UNS — Through unique packaging and digital marketing, five students from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta participated in the efforts to build the brand of Difa Sukses Mandiri (DSM) in Surakarta. The effort is followed by education on the disability issues for the community.
The five students from State Administration Science Program are Agus Tina Isni Yatun, Afifah Dhea Damayanti, Cindy Amara Puspita Sari, and Elisa Rahmawati from the class of 2019, and lntanita Nurlaili Rosyada from the class of 2020. They were supervised by Dr. Rina Herlina Haryanti, S. Sos, M. Si., and initiated the Student Creativity Program in Science and Technology Application (PKM-PI) program titled “Unique Packaging and Social Media Marketing based on Disability Mainstreaming as a Strategy of Difabel Community Brand Strengthening”. Their PKM proposal won funding from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology RI in 2021.
To uns.ac.id team, Agus Tina, as the team leader, stated that DSM is a business with people with disabilities as members. The business focuses on economic empowerment by providing products and services in culinary, fashion, electronic, services, and digital products. “We focus on the development of culinary products in the form of snacks. The top products produced and offered by DSM are Solo snacks such as kuping gajah, keripik pare, and keripik gedebog pisang,” Agus Tina said on Thursday (27/5/2021).
QR Code Packaging and “Speaking Website”
Agus Tina’s team proposed three strategies, creating unique packaging, literacy on disability issues, and digital marketing. First, they added QR Code in the packaging to connect consumers to DSM’s “Speaking Website” through google lens. The packaging also has messages on disabilities knowledge such as “Jangan Panggil Aku Cacat, Panggil Aku Disabilitas” (don’t call me defective, call me disable) as a part of literacy.
The “Speaking Website” is an innovation that provides all information on DSM to build a community brand. The website has various features, such as shopping with the product price, payment method, and calculation of delivery costs. Then, the informative feature has the identity, production process and packaging, and the benefit of each composition. The last feature, educative, contains inspirative stories and audio features that enable people with disabilities to listen to the content.
The website is created as a means to reduce negative stigma on people with disabilities. “Many people still think that people with disability are helpless, while they actually have their own ability,” Agus Tina explained. The website is also in line with the third focus, digital marketing, which is carried out through the website, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, which aims to connect DSM business with the community, government, and private sectors.
Why DSM
Based on the explanation from the Chief of DSM, Heru, the business has not developed its resource optimally. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the business experienced a 50 – 80% decline in income and almost went bankrupt. The pandemic has limited DSM members’ ability to sell their products because, in the pre-pandemic time, they offer their products at the market, free-vehicle day event, offices, and events in Solo, especially culinary events. DSM products lose the competition with new products created by non-difabel people through the digital platforms with interesting design and packaging. DSM could not apply a similar approach due to the limit in human resources, capital, and skill.
“Third, the low dissemination of products from difabel to the community. DSM products are not well known by the public,” Agus Tina added.
The planned packaging and website will be implemented immediately. Agus Tina hopes that this approach could reduce the unemployment of people with disabilities, especially those in DSM. “To increase their income and achieve inclusiveness through difabel independence,” she hopes. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti