Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Many people think Sophie Martin bags are imported from France. Moreover, the full name of this bag is Sophie Martin Paris and the manufacturer also claims to design all its products in Paris.
However, not many people know that this bag is not from Paris. In fact, it is made in Indonesia, more precisely from an old shophouse in the Kebayoran area, South Jakarta.
The story of Sophie Martin Paris cannot be separated from the figure of Bruno Hasson. Bruno is a French citizen who grew up there.
His first visit to Indonesia was made in 1993. Exactly a year after graduating from the French government's agricultural school.
The reason Bruno came all the way to Indonesia was purely out of curiosity. He wanted to know more about Indonesia's condition because at that time the world considered it a country with high economic growth.
Bruno believes that in such a situation any business will run well. As a result, when he arrived in Indonesia he started doing business from scratch.
“I once sold iron pipes and machines for factories in Indonesia, then I also sold cosmetics,” said Bruno, quoted from his book, Fashion Branding (2008)
While doing business, Bruno always observes the habits of Indonesian people who like to wear bags. The problem, for Bruno, was that the bag was of poor quality even though the price was expensive.
Apart from that, he also found a bag manufacturer who claimed to be a French product and was made by a skilled designer from the country of the Eiffel Tower. This aims to attract interest and fulfill public prestige even though in reality the bag has no French elements at all.
Moving on from here, Bruno saw a gap. Indonesian people wanted to look luxurious by wearing bags made in France, but at that time there were no manufacturers who actually imported bags from there.
As a result, in 1995, with capital of IDR 100 million, he and his wife founded their own bag factory through PT Nadja Sukses Utama which operates in Kebayoran. In order to attract public attention, she used the name Sophie Martin.
“To strengthen the image of France, I deliberately used part of my wife's name, Sophie Martin, which has strong associations with France,” he said.
Regarding the bag business, coincidentally his wife was in this industry first. Previously, he worked for his father's Italian bag importing company and was also a Dior bag designer.
Initially, Bruno and his wife bought a sewing machine and recruited 30 employees. All bag processes are carried out manually, resulting in neat bags even though the price is not too expensive.
Unfortunately, when marketed to Jakarta malls, these bags didn't sell very well. Only then did the bag start to become known and sell when Bruno sold Sophie Martin through a mechanism multi-level marketing (EVENING).
Through MLM, Sophie Martin bags can form their own distribution channel which makes their name even more famous. In fact, Bruno claims, by 2008 Sophie Martin's MLM members had reached 1 million members.
Until now, Sophie Martin through PT Sophie Paris Indonesia still exists even though there are many competitors from within and outside the country. Sophie Martin now not only sells bags, but also watches, wallets and perfume.
This brand is also noted to have gone international. This is after setting up shop in several Southeast Asian countries and Morocco.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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