Virginia Gaby Clara Kemur , George Nicholas Huwae | http://devotion.greenvest.co.id
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STRATEGY PUBLIC RELATIONS OF PT ANGKASA PURA
I INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS DURING THE COVID-
19 PANDEMIC
(Qualitative Description Study At Manado Sam Ratulangi
International Airport)
Virginia Gaby Clara Kemur
1
, George Nicholas Huwae
2
Faculty Technology Information / Satya Wacana Christian University
12
1
[email protected] ,
2
nicholas.huwae@uksw.edu
KEYWORDS
Brand Awareness,
Public Relations,
Branding Strategy
ARTICLE INFO
Accepted:
June 24
th
2022
Revised:
July 8
th
2022
Approved:
July 14
th
2022
ABSTRACT
Public Relations of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) Sam Ratulangi
International Airport Manado sees the need for information for airport
service users is increasing during the pandemic. Brand awareness is
considered important for the company, especially at Sam Ratulangi
International Airport, Manado. Based on this background, this paper
aims to find out how the Instagram @samratulangi_airport social
media management strategy at the PT Angkasa Pura I office at Sam
Ratulangi Airport Manado branch in increasing brand awareness
during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research method used in this paper
is qualitative with a descriptive research approach accompanied by
netnographic research. Social media management strategies in order to
increase brand awareness on Instagram on the @samratulangi_airport
account during the pandemic include creating and maintaining content
consistency to be interesting, unique, informative, has its own
characteristics and is easily recognized by the public and is supported
by other activations to increase engagement and followers. In addition
to uploading headlines on the Instagram feed by using the _ features
available on Instagram such as video reels, IG TV, highlights, and
Instagram stories. Public Relations of Sam Ratulangi International
Airport Manado assesses that gradually the company's brand
awareness has reached the brand recall stage l.
INTRODUCTION
Corona Virus Disease is known with the name Covid-19, originally disease this
discovered in the city of Wuhan, China at the end of year 2019 in the month December . The
virus then given name severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)
whose disease given the name Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health
Organization (WHO). WHO then set this Covid-19 as global pandemic due to disease this
epidemic to various countries in the world and difficult for controlled . In Indonesia itself ,
Covid-19 was first confirmed in Jakarta last month March in early year 2020 (Yuliana, 2020).
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Data globally related to Covid -19 until with October 8 , 2021 shows There are 236,500,025
confirmed cases of Covid -19 , including case Dead (World Health Organization, 2021).
With existence pandemic this , in 2020 the government start To do effort preventive
in the form of great supervision strict for various type track enter to Indonesia from foreign
countries which include city air , port and postal traffic limit land specifically for some areas
that have track direct to China , namely Manado, Jakarta, Denpasar, Padang, Tarakan, Jambi,
Bandung, Batam and Palembang (Gitiyarko, 2020). In its development , policy government
created _ for limit room motion Public During pandemic this has changed several times start
from PSBB, then PSBB Transition , then become Emergency PPKM , to PPKM with four
level (Permatasari, 2021). This pandemic caused by Covid- 19 impact to many sector
including one _ sector transportation air and aviation . one _ impact to sector transportation
air and aviation could seen from traffic passenger Angkasa Pura I, which declined in 2020.
According to President Director of PT Angkasa Pura I, Faik Fahmi, traffic passengers in 15
airports air Angkasa Pura I reached 17.78 million passengers in the later first quarter of 2020
down of 8.11% if compared with the same period in 2019 where _ passenger reached 19.3
million passenger . one _ office branch The airport managed by PT Angkasa Pura I was
affected the Covid-19 pandemic is Airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado
(“www.minded-rakyat.com/,” 2020.) . Occur drop enough passengers _ significant , based on
Total Movement Data Airport Air Transport Traffic _ International Sam Ratulangi Manado
where the total passengers arrivals and departures in 2020 totaled 938,528 , down 58%
compared to where is 2019 amount passenger arrivals and departures totaling 2,229,585 .
Airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado is one of the branch from PT Angkasa
Pura I. This company is manager city air that manages 15 airports air in Indonesia. 15 airports
the located in Denpasar, Surabaya, Makassar, Balikpapan, Biak, Manado, Banjarmasin,
Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Lombok, Ambon, Kupang , and Jayapura
(“https://samratulangi-airport.com/en,” , 2020.) .
