This concern is not limited to Pakistan. Stephanie McCarty, CMO, Taylor Morrison, recently made waves in Adweek when she articulated her irritation: “What I’m really paying an agency for is to not be immersed; it’s to bring an outsider’s perspective to the table.” Her criticism underlines an increasing disappointment with agencies that regurgitate strategies without introducing fresh ideas in their efforts.

In Pakistan, a similar challenge exists. Many local agencies rely too much on the standard formula of AI tools, stale client data, web searches and perhaps marketing theories by experts like Alfred Ries or David Ogilvy. This methodology, while harmless, often leads to mediocrity.

Agencies beat the drums but fail to create the rhythm that brings consumers to their dance floor.

The problem is that these strategies rarely focus on understanding the consumer. Agencies are missing the key ingredient: the insights that come from actually talking to real people. In a world where consumer loyalty is fleeting, it is unwise to rely on recycled strategies that feel like every other brand’s campaign. If brands want to own the strategy, they first have to own the consumers. This means going beyond the surface-level persona and engaging in meaningful conversations with people. In fact, I would suggest three to six consumer conversations lasting at least 30 minutes each before a campaign brief is put together.

These are not formal research sessions; they are casual, informal conversations that can be held in exchange for a simple incentive like an Oxford book voucher or a coffee. The discussions should centre on topics that cover their world and daily experiences; their views on the category, the brand and the competition – listening to their natural language and probing their thoughts on any creative ideas. It is essential that the setting be informal so that consumers feel free to speak openly. The value of these conversations lies in hearing your audience on their terms, not through the artificial lens of a survey or focus group.

The insights gained from these conversations are invaluable. You not only learn about consumer pain points and brand perception; you also understand the nuances implied in how they talk about their experiences. This language is critical because the way a customer describes a brand is more authentic than any marketing slogan agencies could craft. The insights gathered can help reframe an entire campaign, giving it a more personal and practical touch.

Given Pakistan’s diverse cultural, linguistic and socio-economic dynamics, conversations with real consumers can help agencies get a genuine feel of what resonates with consumers. Some of the most successful local campaigns, like Sooper’s Pakistan Day campaign or Pepsi’s Dil Dil Pakistan revival, have done exactly this. They struck a chord because they understood their audience deeply. Yet, it is not uncommon for agencies to dismiss the need for these conversations, claiming they “already know their consumers”. This mindset is lazy and dangerous; markets are constantly evolving, and so are consumer needs, and what worked last year may not work this year.

The solution is not the extensive use of AI tools or data points. It is about taking time to listen. However, although understanding your audience is the foundation of any effective campaign strategy, the role of an experienced strategist goes beyond understanding consumers. It involves a detailed understanding of the brand and the problem that needs addressing. This involves gaining an in-depth insight into the cultural context surrounding the problem as well as understanding what sets the brand apart in its category.

Merely mirroring what consumers think about the problem and the brand is not enough. It involves working through the various complexities surrounding the issue.

Once this is accomplished, the next step is to develop a creative campaign that works with both the audience and the client. Here it is very important that the brand bonds with the real consumer rather than simply rely on demographics, psychographics or data points – and this involves working with consumer feedback and insights. This is where the authority of brand strategists comes into play and what sets them apart from business consultants who rely on presentations and charts but have no idea of the human aspect.

Consumers are complicated. They are individuals with contradictions, emotions and distinctive perspectives that are frequently undetected. It is in this confusion – their irrationalities, biases and blind spots – that marketing companies discover the insights that drive successful, human-centred strategies.

Many campaigns in Pakistan fall into the trap of mirroring what they think the audience wants to see. They ‘hold up a mirror’ without adding real value. Then there are campaigns where brands just talk about themselves – like a guest at a desi wedding who monopolises the conversation, praises themselves endlessly and leaves without engaging anyone.

The best campaigns are based on dialogues. They offer something meaningful to the audience and make an impact because they are not just about selling a product; they are building a relationship with real people.

Quick, informal conversations do not require significant resources; yet, they can completely transform how one looks at data. Owning the customer helps own the strategy, and that ownership will then trickle down to every client meeting, slide deck and creative execution – because the brand strategist can walk into a meeting with the confidence that comes from understanding the audience.

In Pakistan, where consumers have become more discerning, this customer-centric approach could be the key to standing out in a saturated market. Brands like Coca-Cola and Surf Excel have shown that when you understand your audience, you create campaigns that capture attention and build lasting brand loyalty.

If agencies in Pakistan want to elevate their game, they need to start talking to real people. Strategies stemming from human connection are what will set successful campaigns apart. Data and AI can inform a strategy, but human insights will make it resonate. Ultimately, owning the customer means owning the narrative. This is how you win in today’s fast-paced advertising world.

Arshad Awan is a brand strategist, author, columnist and educationist. arshadawan@msn.com

A: Which companies come under the Digitz Group umbrella?
AJK: Four companies form the Digitz Group. Digitz Digitas, which works on digital marketing for multinational companies. Red Cactus, which is a content development and influencer marketing company and works with our local clients. Digitz Software and Technology Development which is dedicated to tech. Station-01 is an incubation centre and allows us to invest in start-ups such as The Garage Sale Company and Khelo Kricket. 

A: How was Digitz financed at the time of its formation? 
AJK: Imtisal and I invested in it initially. We also took a loan from IAL Saatchi & Saatchi with the promise that we would return it, which we did in less than two years.

A: How did you secure your initial client base?
AJK: Imtisal and Zeeshan had started working on Digitz prior to my joining and they had a few clients through IAL, such as P&G and National Foods. After I entered the equation, we started to gain more clients. We essentially started as a social media agency, as this was the main function of a digital agency at the time. Today, Digitz and IAL Saatchi & Saatchi function as two completely different entities, although Imtisal Abbasi and Nida Haider Khan are also directors of the Digitz Group.

“When Digitz was a very new agency, we learned that globally, agencies in general are shifting towards an integrated marketing and communications philosophy, and we are therefore positioning ourselves as an organisation that can provide end-to-end solutions.”

A: Which services does the Digitz Group provide? 
AJK: We are an integrated marketing communications company. On a basic level, we conduct strategy, which entails research and understanding the consumer, our competition and industry trends. This also includes developing brand strategies with regard to how to roll out a campaign or even conceptualise a strategy for new companies. We also provide creative services, which mainly include thinking up big ideas for campaigns in an integrated way, including D/TVCs, activations, social media, influencer marketing or creating a website or a mobile app. We also provide design-related services which include animation among other things. We also do digital media planning and buying based on data-driven strategies, which clients are increasingly asking for. We are also now leaning heavily into providing hard-core technology and backend software-related services.

A: How have the services you provide changed? 
AZK: There has been a drastic change in these as things have evolved at a rapid pace. At the Digitz Group, we realised that the only thing we can master is the ability to adapt to change. When Digitz was a very new agency, we learned that globally, agencies in general are shifting towards an integrated marketing and communications philosophy, and we are therefore positioning ourselves as an organisation that can provide end-to-end solutions. In fact, we ask our clients to think of us as solution providers. 

A: Into which areas is the Digitz Group expanding?
AJK: We are heavily investing in providing software-related solutions. Software has two aspects. The first is called marketing or agency software and involves creating websites and mobile apps and developing marketing strategies, creative campaigns and design/animations – all of which serve a brand purpose. We also work with clients (especially those located overseas) in developing complex software systems. This is the second aspect of software – hard-core engineering software development – which is entirely related to backend systems. These projects are more attractive from a financial point of view. For example, we had an FMCG client who was trying to figure out how to gauge their point of sale customer profile and the options they had were very expensive and they didn’t have the budget for it. We created a customer relationship management (CRM) platform in addition to a loyalty management programme for them. 

A: What changes do you foresee in agencies given the increase of AI? 
AJK: I don’t have a doom-and-gloom approach towards AI. I am very positive about it and I do not believe that it will take away jobs, because the way people think cannot be replaced by AI. However, AI is an important tool that can help us work more efficiently. For example, at one point, colour grading an image would take several hours; now it can be done in five minutes using AI-based software. Zeeshan and I are working on using AI to internally streamline our operations. As for our clients, we have created AI-based products for some of them and plan to continue in this vein, such as creating AI-based chat assistants or AI bots that can help improve customer service. We are also going to create our own influencer marketing tool; we are developing it for in-house use and may market it to other organisations if it is effective. 

A: Which are the memorable campaigns that Digitz has worked on?
AJK: Being a digital agency, the number of campaigns we work on is very high. One that comes to mind is Coke Studio. Their content was amazing, but how Coke Studio became better known had a lot to do with Digitz, in terms of increasing its reach on digital platforms and creating a dedicated fan base. We also did a campaign for L’Oréal after the Covid-19 pandemic began. As many stores were shut down, L’Oréal were unable to sell their products. At the same time, the French president had mentioned the hijab ban and there was a massive movement against L’Oréal products in Pakistan. After conducting a sentiment analysis, we initiated a campaign called ‘Online is Safe’. The campaign communicated two messages. The first was that people should stay home and shop online. The second was that the products available online were genuine and not counterfeit or products that came through grey channels. We also encouraged L’Oréal to ensure that their products were available on more than one digital platform. As a result of the campaign, we reached our sales target within four days instead of the month and a half we had planned. I think it was probably that single campaign that brought a shift in L’Oréal Pakistan’s way of approaching their marketing.

A: Who are your primary clients now?
AJK: In Pakistan, our clients include Lipton, L’Oréal and Kia Motors; I think 70% of our clients are multinationals, although we do have local clients, such as Bisconni, JS Bank and National Foods. We are also working with Tetra Pak in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, East Africa, West Africa and South Africa in addition to Reckitt in Nigeria and Kenya on the Dettol account. 

“Why do we have to measure creativity by the yardstick of a 30-second TVC? I think creativity can be applied to anything, and we have to think of new ways to be creative. It is more difficult to be creative on digital platforms since we only have five or six seconds to capture the audience’s attention.”

A: What about your international client base?
AJK: We secured a client in Saudi Arabia recently, which is a start-up, and are doing all their digital work. We have a few clients in Canada including a fintech. If there is a certain function that we cannot do ourselves, we bring in a third party to complete it. However, the ideation comes from our end as well as the creative direction and management. We have pitched some creative concepts to them and the campaign may be partially shot in Pakistan and Canada. However, our primary focus is on software development, marketing tech, ad tech and developing products. 

A: Are you now focusing on becoming a 360-degree ‘conventional’ agency with a digital-first attitude?
AJK: I don’t think we should use the word conventional anymore, because irrespective of the medium, content is content and we can help produce it. We are not trying to become a conventional agency; rather we are telling our clients that we have the capability to carry out any function they require. 

A: What are the most dynamic digital platforms when it comes to attracting younger audiences?
AJK: It would have to be TikTok, not only for young people, but also older ones, as everyone is on TikTok now. 

A: Are brands using TikTok effectively? 
AJK: I think the majority of brands have figured out the correct way to use it. This includes using influencers and most brands have their own channels on TikTok. However, TikTok’s power comes from encouraging people to create content for their brands. For example, asking audiences to create videos by taking part in events such as dance challenges. A risky project we took on for L’Oréal was TikTok-based. Earlier, L’Oréal China had started to use TikTok for live selling. We hadn’t tested this practice here but decided to give it a try. The results were amazing, and we won awards for the campaign. We used a host of TikTok influencers for the campaign.

A: How do you rate the importance of influencer marketing?
AJK: We refer to influencer marketing as advocacy and in some cases, it has an even better impact than Google and Meta. 

A: Do you think that audiences now tend to take a more cynical view of influencer marketing?
AJK: Yes and no. I think people, especially the younger generation, can see through it. However, it still works better than placing ads on digital platforms and boosting them – which has become increasingly more expensive. However, ethics are coming into the equation and brands and influencers are starting to state whether a post is paid for or not.

A: Do you think creativity is being compromised on digital platforms?
AJK: Not at all. Why do we have to measure creativity by the yardstick of a 30-second TVC? I think creativity can be applied to anything, and we have to think of new ways to be creative. It is more difficult to be creative on digital platforms since we only have five or six seconds to capture the audience’s attention. I am currently reading The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt says that the “great rewiring” took place between 2010 and 2015, after the introduction of the iPhone, 3G and social media platforms, and resulted in shortening people’s attention spans and changing the way they function. As a result, brands are changing the way they engage with audiences. For example, Bose, the sound company, created an amazing 30-second TVC showing people jumping and dancing wearing Bose headphones. However, the response was low due to its duration and they cut it to five to six seconds, showing the product and communicating the message within the first two seconds. This is the way creativity is shaping up, although perhaps I am not the best person to answer this question because I am, at the most basic level, a technologist and a follower of science.  

A: What are the biggest challenges for digital agencies?
AJK: One of the major challenges is hiring and retaining resources. There has been a massive brain drain in Pakistan and young, intelligent, and talented people are either looking for options abroad or opting to go freelance as it is better paid for them. A lot of people think the younger generation is inconsistent in terms of their approach to work, but I think they face a set of challenges that previous generations did not. Their way of thinking is very different. Another challenge is that marketing budgets are being cut. I don’t hold this against clients. However, as a result of this, cash flows have been affected and at times we can’t pay vendors on time because we don’t get paid on time from our clients. However, I think it’s just a matter of time until the economy improves, although the economic scenario has definitely affected the morale of people across the board. 

MMA: What are the Digitz Group’s plans for the future? 
AJK: We will continue to relearn and pivot. Ultimately, we want to go global and create work that can be seen on a global stage. No client or project is big or small. We will continue to position ourselves as solution providers and overcome challenges related to communications, technology and marketing.

Azam Jalal Khan was in conversation with Mamun M. Adil. mamun.adil@gmail.com

A: What do you mean “happened by chance”?
FSS: In 2012, when I came back to Pakistan, the US was so much more advanced in terms of connectivity. So I had a sense of how Pakistan would evolve in terms of digital. The first thing I did was build up the digital assets for the TV channel I was running and within two years our digital traffic was greater than our TV traffic – and it was all organic growth. In three years, our Facebook page had 3.2 million fans – and without paying a single penny. Friends then started asking me to help them build their own digital presence. Then a large confectionery company came into the picture and suggested I pitch for their digital business. I told them I was not an agency and didn’t know the first thing about pitching. Then, coincidentally, I heard from a friend about a digital agency that was about to let go of their team. I said “Hold it, I have an idea. Help me make a pitch to a potential client and if it works I will absorb the entire team.” We made the pitch and the client loved it. I went to the owner of the agency and said, “Give me the team, their laptops, desks – everything – and set them up in an office and let me know what the cost for the entire thing will be. I will work for you for free until I pay you back. He agreed and suddenly I had a team of 15 people, about five clients, an office and a debt of 12 to 13 million (I paid it back in three years). Today, East River has approximately 100 people and we are serving clients in Pakistan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US.

A: What is East River’s business model predicated on?
FSS: Entrepreneurship is made up of a series of unsuccessful and successful pivots. You are constantly pivoting and course-correcting. In our case, we were building a digital agency and none of us was familiar with that space. But we had an assumption – that younger audiences were not going to consume print and TV; they would all be on digital, and we had to build a company that created content that was so amazing that no matter what, they would stop, pause and look at it. Initially, we took a creative first approach and, unlike other digital agencies, we hired from the big creative agencies to set the direction and narrative for our content. But then Facebook started to restrict the number of users who could come to a Facebook page – and suddenly, it wasn’t just about content; it was about content plus the right media spend and media became as important as creative. Today, digital is looked at for two things – driving awareness (that a brand exists), and then consideration and conversion – and more and more people want to focus on consideration and conversion (they can get awareness from TV), and that is where our focus has been.

A: When you set up East River in 2016, you saw the gap between the US and Pakistan in terms of digital adoption, and were able to capture that space in a sort of first-mover advantage. Now that Pakistan has caught up in digital terms, what are you offering your clients that is different?
FSS: I have never considered myself a man of the industry. I ended up doing things I had never been taught by jumping into them and learning on the fly, and because I have never considered myself an insider, I was willing to look at things from the perspective of what the Japanese call shoshin – a beginner’s mind. I had to learn from scratch and that is how it has been for the agency. We say yes and then figure it out. That is the first thing that makes us different. The second thing is that most digital agencies are extensions of bigger creative houses; they are a smaller part of a bigger business. For me, this is the entire business and therefore it has to be big; there is no other option. The third thing is that I don’t believe the market is in Pakistan. The spending power of brands here is limited. The potential lies in serving the world. Once I set up the agency, I started to think about the long-term vision and I realised that what I want to do is to impact 10,000 lives every single day directly and put Pakistan on the map as a country that produces some of the best global marketing talent. Right now, there is no agency impacting 10,000 lives every day, nor is there any entity originating from Pakistan that one can call truly multinational. I would like to solve both of these issues.

A: How will you solve that?
FSS: We have started by identifying the talent gap in the market and figuring out what the global demand for talent is. We have great English-speaking talent, great design talent; talent that understands math and numbers. We just need to groom them on platforms that manage media. Eighteen months ago, we partnered with Ziauddin University and Brainchild Communications to create the first free training institute for media. We inducted about 100 students from different backgrounds from Ziauddin University and developed a 12-week media training programme on how to run social media platform ads, and how to work with publishers and influencers. The idea is to have a pool of talent at the end of 12 weeks that we can deploy to assignments globally. These resources will work on global accounts and earn dollars. We plan to do this programme at least four times a year, and if we can upscale 400 people a year, in five years that is 2,000 people and it eventually gets to my 10,000 lives a day goal. And if this talent pool is available to the other agencies in the market, great!

A: Isn’t this moving away from the business of advertising and into that of head-hunting?
FSS: We are not necessarily hunting for existing talent; we are creating resources that don’t exist in the market today. When I wanted to hire five media resources, the market didn’t have more than 20 people worth hiring at the level we needed, and they were spread across 10 agencies. So we need a talent creation component. I don’t think we are moving away from advertising because not all clients will want to run that talent themselves. They will ask us to run the talent and create the campaigns, because it is cheaper to do so from Pakistan, at let’s say $15 an hour, compared to hiring someone for $50 an hour to do the same thing abroad.

A: Is your vision for East River global rather than Pakistan focused?
FSS: I don’t think that the potential that can be tapped in Pakistan is close to the potential that can be tapped globally. The challenge, if you have access to global networks, is to pull them into Pakistan and say, give us a try. If you don’t have access to global networks, but you have strong local ties, then become the best in the local market, because it still has a lot of potential; it’s not in dollars, it’s a lot more price sensitive but there is still a lot of opportunity. In my case, I have a lot of global connections, which is why I feel that I am in a better position to reach a global audience; whether this will pay off only time will tell. What can one give the world that Pakistan has a lot of? People. Many companies are exporting people, like drivers and labour and so on. That is easy; you walk into a village, select 100 people and you have 100 drivers to send. No one wants to go through the pain of value creation and upscaling talent – yet this is exactly what Pakistan should be doing. But it needs to be talent that can create value and which will bring money into the country. If we can scale up and export quality talent, we are not looking at bringing in five dollars per hour, but 20 or 25 dollars per hour – and you are still helping the global market save money because they are charged 100 or 150 dollars per hour for the same resource in their market.

