growing imbalances in the course of modernization. Therefore, by hosting the Asian Games 2018 might be the right momentum for Indonesia to arise the modern image that had ever been a worldwide spotlight before.
To be able to analyze past events, content analysis method will be used as the main method in the research. Content analysis is “the study of recorded human communication, such as books, websites, paintings, and laws (Babbie, 2016, p. 323). This study will employ a video content analysis because video consists of additional types of information (e.g., audio sounds, human speech, motion) beyond what one might find in pure still image data (Hauptmann, 2009).
Video also allows us to present the problems right in front of us, to see and hear, show and experience the affective, non-verbal, and contextual elements of the phenomenon which minimizes the possibility of incomprehension or misunderstanding which may be found in narrative description (Kress, 2003).
The video samples will be taken from the official Youtube channel managed by Indonesian Asian Games 2018 Organizing Commitee (INASGOC) formed by Indonesia government. Ever
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since 2005, Youtube has been popular as a rising campaign and political tool used by organizations and government (Emruli, Zejneli, & Agai, 2011). In Indonesia, there are particularly two active Youtube channel used by government as a medium to introduce and share what activities and achievements government has done during five years of leadership period—
the Presidential Secretariat (originally “Sekretariat Presiden”) and Presiden Joko Widodo.
Similar to those channels, during Joko Widodo’s leadership era, the Asian Games 2018 appointed as host country and a Youtube channel was set and managed by government to publish frequent promotional and documentation of Asian Games 2018 event to both local and global messages. By analyzing videos from official Youtube channel of the Asian Games 2018, it is possible to have deeper understanding of what kind of nation branding elements applied the most by government. In addition, it also can bring over the result of modernity level that Indonesia government tried to present towards audiences.