Manado 's own Sam Ratulangi International Airport in progress is one _ city future air _
projected for Becomes super hub (Finda Muhtar, 2020) where for Becomes there are hub and
super hub airports a number of criteria that must be support like facilities , location
geography , service factor , level demand and movement that has role dominant , and also a
factor managerial . in the future Airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado is also expected
to be operate as super hub airport in the field logistics . This thing make airport the as export
hub airport which includes East Asia region which will also serve flight international point-
to-point passenger nor product export to China
Condition an impacting pandemic globally and massively , not yet once experienced
by all the airport located in previously under the auspices of PT Angkasa Pura I including
Airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado, where since establishment company this no
once experience loss and experience drop amount very passenger _ significant accompanied
with dynamics change regulation consequence the pandemic that is also coming applied in
industry flight like airport naturally make user service airport nor Public by general need
clear information _ about condition journey or applicable regulations . _
No only that only , because big impact pandemic and development about change
dynamic regulation _ the could Becomes something opportunity for company for increase
brand awareness company more for Fulfill needs information for user services and society
past a medium, where company in effort for introduce social media as a medium of
communication from public relations to public who haven't many known by the public .
With so , airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado also needs for use media that
can reach the target audience intended by the company , in Thing this society . In
management communication , Sam Ratulangi Airport Manado has a Public Relations division
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or in other words called as Public Relations is included in the Stakeholder Relations Section.
Public Relations Division or public relations this is one of them responsible answer for
increase brand awareness where is one the method that is manage all form communication to
the target audience for the company .
Instagram at first is social media for share photos and entertainment only now _
develop be one _ media facilities for units in charge of public relations , including one public
relations at the airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado for communicate and disseminate
information to the public . Activity as well as all form communication through this Instagram
also can _ increase brand awareness to company . Social media platforms this often used side
by side with the development of social media in Indonesia and globally significant (Junawan
& Laugu, 2020).
Because of the size impact pandemic and development about change regulation , then
make Public Relations especially at PT Angkasa Pura I office branch Airport International
Sam Ratulangi Manado considering need improved brand awareness to company more for
Fulfill needs information for user services and society past a deep medium Thing this use
social media platforms like Instagram.
Airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado do activity branding via social media
with a minimal budget in the midst of a Pandemic condition, where the company's condition
experienced a decline in performance and losses due to a significant decrease in the number
of passengers. In general, companies do branding at large costs using various media,
channels , endorsers and influencers to reach their audience . In a pandemic condition Airport
International Sam Ratulangi Manado have where is the opportunity target audience or
passengers who come and seek party airports to find information regarding aviation
regulations so that could reduce cost in reach the target audience . This is used by Airport
Public Relations International Sam Ratulangi Manado to increase brand awareness with
method introduce social media airport and strengthen positioning airport as an informative
airport by taking advantage of opportunities existing .
Based on background the back that has been described above , then _ researcher To
do study for researching strategy carried out by the Public Relations division at PT Angkasa
Pura I office branch Manado 's Sam Ratulangi Airport in manage Instagram for increase
brand awareness during the Covid-19 pandemic , where in conditions that have not of course
will repeated again , airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado takes advantage of
condition difficult in the middle loss Becomes something opportunity for increase brand
awareness and positioning company as informative company _ via social media Instagram
without Secrete cost big for activity branding . Based on explanation on background back
and summary the above problem , researcher determine that study this aim for knowing how
strategy management of social media Instagram @ samratulangi_airport by Public Relations
at PT Angkasa Pura I office Sam Ratulangi Airport Manado branch in increase brand
awareness during the Covid-19 pandemic (Kemur, 2022).
A. Public Relations
public relations or public relations has many formulations or definitions given by experts
or scholars. Thus, from the many definitions of public relations, several categories are
defined regarding the emphasis on the definition of public relations which are taken based on
many different definitions. From the many definitions of public relations or public relations,
several categories are made regarding the emphasis of the various existing definitions. One of
the definitions states that public relations is a part of management as well as a
communication function.
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The formulation of Scott M. Cultip, Allen H. Center, and Glen M. Broom in the book
The New Paradigm of Public Relations , explains that public relations or public relations is a
management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships
between organizations and the community on which success depends. or failure. In the same
book, James E. Grunig explains that public relations is part of the management of
communication between an organization and its people. From the two definitions, it can be
seen that one of the functions of public relations is : namely planning and executing
strategies to establish good communication between the company and its publics. (Andipate,
2020).