A: What are the local opportunities that can be explored?
FSS: This is a market of 200 million plus people; 100 million have 4G connections, 50 million have YouTube accounts, of which 40 million are daily active users. And if you have access to social media, you have some level of purchasing power and we have not even scratched the surface in terms of reaching out to these audiences through digital. The market is wide open and part of the reason why we do not see big, bold digital campaigns is because there is a gap in the mindset of the business owner and the brand manager. Owners still don’t see the value of digital in the same way they see the value of TV. They think TV is the bigger medium and they are not willing to spend as much on digital as they do on TV. And they have not figured out how to use local publishers. Why are we running ads on Facebook or Google and sending the money outside Pakistan, when we can engage Pakistani consumers in a hundred other ways? I don’t think advertisers have figured out how to use local publishers and influencers effectively. Another area where I see opportunity is politics. We have not figured out political advertising. We have an election coming up and it is safe to say that over the next six months, there is going to be a lot of opportunity for advertising by the major political parties. The problem is that most of them are not organised; agencies can play a role in helping them deploy capital to reach the right target audience.

A: Digital advertising in Pakistan seems both repetitive and boring, yet some TV commercials have managed to be really engaging. Why is this so?
FSS: It’s not the talent; we have tremendous creative talent, both at the agency and the brand level. But we have to consider a couple of things. We are an extremely price-sensitive market. The minute we see something cheaper, we flock to it. We don’t get the concept of value or paying for services or for knowledge capital. Have you ever thought about why successful local brand consulting companies doing millions of rupees worth of business a month don’t exist in Pakistan? Because we think we already know the answers, so hiring specialists is a waste of money. And then we are risk averse. As a country, we do not reward risk-takers. Imagine how much money Elon Musk has burnt trying to launch a rocket into space or Jeff Bezos burned in making Amazon what it is today. But then the US offers an environment that applauds risk-takers and forgives mistakes. In this market, you make a mistake and it’s “Oh my God, you made me lose a million rupees, what kind of person are you? Don’t you know your job? Are you crazy?” Brand managers live in fear of their bosses, so they play it safe. Of course, we are going to make mistakes; we are still figuring out digital and we will lose money. But guess what? If we get it right, the value we create in getting that one thing right will outweigh the cost incurred in getting to that point. To answer your question, the problem is the mindset. We do not reward risk-takers and this applies across all aspects of business in Pakistan. Why would advertising be any different?

A: Do you think your generation is better equipped in dealing with these mindset issues?
FSS: When you say my generation, I am talking about people born between 1975 and 1985. And what is unique about people born in those years is that we are the only ones who speak the language of both past and future generations. We were in our teens when the internet appeared, so connectivity wasn’t a part of our daily life and this is why we speak the language of both generations. I can communicate with my kids, I get what they are doing, and I can communicate with my parents and understand their concerns about what my kids are doing. This is a good position to leverage a new generation of talent. We understand them and we can also convince the people older than them – those with the money and the power – to give these kids a chance. We are the bridge. The question is not whether we have the capability to be that bridge, but whether we have the desire to be. Everyone in my age group is aware that we have another 20 good working years before us, and in the current economic situation, the question is whether now is the time to pack up and move elsewhere, because it will take us five years to settle down, which gives us another 15 earning years to make a life for ourselves and our children. Sure, this is a country of 200 million people, someone will fill our spot. The question is, will they be on the same bandwidth? I don’t know. We are at a very precarious stage in our history and if this generation is not given some hope, we might lose the bridge between the old and the young.

Faizan S. Syed was in conversation with Mariam Ali Baig. For feedback: aurora@dawn.com

A: Why did you choose the Chelsea College of Art and Design?
AZ: Design communication was one area I felt was lacking. When I had an idea, I didn’t know whether it would be executionally possible or not. Sometimes people say something is not possible because of the work involved. I wanted to learn. To grow, I knew I had to learn.

A: When did you come back to Karachi?
AZ: It was around 2006. By that time, I had had my son. I was lucky enough to be rehired by the agencies I had worked for before. I first joined Awan & Kapadia and later Adcom. Then I was headhunted by JWT and offered the post of Associate Creative Director and later promoted to Creative Director. Firebolt63 offered me the position of Group Creative Director and Partner and I joined them. It was a very interesting time because Firebolt63 were working with accounts in Afghanistan. In 2012, I received an offer from Ogilvy Pakistan to join them as Executive Creative Director (ECD). Then my husband was transferred to Islamabad and I moved there. Although senior positions don’t open up frequently in Islamabad, I was offered a position with Synergy to head all three of their offices. Then I re-joined JWT to work on the Ufone account. When my husband was transferred to Karachi, I moved back here.

A: When did you join BBDO?
AZ: In 2019 I was offered the position of ECD. In 2020 they offered me the position of MD and I have retained both roles since.

A: How has the industry evolved since 2006?
AZ: In 2006, the big thing was the full-page print ads, the TVCs, and the radio spots. In those days, you made the one TVC, and then the adaptations in print and OOH. There was no feedback; audiences had no way of telling us whether they liked or hated a commercial. We worked in the dark; if you were happy, then the job was done. There was a significant money aspect to the agencies then, in the sense that the majority of the big ones had their media wings – it was almost like making money while you slept. Today, agencies have to work harder to earn every buck. Previously, clients were not always aware of what was happening; today because of social media, incompetence is spotted immediately. This is a good thing because talented, ambitious and driven people will rise to the top. Having access to information is no longer an advantage; today, everyone has access to information. The question is what you do with it. The quantum of work has increased; something that works on Instagram may not on YouTube. You have to know how to differentiate between platforms. It is also extremely exciting because creativity is very important. Throwing money at the media does not mean that people will be influenced. Now you have to do the work; think about where your customers are and how they are interacting with the medium. It is fascinating that 85% of the videos on Facebook are watched with the sound off – does this mean that TV commercials are not working? How do you make sure people watch your TV commercial? This idea that within 10 seconds the brand and logo should be visible is no longer relevant. These formulas were made for another time. However, three basic principles have not changed, regardless of how you consume media. One, you need to grab my attention; two, you need to communicate your message; three, every piece of communication has to persuade, otherwise, it is not effective. If you don’t check these three boxes, you are not doing your job properly.

A: Are advertising agencies losing their glamour for young people?
AZ: You can say that agencies have lost their glamour, but do we need glamour? Agencies have to change their point of view. The thinking that people will join an agency and stay there for 20 years is unreal. The expectation that all they have to do is invest in someone and they will stay for the rest of their lives – not happening. Agencies need a reality check. Agencies will always be a bridge for people to go onto bigger things – and what is wrong with that? Initially, agencies used to invest in their talent but they stopped because of this mindset. Yet, that is the charm of an agency. The fact that you get to go on international shoots, rub shoulders with celebrities and meet big directors. Now the pettiness is such that when an international shoot comes up management will go. Young people today have a lot of options and they will not stand for this mindset. The world has changed and the mindset at the top has to change. At BBDO we attract more people than we can hire, and I end up writing more letters of regret than of acceptance.

A: Why do you think that is?
AZ: For the last 10 years, BBDO have been investing in awards and training. All the people from the agency who found jobs abroad did so because they made it to the top lists of the world; Top 50 Creative Directors and Top 50 Art Directors. BBDO sees advertising very differently from the way other agencies in Pakistan do. Our work is awards-driven and young people want that; everyone is looking for fame.

A: Pakistani advertising has gone in for a lot of “reverse stereotyping”, in the sense that brands seem to be constantly focusing on showing that cooking is not the sole responsibility of a woman. Are we in danger of overdoing this and isn’t it coming out as a bit too preachy?
AZ: I don’t think we are overdoing this. We have been exposed to and conditioned by such stereotypes for centuries. If it comes out as preachy, perhaps we are in a preachy phase and that is fine. The problem is that there is “brand speak” but hardly any “brand do”. This is what is missing and why it sounds like short-term advertising goals As an industry, we have to understand that we are a bothersome disturbance and not something aimed at changing behaviour over time. We recently did a commercial for Shan Foods in which we highlighted the fact that 77% of the women who become doctors in Pakistan do so to improve their matrimonial chances and do not even end up practising. This means the population has a shortage of doctors. This is a cultural problem and advertising is good at solving cultural problems. In the Shan case, the brand followed it up with a big “brand do.” They supported Sehat Kahani, which aims to encourage women doctors to rejoin the practice. This is how the change will come.

A: The focus seems to be mostly on cooking/kitchen situations. Aren’t there other situations advertising should be addressing?
AZ: Grocery and kitchen expenses exceed any other expense, and the majority of our brands sell cooking oil, wheat, salt and chillies, which is why it is all in the kitchen. In terms of other situations, take women like me. We are independent and have the backing of our families; why not show us taking a holiday alone? We have earned the money. Banks that target high net-worth individuals always show a man in a suit. Why is it always him and never her? Another thing is showing that women can be independent and that there is life without marriage and it is a happy life. Marriage doesn’t have to define a woman. Advertising needs to work on this. Not to discourage people from getting married, but showing that there is life without marriage or kids. What about parenting? Why is it just a mother’s responsibility to teach values? This mindset prevails even amongst the most progressive of households. We are not treating men right either. We raise sons like prized cattle and believe it is their responsibility to take care of their parents and their sisters. Don’t they have their own lives and their dreams? Why should men not know how to cook or do the laundry? They need to be functional human beings.

A: There was a time when the industry was criticised for its lack of storytelling capabilities. Now, we are getting this, but some of the commercials are so long that they are boring. Wasn’t the beauty of the 60-second commercial the fact that you had just one minute to tell the whole story?
AZ: I think the trend in Pakistan started because a lot of our communication was inspired by Indian ads. They are longer, but they are more successful at storytelling. They have better actors and scriptwriters. In Pakistan, we don’t have that kind of talent pool. Also, the advertising industry takes itself too seriously. Toddlers who are hardly able to talk properly, let alone read or write, know how to find the skip ad button. So who are we kidding? As an industry, we have to understand that we are a bothersome disturbance. The biggest problem is that we do not keep our audiences in mind. Good storytellers understand the audience they are addressing. What are they likely to be doing at that moment and their frame of mind at the moment? Also, advertising is a derivative form of a longer format and one of the reasons why our ads are longer is perhaps because every director here is an aspiring film director.

A: What makes a successful advertising creative in today’s world?
AZ: They need to constantly feed their minds and never rest on their laurels. I tell my team there are two kinds of people in advertising. Those who do the work and those who do the job; which one do they want to be? Advertising is not everyone’s cup of tea. If you don’t enjoy it, leave. If you think this is torture; that you have put in all this hard work and the client has rejected your idea… this is a business of opinion and rejection, and if rejection bothers you, do something else. Advertising needs people who take joy in it and who, in the face of rejection, are determined to try again and do it better.

A: What are your ambitions for BBDO?
AZ: I have lots of ambitions for BBDO. Most are about psychological safety; in fact, this is an ambition not only for BBDO but for the creative industry at large.

A: What do you mean by psychological safety?
AZ: Mistakes and failures are always frowned upon. You failed, so there will be repercussions. You cannot be creative unless your agency backs you up. Creatives need the psychological security that if they screw up in front of the client, they will not be fired, but encouraged to see this as a learning opportunity. Of course, hard decisions have to be taken. Given the economy, every industry will have to make decisions to keep or fire people. I am talking about the psychological safety of not being fired because you tried something different – and maybe failed. If you have creativity at the helm of the industry, it makes a difference. We have seen it with David Ogilvy; the legacy he left behind continues to inspire people. Creativity needs experimentation and experiments fail all the time. Our business is creativity; our product is creativity. This is what we sell. We do not sell strategy or finance. Clients come to us to buy a creative product. To my clients who come back to me and say an idea that is too good, I say, “You have come to KFC and you are accusing us of selling chicken?”

Atiya Zaidi was in conversation with Mariam Ali Baig. For feedback: aurora@dawn.com

Coca-Cola – Hum Aik Hain

Agency: Soho Square

Category: TV/Digital

Coca-Cola launched their official anthem to celebrate the Cricket World Cup 2019. This is the time when marketers gear up to wrap their brands in the Pakistani flag. This film makes you want to get up and dance, all while tugging at your heartstrings. It highlights the different musical instruments, monuments and traditions that distinguish Pakistan’s provinces. In a country where ethnic and sectarian differences exist, the brand is spot-on in rolling out positive vibes. The film was better than the Shaadi Aur Hum campaign which featured Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir. I haven’t been able to understand what happened there.

Surf Excel – Eesar Ek Ibadat

Agency: MullenLowe Lintas Group/MullenLowe Rauf Group

Category: TV/Digital

A tear-jerker and a lot better than most of the Ramzan ads this year. A mother recites a dua for her son’s safety. Following this, his hands clasped together the boy runs to his friend’s house. His friend is unwell and he transfers his mother’s dua to the friend with the words: “Meri Salamati Ki Dua Tum Rakh Lo, Ameen.” Surf Excel always hits the right note when it comes to emotion, this time reminding audiences about the true meaning of Ramzan.

Saffolalife – Dil Ki Haalat, Pet Se Pakad (World Heart Day 2018)

Agency: McCann Mumbai

Category: Digital

This important message is communicated in the lightest way possible. It aims to build awareness and educate people on the effects abdominal fat can have on the heart and inspire people to begin their journey towards a healthier lifestyle. This film depicts humorous moments with families and friends holding in their abdominal fat. However, in reality, this is not funny given that abdominal fat puts one’s heart at risk.

Apple AirPods – Bounce

Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab

Category: Digital

My favourite ad this year and one of the most satisfying ones I have watched in a long time. You know how music makes you move, dance and groove? Apple takes this to a cheerful extreme in their gravity-defying ad for AirPods. Watch the world become a trampoline. Rather than being burdened by bulky (read: ugly) headphones, wires and a jack, AirPods have a wireless charging feature, thus liberating the user to go wander off anywhere.

Peak Freans – Real Rishtay

Agency: Ogilvy India & Ogilvy Pakistan

Category: TV/Digital

Emotionally charged ads are not unusual, especially when brands remind us about the selflessness of a mother. Peak Freans does this by portraying the life of a working mother. The star is the child, who craves her company. Soon he realises she knows everything and is always there for him. Here are the lessons: you remain the constant in your child’s life; discipline is derived from ‘disciple’; be the child’s leader; teach your children empathy.

Nike – Dream Crazier

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Portland

Category: TV/Digital

This film puts the spotlight on women athletes. Starring Serena Williams, it focuses on women who have broken barriers and inspired young athletes to never give up. It encourages women in sports to conquer gender bias and unfair stereotyping. Williams highlights her struggles as well those of women in different sports who

have been labelled all sorts of things. The ad is real and inspiring. No one else except Williams could have done justice to it as she has been a subject of racist and gender bias throughout her career. Her message: “If they call you crazy, show them what crazy can do.”

Krone Xtreme Series – The Quick Rescue

Agency: Arey Wah

Category: TV/Digital

The film captures a national summer problem – perspiration and body odour. I am not sure how effective the product is, but the ad was good. One fine morning, people are busy at work when a co-worker walks in. As he passes by, people begin to smell something. As he is about to take off his jacket, a co-worker begs him not to. The moment the jacket is off, the co-worker screams “run” and everyone begins to evacuate the building as they choke and the alarm system goes off. The emergency services arrive, with Fahad Mustafa in the lead. They find their target who is busy stretching his arms. They shoot him with gigantic guns loaded with bottles of Krone Xtreme and everything goes back to normal.

Kingtox – Dimagh Ka Keera

Agency: Arey Wah & iDcreations

Category: TV

This one was hilarious. It is about a tea-boy bringing in tea and biscuits to his boss. He is new at office and the boss decides to tell him exactly how he wants his tea and biscuits served. For a minute and 20 seconds, the boss goes on and on about how it should be done. Incredible how the agency managed to film this is in a way that they managed not to lose the interest of the audience within the first 30 seconds. It ends with “dimagh kay keerhay kay ilawa, har keerhay ko maaray”. This ad is a good example of how a message can be communicated with minimal dialogue.

Sheema Khan is Sr. Manager Communications & Strategy, Woot.

However, the memories of great campaigns and the mad men who worked there in the golden age of Pakistani advertising remain. This is where advertising practitioners such as Imtisal Abbasi, Faraz Maqsood Hamidi, Imran Irshad, Naira Islam, Sohail Kissat, Imran Mir, Ali Rez, Nafisa Rizvi, Cyma Zulfiqar and many more burnt the proverbial midnight oil.

I clearly remember the day I first walked into the offices of IAL in July 1987 for my interview with Naseer Haider. There was Naushaba Muraj shouting down the staircase at someone and as I introduced myself, she guided me to Naseer sahab’s office. I was offered the job straightaway and joined the next week. And so began my romance with advertising and with it a great relationship with Naseer Haider, who by the way, reminded one of Clarke Gable. 

I remember working on some of the campaigns that came out of Pakistan. When I joined, IAL was going through a transition phase. They had just retained PIA’s international account in a two-way pitch with Ogilvy worldwide. Ogilvy’s positioning was We Care And It Shows. One of the reasons why Ogilvy lost the pitch was that one of their ads had used a mouse and a cat to describe Muscat... there went the campaign.

Naseer sahab was working on the campaign and the media plan with Nasru (K. Nasruddin), PIA’s GM Advertising and Zaidi sahab (Shafiq Hasan Zaidi), IAL’s Manager International Media. Imran Ahmed of PACE, who represented Time magazine and a stable of international titles, and Arif Salahuddin of INS, representing Newsweek, were in and out of the IAL offices.

And with this began my friendship with Imran. As part of IAL’s reorientation it was decided to move away from the agency’s dependence on their owners (PIA) and their account. The first client we pitched for was a mineral water brand called Minra. It was the first time a brand was seeking to affect a major shift in consumer behaviour by asking them to pay for water. Then we went in for a pitch for Brooke Bond Supreme. We worked along with Naira and Nafisa, and of course Asif Khanzada, on the bid and won the account against heavy odds. M.I. Ansari was the Managing Director and the Marketing Director was K.M. Zafar, who was distantly related to me.

