JATIMNET.COM, Surabaya - The lack of knowledge and skills of micro-entrepreneurs to convey their creative ideas in public and how to negotiate with potential buyers is felt by MSME actors.

Therefore, in order to carry out the Tri Darma of Higher Education, the Community Service Team (PkM) consisting of lecturers from the FEB Management Department of Airlangga University held Branding and Public Speaking training for Batik Tin craftsmen produced by Kampung Ceria in Bubutan District, Surabaya, Saturday 8 July 2023

This training was officially opened by Dian Ekowati, SE, MSi, M.App.Com (Org.Chg) as Deputy Chief Executive of the Community Service Team (PkM) accompanied by Team Leader Dr. Yetty Dwi Lestari ST, MT, and members of the PkM team consisting of Dr. Tri Siwi Agustina, SE, MSi, as well as guest speaker Wenti Krisnawati, a student of the Doctoral Program in Management Science who is also a Public Speaking speaker and John Hardi, ST, MM speaker for Batik Product Branding.

In her remarks, Dian said that this community service activity was a continuation of the previous year's community service activities. If in the first year the focus is on production, then in the second year it will focus more on the marketing aspect.

According to him, when branding becomes a main main idea as an introduction or brand on a product, there must be a strategy used so that it becomes a goal that builds a positive image and reputation for the product so that it is always good in the eyes of consumers.

However, this Branding Strategy will not be realized perfectly if it is not accompanied by the expertise to convey ideas (Public Speaking) which is certainly very important in marketing and selling a product.

"It is hoped that this training will become the foundation for the growth of the Batik Tin business produced by Kampung Ceria in terms of turnover, assets and product marketing reach," said Dian.

The activity which was held at Balai RW 4 Jalan Sumber Mulyo was attended by 20 craftsmen, not only women craftsmen but also their families. This is done because in practice, these micro-scale artisans carry out marketing and sales activities not alone but together with their husbands or children.

"By being given insight into public speaking, it is hoped that their families will become a solid marketing team and are skilled at communicating when carrying out promotional activities," he said.

Meanwhile, Wenti Krisnawati (Student of the Management Science Doctoral Program) as the Public Speaking speaker explained that in carrying out product promotion activities one must pay attention to the appearance of the speaker and the product to be promoted.

Participants were also equipped with techniques to convey the superiority of the resulting batik products in a clear, attractive and elegant manner to prospective buyers accompanied by supportive body language.

Not only theory, but the training was also accompanied by hands-on practice by the participants, where each participant came forward to promote his written batik product by implementing the strategy of public speaking skills that had been explained by the speaker.

On the other hand, John Hardi, who is a Lecturer in Management Study Program as well as the 1nd presenter, continued by giving material on Branding for Batik Products.

Hardi said that for small-scale businesses, such as MSMEs, branding is often ignored because it is considered not so important or even too expensive to implement. But actually, branding has an important role to strengthen business identity and increase competitiveness in an increasingly competitive market.

"Moreover, Batik Tin, which produces written batik, is still relatively new in Surabaya. In order to be recognized by the wider community, the strategy adopted is to highlight the advantages or characteristics that distinguish it from other batik from Surabaya," said Hardi.

So that community service activities do not stop at training, the next activity is to increase the marketing of Batik Tin products, followed by mentoring activities for improving social media, especially Instagram from Batik Tin Kampung Ceria which is considered not active in posting all activities and the latest production results.

https://jatimnet.com/dosen-dan-mahasiswa-feb-unair-beri-pelatihan-branding-dan-public-speaking

The mentoring activities will be carried out for 1 month and carried out by students who are members of the Student Association (HIMA) Undergraduate Management Study Program under the coordination of the Community Service Team lecturers.