Based on theory Regarding public relations activities, according to Cutlip, and Grunig &
Hunt, there are four forms of public relations activities, one of which is public information
that can produce four forms of relationships, namely community relations , government
relations, and public relations . industry (industrial relations), customer or consumer
relations (customer relations), or marketing relations (Andipate, 2020) .
B. Public Relations Strategy
Public relations strategy is approach thorough or program and explanation rational behind
the tactical program and will determined by the problems that arise based on from analysis
and research . Scoot M. Cutlip & Allen H. Center (Lerbinger, 2006) says , in To do a
activities , public relations requires strategy about how is the planning process the program
that will Becomes reference or something base for implemented .
Four main processes in this public relations strategy that is defining the problem or
determine problem done _ with assessment and monitoring of opinions , knowledge ,
attitudes , and related behaviors with actions and policies organization . This thing for reach
destination Specific for a public relations officer for reach program targets . Step this
determine who will _ do and tell this program , when , where and how . Then the second one
that is planning and programming or planning and programming . Step this will use
information that has been collected in steps first as reference for make decision about public ,
goal , Action as well as strategy communication , tactics and program objectives . Step
second this also determines what to do changed , done or said next . Third step _ that is
taking action and communicating or action and communication . Step third this load program
implementation from actions and communications that have been planned in step previously
(Muthia, 2017).
C. Brand Awareness
David A. Aker in his book entitled Managing Brand Equity defines brand awareness as
the ability of potential customers to recognize or remember that a brand belongs to a certain
product category. The ability of a customer to recognize or remember a brand varies
depending on the level of brand communication or customer perception of the product brand
offered (Aaker, 1991).
Here are the first levels of brand awareness ( Ampangallo & Dewi, 2020) that is unaware
of brands where At this stage, the customer has doubts or is not so sure whether they are
familiar with the mentioned brand or not. This stage should be avoided by the company. Then
Step brand recognition where at this stage, the customer has been able to recognize and
identify the brand . Stage next that is where is the brand recall at the level stages this ,
customer capable associate and remember brand without need given a stimulus. At the last
brand awareness stage that is top of mind , customers are able to remember, recognize and
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identify the brand as the first thing that comes to mind when talking about a particular
product category.
D. Branding Through Social Media
In a journal article entitled Branding Strategies for Social Media Marketing, Vinerean
explains social media as an interpersonal and interactive marketing tool, social media can be
used for various branding purposes. One of the goals of branding that can be achieved
through the use of social media is to increase brand awareness.
As an interactive and interpersonal marketing tool, social media can serve multiple
branding purposes. As such, branded social media activities can be used to 'increase
brand awareness and brand liking, promote customer engagement and loyalty, inspire
consumer word-of-mouth communication about the brand, and potentially drive traffic to
brand locations on and offline' (Vinerean , 2016)
Media social as wrong one Marketing Tools (Means/media from marketing strategy )
which is currently an effective means of reaching consumers/customers, especially those
belonging to generation Z and millennials who are the largest market segmentation of the
platform provider. Social media can reach consumers quickly and widely, and can interact
directly with consumers. Companies are now starting to use social media as a means of
marketing, both introducing products, attracting buyers, and as a medium for delivering
information. (Septiani, Widaaattullah, Akbar, & Sudiarto, 2021).
Branding using social media is an obligation for companies today to be able to compete
and remain relevant to their consumers/customers. (National & Pillars, 2020). Branding
through social media benefits companies in terms of its wide coverage in reaching customers
and also lower costs compared to other conventional media.
METHOD RESEARCH
Method research used _ in study this is qualitative with approach study that is
descriptive, Election method descriptive qualitative this because study this no use control
certain to behavior in object research and focuses on events that have happen . Study to use
this social media is for maintain and improve brand awareness in the middle The Covid-19
pandemic , according to researcher could studied through study qualitative and explained
with method describe strategy Instagram management @ samratulangi_airport for increase
brand awareness of PT Angkasa Pura I office branch Airport International Sam Ratulangi
Manado during the Covid-19 pandemic .
Study carried out in the office PT Angkasa Pura I branch of Sam Ratulangi Airport
Manado which is located on Jl AA Maramis , Manado, North Sulawesi. Location study
chosen because company Keep going attempted maintain and increase get closer self to
Public especially those who will use Manado's Sam Ratulangi Airport terminal services in the
middle Pandemic where is covid 19 ? passenger experience confusion due to limitations
access information consequence appearance various rule by Keep going continuous limiting
and suppressing _ people travel . Besides it , airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado is
the only airport in Indonesia that requires whole arriving passengers _ for To do test Covid19
checks during the Covid19 Pandemic conducted by the Department of Health North Sulawesi
Province.