This was the beginning of a new chapter and IAL became a sought-after agency. Instaphone, Pakistan’s first cellular service, followed soon. We (Naseer Haider, Farrukh Morriani, Cyma Zulfiqar and I) worked 23 hours a day for almost a week to put together a world-class, fully integrated presentation. We won the account. I still remember Stephen Child, Salman Qureshi and Qasim Rabbani (QR) walking into the agency to inform us about our win. With this also began one of my most cherished friendships with QR.

The work on the launch of P&G’s first two brands started with a visit from Qaiser Sharif and Bari Abdul. Sharif was the country head and Abdul was the marketing director. We worked on the launch of Oil of Ulay and Head & Shoulders. Great campaigns... Mujhey Hamesha Yaad Rahega Kay Main Nay Head and Shoulders Ka Istimal Kaisay Shuroo Kiya... and the ‘apple’ copy for Ulay... Iss Main Bhari Hay Nami Aur Aap Ki Jild Main Bhi... the commercials were shot in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1988, Pakistan Peoples Party came into power and despite the fact that IAL was the national airline’s in-house agency, the account was shifted to Omer Kureishi’s (OK) Interglobe on the instructions of Begum Nusrat Bhutto out of her and the party’s respect for Omer Kureishi.

There is a new song in the air stated OK’s campaign. But soon, the PIA account was back because of Arif Abbasi who had become the airline’s CEO and General Imtiaz Ali who was the defence advisor to the PM. Neither Begum Bhutto nor the Prime Minister knew that PIA had their own in-house agency! IAL was then told by Arif Abbasi to pull up their socks and look for an international affiliation. The search for a global tie-up ended in early 1990 with the agency signing an affiliation agreement with Saatchi & Saatchi. Naseer sahab and I travelled to Singapore to meet Saatchi’s regional management. Andrew Thomas from the International Herald Tribune (now The International New York Times), played an important role in finalising the agreement. The contract was signed in March when Bill Timmerman and K.C. Wong travelled to Karachi. I still remember the agreement being inked and signed after crossing all T’s and dotting all the I’s in the conference room on the ground floor. Saatchi’s first international campaign for PIA was launched with the first ad titled ‘Birds’. 

Soon the fruits of the Saatchi affiliation started to ripen. First P&G and then BAT (now Pakistan Tobacco). Panasonic and Mashreq Bank followed. The work on the launch of P&G’s first two brands started with a visit from Qaiser Sharif and Bari Abdul. Sharif was the country head and Abdul was the marketing director. We worked on the launch of Oil of Ulay and Head & Shoulders. Great campaigns... Mujhey Hamesha Yaad Rahega Kay Main Nay Head and Shoulders Ka Istimal Kaisay Shuroo Kiya... and the ‘apple’ copy for Ulay... Iss Main Bhari Hay Nami Aur Aap Ki Jild Main Bhi... the commercials were shot in Kuala Lumpur.

Alan Hamilton, Saatchi’s former global account director on P&G, was seconded to IAL. He trained us on P&G and I made many friends there... Bari, Ali Habib, Maliha Khan, Numair, Sabir Sami, Qaiser and of course Saadia Shariff, who became my colleague at the Jang Group a couple of years later and still is. We held the launch function at the Marriott Hotel, and Wilfred Kestner (P&G’s Asia Pacific head) was there. We had Alamgir singing specially P&G developed songs based on some of his famous numbers.

I worked at IAL until December 1993 and loved every moment there. But by then the time had come for me to move on and I joined the Jang Group towards the end of December. 

Despite leaving IAL, I continued my visits to Number 2, Clifton Road until the agency moved to its new office in Phase II Extension, DHA. By then Naseer Haider had passed away and with him my memories of the beautiful bungalow that housed IAL for over 30 years were gone.

Sarmad Ali is Managing Director and President Revenue, The Jang Group/Geo. 
sarmad.ali@janggroup.com.pk

Cost leadership and differentiation strategies are obvious; the focus strategy needs a bit of explaining to be properly understood. It is about targeting a narrow customer base; one or few market segments instead of all of them. A differentiation focus strategy would mean targeting a small group of customers with differentiated products to meet their unique needs. A cost focus strategy requires competing on price in order to target a narrow market that would not normally buy mainstream brands because their needs are basic and they are unwilling to pay for features or higher quality they don’t need. A company that follows this strategy does not necessarily charge the lowest prices in the category. Instead, they charge lower prices relative to others competing within the same target market.

A company must choose one of the three (or four, if we consider focus as having two sub-categories) strategies or risk wasting precious resources; marketing communications agencies are no exception. If they want to succeed, they too need to adopt one of these strategies. Whether or not they are operating in Pakistan, are actually doing this and if so, deliberately or by accident, is a subject that needs scrutiny. Let’s begin by examining some of them.

IAL produces good creative work for their clients, but what sets them apart from their peer agencies is the ‘responsiveness and promptness’ of their service. If you are a client and you want your work to be delivered the next day, IAL is one agency that will not refuse. Their people may have to put in extra effort, but they will make sure that they deliver not only on time, but with two or three different options. We can safely say that IAL seems to be following a differentiation strategy, based on agility or operational excellence. IAL are affiliated with Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide and a pillar of their vision is ‘Impossible is Nothing’. This added to the fact that one of IAL’s biggest clients (with whom they have been dealing for decades) is P&G, known for being a tough and demanding client globally. IAL adopted practices that were necessary to keep P&G satisfied with their performance and these practices were gradually weaved into the fabric of the agency’s culture. Eventually, these practices (for example, efficient resource and time management, working late hours etc.) were applied to other client projects, forming a basis for the agency’s competitive advantage. P&G’s other agencies in Pakistan did create teams who were kept on their toes, but they never internalised similar practices on the scale IAL did.

Ogilvy’s competitive edge advantage globally is ‘360 degree brand stewardship’. However, in Pakistan this is not supported in the market as Ogilvy do not yet operate some of their communication disciplines such as PR, CRM, digital, activation etc. on full scale. Yet, in terms of their revenue, they are perhaps the largest agency in Pakistan. What explains this success? Firstly, they have an impressive list of clients, mostly network accounts that include British American Tobacco, Bank Alfalah, Coca-Cola, EBM, Monsanto, Nestlé and Shan Foods. They are perhaps the only network agency in Pakistan that provide their clients not only learnings from across the globe, but access to their cross-border offices in India for their creative work. So they are also perhaps the 'only truly network agency' that also import creative ideas for their clients.

An agency where the work stands out in our cluttered environment would be Adcom. They are credited with creating some of Pakistan's most notable mega-scale, well-executed and entertaining TVCs for Alkaram, Telenor Talkshawk, Tapal and Tarang. Therefore, Adcom differentiate themselves by being an agency that produces clutter-breaking/ entertaining advertising.

The D’Hamidi Partnership seem to have an edge in designing visual brand identities. Their noteworthy work includes that for Engro, Faysal Bank, Hubco, Hum News, PIA, Shaheen Air and Zong 4G.

There are opportunities for specialisation in many arenas; for example, healthcare, packaging, shopper marketing, agricultural marketing, marketing to the young, to women, to rural consumers. This would allow agencies to develop capabilities that their competitors cannot match as well as service a narrow client base where they can charge a premium for their offerings. There are hardly any boutique agencies known for their outstanding creative work – so that is another opportunity.

Argus Advertising seem to be pursuing a differentiation focus strategy by specialising in servicing government clients who prefer business partners with a particular temperament such as an ability to deal with slower work processes, hierarchical decision-making and delayed payments. Their clients include Askari Bank, Bank of Punjab, Institute of Business Administration, National Bank of Pakistan, PSO and State Life Corporation.

Manhill Advertising and Maxell Advertising specialise in the construction sector and seem to be following a cost-focus strategy; the construction sector allows for very low remuneration as well as delayed payments (that are hard to recover). In fact, an advertising agency has to be really good at recovering money to be able to work for construction sector clients.

Given that there are no barriers to entry in marketing and communications, many players have entered the profession, especially small-sized digital agencies, which are fiercely competing for a smaller share of the pie, each one offering to charge a lower price to win or keep an account; so they could be said to be following cost leadership strategy.

Most other agencies are stuck in the middle, in that they do not own a clear competitive advantage. They are trying to be cost leaders as well as differentiating their creative offer. They don’t choose to pick and service a narrow customer base. However, such an approach leads to nowhere. Instead of being ‘everything to everyone’, a practice that will make them stand for nothing, they should try to identify uncontested spaces in one of the ‘cost leadership’, ‘differentiation’, ‘differentiation focus’ or ‘cost focus’ strategy areas.

There are opportunities for specialisation in many arenas; for example, healthcare, packaging, shopper marketing, agricultural marketing, marketing to the young, to women, to rural consumers. This would then allow them to develop capabilities that their competitors cannot match as well as service a narrow client base where they can charge a premium for their offerings. There are hardly any boutique agencies known for their outstanding creative work – so that is another opportunity. Following the cost-focus approach provides many untapped opportunities including specialising in low-cost digital marketing solutions for local brands. This may require revisiting the business model, eliminating overlapping layers and unnecessary functions and cutting overheads.

Overall, the situation in the marketing communications sector is mixed. The agencies which have developed a competitive advantage, whether by design or accidently, are doing well. Those stuck in the middle (the ‘mushy middle’) are struggling to survive, particularly in the current difficult times. A word of advice: find your competitive advantage.

Khalid Naseem is Head of Strategy, Firebolt63. khalid.naseem@firebolt63.com

Mr Shere, who seems to be a pretty nationalistic dude, has a habit of tagging large Twitter accounts, presumably to spread his message further than the 86 followers he has. Yet, it seems that among all the Pakistani accounts that he tags, Careem were the only ones that managed to correctly capitalise the situation and gain significant social media traction (their response tweet received a disproportionately higher engagement than Careem’s other tweets). On the surface, this seems like a straightforward the-right-thing-at-the-right-time situation. However, capturing opportunities like these on social media is a tricky challenge not many brands are able to pull off.

Trends: understanding the power and their danger

If you are a social media marketer in Pakistan, I assume you have been using the word ‘trends’ as part of your pitch jargon for the last couple of years. However, I hope that as of 2019, you are aware of the change in social media network power dynamics. Whereas trends were once the ‘value-addition’ part of your social strategy, now they seem to be garnering more love from both algorithms and people than your carefully planned ‘regular’ content campaigns. In a constantly-connected world, we are all huddled around the water cooler that is social media, talking about whatever is the newest, most interesting thing we have discovered. Trending topics are stickier than regular social media interactions but more volatile as well. On one end of the spectrum, you have the positive outcome. Capture a trending topic right and you have stellar engagement and brownie points from audiences who will appreciate you as a brand with a true personality, and if you are lucky, that holy grail of social media – virality. On the flipside, there is the risk of botching a trending integration. You may end up with something completely tone-deaf and alienate your audiences. Your brand will look desperate, equity will erode and you may even go viral for all the wrong reasons.

The need for speed

Let’s get something straight; trends are not hashtags. They are not a particular image, line of copy or a meme. They are part of a conversation, a topic, a part of the zeitgeist. The tweet above shows how Careem masterfully captured an opportunity to latch on to the heated Pakistan and India conversation without relying on hashtags or visuals. Trends are by definition fleeting. You can’t predict them and you can’t stop them from dying. They come and go at great speed. The opportunity lies in your ability to capture them in that small window of time. This requires, first and foremost, a conscious decision by brands and agencies to align their strategy – as in should or should we not capture trends? Trends are not child’s play and need to be approached with both conviction and caution. Trends should not be on anyone’s backburner. There is nothing more pathetic than a branded post on a trending topic ‘just because’. These kinds of afterthoughts are poorly-timed, contextually hollow, way too ‘safe’ to gain traction and plain bad for brand image and agency performance. If you want to capture trends, go big or go home. There is no space for in-betweeners.

Preparing the groundwork

From the agency side, once you have cemented the intent, the next step is to align the right resources to identify these trends. It is a game of quick responses, so the quicker you identify a relevant trend, the better your chances to capture it in the right way. There are a few ways to do this and what has worked wonders for us is to hire in-house trend-spotters who know how to keep track on what is becoming hot in real time; a person who can tell, at any given time, what is happening in the world of entertainment, politics, pop culture or any other topic. It may be something as random as an egg competing with Kylie Jenner’s Instagram or the wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister holding hands with Imran Khan. You can rely on the internet to pick up this stuff – there are countless trending topic lists, but the problem is that by the time a trend reaches these lists it is already at its peak and you have little time left to adapt it meaningfully to your brand. Having the right people in this role means you do not have to rely on second-hand data. Next, ensure your trend-spotters are able to disseminate to the rest of the agency creative team the information regarding a trend very quickly. We use a dedicated slack channel (a cloud-based set of proprietary team collaboration tools) to do this. The conversation usually goes like this. The trend-spotter alerts the content team about something that is picking up traction – along with the nuances and pitfalls. The content team adapts the trend to their assigned brands, angling it to create maximum effect. The chosen angle is relayed back to the trend-spotter in case there is a red flag somewhere that can be identified.

Given that most trends have a life of about two to three days, our content and design teams are geared to get the minimum viable product out in record time. Here we recognise that first is much more impactful than best, so we take off our perfectionist hats and work to create the best that can be done given the time crunch. This is a tough decision for the agency because it feels like a cop out. On the flip side, it’s a great opportunity for agencies to push for radical efficiency in social content creation.

Workflow expressway

This is about creating pathways for trending-related content within the agency and with the client. Assuming that both the agency and brand teams agree that trends are powerful, time-sensitive and worth pursuing, there needs to be a preset express lane to funnel this content quickly and process it before the trend loses steam. On the agency side, this means prioritising over-planned assignments. Notice again that Careem’s February 14 tweet could have been topical around Valentine’s Day (which must have been part of the plan) but the trending topic was so powerful that it outmanoeuvred the planned content. What has worked with us are the protocols we have created to deal with these urgent tasks. Clients are briefed about this when we sign them on and although these opportunities are stressful because of their ability to derail ‘regular’ project planning, they are exciting to work on and help keep everyone on their toes.

Expectation-Management and approvals hotlines

Given that most trends have a life of about two to three days, our content and design teams are geared to get the minimum viable product out in record time. Here we recognise that first is much more impactful than best, so we take off our perfectionist hats and work to create the best that can be done given the time crunch. This is a tough decision for the agency because it feels like a cop out. On the flip side, it’s a great opportunity for agencies to push for radical efficiency in social content creation. At the other end of the conversation, client expectations need to be managed so that this less-than-stellar visual or copy is approved quickly. While some clients trust the agencies to manage their tone of voice independently, most brands in Pakistan micromanage each post and give approvals accordingly. With trending topics, such pre-approvals are out of the question. Thus, an approval hotline highway has to be created between client and agency. Clients should be aware that the stuff coming in for approval may not be as perfect as their regular stuff but rapid approvals will help capture the momentum of the trend. This communication system works on a 24-hour basis and nothing is sacred. While we hate to admit it, most of our hotlines rely on WhatsApp. The big bad world of trending topics requires that agencies and brands work on new blueprints in terms of workflow and communication networks. Only with this grid in place and working seamlessly can we begin to chase after something bigger. I have to admit, the feeling of gaining traffic on a trend that is picking up momentum is an exhilarating experience. But the Holy Grail of viral marketing is to make a trend, rather than just exploit it. Few agencies or brands can claim to have been able to pull this off globally and those that have are largely one-hit-wonders. That’s the dream.

You know what they say: work hard until your name becomes a hashtag.

Umair Kazi is Partner, Ishtehari. umair@ishtehari.com

The industry has come a long way and now offers provident fund, gratuity, medical and life insurance, company maintained cars, annual performance appraisals, training and development opportunities and creatively-designed workspaces.

Yet, more and more creative, media and digital agencies are in the grip of an unprecedented crisis of talent acquisition and retention. It was a common belief in the business that “you don’t choose advertising, advertising chooses you.” I don’t think we have that luxury anymore as there aren’t many mad ones left to choose from. In my opinion, we have overlooked a key aspect of the creative exodus. It is not only about perks and visibility. While it may be convenient to write off the departure of outstanding talent as a desire to add a big name to their résumé or the greed to pad their savings account, the key word here is ‘outstanding.’

Outstanding people seek opportunities to tell stories, push boundaries and develop new approaches. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be outstanding. We may have fixed many remuneration-related malpractices (at least most mainstream agencies have), when it comes to culture and working practices, the profession has become downright shallow. Yes, companies like Google and Apple changed the game for every other industry in the world but ad agencies in Pakistan cannot even compete with their clients in the single most important ingredient of success in talent management today – flexibility.

For an industry built on the premise of creativity to act so resolutely ‘uncreative’ when it comes to talent management is ironic. Flexibility has always been crucial in attracting and retaining the best talent in our business and all recent global studies on workplace culture and HR management show a significant change in key expectations; an increased desire among employees for flexibility in the way they work. According to Steve Price (Dell’s Chief HR Officer), results from their worldwide research shows that “more than 60% of employees work before or after standard business hours. Furthermore, roughly two-thirds globally conduct at least some business from home on a regular basis and the average employee spends at least two hours per week working from public places.”

Enabling people to work as much – or as little – as they want, when what they want is not the opposite of discipline and order. Developing a company culture based on flexible work style options will lead to more satisfied and engaged team members.

Forbes published a research study in 2017, which stated that “more than 80% of Millennials say workspace technology will influence the jobs they take.” This aligns with other global research published in the past few years. The numbers are even higher for people in developing countries as social structures evolve and parenting roles are significantly changing.

Enabling people to work as much – or as little – as they want, when what they want is not the opposite of discipline and order. Developing a company culture based on flexible work style options will lead to more satisfied and engaged team members. Google says flexibility is one of the top three cultural attributes team members value the most, followed by ethics and inclusion; a survey conducted at Blitz showed similar results. We have seen that giving our team members the independence to work remotely can lead to productivity gains and has even helped retain some top talent when they were ready to resign and do their own thing; look after an ailing parent or take an unplanned vacation. We learnt this the hard way, after struggling to retain any fresh talent for over a year. Even now, despite all the adjustments we have made to our HR systems, our digital team has a high employee turnover rate.

Perhaps it also has a lot to do with the way the agency structure is evolving as we look towards building our competencies around clients and consumers, instead of working with media specific structures for conventional and digital separately. The structure at Blitz is more fluid today than it used to be five years ago when the demarcation between media, creative, digital and content were very clear. While Blitz still has separate business units for creative, content, media and digital, a strong collaborative culture is what drives our growth engine. When an agency becomes more fluid in structure, the talent acquisition and management practices need to evolve as well. Agencies need to be more adaptive to the unique combination of skills each individual offers to discover the potential across all functions. Our strategy and planning team works on key pitches and major campaigns across different business units. We have had plenty of management trainees who jumped their function after merely spending six months for what they were originally hired. This helps us retain the people we have so carefully hired.

