DAN Indonesia throws weight behind ride-hailing drivers via Instagram movement

Dentsu Aegis Network Indonesia has launched a social media campaign #DonasikanOngkosmu (Donate Your Expense) as part of its social contribution towards the COVID-19 impact on field workers, specifically ride-hailing drivers.

The agency has invited all office workers to continue using their transportation budget and support the distress commute heroes (online bike or car taxi driver), who are not receiving as many customers since the Indonesian government requested major companies to work from home amid the pandemic. According to the Indonesian online driver association, Gabungan Aksi Roda Dua (Garda), ride-hailing drivers’ income has dropped 50% against their usual income due to lack of office commute and is expected to decrease further. Unlike the office labour who is feasible to work from home, field workers are forced to be working outside in order to fulfil their daily needs even amid the spread of COVID-19. 

In a statement to Marketing Interactive, a DAN spokesperson said the campaign will continue to run as long as the work from home policy is applied in Indonesia. Since the movement was kickstarted on Instagram on 25 March, organically, the agency gathered a few key figures in Indonesia to support the campaign. These include Triawan Munaf, Axton Salim, Millen Cyrus and Giasta Putr. 

The idea was conceptualised in-house, and included 16 brand units within the group. Dentsu One and Isobar were the two brand units that played a big role for the campaign launch. According to the DAN spokesperson, almost 1,000 individuals have joined the #DonasikanOngkosmu movement thus far.

Maya Watono, country CEO of DAN Indonesia, said this is one of the agency's concerns during this difficult time, and added that it is also a time for everyone to reflect, be mindful, and take care of people who play a big role in everyday life.

Meanwhile, Andreas, executive creative director of Dentsu One and Isobar explained that gotong royong (mutual cooperation) has always been the cultural value in Indonesia. "We strongly believe that there are still many people who wanted to help out sincerely, that is why we are trying our best to provide a simple medium which harnesses the usual behaviour to convert it as donation concept,” he said. 

Aside from social contribution, Dentsu has also facilitated its own employee to prevent COVID-19 since the early spread in Indonesia. These include temperature checks for all office arrivals, office space sanitation, critical event notification via DAN Alerts, followed by a full remote working that started since 23 March. 

Most recently, DAN's iProspect appointed Arshad Rahman to the newly-created role of chief operating officer. Rahman joins from Google Indonesia, where he was head of Google Marketing Platform for four years.  In his new role, his focus will be delivering data-driven marketing solutions and further establishing iProspect Indonesia as the leading data and analytics marketing partner in Indonesia. As COO, Rahman will report to Rahul Nambiar, CEO of iProspect Indonesia.

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