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According to Sugiyono (2017:41), object study is target scientific for get data with
purpose and use certain about something Thing valid objective _ could accounted for answer
, in other words valid and reliable (Kusmanto, 2018). Object study focused on social media
management specifically Instagram platform on account @ samratulangi_airport managed
Public Relations Officer or Communication Officer at PT Angkasa Pura I office branch
Airport International Sam Ratulangi Manado and Subject in study this are employees of PT
Angkasa Pura I office branch Manado 's Sam Ratulangi Airport , especially in the
Stakeholder Relations Section unit in charge of the Public Relations division that is
Stakeholder Relations Section Manager and Communication Officer in depth Thing this
managing social media Instagram Sam Ratulangi Airport Manado.
On research In this case , the researcher also uses methodology research qualitative
that is netnography where researcher will observe and study about implemented public
relations strategy through social media and then observe enhancement brand awareness with
notice engagement and improvement amount followers on social media Instagram during the
covid-19 pandemic .
Netnography is approach new past research ethnography that combines interaction
and archive online who need observation and data collection _ digital (Iskandar, 2020).
Through research netnography this , researcher will view social media from Airport
International Sam Ratulangi specifically instagram and interactions with user service airport .
Study this will using primary data that will obtained through Interview to Manager of
the Stakeholder Relations Section and Communication Officer who designed strategy and
managing social media Manado 's Sam Ratulangi Airport and secondary data obtained
through research netnography , company internal documents as well as supporting data that
can be accessed by the public .
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia began in March 2021, then declared by the
Presidential Decree (Keppres) of the Republic of Indonesia Number 12 of 2020 (Indonesia,
2020) concerning the Determination of Non-Natural Disasters for the Spread of CORONA
VIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) as National Disaster on April 13, 2020, then regulations
related to restrictions on the movement of people and the application of health protocols
began to be issued in the second quarter of 2021 and regulations related to flight eligibility
requirements began to be enforced so that people began to reduce the frequency of traveling
due to the high spread and death rate due to Covid19, only people who have a high enough
urgency to travel where they will seek information regarding the eligibility requirements to
fly first.
PT Angkasa Pura I as a provider of public services in airport services, especially at
Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado, strives to provide the best service to the public.
The best service to the public that is intended to be provided by Manado's Sam Ratulangi
International Airport is not only limited to providing services such as facilities in the airport
terminal, providing runways and aprons, and paying attention to flight safety, but also
providing information services to the public. At Sam Ratulangi International Airport itself,
providing information to the public is one of the tasks of the public relations division in the
Stakeholder Relations Section.
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A. Activity Public Relations and Public Information during the Covid19 Pandemic
Public relations has role among others as : (1) Images Maker where public relations is
required for create , maintain and improve positive image . _ (20 Communicater /Mediator
for doing activity communication two direction for internal and external public company . (3)
Backup Management as gift support to support activity every affiliated departments _ in
company for reach destination company (Ardhoyo, 2013) . Activity public relations the
covers formation image and perception public to company where is one activities that is
facilitate needs information public .
Public information or public information , as the name implies is a process of
providing information to the public intended by an organization or company to its publics
based on an honest communication approach because one of the roles of public relations is to
provide information objectively (Butterick, 2011).
Seeing the current conditions where public information needs are also increasing due
to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Public Relations division through the Communication Officer
at PT Angkasa Pura I branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado provides
services in the form of information to the public as a form of public relations activity . Most
of the information needed by the public regarding Manado's Sam Ratulangi International
Airport is regarding the latest updates in the form of content regarding travel regulations and
regulations.
According to Ms. Chyntia Eliza as Communication Officer Sam Ratulangi
International Airport Manado , through content containing information for
the public uploaded on Instagram, this can achieve the company's goal of
increasing the company's brand awareness. Mrs. Chyntia said: "As our
company hopes to continue to be an informative and top-of-mind company in
the airport business, it is hoped that the public can remember PT Angkasa
Pura I when looking for certain needs or information related to airports and
can even understand the business the company runs."
In 2021, the majority of the public will be required to receive vaccine doses,
examinations and tests for Covid-19 are more easily accessible and the cost of examination
tests is getting lower as indicated by the spread and death rate due to Covid19 starting to
decline where more people are traveling compared to the previous year but are required to do
so. fulfill certain special requirements set by both the central and regional governments which
are dynamic, in this case affecting the increase in the search for information related to the
airworthiness requirements, which is used by PT Angkasa Pura I , the branch office of Sam
Ratulangi Airport, Manado as the right time to escalate brand awareness . Brand awareness
is indicator key in the middle competitive market and company performance (Ankur Kumar
Rastogi, 2018).