Enabling people to work as much – or as little – as they want, when what they want is not the opposite of discipline and order. Developing a company culture based on flexible work style options will lead to more satisfied and engaged team members.

I remember being overawed by the simplicity of thought behind Keith Reinhard’s ‘Four Freedoms’ in his book Any Wednesday – Notes To An Advertising Agency. Reinhard was Chairman Emeritus, DDB Worldwide, when I joined the agency and ever so simply, he captured the essence of what flexibility means in the advertising agency business; the Freedom from Fear, the Freedom to Fail, the Freedom from Chaos and the Freedom to Be. The presence of these freedoms he says, “ensures talent will flourish and ideas will flow.” I believe that what lies behind the talent crisis in our industry is the absence of these freedoms. Most agencies poach talent off each other. There are several problems created by this practice, but the most concerning bit is the shrinking supply of top-quality talent; we are no longer a first choice for the cream of fresh grads. Some would argue that it has always been the case, but it wasn’t this way for media sciences, communication design, mass communication and design graduates at least.

The competition is even fiercer for creatives, many of whom have fled to greener tech pastures. The migration of young communication designers to tech companies has been going on for years, but new graduates deciding outright not to work in advertising is a new and troubling trend. The creative folk in a fluid agency structure can make all the difference as they leap to cross functional projects for the opportunity to do work that requires a different level of thinking. This is the freedom we have to give all ad folk if we wish to attract the best and the brightest. We will need to put ourselves in the prospective talent’s shoes. Without knowing what they value and what they need, we cannot get the best talent through the door, forget keeping them there!

Umair Saeed is COO, Blitz Advertising.
umair.saeed@blitz.pk

The careers inbox in our agency’s email system is under sustained attack. Every week hundreds, if not thousands, of people send in their resumés. Strangely, the partners at our agency have entrusted me as the initial filter for this floodgate, a lone warrior against a sea of talent that can make or break our agency. I rationalise this by thinking that any company is only as good as its people and until we reach 150 employees, every new hire can be extremely detrimental to the culture of the agency because although some new hires do their jobs well, they can also be poisonous to the culture and bring down the productivity of others. Some people call them brilliant jerks. This is why hiring should not be delegated completely to the HR department, at least not in the initial stages.

So what do I do when faced with a torrent of aspirants knocking on our virtual door? I judge them on their entrepreneurial abilities. I skip past their qualifications and the cookie-cutter career objective statements and look for that golden nugget of information; what are they interested in and what have they done about it so far?

This is a polarising issue as far as hiring trends go. In the golden age of industrialisation, the economic model was based on the assembly line. A company was the sum of its parts, working in unison to create value. It moved in a sequential manner and each part was optimised for the best performance at the lowest cost. The system worked beautifully, as long as everybody did their job to the expected standards. It was stable. Growth was powered by specialisation and scalability and visionary leaders knew that they were the only ways to increase output. A part that performed better helped speed up the process and more parts and processes, running in parallel could reliably increase operations. Hiring, therefore, was based on finding experts; people who could do a job better than anyone else – and then finding more people like that.

However, there was a caveat. The model thrived on performance but sacrificed innovation at the altar of risk. Because of the sequential nature of the beast, experimentation posed the very real hazard of grinding the entire machinery to a halt. If one part or person attempted something new and failed, it would cause a cascade of failures throughout the entire process.

Agencies need to increase their tolerance for employee failure. With any new technique, the risk of meteoric success is counterbalanced by catastrophic blunders. Like a child trying out a swing for the first time, you need to let your entrepreneurial employees know that you expect great things from them but that you will stand by them if they make a mistake.

To succeed in such an organisation, you did what you were told, worked hard and reaped the benefits. Everyone coloured within the lines and was rewarded for increasing their output and decreasing the time it took them to do something... as long as you didn’t fail at the primary task altogether. Loyalty was heavily compensated, but the rewards of innovation were monopolised by the entrepreneurs themselves.

Come the services age, and the world has changed. Lower entry barriers and more flexible regulations translated into an exponential increase in businesses – and there are already people lined up to eat your lunch. In true evolutionary fashion, this means that there is greater variation in the way businesses are operated. Everybody is trying something different, everybody is hungry and everybody is willing to fail. This makes for interesting contenders to the established titans of the industry; the upstarts who will use whatever it takes to steal a piece of your pie. I know this because I am one of those upstarts. I try to position my business to out-innovate the old guard of the agency world – and even more interesting is that I am already challenged by newer upstarts. People with less experience and resources than I have; people who are hungrier, more experimental and nimbler than I am. I am both David and Goliath; the hero in my story, but the villain in someone else’s.

The only way to thrive in this dog-eat-dog advertising industry is to continuously challenge the status quo and never become the keeper of the status quo. If you can’t beat them, hire them. But while hiring entrepreneurs is straightforward, retaining them is a far more challenging affair. A company that actively chooses to have entrepreneurs in its ranks needs to be willing to make some fundamental changes to accommodate such people. They will have to throw out the rulebook because these guys do not work according to it.

Entrepreneurial agencies must also incorporate freedom. It is the essence of this class of people to try new things. Your job is to provide them with the path of least resistance. We do this by doing away with strict time and place constraints. You must be willing to ditch the nine-to-five within the office premises. Let them choose their hours and place of work. Experience has shown me that this is tricky. Some people may try to take advantage of this newfound freedom, although it is more likely that they will learn to appreciate the flexibility their always-on lifestyle demands. Eventually, they will realise the merit of coming to work on time and of leaving work behind at the office when they are home or elsewhere. The coffee shop productivity is not for everybody but they have to go through the process to come to this conclusion.

Even more important is the agency’s ability to motivate. Entrepreneurs are not in love with money but rather with the internal glow... the warm feeling that comes from creating something of their own. An entrepreneurial agency needs to align those goals with theirs. Link their appreciation and stature in the company to the success of their initiatives on business performance. Let them start a new division, let them initiate a new process, let them create more value; all on their own terms. Do not give an entrepreneurial hire explicit instructions; dispense inspiration and advice instead. And when the time comes, reward them not for their loyalty and job performance, but for the innovation they attempted.

Last, but not least, agencies need to increase their tolerance for employee failure. With any new technique, the risk of meteoric success is counterbalanced by catastrophic blunders. Like a child trying out a swing for the first time, you need to let your entrepreneurial employees know that you expect great things from them but that you will stand by them if they make a mistake. An internal tool we use to keep a check on our successes versus our failures is the concept of ‘net proud’. Some ambitious plans will fly and others will not. As long as the net result of the two makes you proud at the end of the day (or the year), in our book you are good.

Adopt these initiatives and your employees will innovate with and for you. But know that in this kind of agency, HR models come with a high rate of attrition. High-flyers can only buoy you so far, after which their rate of velocity may outpace your own. So learn to let them go. This month, our agency’s first hire left to start his own app start-up. It took him seven years to crystallise his entrepreneurial ambitions, absorb the lessons from the agency and take the plunge. Within our agency, we have people that are agency-folk in the day and content producers, fashion designers, fitness trainers, musicians and teachers at night. With bittersweet feelings, I look forward to the day when they will leave to fulfil their entrepreneurial dreams.

The scariest and most emotionally nerve-wracking aspect is that they are the people who will give me competition tomorrow. I know they have the potential to make a better agency than ours is today. But as they learn from the company, the company learns from them. I begrudgingly welcome them to the battlefield and wish them greater success than ours. May the best entrepreneur win.

Umair Kazi is Partner, Ishtehari.
umair@ishtehari.com

FAHAD BOMBAYWALA: I never aspired to a career in advertising and I landed in the industry by accident. I did my bachelor’s in design and filmmaking. Zehra Zaidi came across the work I had done for my thesis, called me for an interview and I joined Adcom in 2008. After a year as a Creative Associate, I left and did my master’s in philosophy. These two years were decisive because they made me realise that advertising is the profession for me; it was the only career where I would have the freedom of creative expression and the power to influence change in people’s behaviour. I was lucky to work at IAL Saatchi & Saatchi for three years and spent another three at Ogilvy before switching to JWT and finally returned to Adcom as Associate Creative Director in 2017. This was when the realisation dawned that agencies were focused on cost-cutting rather than producing insightful, creative work.

UMAIR AHMED: I started in 2006 with Bullseye, which was a brand activation and event management agency at the time. Activation was then in its infancy and I was lucky to work with people like Tanveer Ajmeeh, a pioneer in brand activation. I was given the liberty of handling people and delivering within strict timelines, but I was also mentored and guided at every step. After almost two years, I switched to the brand side believing this would enhance my career growth because that is the thinking that is ingrained in us right from the time we enrol in a university – working on the brand side is always better than going to an agency. That is true to a large extent, yet for someone like me, the day-to-day monotony and the nine-to-five routine did not work. I came back to activation and, along with Tabish Waqar and Ahmer Khan, set up Brandlogics, an event management and activation company, while also serving as a Director at Ishtehari. It was during this time that I realised that my experience was limited entirely to activation, with no working knowledge of strategy or creative. I wanted to plug this gap, but I knew that working at a conventional agency was not the answer.

AS: Do you think this is the right time to set up a new agency, given that the big players are complaining of shrinking margins?
SA: When you join an agency, you want to be included in important meetings and have the opportunity to present your ideas. Unfortunately, in the last 15 years, the top brass has not made way for vibrant young people with fresh perspectives and new ideas. People who pursue a career in advertising are aware that this is not where they will be making the most money but at the same time, they do not want to be stifled. After a few years, you realise that it is all a big, fat, commercial game. Yes, we are in the business of commercial art, but I wanted to create insight-driven work. Instead, conversations in boardrooms centre around which celebrity will be featured in the TVC, who will write the jingle and where it will be shot. In my view, time is better spent in understanding the client’s business challenges and coming up with solutions. Most clients are quick to see when an agency is conning them and this breeds mistrust, which can end only when an agency like ours is brave enough to say: “You want a TVC shot in Bangkok, but it won’t solve your problem.”

FB: The industry is very business-driven. Profitability problems arise because ‘established’ agencies have huge payrolls and this financial pressure pushes creativity and insight to the backseat. To convince clients to hand over a cheque is a difficult task, especially when trust isn’t there and clients believe that the agency is only looking to mint money instead of looking out for their brand. We felt that there is a huge void in terms of agencies that want to solve a business’s problem and this is the space we are filling. There may be 500 agencies out there, but we want to position Sandpaper as the one that will resolve specific business challenges innovatively.

UA: I don’t agree with the notion that business has shrunk. Every week, more than four to five new brands are rolling out campaigns across multiple mediums. To survive and be profitable, it is imperative to decide what your business model is. From the beginning, we were clear that we would remain a lean agency in order not to hike tariffs to cover operational costs. We charge for critical thinking to solve problems or achieve a goal. It is not as if new brands have stopped coming into the market; in fact, there are more brands with substantial marketing budgets now compared to a decade ago. But, clients have become smarter and they want specific results, which is why they are turning away from traditional agencies and retainer models and are looking for alternatives. In my experience, if you give good ideas and insights, clients are happy to pay.

“We are also working on putting our tariff on our website, which would be a first for the industry. What usually happens is that agencies have different tariffs for different clients. Our approach is to have standardised rates for the services we offer. I admit, this model is not going to make us rich, but that is how we want to work.”

AS: How will you ensure that Sandpaper doesn’t fall into this trap?
SA: We will not take on retainer clients and take on projects instead. For example, if a client is facing a certain issue, such as declining sales in a particular region, we will do the research, figure out a solution, share it with our client and oversee the implementation – and that would be the end of the project. Before taking on a project, we estimate the time and resources needed to complete it and then quote a tariff. We are also working on putting our tariff on our website, which would be a first for the industry. What usually happens is that agencies have different tariffs for different clients. Our approach is to have standardised rates for the services we offer. I admit, this model is not going to make us rich, but that is how we want to work. Brands pay us a specific amount and in turn, they receive our dedicated attention.

FB: When we go for client meetings, we make it clear that we are not there to take over from their existing agency. Our pitch is: Continue working with your agency for the planned year-round initiatives but for this specific launch, campaign, re-launch or business problem, we can provide a targeted solution and its execution will take up the next three months. At some point, if we take on an IMC campaign with multiple collaterals (TVC, digital ads, print campaigns, packaging), which need adaptations, we will need more designers, graphics people, art directors and visualisers, but they won’t be full-time; we will bring them on when we have a project that needs more resources.

UA: Our goals are clear. We want to build a team that shares our work ethic and vision but most importantly, our values. We plan on keeping it small and will not be venturing into areas such as media planning and buying because that is not our core expertise and require too much money. If we have that kind of cash, we might as well go into films or set up a production house.

For feedback: aurora@dawn.com

Seven years ago, I had the same feeling. A few months before my 25th birthday, feeling particularly hot-headed, I found a co-conspirator and decided to take the plunge. I was going to start my own ad agency. (Take that, timid bosses and conservative clients!) Today, given that our experiment has turned into a proper agency with 25 people onboard and a slew of clients, I can retroactively see how foolish and lucky we were. If you are looking to start and grow an agency, here are some points you may want to consider.

1. Leave your ego at the door

Should you meet us professionally, we will give you one of our business cards. The card itself is a conversation piece and the most interesting thing about it is that it does not give our designation. Nowhere does it say founder, director or anything of the sort. This is because when we started out, we were juggling roles. For one client, I was the strategy guy. For another, I was the dispatcher. And the operations manager, client service rep and everything in the middle. We deliberately avoided designations because we were a two-man agency pretending to be a bigger setup (we wanted the freedom to pretend to be whoever we wanted to be). We don’t like labels and contrary to what everybody else in the industry thinks, we don’t like specialists. We did everything ourselves. This ethos is still present in the agency. Sometimes, our peon (a delightful man called Faheem) can steer us towards a winning idea for a campaign. In that moment, he is not just a peon – he is a creative director.

2. Leverage your friends

It would be unfair to claim all our success as our own doing. From day one, we had a bunch of helpful friends who supported us in myriad roles. Some were officially integrated in the agency when we were able to afford them. Others still work in the shadows, pulling strings and helping us out when we are stuck. We did not have an NTN, so we used the one of a friend. We did not have a physical office, so we registered the agency at my father-in-law’s company address. We did not know how to prepare invoices on excel, so we asked someone to help us out. Often, we did not have enough brainpower to figure out pitches, so we invited friends from the industry to help us crack them. All this was done pro-bono, built on a one-sided bet these people made, sure that we would succeed. Initially, I wasn’t keen on asking for favours. But truth be told, we are part of a society that is inherently interdependent. I changed my stance when I realised that people wanted to help us. When you set out to achieve something, the whole universe conspires to help you. A big part of that helpful universe is made up of the people you know.

3. Be creative in business

It is foolish to restrict creativity to artworks, storyboards and scripts. Creativity is the ability to find a path where none exists. Most of our problems were simply challenges that had to be solved with a different line of thought. For starters, we could not afford office space; eventually, we managed to strike a deal for what basically amounted to a small room underneath a telco tower and where we could only turn on the air conditioner when the tower’s generator was switched on. It was a hot little room that only became bearable when there was a power outage in the rest of the neighbourhood. Luckily, in those days, Karachi had a lot of power breakdowns and we were able to secure this office for about Rs 5,000 a month (five grand more than what we could afford). When clients came over, we sat them in the outside area, which had a great view of the tower and of a satellite dish that felt very ‘media-company-ish’ – and hosted them over chai. It made for a great photo opportunity and even brand managers from big companies loved the quirkiness of it all. This attitude carried us all the way to our current position. Any ad agency person will know that there is always a limitation; limited budget, limited time, limited resources. Yet, it is these constraints that help inspire the really creative solutions, the ones which push the envelope and break the clutter.

Most great entrepreneurs attribute their success to their people, and for good reason. Unlike our seth counterparts, we are forever on the lookout for people who are better than us. More than anything, I think this is what allowed us to grow at the rate we did and become the brand we are today. I understand the lure of hiring for a price point rather than a skill-set, especially during growth years – and good people are expensive. However, most of the time, money is not the only factor in the equation.

4. Use your own money

I was taught at school that an entrepreneur needs to have capital to start a business. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that kind of moolah. We could have secured some investment through loan sharks (in those days, banks would not even give me a credit card), but we decided to be self-sufficient. By bootstrapping our operations, we managed to achieve efficiency and cut down on excess. Over the years, we built a financial model that relied on our hardwork and our successes. If we managed to secure business, that meant we could pay our bills. While this may not be the most prudent way to go about things, it worked for us. Sure, there were months when we didn’t have enough funds to pay salaries and we decided to withhold our own and focus on paying our employees on time. The loyalty we received from these little sacrifices is something we cherish to this day. Even today, our agency is largely self-sufficient. While our financial model is a little more complex, it still relies on building value and powering the company through our work. It helps us stay agile, instils a sense of urgency and prevents us from snoozing on the job. It also avoids the overly optimistic bubble that comes with outside investment models.

5. Hire heroes

Most great entrepreneurs attribute their success to their people, and for good reason. Unlike our seth counterparts, we are forever on the lookout for people who are better than us. More than anything, I think this is what allowed us to grow at the rate we did and become the brand we are today. I understand the lure of hiring for a price point rather than a skill-set, especially during growth years – and good people are expensive. However, most of the time, money is not the only factor in the equation. Some people want recognition, some want challenges, others flexibility and some want to be able to nap on the job. I am proud to say that we accommodate all types of behaviour, as long as they are absolute rock stars at what they do. I am sure I will get into trouble for saying this, but when we interview people, we make choices based on how interesting a person is and not on their salary expectations. Sometimes, we will even pay a premium for the nut jobs. The short-term pay-off is that our people come onboard without feeling like commodities, because we didn’t gauge them on market price. In the long-term, it means an infinitely more fun workplace, with people with diverse interests and passions fuelling the creative fire.

6. Learn to grow up

The most challenging aspect of growing from a start-up mindset to a professional company was to put a check on our ragtag ways of doing things. Chaos is good for a small team, but when you are working with a larger set of people, you need organisation. We still remain true to our motto of “the only rule is that there are no rules.” But in the last couple of years, we got the ‘big-boy help’ we needed to iron things out. This meant automating systems, creating learning models and constantly re-assessing the value we provide. It also meant formally registering as a private limited company (no small task given Pakistan’s red-tape bureaucracy), building a national presence and learning to delegate. All this may sound rudimentary on paper, but trust me, they are hard to do – and ultimately absolutely necessary. The most important lesson we learnt was to say no. Our time, our people and our minds are our most valuable assets and we have to pick and choose our projects. In the agency world, your last project is your reputation, so every job we pick must inspire us to do something buzz-worthy. We learnt not to be ‘just a design house’. We trained ourselves not to be yes-men. We expanded our skill-sets to add new capabilities to the agency. All this is a constant and conscious effort to be more than what we are and more importantly, more than what we were. Start-ups are sexy, but you know what is even hotter? Real, powerful businesses that can leave a legacy.

In a nutshell, the transition from start-up to becoming a major independent player in Pakistan’s ad industry is a difficult, yet ultimately rewarding journey. If you are so inclined, you should give it a shot. As a company, most of our contemporaries are well-established giants with half a century of experience behind them and international affiliations to boot. Yet, we often provide them with tough competition in pitches and win clients that last us a lifetime. So light your inner fire, learn from our mistakes and go start your own agency. Give us some competition. And if you want advice, reach out to us! We are more than willing to help.

Umair Kazi is Partner, Ishtehari. umair@ishtehari.com

Illustrations by Creative Unit.

Look at what is happening at P&G. One of the world’s biggest advertising spenders are reducing their ad budgets by a further $400 million, in addition to a recent cut of $750 million. They are reducing the number of their communication agencies by 50%, going down from 2,500 to 1,250. The plan is to bring more of their media planning and buying in-house. Speaking about the rationale behind these cuts, Jon Moeller, CFO, P&G, stated that: “We need the contribution of creative talent and are prepared to pay for that. We don’t need some of the other components of the cost. We will move to more ‘fixed and flow’ arrangements, with more open sourcing of creative talent and production capability, driving greater local relevance, speed and quality at lower costs.”

Mainstream advertising agencies are competing with unconventional entities, such as Accenture and Deloitte (consulting companies) and Google, Facebook and Amazon (technology, social networking and e-commerce companies). The reasons behind this include availability of online data and a more professional application in analytics. All this has given rise to hitherto untapped communication and integration opportunities. Marketing communication agencies, in their quest for specialisation, are diversifying, but at the same time, they are creating a huge vacuum in terms of integrating their diverse offerings and creating synergies for their clients.

The big communication houses such as WPP initially tried to approach integration by forming integration teams and hiring professionals from relevant disciplines from their group companies. This approach did not work. Sir Martin Sorrell’s resignation, in the wake of an investigation into his remuneration, signals that all is not well inside the Group, not least because the amounts involved in the investigation are not ‘significant’ according to sources within the Group. WPP’s share value dipped to an all time low in 2017, well before Sir Martin’s resignation.

To imagine a future for advertising agencies, we need to take a stock of how they evolved. Consumer advertising made a comeback in the 1950s, when the scarcities arising from World War II gave way to a period of intense economic activity, leading to rising incomes and an abundance of consumer products. As a result, the need to introduce differentiation in the product offering became vital and it fell to the full service agency to take up the task of brand creation. In those days, agency compensation was in the form of a 15% commission paid by the media, while clients paid for the creative work largely at tariff rates. This continued without significant change until the late 1970s. Then, as media fragmented, brands proliferated and bargaining power moved to the retailers (they had more choice about which products to stock and started dictating terms), two events took place. Firstly, the full service agency split into several communication agencies (PR, activation, consumer relationship marketing etc.), usually under the umbrella of a large communication group. Secondly, full service agencies evolved in that as well as being advertising agencies, they became integrators of communication campaigns involving multiple disciplines (advertising, PR, activation, direct marketing), in effect making them ‘lead’ agencies (Ogilvy,Y&R, DDB). However, lead agencies were not able to achieve true integration for several reasons.

Consumer advertising made a comeback in the 1950s, when the scarcities arising from World War II gave way to a period of intense economic activity, leading to rising incomes and an abundance of consumer products. As a result, the need to introduce differentiation in the product offering became vital and it fell to the full service agency to take up the task of brand creation.

1 Because they remain fundamentally ad agencies, the advertising component overwhelms the rest of the mix. They are specialists in advertising, but generalists in other disciplines. As a result, most lead agencies do not involve strategists from other disciplines in their planning processes and therefore exclude a 360-perspective and end up with a less-than-optimal strategy. Furthermore, their service structure supports client-agency-supplier coordination to the exclusion of other agencies.

2 Creatives force the big ideas developed for advertising onto other disciplines, without taking into account that (for example) an activation or experiential idea is very different in nature.

3 The notion of a media-neutral creative idea is flawed; for example, an interactive digital experience is very different from passive consumption of TV advertising. As a result, when a creative idea is designed to cater to both, it is inevitably compromised and therefore, less effective.

4 Due to their less than effective ability to integrate brand communications, clients face unnecessary complexity in coordinating with multiple service interfaces. Many MNCs have appointed media directors to better integrate the creative with the ever fragmenting media channels.

What has happened is that the core offering of the creative agency (briefing, insight generation, idea development, concept development and execution) is faced with competition from production houses, planners and freelance creative talent. The resulting fragmentation of the creative product into constituent parts has not only led to a lowering of price, but to a loss of integration even within the strictly advertising discipline; often the TVC is made by an independent production house, print ads are designed by freelancers and billboards by a vendor. Added to this, there is dwindling integration with other disciplines such as PR, digital, CRM and direct marketing.

A brand is made up of a meaningful collection of associations and not disparate bits and pieces. However, what is now taking place is adversely impacting this holistic entity, resulting in unrelated or even conflicting associations. It will also affect the achievement of marketing goals with different messages that pull consumer behaviour in different directions. The emergence of new technologies has further complicated matters. Marketing must now be managed across devices as well as serve customised ads to specific audiences based on real-time analysis of constantly changing data; data that must inform creative, CRM and media buying strategies. In the future, integrated 360 communication agencies are likely to include in their service portfolio brand strategy, brand consultancy, brand identity, communications strategy, analytics, data and research and expertise in professional services marketing.

A brand is made up of a meaningful collection of associations and not disparate bits and pieces. However, what is now taking place is adversely impacting this holistic entity, resulting in unrelated or even conflicting associations. It will also affect the achievement of marketing goals with different messages that pull consumer behaviour in different directions.

Although it is still hard to imagine how this new advertising entity will shape up, certain characteristics in the structure are becoming increasingly obvious.

1. The concept of a lead agency will fade away and functions will operate as equal partners in a more fluid structure. Capabilities such as creative, media, influencers, digital, production and shopper marketing will be re-bundled on an as per needs basis for separate clients.

2. The emphasis will be on creating great work cost effectively and at the pace the market demands. Clients will not be required to deal with people from different communication functions, thus reducing both the complexity and the necessity of employing a large marketing staff.

3. The agency will act as a hub to open source talent and skills rather than compete with them. It will pull in creative talent from other sources and collaborate with distribution platforms such as mobile, social media and OOH. It will operate more like a content shop, working in a modular way with specialist teams from different disciplines rather than in silos. There will be greater integration of content creation and distribution and greater in-house content publishing resources.

4. It will make increasing use of technology and data to track the impact of creative on sales. Budgets will be based on analytics and ROI computations. The agency will be led by people expert in creative technologies. On every account, the team will include a techie, a distribution expert and a storyteller.

5. It will integrate all communication disciplines through 360 communication planning and present solutions that are neutral to any discipline. It will evaluate the role and effectiveness of every channel by studying consumer behaviour and carrying out a rigorous analysis of online and offline data.

6. It will allow for differentiation of their service offerings, employing different strategic approaches in the communication strategy, competing to create greater value for their clients.

Khalid Naseem is Head of Strategy at Firebolt63. khalid.naseem@firebolt63.com

1. Don’t celebrate mediocrity

I have to begin with this, because I feel that this is the biggest problem that plagues Pakistani advertising. The issue is not the production of mediocrity: average work happens everywhere in the world; in fact the majority of work that most ad people do in the course of their lifetime will be mediocre. What is troubling is the ‘celebration’ of mediocrity.

We need to stop glorifying average work. If it has sold 80 billion units, well done, but have the courage to call it for what it is: “It sold a lot, but it was a mediocre idea that has been done hundreds of times before.” And yes, it might have topped the sales chart, and that’s great because that’s what advertising is also supposed to be... but, BUT, that does NOT mean that it is an ad you will tell your grandchildren about (if you want to come across as a cool grandparent at any rate).

What you WILL tell your grandchildren about is how you walked up on a stage with a Pakistani flag in front of hundreds of industry experts from around the world because they respected the ‘creativity’ behind the ad. And that will not happen until we stop celebrating mediocrity and start demanding excellence. It might sound simple, but it’s the most effective thing: accepting that something is not good enough is the first step to bettering it.

2. Look at what the world is doing if you want the world to look at what you are doing

Advertising has transcended from being reviewed and critiqued only by industry insiders to being an everyday part of pop culture:

A good piece of creative will be shared millions of times online (if yours isn’t being similarly shared, and you have to resort to forcing it down people’s throats by popping your ad up suddenly in place of an action replay during a cricket match, there’s something wrong).

Now we know every year what wins at Cannes, we know what bags a Clio, we know what will be talked about in creative circles, and we know which campaigns are going viral globally. And they are very, very good pieces of work. To produce work like that, we have to learn what everybody else is doing, how they are doing it, and we will have to implement it – not just talk about it. I have been in countless meetings in Pakistan where I have been asked to make ads of the same high quality that “the Indians do”. But when the time comes to make that ad, the brand is more concerned with what colour dupatta the model is wearing – simply because by that point the concept has been watered down to the attraction level of a tax form.

People are not winning awards by choosing dupatta colours. They are winning by creating billboards that make water out of air, by making TV commercials that get shared 50 million times, by making a boy on a billboard follow a real airplane in the sky; by generally doing ground-breakingly new work that makes everybody go “wow”.

3. To produce good work, it takes sweat and tears. And sometimes a tetanus shot

It’s a cliché that hard work will get you the results you want, but it’s a true one. To win, not only will you need lots of effort in coming up with the good stuff, but you will need tremendous amounts of it to actually produce it.

To make ‘Not A Bug Splat’ happen, we literally had to dive into the muck: the creative and the planning team actually stepped into a muddy field in a hostile area to unroll the poster along with local villagers. One of the team members managed to slice their foot on something sticking out of the ground and ended up in hospital having injections for tetanus. The road to winning will be paved with many such hurdles. Expect them so you’re ready.

4. Know the word ‘NO’

And then ignore it. You will hear the word ‘no’ countless times and in many different variations, some of which are:

“We can’t risk this.”

“This will be too expensive to do.”

“Maybe next year.”

“The current market evaluation and careful research indicates that an item number and not your work will get us the best results.”

“We don’t believe in winning awards.”

The last one is the trickiest.

If you hear that, run.

We knew we would run into a barrage of ‘no’ when we wanted to set up the cricket match on the border. And we were ready for them. We begged the border guards, and while we were begging, the kids started playing by themselves. Everything sort of fell into place and the guards allowed the match. We learnt something valuable that day: if you can get a border guard to allow a kid to execute the perfect reverse sweep all the way from India into Pakistan, you can do anything.

5. Work with people who are like-minded

To win awards, it would make your life much easier to work with people who are into winning awards. And who understand what it entails. It’s not easy to convince somebody why they should spend thousands of dollars in the usually futile hopes of being given a statue of a golden cat, a move that might not even result in immediate business gains. You either get this or you don’t. If you want to win awards, you will need to work with the people who get it. And this goes for both agency and client.

6. And if you can’t find like-minded clients, then do it on your own

There is nothing stopping you from asking the local mechanic or paanwala if you can design some free posters for them. Why would they say no? Or go pitch a bigger client who is looking for work and get a brief from them.

The JBL ‘Ear Swab’ was a project which a few like-minded of us did on our known and then sold to a client. The client loved it, and produced it. And it won. As was the case with the Depilex ‘Faces’ print, which was a proactive initiative and resulted in the first Clio nomination for Pakistan. This was also thanks to a great client, who trusted us completely and never asked for a single change in what we presented. There are thousands of clients out there looking for good work. Go get ‘em.

7. It’s okay to fail

I have lost count of the number of times I have heard this, but it’s probably about the same number of times I have failed. There is truth in this too. Each failure is an opportunity to learn from it and try not to repeat it. Be wary of people who tell you that they have never failed: everybody has. The key is to embrace it, and to remove the fear of failing. It’s the only way to do terrifyingly good work. Because good work usually terrifies.

8 “You don’t win silver. You lose gold”

Nike wrote this line once, and I always start a new notepad with it. It’s a good reminder that one keeps on learning, no matter at what point in time we are. It’s also a good reminder to never settle for less than the best; to keep yearning, to keep reaching, to keep fighting the good fight: the fight that ends in walking up a stage with a Pakistani flag in front of hundreds of industry experts from around the world because they respected the ‘creativity’ behind your ad.

Ali Rez is Regional Creative Director for Middle East and Pakistan, BBDO Worldwide.

He has won at Cannes, Clios, One Show, the New York Festivals, the San Francisco Show, and Communication Arts.

• BBDO believes in developing award-winning work, yet in Pakistan, I found that even the senior creative directors I spoke to, had no exposure to this belief. The mindset and the inspiration have not been cultivated in the psychology of our industry.
• Pakistan is a little traditional when it comes to social – and the trends that take place elsewhere tend to trickle down and hit Pakistan a few years later. But considering that we are more than 200 million people, and looking at the percentage of the young, the opportunity is in social and digital. It is no longer about the traditional TVC; it is about creating compelling content and deciding which channels to use to reach your target audience and your objectives.

AURORA: Why did BBDO decide to open in Lahore in 2012?
AAMIR ALLIBHOY: PepsiCo was a global account and they requested us to come to Pakistan.

A: How long have you been with the BBDO network?
AA: Sixteen years. Although I am originally from Karachi, I had never lived in Pakistan.

A: Did you find working in Pakistan challenging?
AA: I did. We started with a team of four people, purely on client-servicing; the creative was done out of Dubai. We worked out of a hotel conference room for the first three months. Within six months, we had a team structure in place and an office; today, we have 48 people taking care of conventional as well as social.

A: Is the creative still done out of Dubai?
AA: No, it was only for the first six months when we were transitioning.

A: What were the challenges of setting up an agency in Pakistan from scratch?
AA: It was challenging on multiple levels.

A: How so?
AA: From a licensing perspective, approvals perspective and a talent perspective; our talent is screened by New York and we have very high standards. To put an office in place usually takes eight to 12 months; we did it in four to six months. What I love about Pakistan is the fact that there are so many tension points, and with tension points come a lot of rich insights which allow us to develop a lot of creative ideas and that is what we are known for – our creativity.

BBDO believes in developing award-winning work, yet in Pakistan, I found that even the senior creative directors I spoke to, had no exposure to this belief. The mindset and the inspiration have not been cultivated in the psychology of our industry.

A: Most global agencies usually set up in affiliation with a local agency. Why did BBDO not take this route?
AA: Post-2007, BBDO decided to buy out the stakes of their local partners in order to have full control, ensure that our operations are compliant in terms of financials and ethics, and that we adhere to international standards. My Chairman in New York wanted us to set up in Pakistan as an international agency based on international standards. We didn’t want any baggage; we wanted to start fresh and develop our own identity from scratch, rather than build ourselves on the back of someone else.

A: How difficult was it to put together a creative team?
AA: It was challenging because we do not compromise when it comes to creative quality. Our interview processes are very different than most other agencies. There is a one-on-one interview, an interview with our Dubai management team and multiple tests. Getting into BBDO is a very rigid process because we want the best of the best. We have a nine-point value scheme that we measure everyone against, both for interviews and appraisals.

A: What is it that is lacking in Pakistan that makes it difficult to find the right people?
AA: I think that what is lacking is self-belief. BBDO believes in developing award-winning work, yet in Pakistan, I found that even the senior creative directors I spoke to, had no exposure to this belief. The mindset and the inspiration have not been cultivated in the psychology of our industry. When someone believes they can make it happen, it makes all the difference. When I showed my team the award-winning work we have done in different parts of the world, one of them said that India was much better than Pakistan when it comes to creating such work. Why? It’s about self-belief. The self-belief is missing.

A: How does one acquire self-belief?
AA: When I talk about self-belief, it is not only on a personal level; it is on a totalitarian level. We have an entire support network in place. If someone has an idea, the idea is screened by the creative directors in Dubai, Singapore and New York. It is a collaborative process. The reason why BBDO is so successful is because it is not about an individual or a single market. It is about cultivating the idea and packaging it in the right way, and no one is ever alone when it comes to doing this.

A: Assuming that every idea is not sent for further screening, how do you judge an idea?
AA: We judge an idea based on four attributes; how creative it is, the impact it will have on society, how compelling it is and how commercially viable it is. If it ticks the four boxes, we pass the idea on for further evaluation to New York and Singapore.

A: Earlier you mentioned tension points. What did you mean by this?
AA: We are a very resilient nation and we face a lot in our daily lives, be it on a social, economic or political level. So there are a lot of rich tension points that we use as insights to creatively develop something that is beneficial, not only from a commercial perspective but from a societal and impact perspective. This is why I believe we are so successful and why we venture into award-winning work. It is not just about the creativity, it is about creativity that drives change.

A: Such tension points require ideas that have a local sensibility…
AA: Yes, they have to be locally-relevant and daring as well. When we did the Moltyfoam campaign, the underlying idea was that we are obsessed with billboard advertising, so what if billboard advertising could also do some good? With ‘Not A Bug Splat’, we were raising awareness about drone strikes in Pakistan and we did this as an American company. So there are a lot of risks. One element of being creative and succeeding is to be daring.

A: Among the many international awards you have won this year, including a Gold Clio, you won Silver at Spikes Asia for ‘Remake the Boxer’. Where did the idea come from?
AA: Apart from having been Britain’s youngest boxing Olympic medallist, Amir Khan had a number of titles under his belt. However, in the last couple of years, he has been going down; he lost a massive fight last year in Las Vegas. We thought that if Sting stands for energy and giving you what it takes to be better and stronger, why not link the brand to a high-profile boxer of Pakistani origin and try and establish his comeback. Boxers need energy, so associating him with Sting was the perfect combination. We invited him to Pakistan, turned the entire city of Lahore into his gym, and we invited Pakistanis to challenge him to prove that he is ready for a comeback. Now, he has a big match against the top Indian boxer in Dubai on December 30.

A: Will this be his fist match since being knocked out in Las Vegas?
AA: Yes.

A: Isn’t this risky, supposing he loses and doesn’t make a comeback?
AA: That is the risk we dare to take. There is no success or reward without failure and you don’t venture into such a position unless you are willing to take a risk. We will know on December 30 if we are successful or not. If he wins, we will take the campaign to stage two; if he doesn’t, it ends.

