We put a lot of thought into finding the right relevance to connect the giant online transportation company with the daily lives of the people in Central Java. Making it sentimental and keeping it local, in our opinion, was crucial.

Eventually, batik was chosen because we realized that for this community, batik is more than just patterned fabric. With a contemporary narrative twist, we aimed to win the hearts of the entire city as they celebrated their hometown's anniversary.

Based on our observations, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually become a moment for the emergence of local brands, as people suddenly became suppliers in order to survive.

Grab, being proactive, has anticipated this and supported their micro-business partners with a distribution system for the online marketplace ecosystem: Grab Express. However, we must quickly refute before it's too late. Relying too much on conventional trade, in our opinion, is somewhat risky, considering that not all industries are familiar with technology.

We suggest to local brands that have established themselves a little longer,  who understand trends a bit better, and undoubtedly target the middle-class market. With this, the penetration of Grab Express will be much easier in the following quarters.