In addition to meeting the information needs of the public and the public during the
pandemic, PT Angkasa Pura I Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado also sees the
increased need for public information as an opportunity or opportunity to increase the
company's brand awareness . Through the interview process that has been carried out by
researchers,
Mr. Rendy Anindito as PTS Stakeholder Relations Section Manager at Sam
Ratulangi International Airport Manado said that because PT Angkasa Pura
I branch office Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado is a company
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based on a service business in the form of services to airport service users,
efforts to increase brand awareness or brand awareness can increase
emotional bonds with consumers which with this emotional bond will have a
positive impact on the company as a whole. large. In the interview process that
has been conducted by researchers,
Mr. Rendy Anindito also said that in the midst of the current pandemic
situation, Sam Ratulangi International Airport hopes to have an image as an
informative company and contribute to every government program.
Not only that, according to Ms. Chyntia Eliza as Communication Officer at
PT Angkasa Pura I branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport
Manado , by having good brand awareness, PT Angkasa Pura I can be
recognized by the public well, has credibility and builds a sense of loyalty or
trust. among the community and not just limited to service users.
B. Public Relations Strategy of PT Angkasa Pura I Airport International Sam
Ratulangi Manado Increase Company Brand awareness
During a pandemic year 2020, enforced various rule restrictions and requirements
flight for perpetrator journey for push number covid-19 case . With enactment the rules that ,
the perpetrator journey experience difficulty in get information about condition travel and
eligibility for could To do journey use transportation air . Every issued rules _ impact to
down amount passenger so that appear urgency for company for give information related
requirements flight by short however clear in order to help increase amount traveling
passengers _ use transportation air . Condition this is also encouraging company for could
catch opportunity for introduce social media as means communication company . Airport
International Sam Ratulangi Manado is quite airport _ is known Public by wide , however
From this momentum the public relations division at PT Angkasa Pura I Bandara
International Sam Ratulangi Manado decided for increase brand awareness company via
Instagram so that people more aware that During pandemic , airport International Sam
Ratulangi will using social media as means communications managed by public relations or
communication officer company .
Correlation Among set rule restrictions requirements flight with fluctuation amount
passengers and number Covid-19 cases can seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1 : Correlation set rule requirements flight with amount passengers and cases
of Covid-19
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According to David A. Aaker in his book entitled "Managing Brand Equity", Brand
awareness is one of the 5 categories in Brand Equity or brand equity which is a set of brand
assets and liabilities related to a brand, its name and symbol, which provide added value or
reduce the value provided by an item or service to the company or the company's customers.
Brand awareness or brand awareness is understood as the ability of potential customers to
recognize or remember that a brand belongs to a certain product category (Aaker, 1991). This
definition and statement regarding brand awareness also applies to PT Angkasa Pura I
branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado, which through its public
relations activities wants to increase the company's brand awareness so that it is better
known to the public, especially to help the company realize its image or image as an
informative company by taking advantage of the situation. the current pandemic. To increase
brand awareness , of course, Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport through its
public relations activities has several strategies.
Mr. Rendy Anindito said that one of the strategies of public relations at PT
Angkasa Pura I branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado
is to increase the company's brand awareness amidst the dynamics of changes
in regulations and travel rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely by
intensifying the delivery of information through platforms. social media about
adjusting or adapting the application of health protocols at airports. The
social media platform used by Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport
in disseminating information related to the airport and travel conditions to
increase the company's brand awareness through the provision of public
information is Instagram.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic was first discovered in Indonesia in March at the
beginning of 2020 and most of the public are active users of social media Instagram, the
public relations division of Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport is considering
Instagram social media to be used as a tool to increase the company 's brand awareness . .
According to Simona Vinerean in a journal article entitled "Branding Strategies for
Social Media Marketing", branding activities through social media As an interpersonal and
interactive marketing tool, social media can be used for various branding purposes (Vinerean,
2016). One of the branding goals that can be achieved through the use of social media is to
increase brand awareness and this is also realized by the public relations division or public
relations at Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport.