A: On the subject of awards, would you agree that the packaging and presentation of the entry requires pretty much the same effort as creating the work?
AA: Absolutely. The first thing I did in our first year here was to send my creative director and senior copywriter to Dubai Lynx to get the exposure and see how one packages a good idea successfully. We hold workshops across our network to train our creative and strategic teams on these aspects; it is something that is totally missing in Pakistan. I intend to hold workshops with my team twice a year in Karachi and Lahore, and invite creative minds to come and learn the science behind packaging potentially award-winning ideas. To be honest, there also needs to be some aspiration and desire; I have been to Cannes, Dubai Lynx and Spikes Asia (well before I came and set up in Pakistan). I have seen zero representation from Pakistan and this begs the question of whether agency owners believe in awards. That is the first step; you have to create exposure – without exposure, you can’t move forward.

Pakistan is a little traditional when it comes to social – and the trends that take place elsewhere tend to trickle down and hit Pakistan a few years later. But considering that we are more than 200 million people, and looking at the percentage of the young, the opportunity is in social and digital. It is no longer about the traditional TVC; it is about creating compelling content and deciding which channels to use to reach your target audience and your objectives.

A: Are you saying that the desire to win awards is not strong enough within Pakistani agencies?
AA: Yes, maybe because they don’t see the ROI. It’s not an easy decision; at the end of the day, our clients deal in rupees and entering Cannes costs 700 euros per entry and if you send a team to attend, it will cost 7,000 euros, plus hotels and tickets, so about 10,000 euros. You have to believe in awards in terms of merit and in terms of ROI. We measure and value ROI based on brand equity and reputation and if you have a strong equity and a strong reputation, this will translate into business – and we have seen it. I think that desire and belief is lacking at a senior level and we have to cultivate this because it is not only about winning awards. It is about putting Pakistan on the map.

A: Why hasn’t BBDO opened an office in Karachi?
AA: When we set up in Lahore, we spent the first three years focusing on the PepsiCo business; it was a commitment we made to them. We did consider Karachi in 2015, but the security situation was tense and because we are an American company, New York was reluctant to focus on Karachi. Having said this, Karachi is on our map and our objective is to set up by, or before, 2020.

A: That is quite a long way off.
AA: We want to be ready; when we come in, we will not do it piecemeal. We are not going to set up a small office with two or three people. We want to identify the right talent and the right client.

A: To what extent is it a disadvantage not to be in Karachi from a client-acquisition perspective?
AA: If you look at Lahore in isolation, you are limited in terms of international and local clients; if you look at Punjab as a whole, the picture changes. We already have Faisalabad and Multan-based clients. Islamabad is next-door and it is a telco hub. I would rather focus on winning a telco and setting up in Islamabad, before venturing into Karachi.

A: How are you positioning BBDO? Is the ambition to be among the top five advertising agencies in Pakistan in terms of business or, is being creative-driven the more important priority?
AA: From a commercial perspective, BBDO is publically listed on the New York Stock Exchange and we have very rigid targets to achieve; 17% growth year-on-year – and we are successfully doing this. However, our priority is ideation and quality and we believe that business will follow. Yes, we would like to be a ‘top five’ agency and the mandate is that by 2020, we want to be among the top five in terms of commercial business.

A: Looking to the future, what are the opportunities and challenges Pakistan offers to an agency such as BBDO?
AA: There are opportunities in social and digital and that was the reason why we set up BBDO Proximity a year and a half ago (it is the equivalent of BBDO Worldwide in terms of social and digital representation). Pakistan is a little traditional when it comes to social – and the trends that take place elsewhere tend to trickle down and hit Pakistan a few years later. But considering that we are more than 200 million people, and looking at the percentage of the young, the opportunity is in social and digital. It is no longer about the traditional TVC; it is about creating compelling content and deciding which channels to use to reach your target audience and your objectives. In terms of challenges, most agencies are very client-servicing driven, whereas BBDO is very creative-driven. Firstly, we have more creative resources than client- servicing, and this is not the case in most agencies. Secondly, we cultivate creatives so that they can reach the point of management. Our Middle East, Africa and Pakistan Chairman was Chief Creative Officer before venturing into management. Our backbone is creative because at the end of the day, clients and the outside world will judge based on the output.

A: Many Pakistani agencies contend that they are held back in their ideation because clients are not adventurous enough. Would you agree?
AA: To some extent. Clients are a little conventional and traditional in their thinking because their first priority is hard-core business and sales. But it is an evolution and doesn’t happen overnight. We had to invest time and effort to persuade our clients and partners on the benefits of creativity and how that will impact and translate into ROI for their business. It is a journey. Some clients are easier than others to persuade, but I am optimistic.

A: Traditionally in Pakistan, agency business is largely driven by relationships rather than output. How difficult was it for you to enter this market without a pre-existing backbone to build and sustain relationships?
AA: We had to work twice as hard and it wasn’t easy. I have never lived in Pakistan, so my set of contacts wasn’t as strong as it is now. It was challenging because, as you said, clients tend to believe more in relationships than in the work itself at times. But we have to shift the mindset and persuade clients that although relationships are important, you also have to scrutinise and judge the work itself. It was difficult, and it still is difficult to some extent. Being an international agency helps because clients like the fact that they are dealing with an international brand and an international network; that when they work with BBDO, they have access to BBDO Worldwide. This is something that positively resonates with clients when we meet them.

Aamir Allibhoy was in conversation with Mariam Ali Baig.
For feedback, email aurora@dawn.com

• <strong>The Bhaari-ness</strong>
• <strong>Paper trail paranoia</strong>
• <strong>The ‘Sit-Next-ing’</strong>
• <strong>The ‘Internal Creative Departmenters’</strong>
• <strong>The taunts</strong>
• <strong>Blame it on the seth</strong>

Dear Brand Manager,

This is difficult to express in person, so I thought it would be best if I just sent you a link to this blog and let it explain the rest.

I'll get straight to the point. The jig is up. I'm afraid we can't keep doing this any longer. We are officially breaking up with you.

There. I said it. Now that this is out of the way, I think it would be best if we both unwind this mess a little. I'm sure you have been feeling that this day was coming. Let's not kid ourselves, the signs were aplenty.

It feels only yesterday when we first met. That wonderful pitch. The energy. The tension, the friction, the chemistry. There was something about your brand that challenged our deepest insights. We needed you, bad. And we were prepared to do whatever it took to catch your eye and capture your attention to win your account.

When you finally did pick us, from that long list of suitors that lined up before the door to your meeting room to pledge their massive agency networks to do your bidding, we were truly on cloud nine. Oh how I miss that high. I gotta admit it, those first few quarters really were amazing.

However, as our relationship matured, we began to look past your glossy facade and discover the flaws. Like any self-respecting agency we tried to look past them, and convince ourselves that the right kind of "client servicing" can fix this. Boy, were we wrong! For the benefit of the next agency you pick, I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. You have all the symptoms of the classical nightmare client:

The Bhaari-ness

Unfortunately, there is no real translation for this outside of agency lingo, let alone the English language. You are just a bhaari person and a bhaari client. Bhaari people are self-aggrandizing egotistic maniacs who actively seek to undermine everybody they are exposed to, often using their position of influence to put people 'in their place'.

Paper trail paranoia

For every 10 emails we sent you, we received one in response… and it had two syllables. We are a professional services’ provider, not the paros ka paan waala. In our book, verbal briefs are a red flag. If you can't spare the time to write a few sentences and send it over officially, we are pretty sure you are not invested in the project.

The ‘Sit-Next-ing’

Everyone has these particular kinds of clients who come to visit and don’t go back. Don’t get me wrong here. We would love to host you over a cup of coffee (or whatever your vice is) in our little meeting room, because that is what we made it for. But coming in and demanding to sit with the creative team, playing out your fantasies of being an art director? That is just not going to fly. Sorry, I don’t care how much you are paying us. There is no way we can endure you that close for that long.

The ‘Internal Creative Departmenters’

On the other end of the spectrum are these smug know-it-alls who always have that internal creative department ready to wreak havoc on whatever you have created. We really don’t see the point of your hiring an agency AND maintaining a so-called creative department at your end. To what effect? To make your logo bigger, to add more of the boss’ favourite colour to the visual? This should just be called cheating, period.

The taunts

Every good relationship is based on honest, open communication. But when you go about on your tirade of taunts, it really does make our blood boil. Standard stuff like, “Looks like you are too busy with your bigger clients.” We are never uncouth enough to say it to your face, but you probably felt our displeasure in our razor-sharp super subtle sarcastic responses. Or maybe that was lost on you. Probably the latter.

Blame it on the seth

This is by far the most pervasive of nightmare client qualities, especially in our local mediascape. The Seth, the Boss, the Chairman, the CEO… sometime I feel these are all titles made specifically to strong-arm agencies into doing stuff they don’t want to. The worst part is, the Seth is made to be the bogeyman. I suspect he never sees the creative, let alone comment about how a drop shadow would really bring out the text. Hopefully, the head of a company has better things to do. Not sure about you though.

So, dear client... I’m afraid it’s over. It’s not us, it’s you. While your brand has massive potential, you are a nightmare, a train-wreck, a walking migraine. Your sycophant team is as difficult to work with as you are (surprise surprise!). And at the end of the day, it’s just not worth it. We are sorry for dragging this along so far and so long. We realise now that this was never meant to be.

As for your money, you can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Umair Kazi is Partner at Ishtehari. umair@ishtehari.com

• Unless creativity can be shown to be truly effective, it will never be accepted as a worthy endeavour but rather as “<em>ameero(n) kay chonchalay</em>” (idiosyncrasy of the rich).

Of what use are awards in an advertising/marketing climate such as ours, where neither the consumer (read client) nor the creator is really interested in pushing the boundaries of innovation? Where creativity is looked upon as an unnecessary luxury; where design and creative excellence have been relegated to the bottom of the heap and quality has become a negotiable commodity.

Unless creativity can be shown to be truly effective, it will never be accepted as a worthy endeavour but rather as “ameero(n) kay chonchalay” (idiosyncrasy of the rich).

In an environment where creativity is ‘supposed’ to be the agency’s territory and the ‘C’ word becomes a subject of ridicule, not to be mixed-up with hard core marketing, creativity loses out on its potential to be effective in today’s rapidly changing consumer landscape. In such cases, awards end up being mere white elephants over which a bunch of creatives get together to mutually congratulate themselves and laugh at the ‘real-world’, which in turn laughs at them for being delusional.

Then there is the other definition, whereby advertising and design are only truly creative when they are effective as well. And perhaps that is our real challenge.

Unless creativity can be shown to be truly effective, it will never be accepted as a worthy endeavour but rather as “ameero(n) kay chonchalay” (idiosyncrasy of the rich).

This is a battle that needs a buy in from everyone involved in the business of ‘selling’. After all, the client, who is paying for the advertising, has a right to get his money’s worth.

But how does one determine the effectiveness of a creative endeavour? Everything does not translate into a cash transaction. Yet unfortunately that is the myopic view when it comes to building brands.

Research has become the trendy and fashionable thing to do, but numbers and statistics are the easiest to fudge, and unfortunately our high and mighty research institutions do not have a stellar record – and I will be bold enough to pass a sweeping judgement across them all. (At a ‘prestigious’ panel discussion with representatives of the leading research houses, a query for focused creative-oriented research was summarily dismissed as the individual responsibility of agencies.) So who gets to do the analysis?

Internationally there are creative awards galore. ANDY’s, ABBY’s, Cannes, CLIO’s, D&AD, Lynx, Spikes Asia, and of course the Effies – the awards for effective advertising. The Effies have a stringent set of criteria that need to be met before anything is deemed worthy of consideration. Our clients, creative and media agencies and our research brethren would do well to peruse the kind of data required for evaluation by the Effies. I once attempted to do so, but came to the unpleasant realisation that most of that data does not exist (because post-evaluations are hardly ever that thorough) and even if it does, no client in Pakistan will ever share such information.

So are we doomed to failure? Yes, if we continue to pay mere lip service to creativity. And since both sides of the marketing equation are equal stakeholders here, we need to look at awards for what they can help us achieve.

Awards can inspire greatness; in celebrating the craft of advertising and design they can raise the bar of the quality of our work. In recognising innovative work they can stimulate the creative urge even in the most diehard of hard core seths, and perhaps equally importantly, they can make us feel good about ourselves! And we really need that these days.

Adnan Syed is Chief Creative Officer, Adcom. adnans@adcompk.com

• The concept of ‘<em>Naya</em> Pakistan’ – which still continues to trend on social media – was Farigh Four’s brainchild. During conception, he says that his agency wanted to bring out something which resonated with the new voter; Pakistan’s young, particularly. “We introduced the idea of <em>Naya</em> Pakistan to PTI before the elections and gradually Imran started talking about <em>Naya</em> Pakistan in his speeches, press conferences and interviews.

Dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, with his thick, curly dark hair combed back, he could be an intense, brooding hero in a desi indie flick or a reluctant villain in a hit drama serial.

Slim, self-assured and self-contained, Shahvaar Ali Khan has depth. And beneath all the layers there is a sense of restlessness.

Seating himself into a wicker chair on Mocca’s rooftop in Lahore, he lights up a cigarette and listens attentively. Not one to shoot his mouth off, he weighs his words carefully before responding.

With an intriguing career graph that has flowed from advertising, music, acting and then back to advertising, the young adman is quick to state that “advertising is the most consistent factor in my life.”

Acting and music, on the other hand, stand as forms of art that Khan has pursued, and continues to pursue on the side. Be it hit patriotic tracks (No Saazish, No Jang and Azad Ki Dua), songs for Bollywood (Filmein Shilmein for Desi Boyz), and acting (Hum TV’s serial, *Mera Dard Na Jaane Koi *and another in the pipeline for Geo TV), it comes as no surprise that Khan hails from an artistically-inclined family.

Both parents were graduates from the National College of Arts in Lahore and Khan laughs recalling “cooking up” a story to prepare them for his move back home in the aftermath of 9/11.

“My creative aspirations are connected to this land, I had to come back,” he emphasises, while taking a drag from his cigarette.

Khan currently runs Farigh Four, a relatively new, albeit award-winning five-year-old ad agency, founded by himself and Beenish Mir. The agency has managed to make a name for itself in a short span of time with a client list that included Shaukat Khanum, Mayfair, Coca-Cola, Metro, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Unifoam, Fast Cables and others.

Affiliated since their Lowe & Rauf days, Khan tells me it was him and Mir who ‘cracked’ Nesvita’s ‘Bones strong toh mein strong’ campaign, among other campaigns for Nestlé.

“She is the backbone of Farigh Four, we share great creative chemistry.”

Speaking fondly of his spouse, Rohma Khan, who supervises the agency’s business administration and HR, Khan says that “unlike Beenish and I, she is pragmatic and brings method to the madness that is Farigh Four. As far as work-life balance is concerned, there is none from my end! I’m a workaholic. I get depressed on Sundays. The credit goes to Rohma for handling family and home matters.”

To date, Khan’s most gratifying experience in the ad world comes from working on Shaukat Khanum’s campaign.

“It used to have a very Imran Khan-centric approach to advertising,” he says.

“Look, he is still a big pull; without him the fundraising capacity of the hospital would severely reduce, but the long-term strategy that we have communicated to them is that Shaukat Khanum needs to grow independently from his personality.”

The concept of ‘Naya Pakistan’ – which still continues to trend on social media – was Farigh Four’s brainchild. During conception, he says that his agency wanted to bring out something which resonated with the new voter; Pakistan’s young, particularly. “We introduced the idea of Naya Pakistan to PTI before the elections and gradually Imran started talking about Naya Pakistan in his speeches, press conferences and interviews.

To tackle this, Farigh Four began producing campaigns which solely focused on real stories of patients at Shaukat Khanum. In fact, in 2013 during and after my brother’s year-long treatment at the hospital, my family and I would often come across flyers and standees of an ad which featured a handsome young man with a walking stick standing beside his father. It was a brilliant and moving ad which I have never forgotten.

“The idea was to make the audience think the walking stick was owned by the frail father,” he says about the ad.

“We wanted to make these patients heroes – cancer is such a harsh, dark reality, but nothing connects with people like optimism. So whenever we show the patient, it has to be a message of hope; winning against all odds along with the optimism the person has despite the disease.”

Perhaps this is what helped Farigh Four bag accolades at the Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) Awards for Best Campaign (Healthcare) consecutively in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

“It was the most rewarding ad campaign hands down. When you are competing against giants like Cadbury’s, Samsung, Coca-Cola, etc. When you beat them to it with a simple story, it feels great.”

While Farigh Four’s success can be attributed to young blood that brings new, off the beaten track ideas to the table, the agency’s accomplishments point at the bigger picture: the evolution of the local advertising industry over the past few years.

Today, clients are not as rigid and controlling as they used to be. Besides, given the competition, they cannot afford to be dictatorial vis-à-vis ad campaigns anymore. Khan echoes the sentiment.

“Clients still keep a creative check on what is presented, but I think it has improved greatly over the years. There is more room for experimentation,” he says.

“Just the other day I was talking to a client and said that a great concept or campaign is as dependent on the creative as it is on the client, because the client has to have the backbone to take the risk.”

Speaking of risks, Khan mentions that his most challenging campaign was PTI’s election campaign that took off before the 2013 elections.

The concept of ‘Naya Pakistan’ – which still continues to trend on social media – was Farigh Four’s brainchild. During conception, he says that his agency wanted to bring out something which resonated with the new voter; Pakistan’s young, particularly.

“We introduced the idea of Naya Pakistan to PTI before the elections and gradually Imran started talking about Naya Pakistan in his speeches, press conferences and interviews. It was a herculean task where so much was at stake, but Naya Pakistan today has become a platform that you are either for or against. It has now become the focal point of political debate.”

Hopeful about the future of advertising in Pakistan, he thinks the receptivity for original and “clutter-breaking” ideas has been on the upswing.

For Khan, credit goes to the new admen and adwomen in the profession who have no qualms in challenging the mindset of their clients.

And while Pakistan may be light years behind India in terms of creativity and content, he remains optimistic.

“We need to keep challenging brand managers and clients to move out of their comfort zones.”

Sonya Rehman is a teacher and writer based in Lahore. sonjarehman@gmail.com

• "The people we hire have to be hungry; they have to be bloodthirsty, irrespective of their age. We abhor people who use jargon and complicate things that are better off simple."

AMBER ARSHAD: What were the reasons that led to the establishment of Manghi Communication Solutions?
MUZAFFAR MANGHI: We are a brand new agency and based out of Karachi. As our name suggests, our purpose is providing solutions and our primary objective is to identify a business challenge with precision and to create media-neutral solutions. The solution then dictates the medium and the message.

