POP Signage Permitting Process

Service Design

Getting permits for POP marketing assets in Indonesia may seem simple, but in the context of how operations are run for a former employer, things can get really chaotic and have real monetary implications if delays happen.

  • Project DetailsFrom previous employment
    Feb - Apr 2020
  • ParticipationAbove-the-Line (ATL) Agency qualification
    Project Management
    End-to-end process design
    Airtable base setup
  • ToolboxAirtable, Miro, Slack
View Process Flow

For a lot of mass market FMCG brands and telcos in emerging markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, POP Marketing—especially in mom-and-pop stores—is a key part of the marketing playbook.

In Indonesia, specifically, the government is well aware of this use case and over the years has enforced mechanisms to effectively (and lucratively!) regulate this practice. A permit first needs to be secured and paid for, and the tax rates will vary depending on size, material, illumination, and placement. This would be on top of what you need to pay or give to the warung (mom-and-pop store) owners that Trade Marketing people will negotiate with.

It's also important to note that without these permits, local street police assigned with ensuring that any signages that do not have any permits are taken down right away or the company responsible for putting them up is sanctioned as necessary.

About the Company
My former employer is involved in the deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots in different mom-and-pop stores across mass market neighborhoods. As part of what needs to be installed during each deployment is an LED signage used as an indicator to consumers as to where the Wi-Fi hotspot is.

The Objective
Having said that, I wanted to ensure that the end-to-end process—including permit renewals—are streamlined across the four main actors in a manner that mitigates delays and any additional fees that may need to be paid by the company.

To note, I'd like to believe that there are three key ingredients supporting a digital innovation company: its Product (of course), People, and Processes. More often than not I feel like a lot forget about the third one (Processes), and true to the essence of Service Design, the thoughtful details surrounding a well-designed experience are what sets the upper hand between two exactly similar brands or products.

The Requirements
  1. The internal teams do not (yet) have one tool where all data are aggregated, and it'll take some time before something in-house can be done so I needed to improvise and look for a way to manage this cost-effectively.
  2. To make this scalable, given the sheer amount of Wi-Fi hotspots to be maintained in the future (in the thousands), there needs to be a mechanism to remind about permit renewals every few months.
  3. The budget for paying permit taxes comes from the Marketing & Sales Team, so they need to be involved in any spend approvals.

Click/tap the image below to view the full process flow.