Instagram itself was originally developed from the iPhone application and allows
users to share photos because at first the Instagram social media platform was focused on
improving the photo sharing experience for its users (Shalihah, 2021) and now it has grown
tremendously and not only focused on being a platform for sharing photos. share photos, but
Instagram itself has developed with several additional features such as Instagram Story, Reels
Video, Highlight Story, Ig TV, Direct Message , and even has a feature located on the account
profile that is directly directed to e-mail so that someone can directly send an e -mail. -mail or
electronic messages without having to know the e-mail address of the owner of the Instagram
account in question. With these additional features, of course, it is also one of the added
values of the Instagram application to become tools or tools to increase brand awareness of
PT Angkasa Pura I, Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado, especially during a pandemic like now
which requires the public from Sam Ratulangi International Airport and the public. widely to
seek and obtain information through digital media and based on technology.
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In an interview conducted by the researcher, Ms. Chyntia Eliza said that
considering social media, especially Instagram, is one of the most widely used
platforms by the Indonesian people according to data released by Napoleon Cat
in the period January-May 2020 where Instagram users in Indonesia reached
69.2 million users, it can be said, of this number, active Instagram users in
Indonesia reach more than 25% of the total population in Indonesia. From the
statement from Ms. Chyntia, it can be seen that Instagram social media is
widely used in Indonesia and if it is used to provide information and is used to
carry out branding activities that aim to increase brand awareness or brand
awareness from the public and the public towards PT Angkasa Pura I Sam
Ratulangi International Airport. Manado, then Instagram can be the right tool
or media.
In the interview process, Mrs. Chyntia Eliza also said: "In short, social
media, especially Instagram, is a fairly effective choice for companies to
become one of the tools to achieve brand awareness". Mrs. Chyntia also
explained that there were several points that were also considered by public
relations from Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport in choosing
Instagram as a tool or media to increase the company's brand awareness
during the pandemic, such as:
1. The scope is wide not limited by time, age, gender, region, etc.
2. Cost effective and even free.
3. It can easily be analyzed through the available insights feature. This
feature helps public relations or public relations in understanding the
audience persona from communication activities carried out through
Instagram. Furthermore, the public relations party can even see the
audience criteria achieved, such as gender, domicile, and age.
4. Ease of two-way communication with the audience.
5. Can determine the information to be conveyed to the audience.
6. And finally, Instagram's own social media encourages companies to
continue to be innovative and creative to create closeness with the
audience where the goal is for companies to be top of mind in the airport
sector.
In managing an Instagram account with the account name
@samratulangi_airport which is an account from Manado's Sam Ratulangi
International Airport which is managed by the Public Relations division
through the Communication Officer, Ms. Chyntia Eliza explained that "As is
known the basic difference between marketing content and brand awareness
content, namely content marketing focuses on on the sale of products/services
although it can also be done but the main focus of the company (PT Angkasa
Pura I) is in carrying out communication activities through social media,
namely for brand awareness. Therefore, the content presented is in the form of
positive and informative information from the company.
Social media can fulfill this goal, which is to become a communication medium for
companies to reach the public more easily and of course with content in accordance with the
form expected by the company where the company hopes that positive content will produce
positive implications.”
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Based on the information taken from the researcher's interview with Mrs.
Chyntia Eliza as the communication officer of PT Angkasa Pura I branch
office Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport , as well as the content
uploaded to the @samratulangi_airport account, contains positive
information about the company and informative for the public. Uploaded
content is also presented with more variations such as videos, infographics,
and photos to achieve closeness and meet the expectations or information
needs of the public. Information in the content is made in words that are easy
for readers to understand with the aim of minimizing misperceptions from
readers regarding information. which are given.
It can be seen in Figure 1, the content uploaded on Instagram that informs about the
temporary suspension for passenger flights that has been made attractively using graphic
designs which are summarized based on the Regulation of the Minister of Transportation of
the Republic of Indonesia No. PM 25 of 2020 so that it is easy to read and understand by
readers.
Figure 2 : Example presentation Instagram content @ samratulangi_airport about
termination flight passenger temporary
As a unit in charge of public relations in PT Angkasa Pura I branch office of Sam
Ratulangi International Airport Manado, the Stakeholder Relations Section is tasked with
taking advantage of opportunities in the midst of a pandemic so that the company's brand
awareness can increase. In managing the @samratulangi_airport account, it also has a
strategy in its management, such as maintaining the consistency of the uploaded content so
that it has its own characteristics and is easy for the public to recognize as the audience, by
regularly presenting content on a regular basis and being able to present unique content, for
example, content containing regional elements. By maintaining the consistency of the
uploaded content and making each content have a characteristic so that it is easily recognized
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by the public, making the public as the audience more familiar with PT Angkasa Pura I
branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado.