AA: Considering you have worked at key positions with prominent agencies such as Adcom Leo Burnett, JWT, Ogilvy & Mather and Red Communications, what factors prompted you to leave an established advertising career and establish a new agency?
MM: There were two reasons. The first was that I hit the glass ceiling at an early age, and given the prevailing agency structures, I realised that further growth would not be to my liking. Given that I have almost two decades of global experience, establishing my own agency seemed to be the only logical step. Secondly, I realised that the advertising industry across the world is scrambling to figure out how to restructure itself. In the midst of these seismic changes, we identified a gap of sorts that allowed us to create value for businesses.

AA: How do you plan to differentiate MCS from other agencies?
MM: We are a full service advertising agency, but essentially we are not competing with any of the big five. As an agency, we aim to actively avoid becoming a big shop. Consumers and clients need agility, not just in terms of services but with regard to thought leadership. After agility, our core difference is our approach to communication, and in the way we service the business. Lastly, we plan to utilise our understanding of where tech fits into communication and human behaviour.

AA: What strategy are you keeping in mind when recruiting new people?
MM: MCS will only ever be as good as its people. Excellence in the craft is mandatory. However, the people we hire have to be hungry; they have to be bloodthirsty, irrespective of their age. We abhor people who use jargon and complicate things that are better off simple, as well as people who seek validation from a title. We respect people who laugh easily, like what they do and like other people. As for our hiring strategy, we are not going to reach out to start with. When people hear about us, understand what we do and tell us how they fit in with us, we listen, because it shows that they are not pursuing the beaten path. We like people who like living outside their comfort zone.

"The people we hire have to be hungry; they have to be bloodthirsty, irrespective of their age. We abhor people who use jargon and complicate things that are better off simple."

AA: Is it difficult to acquire new clients in Pakistan?
MM: No, it’s not difficult. The challenge is retaining them by creating value for them. There are some international brands that we are in talks with; we have an appetite for global work since we bring global expertise. However, there’s a large band of clients that aren’t thinking about million-dollar TV campaigns, and because of that they don’t receive the attention their business needs. They are seen as ‘chotay retainer waalay clients’. Shockingly, these clients are big businesses themselves, and understand the simple concept of making money, assuming someone is willing to step aside from selling ads and actually solve business problems for them. Advertising becomes a by-product.

AA: In your opinion, what is lacking in Pakistan’s advertising industry?
MM: Ironically, the harbingers of change themselves are terrified of change. Can this fear be overcome? Perhaps. Will change happen irrespective? Of course, change occurs whether one wants it or not. And that’s fantastic because accepting change and responding first is the spirit behind MCS.

• It was two days of calling a spade a spade. There were more “How” questions being asked then “Why” questions, which led to people looking at possibilities and setting priorities.

The first ever National Digital Design Conference (ND2C) concluded on an inspiring note in Islamabad on September 24 and the two-day conference attracted avid designers and creatives from all over the country. The biggest crowd puller was Stefan Sagmeister, a New York-based graphic designer, storyteller, typographer and co-founder, Sagmeister & Walsh Inc, who is a legend and known as an industry maverick.

Now I can give you details of the speakers and the events or you can read all that at the ND2C website (http://nd2c.com) . Instead, what I want to share are the feelings I experienced when I attended the conference.

It was two days of calling a spade a spade. There were more “How” questions being asked then “Why” questions, which led to people looking at possibilities and setting priorities.

I saw big smiles, and big sighs from people who gave successful talks on stage, a first for many. I saw positivity and honesty. It didn’t seem to be a ‘made up’ event where you go to impress each other and you have to be politically correct to ensure that you don’t end up annoying a future – or current – client, or an industry veteran. It was two days of calling a spade a spade. There were more “How” questions being asked then “Why” questions, which led to people looking at possibilities and setting priorities.

The students were the life of this party. When Sagmiester sat down for an extra hour on stage no one could believe their luck as they could ask him questions about his work. Many industry veterans were as eager as the students to know how Sagmiester sold an idea or how he managed his one year sabbatical. Some people were very resourceful and managed to show him their work and receive direct feedback.

Then there was the element of showcasing the fantastically talented artists and creatives from Pakistan. (Again, go to the website for the bios of all the speakers). When we heard Saba Zaidi talking about working at Google as a social interaction designer, or Samaya Arif, Illustrator & Designer, Oceá talking about Chris Martin sitting on her illustrations in the taxi she designed (yes you are right – that is the lead singer of Coldplay!). When Sarah Mo, ECD, Bates & Interflow talked about building someone’s career as a bigger achievement than awards – everyone in the hall was inspired. If these girls and guys can do this, surely we all can too, they thought.

The discussion panels were equally entertaining and informative, and topics ranged from the inclusion of women to business vs. creativity. Once again, genuineness was at play. Points such as asking for money and not working for free and earning the respect of an agency were brought up which led to laughter and applause.

The live design challenge, creative fair and the outstanding workshops by Samaya Arif & Shezil Malik, Ammara Gul and Ali Akber, Lara Hanlon, Ali Murtaza, Debbie Millman and Aneeqa Ishaq were sought after and fought over.

The biggest inspiration for a lot of us were the organisers, Nida Salman and Sana Khalid. You won’t find their picture or bios on the website; they didn't flash their CVs or achievements in front of us. It was astounding for me to see that two working mothers, who work from home, look after their families had the self motivation and drive to bring this event to life. I felt honoured to be a part of a genuine effort to showcase our industry with only one goal in mind. We grow when others grow. Thank you ND2C for raising the bar for all of us. I wish you the best of luck for the conference next year.

Headlion, an advertising agency that remained active in Pakistan from 2005 to 2014, has been re-established in Washington DC by its founder and CEO, Neil Christy, after he relocated to the US in 2014.

According to Christy, “After understanding the intricacies of the US market and building a network here, I relaunched Headlion in Washington DC, as the city is the hub of political and non-profit activities – which forms our core clientele.”

Christy, who has more than 20 years of advertising experience and has worked with several large-scale companies including Citibank, DHL, FedEx, Nestle, PepsiCo, Reckitt Benkiser, Tetley and Unilever, says that Headlion is planning to focus on small businesses for now, “who cannot afford big agencies and suffer from the quality offered by smaller agencies – we want to be the Walmart of the advertising world.”

The agency currently has eight employees, and their client portfolio includes Al-Qalam Academy, City University of New York, Serenity Assisted Living and Two to Tango DC.

Speaking of the challenges of setting up an agency in the US as a Pakistani, Christy says: “it helps if you are white when pitching [for a project]. But then there is no start-up that does not begin with challenges. If you have talent in your team, there is no reason you can’t succeed.”

• There are many people in our industry who play a vital role in growth and success, but do not receive the adulation and fame heaped on the Creative Directors, COOs, CEOs etc. Immediately comes to mind peons and drivers etc. Special mention must be made of the office/kitchen boy.

In history you learn about the great generals who served the country and earned laurels – but not about the soldiers who helped them win those laurels. It’s similar with the advertising industry in Pakistan. There are people who are the backbone of the industry and they rarely, if ever, get the limelight. For a long while, the idea has been ruminating in my head to do a piece on some of these stalwarts who I have had the privilege to work with.

First on my list is the amazing Saadatullah of MullenLowe Rauf. I worked at Lowe at the same time as him. He was a frequent tea break partner at our table. Being hearing-impaired, he would continuously talk in sign language and for the life of me, I could never understand a word. Saadatullah had a cheerful personality even though he could not hear or speak. He worked and as far as I know, still works in the creative department at Lowe. I’ve been working since 2004 and over the space of time, memories and names of former colleagues tend to fade, but I’m pretty sure I will never forget Saadatullah.

In June-July 2002, I was interning at JWT at the good old Finlay house. There I met people who made a strong impression on me and I can say with certainty, I made an impression on. Among the welcoming team at JWT was Hina Azad. Azad was in a senior position in the client service department where I was interning. She handled a variety of accounts including Syngenta. The agency was printing brochures for Syngenta and a typo or error had occurred. We all know that these things happen. Instead of ordering a reprint which would cost the client money, Azad came up with the idea of sticking labels over the error. There’s a lot of talk about dedication but I can find no better example than the sight of Azad, almost single-handedly sticking around 5,000 labels on Syngenta brochures.

Saadatullah has in the recent past received recognition from Lowe for his long service and Azad is somewhat known among advertising circles; my third story is about someone who I’m pretty sure is not well-known or recognised. I left Lowe in July 2009 and moved to Red Communications – again, I vividly remember most of my colleagues, of a few my memory is hazy. That’s not the case with Shahjahan Ahmed. He joined Red; he was a quiet person who worked in the creative department. The company team was relatively small so most of us would have lunch together in the kitchen and he would be one of those at the table. The team would laugh, talk, converse and he didn’t come off as an extrovert and did not seem extraordinary.

There are many people in our industry who play a vital role in growth and success, but do not receive the adulation and fame heaped on the Creative Directors, COOs, CEOs etc. Immediately comes to mind peons and drivers etc. Special mention must be made of the office/kitchen boy.

Little did I know about the amazing ability he possessed. One day I arrived at the office and while I was greeting the creative team, I noticed that sitting on the table in the corner was a replica of the front of a W11 bus, complete with a moving fan. I was curious and asked where this came from. Ahmed said he made it – from paper. I of course thought he was joking but then as other members of the team also confirmed the same, I was astonished. Apparently Red was doing some work for PSO and he had prepared the model to show the brand team. On another occasion, the team was asked to make a shelf display for Garnier. Again, a day later, when I walked into the creative department, I was surprised to find on the same table, a ‘head’ similar to that of a mannequin, which was covered with curly hair. Once again, Ahmed had worked all night to create from paper a simply outstanding display.

In addition to these individuals, there are many people in our industry who play a vital role in growth and success, but do not receive the adulation and fame heaped on the Creative Directors, COOs, CEOs etc. Immediately comes to mind peons and drivers etc. Special mention must be made of the office/kitchen boy. It’s no secret that most people in the agency life can’t open their eyes, let alone contemplate creating magic before they have their morning fix, usually coffee, but in some cases tea. For the greatest creative and analytical minds in our industry, none of that ‘machine stuff’ works, no! They need a tediously-made and exquisitely-tasting cup of coffee, prepared by beating the powder to perfection. They play a more-than-small role in making sure that those award-winning campaigns, those awe-inspiring shoots don’t remain ideas. It’s time we highlight and celebrate them too. After all, we all know great ideas often start with a perfectly made cup of coffee.

Bond Advertising has been recently designated as Engro Corp’s new creative agency; previously, the account was handled by The D’Hamidi Partnership.

When asked about the creative strategy that the agency plans to implement for Engro Corp, Reem Ehteram, Manager Client Services, Bond Advertising says, “We aim to position Engro as a purpose-driven brand entity which is invested in the future of Pakistan. Our creative strategy will therefore focus on providing an authenticity to the brand that defines not only what Engro stands for, but also what it does.”

The agency will look after Engro Corp and its subsidiaries including Engro Eximp Agri Products, Engro Polymer & Chemicals, Engro Powergen and Engro Foundation.

The account will be managed by Reem Ehteram and Shayan Yusuf, Client Services Executive, with Siraj Siddiqui (Executive Director) and Seema Jaffer (CEO) at the helm.

“Bond has expertise in corporate and social change communication built across various sectors including energy, health, and finance, and our expertise will give us an edge while devising a strategy for Engro and executing campaigns,” says Ehteram. The agency plans to roll out a new campaign in the last quarter of 2017.

• “I see this programme as being more beneficial to the students and the overall advertising industry rather than just our agency.”

Spectrum Y&R recently concluded their annual internship programme in Karachi. The programme has been running since the early 90s, when the agency started expanding operations and more professional institutions related to advertising came into being, including the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, CBM and SZABIST.

Commenting on the programme, Zohra Yusuf, Creative Director, Spectrum Y&R, says the agency believes that giving aspiring young people the opportunity to fine tune their skills in a professional environment is a corporate responsibility.

The four to six week programme (depending on the requirement of the institute) is aimed at students who belong to fields related to advertising or communications, such as design, marketing and mass communications. Yusuf says that since the participants are students and therefore do not have a portfolio to share, the selection is a two-step process that consists of reviewing the CV followed by an interview. She adds that “we also assess the enthusiasm and drive shown during the interview process to helps us select the right people.”

“I see this programme as being more beneficial to the students and the overall advertising industry rather than just our agency.”

Zohra Yusuf, Creative Director, Spectrum Y&R

During the training period, the students are given a feel of the entire advertising process, starting with the client services and strategy departments, then moving to creative (copy, design and audio-visual). They are also encouraged to spend a few hours every day in the media department to gain an understanding of the business. “When interns spend time in a department, they are assigned a person to supervise them and at the end of the programme, we assess them on the feedback given by those responsible for supervising their work,” says Yusuf.

The programme is offered on Spectrum Y&R’s website every year. Earlier, professional institutes would send a list of interns every summer, but lately, the students themselves taken have the initiative of applying.

Once the internship is over, depending on their calibre and the appropriate positions available, the students may also be offered jobs and so far Spectrum Y&R have hired students from the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, Karachi University, CBM and Iqra University.

The agency plans on continuing this programme because as Yusuf puts it, “I see this programme as being more beneficial to the students and the overall advertising industry rather than just our agency.”

• <strong>Faraz Maqsood Hamidi</strong>
• <strong>Umair Kazi</strong>
• <strong>Shahvaar Ali Khan</strong>
• <strong>Ali Rez</strong>
• <strong>Zohare Ali Shariff</strong>
• <strong>Atiya Zaidi</strong>

As Pakistan celebrates its 70th birthday, Aurora asks advertising professionals which key attributes they would keep in mind if they were to re-brand Pakistan.

Here’s what they had to say:

Faraz Maqsood Hamidi

CE and CD, The D’Hamidi Partnership

Brand identity reflects a whole series of applications beginning with foundational values all the way to visitor/stakeholder touch-points. The coordinated and effortless orchestration of all of these interlocks is the brand. If there is a starting point, I’d personally like to develop a style guide that reflects the core assets of Brand Pakistan beginning with signature typography, stretching all the way into incorporating the national airline as its flagship showpiece. I can already sniff the cynicism. But, to be fair, if a country doesn’t tell its story, if it doesn’t have a brand narrative to showcase to the world, then it must own the risk of someone else telling that story. Instead of being the narrator of our journey, we become the subject of some other plot line – where we may be cast, as we often have, in roles less suited to our national integrity.

Umair Kazi

Partner, Ishtehari

I think Pakistan is the underdog of the international community. The country is not the oldest nor the newest, not the biggest nor the smallest, not the strongest nor the weakest; we have come to terms with the fact that we don’t have a ‘native’ USP. Pakistan does, however, have ambition. This, coupled with our reckless abandonment of systems and rules, makes us an unpredictable and tenacious nation. We will make a mark or we’ll go out in flames. We’re a risky bet and we know it. Either way, expect us to be in the news.

Shahvaar Ali Khan

CEO, Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner - Farigh Four

Young, mercurial, unpredictable, emotional, perseverant and ready to spring a surprise against all odds, Pakistan is not a brand. It's more like a restless band, either ready to break up or about to belt the next super hit song!

Ali Rez

Regional Creative Director (Middle East and Pakistan), Impact BBDO

“Branding Pakistan would depend a lot on the target you are reaching out to: a financial investor would typically be attracted to a different sort of message than a tourist would. However, if you’re looking for an umbrella statement, the closest I would come to being accurate to the country is: ‘Surprise Yourself’. It’s a phrase that would work across all segments: investors, travellers, researchers, even a visiting sports team. The phrase doesn’t over promise, it doesn't BS the audience with false claims, it’s not full of itself, it addresses the folly of preconceived notions, and it is open-ended enough to be adapted to a number of executional treatments depending on the target audience, ranging from the dramatic to the inspiring to the comic. Pakistan. Surprise Yourself.”

Zohare Ali Shariff

CEO, Asiatic Public Relations Network

My creation of Pakistan’s brand identity will be based on objectively answering four questions:

1) Where are we (Pakistan) now?
Required here is a frank and clinically analytical review of the status, issues and challenges of Pakistan’s political, social and economic realities, and an appraisal of Pakistan’s USPs and domestic and international opportunities.

2) Why are we here?
Here we’ll need an analysis of the factors that contribute to Pakistan’s present realities.

3) Where do we want to be?
This involves goal setting of what is to be achieved through the brand identity created.

4) How do we get there?
Through the development of a realistic strategy to achieve the defined goals.

Based on the above, I would brand Pakistan by creating empathy and understanding for our challenges, while presenting Pakistan’s USPs and potential in the most appealing, credible way possible. The core of my brand identity will be giving Pakistan a human and a humane face, principally through the unsung heroes of Pakistan.

Atiya Zaidi

Executive Creative Director, Synergy Dentsu

“I would start with changing the name of the country. There is an element of ‘holier than thou’ in the name Pakistan and it’s very one dimensional. Pakistan has so much more to offer to the world and to its people. Many countries have successfully taken on these rebranding exercises; Persia became Iran, New Holland was renamed Australia. Keywords for the new name would include wonderful, diversity, hospitality, tolerance and patience. The next step would be to work on the flag. I would consider a design uplift rather than changing it totally. More of a UPS kind of a logo update. Making a brand is like creating a Lego structure and not matching luggage... Overall the name, flag, national anthem all need to fit to create an image of a peaceful and diverse country.”

It’s been about a month since I returned from Cannes after attending See it Be it (SIBI) – an acceleration programme launched in 2013 by Cannes Lions in an effort to address the under-representation of women at creative leadership levels in the advertising industry.

“See It Be It was launched to highlight extremely talented creative women and accelerate their careers. This year’s group come from all over the world and bring a wide range of experiences and strong leadership potential. They will be exposed to the best inspiration Cannes Lions has to offer, with exclusive mentoring sessions, workshops and a programme of events designed to extend and enhance their network.”
— Louise Benson, Executive Festival Director, Executive Lead, See It Be It.

For me, this translated as “Oh my God I can’t believe I am here!” For six years the wallpaper on my office computer was the Cannes Lions trophy. It was silly to dream I would make it to Cannes one day, but that dream became a reality when I filled in a form, thinking “Oh I will never be selected.” Not only was I selected, I was selected twice (in 2016, my visa was rejected by the French embassy, because “the reason of travel is unreliable”). However, in 2017, much to my delight I managed to get the visa, and hopped on a plane for Nice, from where everyone makes their way to Cannes.

From there on I spent four intense days with remarkable women and men from the industry and attended exclusive events and trips which admen and women could only dream about.

