Regaining the lost edge : reasserting the ''Tepian(edge) City'' motto of ''Tepian Mahakam'' towards branding samarinda as a livable riverfront city

Abstract

The main purpose for a city creating ‘a distinct’ City Brand’ is to make the city easy to be recognized among other cities so the city can easily attract investors and visitors and at the end can enhance ‘the sense of pride’ among its citizens. This idea of being ‘ a distinctive city’ potentially builds upon the city’s geographic location, natural assets, history, culture and various socioeconomic elements that set the city apart from other cities. can have by Samarinda City. Samarinda has a ‘City Motto of ‘Tepian (Edge/Riverfront) City’ that reflects not only ‘Quality Aspects’ that Samarinda City aspires, as extended from the word “Tepian” : ‘TEduh (shady), raPI (neat), Aman (safe) and Nyaman (pleasant/comfortable)’; but also the city’s ‘Location’ on the banks of the second longest river in Indonesia – the Mahakam River - that can act as ‘Geographical Brand’. To support the study to do branding effort, researcher chose ‘Tepian Mahakam’ as ‘Brand Place’ and produced four main analyses which are 1) impressions about Samarinda City as Tepian (Edge/Riverfront) City’, 2) impressions about ‘Tepian Mahakam’, 3) Brand Elements on ‘Tepian Mahakam’, and 4) aspirations on ‘Tepian Mahakam’ to make it as ‘a livable riverfront place’. To do analyses, researcher did by quantitative method research which is ‘stratified purposive sampling’ by distributing 100 questionnaires with main conditionals are Samarinda Citizen and more prefer under group living more than ten years and age not less than 17 years old. As result, 1) respondents have high understanding that ‘Tepian’ is for ‘Quality Aspects’ but not for describing ‘Location’, 2) there are some strong negative and good impressions about ‘Tepian Mahakam’, and 3) good response on ‘Brand Elements’; and 4) aspirations on activities, visual attractions, amenities & facilities. As final output, by considering respondents aspirations, impressions, and existing condition on and surrounding ‘Tepian Mahakam’, researcher classified into four conceptual areas which are 1) Family Recreation, 2) Natural Concept, 3) Modern Entertainment, and 4) Historical and Cultural Concept. At the end, researcher highly hope these four concepts can be implemented in Samarinda City to have ‘a distinctive branding’ on ‘Tepian Mahakam as a livable riverfront place’ for reasserting the real definition of Motto ‘Tepian’.