The consistency of the uploaded content can be seen from the color tone of the
upload, which is mostly blue because it is the corporate color of Angkasa Pura I, the
consistency of the image size, includes the company logo, and uses photo backgrounds that
are related to the content or related to the airport. In addition to these things, to make it easier
for Instagram followers to find information through the @samratulangi_airport Instagram
account, the highlights feature is used which can be accessed through the
@samratulangi_airport Instagram account profile. Highlight titles are grouped according to
the content of each content such as Update, PCR and Antigen, Covid Info, Eat Shop & Fly,
Earth Hour, AP1 Recruitment, PKD MDC, and the last template.
Figure 3: Highlight feature on profile Instagram account @ samratulangi_airport
Figure 4 : Example consistency content uploaded on Instagram feeds
@samratulangi_airport
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Figure 5 : Example content containing _ element regional and caption written in the
content regional
By having a good bond with followers or followers by actively providing feedback , it
is expected to get a real time response from Instagram followers who need information. In
addition, activations are also prepared to increase engagement with Instagram followers
@samratulangi_airport by uploading content such as questions and answers, quizzes,
challenges , and other similar content by utilizing existing features on Instagram.
According to Ms. Chyntia Eliza, who is a Communication Officer where she
herself manages Instagram @samratulangi_airport , the results of the
strategy carried out have not met the company's expectations, but have been
quite effective. "We're working on it, but what we have said is still not meeting
our expectations, but of course because we are working with that strategy, we
can say that for now it is quite effective."
As there are several levels of brand awareness as described in a journal article with
the title " Public Relations Strategy in Building Brand awareness Fourhoms Design" where
there are 4 levels of brand awareness starting from unaware of the brand, brand recognition,
brand recall , and the last is top of mind. (Ampangallo & Dewi, 2020), PT Angkasa Pura I
branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado has now reached the Brand
Recall stage . The Brand Recall stage is the stage where customers or in this case airport
service users and the public are able to remember and associate brands without having to be
given a stimulus first. This can be seen where people who want to find or submit information
related to airports have already understand to contact PT Angkasa Pura I branch office of
Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado to get the information needed. This can be seen
from followers ' questions in the comments column on content uploads on Instagram.
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Figure 6 : Some example question in column comments on the uploaded content on
the account @ samratulangi_airport
Mrs. Chyntia said , "In terms of interaction, reach, and followers during the
Covid-19 pandemic, it shows that the need for information related to flights
and airports is increasing. People are starting to understand the Angkasa
Pura I brand as a company engaged in the airport business, so it can be
concluded that there is an increase in brand awareness in the community
regarding the company through Instagram.” Furthermore, according to Ms.
Chyntia , one example of the increase in the company's brand awareness is
that throughout 2019, the highest number of likes was 393 with 32 comments
on 1 content post and the average likes of other posts was not more than 70.
Meanwhile, when compared with the data in 2021, the highest number of likes
is 693 with 104 comments and the average likes of other posts is more than
200 likes.
growth data of PT Angkasa Pura I Instagram followers at the Sam Ratulangi
International Airport Manado branch office can be seen in Figure 6.
Figure 7 : Data on the number of followers on the Instagram account @
samratulangi_airport year 2019-2020
Before the Covid19 Pandemic at the end of 2019 the Instagram followers of Sam
Ratulangi Airport Manado were 2,751 followers . There was a significant increase in the
number of followers during the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021 where in 2020 it
increased from the previous year by 31% to 3612 followers and in 2021 it increased by 122%
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compared to 2020 to 8052 followers . This data shows that Instagram followers on the
@samratulangi_airport account, during the Covid19 Pandemic (2020-2021) increased by
5,301 followers with a 193% increase in followers percentage. The Instagram account
@samratulangi_airport started in 2016 and until the end of 2019 the number of followers was
2751, the growth of followers for 3 years was far below the growth of followers during the
Covid19 pandemic which had lasted for 2 years. This shows that the strategy to increase
brand awareness by PT Angkasa Pura I Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado, which
in this case is carried out by the Communication Officer through the management of social
media as a means of providing public information at Manado's Sam Ratulangi Airport, has
proven to be effective. Emphasizing that the public as service users need and information
related to regulations regarding eligibility requirements to be able to fly at a time when the
central and regional governments issue regulations that regulate and limit the movement of
people as well as dynamic health protocols that are continuously updated within a certain
period of time through easily accessible social media and searched. By carrying out this
strategy, it is also followed up by evaluating the strategy and steps for managing Instagram
@samratulangi_airport to increase the company's brand awareness .