The diversity and the similarity of the group was astounding – women from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK and US. To be the first Pakistani woman to make it to this programme is still unbelievable, yet the learning was that it was unbelievable for all of us. Most of the time, we think ourselves unworthy. My biggest learning during day one was that we are different, yet we are not that different. Even the people whom we think have it made have their own insecurities and fears.

Too much happened in the course of SIBI for me to encapsulate in 1,200 words. Things like the tour of the jury room, the trip to Google Island, meeting creative gods such as Susan Credle (Global Chief Creative Officer, FCB), Wendy Clark (formerly at Coca-Cola and now CEO, DDB North America), Tham Khai Meng (Co-Chairman and Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy), Piyush Pandey (Co-Executive Chairman and National Creative Director, Ogilvy India), Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook), my hero David Droga (Founder and Creative Chairman, Droga 5) – I was willing to stand outside his hotel day and night for a chance meeting; thankfully it didn't come to that, and most of all Madonna Badger (Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Badger and Winters, the creator of #WomenNotObjects campaign and SIBI ambassador for this year).

There was so much learning that it felt as though my head would explode and too many moments when I was slapping myself... thinking: “Man, why didn't I think of doing that?!”

As SIBI participants, we were given an exclusive tour of the jury room (no one at Cannes is allowed to enter it). I remember that during a conversation with members of the jury on the things that annoy them most about entries, their matter-of-fact statement that: “our bullshit barometer is finely tuned” led to laughs and insight. For them the context to any idea is the most important thing. They stressed that the jury was truly global and for most of them English was not their first language. Some of their observations included: make your case simple and spell out the cultural and local references and context clearly; a flashy case film will not help you win – it's the bravery and creativity of the idea itself – great storytelling versus great shiny things – that win.

As this was a leadership programme for women, there was a lot of discussion on women in the creative industry and the challenges they face. I am so pleased to report that Pakistan is far ahead in terms of equal treatment for women in the advertising industry at least. When I heard women talk about pay gaps and biases at the workplace I could not relate to it. Unlike the West, more women are given a seat at the table in Pakistan to discuss the big issues and I have never been a victim of prejudice in any organisation. I wish all fields and sectors of our society would follow the advertising industry’s example in Pakistan.

There are so many talented women in this industry who should apply to this programme next year. Bookmark the Cannes Lions site on your browser, applications open after February or March every year and the announcements are made by May. This programme is unlike any other trip to Cannes. It gives you what you most need to know from the people you have admired from a distance: everyone is afraid, we all have our demons, but we can make our mark in the world.

I have not won anything at Cannes yet, just going there was a dream. Now there is a new dream in my stupid brain: let’s create history and show the world that you can’t ignore Pakistan anymore.

Atiya Zaidi is Executive Creative Director, Synergy Dentsu. atiya.zaidi@synergydentsu.com

• "The truth is that when someone comes to buy fruit, we bend over backwards in ways our predecessors would never have imagined possible. We sold our soul for peanuts and now complain about profitability and productivity."
• "The dogma in our industry is that account retention is supreme and this has become our collective conceptual prison."

A man went to a fruit market in search of the best quality fruit at a good price. He looked at the fruit on display and compared prices. Realising there wasn’t much difference in the prices, he eventually stopped at a shop and decided to negotiate. He wanted nine bananas for the price of six, 15 oranges for the price of 12 and half a pineapple for half the price of one. The seller politely told him that the prices were non-negotiable and he didn’t sell pineapples in halves as it spoiled the other half and no one would buy it. The man left the shop and went to a few others, only to hear the same thing. As he still had to buy fruit, he decided to buy it on the sellers’ terms.

This is what the advertising business in Pakistan used to be like. Every agency had a certain quality of fruit to offer and generally did not sell pineapples in halves. Then something happened. I don’t know what, or maybe I don’t want to say it, but whatever happened changed the industry for the worse.

I have heard all about why our industry is in such a state – from industry gurus to interns. We blame our clients for the poor quality of advertising we produce, for the lack of intellectual stimulation of our creative teams, for not respecting our profession and pushing us to the limit. Yet, the truth is that when someone comes to buy fruit, we bend over backwards in ways our predecessors would never have imagined possible. We sold our soul for peanuts and now complain about profitability and productivity.

Yes, agency profitability is under unprecedented pressure, especially among the creative agencies, but the reality is that we helped create a client who pays peanuts, but wants William Shakespeare to work on his account. You know the infinite monkey theorem, right? (Never heard of it? It states that ‘given an infinite amount of time, a monkey hitting a keyboard at random will almost eventually type out every book found in France’s Bibliothèque Nationale’. Or to adapt it for English speakers, the monkey will eventually type out the collected works of William Shakespeare.)

"The truth is that when someone comes to buy fruit, we bend over backwards in ways our predecessors would never have imagined possible. We sold our soul for peanuts and now complain about profitability and productivity."

There is no one-click solution that will undo this damage. Agency heads need to join hands and hammer out a solution. It will take time, and going by the way things are, it will take much longer than it will take most agencies to cave in. Furthermore, this is only one of the demons we are fighting. The pace of change is another. For every agency able to navigate change in technology, media and agency roles, there are even more which didn’t. Due to the velocity of change, creative agencies everywhere in the world are facing the continuous erosion of their operational health. For some, this erosion hides older, more visible menaces such as lack of leadership and high attrition rates. As for those agencies that seem to be doing well, the damage is not visible yet – primarily because profits seem good. Profits could be better yet!

Look at the business through a new lens
To sustain themselves, mid to large sized creative agencies need to derive at least 60% of their revenue from their annual retainer fees. The trouble is most agencies can only dream of such favourable conditions; in reality, clients do not want to pay for most jobs (the other fruit seller will happily do it for free). This said, irrespective of whether agencies earn more from an annual fee or from a project/rate-card model, the fact is that time is their currency. They become profitable when a fair amount of hours are estimated and a fair and accurate amount of time is used and billed. However, time is also a problem because there is no definite measure of the time it takes to complete a creative job (no two jobs are ever the same). Time sheets are a basic way to determine agency revenue earnings – yet, is filling timesheets a billable task? I am not arguing against the importance of financial, administrative and managerial information in measuring productivity, I am just saying it is not enough. We analyse the profitability of client relationships through the lens of time instead of the quality of the time and the problem is that we need to change the lens.

Redefine (or in some cases, just define) productivity for each client
Agencies need to look beyond income, staff-cost ratios, hourly and overhead rates, multiples and margins – not that these are unimportant, but productivity is not merely about client income. Here are two important ratios to help measure agency health.

First, there is the billable versus the non-billable deliverables ratio in the total scope of the work. One needs to look at the complexity of the work done for each client, instead of the total number of deliverables only. If, for some clients, the non-billable tasks weigh in heavier, then agencies must strengthen their client service and planning team because these clients require better project planning and management, regardless of the reason why there are more non-billable jobs. However, if an agency is lucky and it is the other way round, they should not think all is well. They need to keep supplementing the creative team with fresh, entry level resources to prevent the team from burning out.

Second is ‘deliverables per million,’ and this can only be calculated if the billable versus the non-billable deliverables ratio has been measured. For every one million PKR of agency income, agencies deliver 25 to 40 creative executions (this number is as honest as the agency heads I spoke to were). The number of deliverables is increasing every year, and the types of deliverables per medium are also growing (classified by clients under the dreadful category of ‘adaptations’). Ideally, the number should be less than 50. If the number goes above, agencies need to check whether their client service teams are slackening or if the client is taking advantage of the agency’s urge to retain the account. This is a critical metric for both retainer and rate-card relationships, as it helps channel agencies’ efforts in more profitable directions. It also helps in internal performance evaluation and team/employee appraisals.

"The dogma in our industry is that account retention is supreme and this has become our collective conceptual prison."

Respect yourself!
Being ready for change is not the same as being ready to fulfil every single client demand. If you want your client to respect you, respect yourself. Remember, a principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money, and trust me when I say it will cost you more than money if you don’t have principles. The dogma in our industry is that account retention is supreme and this has become our collective conceptual prison. The strange thing is that despite the state of our business, we love our prison cell because we made it with our own hands, and because it gives us a false sense of security that things will go back to how they were – when the money was good and the clients respectful. This needs to change; agency heads need to replace their shallow hunger for revenues and growth with the drive for ideas and creativity that brought them to this business to begin with.

Umair Saeed is COO, Blitz Advertising.
umair.saeed@blitz.pk

• <strong>Do’s</strong>
• <strong>Don’ts</strong>

The new king of the social media realm – video – is settling well on its throne while static content takes a backseat. No wonder then, that given their increasing popularity, most businesses today are viewing videos as marketing gold. Consequently, video has become the format of choice for sharing personalised content between peers as well between brands and their consumers.

We knew video had arrived the day Snapchat sign-ups skyrocketed to 10 billion video views per day and Instagram and Facebook followed suit (rather shamelessly) in launching their video features. So why is video winning hearts locally and internationally? The answer is simple: storytelling sells.

Today, video inspires, motivates and eventually sells. “They [marketers] are seeing a 200 to 300% increase in click-through rates when a video is embedded in an email; higher Google rankings (53%) and a six-fold improvement in recall, engagement, likelihood of product purchase and shareability,” Huffington Post reports.

The big question is: What are the key factors to keep in mind when rolling out videos? What will make your audience – who have low attention spans – hit the share button?

In my humble opinion, here are some dos and don’ts that can make or break the fate of your video.

Do’s

Keep it short and sweet. The average attention span of audiences is now estimated to be less than eight and a half seconds! If you’re all too familiar with that tinge of disappointment when you’re showing a video to a friend and they tap your phone to check the time left, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Remember the basic rule of grammar? The shorter the sentence the more impactful and coherent it is. Apply the same rule to your videos.

Respect cultural relevance. While the love for cats, dogs and baby videos is universal, it is essential for marketers to set the foundation of their campaign by researching the way their potential market thinks, decodes and processes information. The cultural context, which includes the social, political, physical and economic makeup of your consumers, can help brands understand and cater to the needs and expectations of their audience. Online marketers have started to recognise the importance of this cultural connection by strongly advocating localisation and customisation.

Compelling storytelling. Here’s a fun fact: The brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text! Now think about the last video you shared on your timeline. It reached out to you on some level, didn’t it? Be it testimonials, fictitious content, stories of everyday heroes (minus the awful costumes), interviews or documentaries, if your videos have strong narratives that resonate with your viewers, they will strike one of their emotional chords.

Bring back subtitles. Termed as ‘The Silent Revolution’ by creatives, silent videos on Facebook have made a comeback; thanks to the ever-evolving consumption patterns of audiences. Brands have finally accepted the fact that sometimes ads and videos are on auto-play and most users don’t tap for audio even if the visuals interest them. To cater to this behavioural pattern, more description-heavy, infographic-style and visually appealing videos with subtitles have ‘silently’ made their way into the social media mix.

Don’ts

Stick to one platform. Cross-platform strategising has become crucial for video syndication. Gone are the days when you could copy and paste one video on to all social media platforms. These days, it is important to understand that if the content is tailor-made for each platform, it will have a higher chance of engagement and turning buzz to business than one-size-fits-all marketing. Though YouTube has ruled the roost when it comes to videos, other platforms have joined the race for more eyeballs with their ‘Live Stories’ option for a truly personalised information-sharing experience, offering marketers a several options to choose from.

Don’t forget to personalise. The ‘Story’ option that started with Snapchat and is now available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has upped the ante of personalised communication. At the same time, with 10 billion video views per day, (Facebook has eight billion according to Bloomberg) Snapchat remains significant for marketers as well. Therefore, brands can reach different audiences on these platforms. However, they have to tailor their content accordingly and remember that the more customised their content is, the higher the chances are of reaching their target audience.

Ultimately, most brands – even the ‘not-so-experimental’ ones – are now utilising video to further personalise the consumer journey and reach the right audience through relevant touch points. This helps them bring a ‘human touch’ to their brand and create better rapport with their target audience, which eventually leads to conversions, loyalty and a premium customer experience. From soul-stirring stories to plausible testimonials to feature-rich demos, videos are revolutionising the way consumers interact with branded content and giving marketers what they have always wanted: higher conversion rates.

Taniya Hasan is Head of Content, Digitz.

• To sum up, brand teams need to make a serious call regarding where they draw the line on compensation. They need to ask how important quality creative is. They also need to dwell upon what quality creative actually is, and how it impacts on their brand.

I have been to the promised land. I have lain in greener pastures and felt the cool breeze of deference blow gently on my face. I have tasted the fruit from the garden of success. Today’s generation believes that such a place is only a figment of one’s imagination; that no such land was promised to the children of advertising in Pakistan. What these advertising atheists (as I call them) don’t know is that this place is not only possible, it existed until recently.

I remember when clients used to see us as equals and value our opinions, not because it was required by policy, but because what we did made a difference.

I remember working for a Pakistani agency and we held our half yearly meetings in cities like Istanbul and London.

I remember our CEO being invited by the global marketing head of Pepsi to share our success story with the heads of other global brand teams.

However, somewhere between then and now, the people in advertising lost their vision and faith. So what has changed and why are we seeing so much mediocrity?

Marketing teams today are facing some of the most difficult challenges I have ever seen. The complexity of managing a brand has become a nightmare, yet with the exception of a handful, most agencies are offering the same old solutions, repackaged with scientific sounding jargon. One may well ask why they are not committing, even when clients want them to. The answer in its simplest form is profitability, or to be more precise, the lack thereof. Earning a fraction of the ROI they used to enjoy a few decades ago, agencies are unable to manage the required delivery. This is not necessarily a local issue; I have worked in regional positions and am privy to the fact that agency ROI is the most pressing concern for the industry globally.

It would be quite antiquated to suggest that anything other than people create great advertising, and with retention scales being at their worst, the average agency cannot hold on to good people.

As a result, to expect agencies to deliver good work is about as reasonable as if I were to expect a five star hotel to serve me a decent plate of biryani (as every avid biryani enthusiast knows, the best plates are found not at fancy hotels but at roadside stalls). This then begs the question of whether better work can be found from the smaller agencies. The recent wins by such agencies at the last PAS Awards are evidence of this.

With a fraction of the expenses large agencies have, the small creative shops enjoy better ROIs. They also offer the compensation and the environment that the current generation relates to. If you think I am crazy to suggest this, let me tell you that at the last MNC I worked for, we had a turnover rate of 70%. But that is not the surprising part. What drew my attention was the fact that all those who left went to mid-size or smaller business and yet managed to get anywhere from a 75% to a 100% pay jump. In one instance, one of my juniors had a 125% windfall! I was part of management and no matter how we did the financials, we were unable to meet that kind of compensation to retain people – there simply are not enough margins in the business with the kind of overheads large agencies have.

Clients are not helping either.

I don’t understand what they teach at business schools because clients don’t understand a very simple concept... if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. This is such a basic business concept, yet it completely seems to elude even the most seasoned CMOs.

Brand teams are forcing agencies to think short term. Because of the financial crunch, agencies hire to fill their ranks with people with narrow and short term objectives rather than a long term vision. Ask yourself what is the key differentiation between your agency and any other in Pakistan? And if there is none, this is not because there is a lack of understanding about what differentiation is; these agencies make their living by differentiating brands. A USP comes from a place of vision, perspective and inspiration. Can agency owners not afford to have people able to bring these qualities to the table?

To fix profitability, agencies are trying to diversify their services by offering media planning and digital, when instead, they should be re-evaluating their core business rather than diversifying an already undifferentiated product and spreading it thinner. This is why when brand teams reach out for digital solutions they end up with platform based tactics rather than a campaign. “We will increase the likes of your Facebook page by 10%!” How that is relevant to the brand’s KPIs has apparently become irrelevant now.

The direct impact of lower profitability for an agency is the erosion of intellectual capital. Not only are people hired to fit the pay bracket rather than the skill set required, they are no longer trained to develop these skills. With no budgets, agency training has become an absolute sham. There used to be a time when employees would be sent abroad for workshops and secondments, now when an employee reaches out for help in learning something he is told to Google it.

So it’s a grim picture. At the moment, most clients are willing to pay cheap and get mediocre work; they are not interested in work with impact, because their own internal processes do not hold them accountable for quality when it comes to their KPIs. The average retainer for an agency is a laughable Rs 150,000 a month. It is practically impossible to deliver good ideas on such figures unless you are a small 10 person start-up.

Let’s do the math. The minimum time an agency team should spend on a mid-sized brand is 20% of the overall time allocated to that team by the agency. This is because, unlike advanced markets, we have to do a lot of work ourselves as we do not have easy access to industry analysis or research. As a result, and let me be completely candid about it, your agency is cheating you if they say they can do the work in a shorter timeframe. The due diligence required to dig for meaningful insights and build a concrete communication structure is very time consuming.

The average cost to an agency for a team of seven people (two client service people, a strategy person, a creative director and three creatives) is one million rupees. The minimum overhead cost for a mid-size agency (excluding the above costs but including other talent and back office payroll) is Rs 1.25 million. Therefore with the addition of the team of seven, the total cost comes to Rs 2.25 million, with a 15% profit margin, the agency needs to earn Rs 2.59 million to survive.

To sum up, brand teams need to make a serious call regarding where they draw the line on compensation. They need to ask how important quality creative is. They also need to dwell upon what quality creative actually is, and how it impacts on their brand.

If a brand is willing to buy 20% of the team’s time it will have to pay a minimum of Rs 0.518 million in retainer (20% of Rs 2.59 million). Now, if anyone has a magic solution how it is practically possible to deliver quality when a client is willing to only offering a going rate of Rs 0.15 million for a seven member team, you have my complete interest.

If you don’t have an answer, then here is an honest insight into what you are forcing your agency to give you. Either they will only manage to give you 5.7% of the team’s time, which in my three decades worth of experience will buy you mediocre work, or they will reduce the compensation of the team drastically because they can’t afford to pay good people. Hiring cheaper resources with lesser experience or people with mediocre skills will again impact the quality of work. These figures may vary from agency to agency depending on their size, but they are a sound rule of thumb to do the maths on.

It makes me smile when clients ask why our agencies do not produce work similar to that done for Fevicol or Amul in India and I wonder if they have any idea how much these companies compensate their agencies.

To sum up, brand teams need to make a serious call regarding where they draw the line on compensation. They need to ask how important quality creative is. They also need to dwell upon what quality creative actually is, and how it impacts on their brand. To be fair to the CMOs, yes there are agencies which produce poor work and are incapable of doing anything better. To be honest, they are not structured to deliver insightful and relevant work. I know this because I have worked for some of them.

However, the question is not whether in a country of 188 million people you can find 10 people to do justice to your brand – of course you can. The question is: are you willing to pay those 10 people what they deserve?

Syed Amir Haleem is CEO, KueBall (a New York based digital company).
syedamirhaleem@gmail.com