Packaged Tea Advertising War

To win market share, packaged tea producers are willing to spend hundreds of billions of rupiah to increase brand awareness. According to Nielsen Advertising Information Services, Pucuk Harum Tea was the biggest spender on print and television advertising in 2016, reaching Rp 381.7 billion, a 26 percent increase from the previous year.

Second place went to Teh Gelas, produced by Orang Tua Group, which spent Rp 359.6 billion on advertising in 2016, a 2 percent increase year-on-year. In third place was Frestea, a bottled tea brand from Coca-Cola, which spent Rp 298.7 billion on promotions, a more than tenfold increase compared to the previous year.

Hellen Katherin, Executive Director, Media Business at Nielsen Indonesia, stated that total advertising spending for the tea category in 2016 reached Rp 2.7 trillion, a nearly ninefold increase compared to 2007. Of this total, 77 percent was for ready-to-drink tea products. The high advertising expenditure reflects the increasing number of brands and advertisers. Nielsen's advertising expenditure monitoring covered 15 national television stations, 99 newspapers, and 123 magazines and tabloids. Advertising expenditure figures are based on gross rate cards, excluding discounts, promotions, bonuses, and other allowances.