According to Mr. Rendy Anindito , the strategy that has been implemented is
evaluated by assessing how much catchment and engagement on Instagram
social media is, and furthermore if the strategy implemented is still deemed
lacking, it is necessary to find new ideas so that catchment and engagement on
Instagram @samratulangi_airport can continue to increase, especially in the
Covid-19 Pandemic period was used as the right time to increase the
catchment and engagement in question. Social media management strategy,
especially using the Instagram platform by PT Angkasa Pura I Sam Ratulangi
International Airport branch office in Manado implements continuous
improvement and improvement through evaluating the results of engagement
and catchment strategies that have been implemented previously, as well as
taking advantage of opportunities and the right momentum in implementing
the said strategy.
CONCLUSION
This paper describes descriptively the strategy carried out by the Stakeholder
Relations Section unit in carrying out the public relations function at PT Angkasa Pura I
branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado to increase brand awareness
during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the discussion of the results of interviews with
resource persons and literature studies to support the results of the interviews, the authors
found results that answered the formulation of the problem, namely knowing how to manage
the Instagram @samratulangi_airport social media strategy by Public Relations at PT
Angkasa Pura I branch office of Sam Ratulangi Airport Manado in increasing brand
awareness during the covid-19 pandemic.
The strategy carried out by Public Relations at Manado's Sam Ratulangi International
Airport in managing the @samratulangi_airport Instagram account in an effort to increase
brand awareness during the pandemic by seeing and taking advantage of opportunities where
during the pandemic there is an increasing need for information related to regulations and
eligibility requirements to fly for the public. which also includes the target audience of PT
Angkasa Pura I branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport Manado, social media
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such as Instagram is used as a tool or media to increase brand awareness which is one of the
duties and functions of Public Relations or PR. Instagram, which is used as a tool , is
managed in such a way that public brand awareness of the company, namely PT Angkasa
Pura I , the branch office of Sam Ratulangi International Airport, Manado increases during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
These management strategies include creating and maintaining consistency of content
to be interesting, unique, informative, has its own characteristics and is also easy for the
public to recognize and is supported by other activations to increase engagement and
followers apart from the main uploads on Instagram feeds by utilizing the following features.
features contained in Instagram such as video reels, IG TV, highlights, and Instagram stories.
The consistency and characteristics of @samratulangi_airport's posts are in the form of
similar color tones, upload frame sizes, to writing fonts and consistent font sizes . The
contents of the content also vary from the latest updates regarding travel requirements and
government regulations related to airports, airport development and construction, content
containing regional elements, and other content such as questions and answers, challenges ,
and quizzes related to airports. Content uploaded on Instagram is also packaged in several
content formats in the form of images or photos, infographics, and videos.
This paper also reveals that the strategy used by Public Relations at PT Angkasa Pura
I branch office of Sam Ratulangi Airport Manado in increasing brand awareness during the
COVID-19 pandemic has not yet reached the company's expectations, but the strategy is
considered to have been implemented with enough good could seen from enhancement
amount Instagram social media followers increase by significant and interaction followers
with company on Instagram via features like direct message, comment section, likes, question
and answer , and interaction past activations more on the Airport Instagram platform
International Sam Ratulangi Manado. This strategy is still being used and developed so that
the @samratulangi_airport Instagram management strategy can achieve results in accordance
with the company's expectations, namely being top of mind in the airport sector. Could
concluded that at the time this , in stages brand awareness, airport International Sam
Ratulangi Manado is at the stage brand recall where is the target audience company i.e. users
_ service city air and society by general could associate and seek company without given
more stimulus first .
Based on the results of the discussion, the suggestions that the author wants to convey
to the Stakeholder Relations Section unit, especially the Public Relations or Public Relations
section in managing Instagram social media in order to increase the company's brand
awareness during the covid-19 pandemic, are to be more responsive in updating important
information related to the Bandar Air, such as adding entertainment content and basic
knowledge about flight safety, adjusting the position of the layout or layout of feeds , and
finally grouping content in the highlight feature periodically on the @samratulangi_airport
Instagram profile to make it easier for users who want to find information quickly.
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Copyright holders:
Virginia Gaby Clara Kemur , George Nicholas Huwae ( 2022 )
First publication right:
Devotion - Journal of Research and Community Service
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
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