Simple. Until the internet, followed by social media, took the world by storm. Did they re-pivot? Of course, they did. But, in the process, they overcommitted and then course-corrected and eventually settled down to it like most companies.

Adapting to new technologies is not easy, especially when you are not sure if it is going to be a fad or the real deal. Remember the Metaverse, NFTs and the ‘everything will be based on blockchain’ mantras? However, AI seems to be here to stay – even if only going by the rate of advancement and adoption. ChatGPT hit a million users in five days (the fastest ever for a major platform launch) and that is just one of the applications. New tools are coming out every day and everything is evolving at breakneck speed.

I marvel at the pace of the advancements and at how these AI tools are accelerating productivity to almost unbelievable outcomes. The ramifications could be huge – something our industry is not waking up to fast enough in my view.

Going back to my internship days. We were tasked with developing a new TVC for one of our brands – a new campaign that required insight mining before we could write the creative brief. This is what the process involved.

1. Write the research brief for multiple focus groups and interviews across the top major cities. (Four weeks.)

2. The brand team, the creative agency and the research partners attend all sessions and make copious notes.

3. The research is complete, the team locks itself up in a meeting room for three days and writes down all the insights gathered on big flip charts. (Half a week.)

4. After much debate, the top 10 to 15 insight statements that have merit in terms of being universal and potent are narrowed down and used to develop written concepts. (One week.)

5. The concepts are put through a quantitative screener with consumers to whittle them down to the top three, following which the creative brief is written. (Eight weeks.)

6. The concepts are converted into storyboards and put through a copy-testing procedure. (Ten weeks.)

7. Based on the results, one concept is selected for execution. The costing is done, a production house and a director are selected, and the commercial is shot. (Six weeks.)

8. The final edit is completed within two weeks, incorporating comments and feedback. The TVC is ready for release and sent to the different TV stations.

The market research industry has been ripe for a technology and digital revolution for quite some time, and with the advent of AI, it can leapfrog into a whole new era. Having said this, how reliable the synthetic consumer will be compared to real consumers remains to be seen.

It has taken more than 30 weeks or half a year to develop just one TVC from scratch. From insight generation to final film, this process has not changed much in the last two decades.

Here, it is important to pause and consider the extent to which AI tools have advanced since the first version of ChatGPT was released two years ago. Morphing from a text-only advanced search engine version, ChatGPT has become a tool that accepts static and dynamic visual prompts and can assume ‘personas’ and generate multiple output formats. Videos are being created from static visuals and human-like images and videos generated. You could even have mock debates and podcasts between real people and the output would not be far from reality.

Now, let’s consider a ‘plugged-in’ brand team working at a similar MNC or a national company in today’s world. They receive similar briefs from their management to develop a new campaign for an existing brand. This is how they go about it:

1. They create the target audience personas in a GPT tool by feeding it all the research they have done with that cohort over the years. They ask this synthetic consumer all the questions they need to generate insights. (One week.)

2. They carry out a digital poll on the most popular insights they have gathered. (One week.)

3. They feed the shortlisted insights to a ‘creative’ GPT persona and ask it to churn out fully formed concept cards. They keep doing this until they are satisfied with the outcome. (Two days.)

4. The same synthetic consumer is used to answer the questionnaire after being exposed to the concept card to test the purchase intent. (Two days.)

5. The winning concept is converted into a storyboard using AI tools (two days.) The animatic is AI tested and a result is generated regarding whether it will be liked by the target audience or not (one day). If it is not liked, another animatic is generated and tested and this is repeated until a satisfactory result is obtained. (Three days.)

6. The team converts the animatic into a TVC (one day). It is tweaked based on comments and feedback and the TVC is ready to be released as a link to the TV channels. At the same time, the team has generated hundreds of digital assets to be used across social media platforms. They have also deployed their AI influencer who does not need to be paid. (Five days.)

The above process takes all of four weeks. Granted, the above is on the extreme side, but the sheer pace of advancement in some of these tools leads me to believe that this reality is not far off. There are several issues to consider, beginning with the creation of the synthetic consumer profile. It can only be as good and representative of the target audience as the data that is input into the LLM. The key here is that once the self-reasoning part kicks in with these tools, this will be when the technology no longer relies on just the inputted data. It will use its reasoning to assume, predict, reason, compare and so on.

The market research industry has been ripe for a technology and digital revolution for quite some time, and with the advent of AI, it can leapfrog into a whole new era. Having said this, how reliable the synthetic consumer will be compared to real consumers remains to be seen. Some people argue that the ability of AI tools to be completely representative of human behaviour or thinking is questionable, and that it remains dependent on the quality of data fed to the large language model and the power of the neural network it operates. However, I believe this will improve up to a point where it becomes acceptable to use synthetic consumers with disclaimers. It may still be unsuitable for categories where human interaction with the product is more intimate, such as beauty categories. However, in cases where humans play a complementary role, AI-generated visuals may become acceptable faster.

In terms of the impact on our industry, the market research and creative agencies, as well as the production houses, will have to get their act together and embrace AI sooner rather than later. We need to challenge ourselves to think about how we can incorporate these tools in our everyday work to increase productivity rather than being afraid they will replace us. As the saying goes, AI will not replace humans; humans using AI will replace humans.

Sheikh Adil Hussain is Marketing Director – Hair Care, Unilever Pakistan. sheikhadil@gmail.com

AURORA: Would you agree that your path to becoming Chief Commercial Officer at Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan has not been a conventional one?
AZIZ JINDANI: I worked for P&G for 18 years and in different parts of the world. I started as an intern and then I was offered a job. Two years later, I joined Pepsi where I worked on the Mountain Dew launch. A year later, in 2003, I moved back to P&G and remained there until 2018. I have worked in Pakistan, the US, Singapore, Kenya and Dubai. Last year, I took a sabbatical to do something I had wanted to do for a long time, which was to make an animated film (Donkey King) and which turned out to be the most rewarding experience of my life so far.

A: Doesn’t making an animated film require a certain level of expertise?
AJ: I understood the mechanics because at P&G, I was the financing producer for Commander Safeguard, and even back then, I was into content creation and writing. So I had an understanding of the craft in terms of how to get the work done. I still don’t understand the software and the nuances that come with it, but I understood enough to take a leap of faith and create an animated film.

A: What prompted you to make a film?
AJ: I came back in Pakistan in 2014 to head commercial operations for P&G Pakistan. This was pretty much a sales-oriented job and as I had been a brand builder most of my life, I felt I needed a place to express myself and the idea of the film came to me.

A: How did you go about it?
AJ: I reached out to Zeeshan Karimi the animation director I worked with on Commander Safeguard and he liked the idea. We started working on it in 2016 and we released it in 2018. It started off as a home video project and we didn’t tell anyone about it because we were not sure how it would work out. In between all this, I was transferred to Dubai and was shuttling back and forth every weekend.

A: Did you write the script?
AJ: I did. I spoke with several scriptwriters, but everyone felt that because the story was so clear in my mind, I should write it myself. In the end, I got hold of Kamran Kirmani, who was a friend of mine. He is an engineer by profession and a writer at heart and the next thing we knew, we were writing a film.

A: All the while you were working at P&G?
AJ: Yes, by then I was heading their beauty care business. The film was just a hobby, until in 2018, I pinched myself and said this is real and I took a sabbatical. I knew I wanted to come back to Pakistan. By then my children were settled and my wife was doing a PhD at the Aga Khan University and my film was ready; so the stars were lining up.

A: After the film, you went back to professional life. Why didn’t you consider exploring filmmaking further?
AJ: The thing is that I am a brand builder by choice and a filmmaker by chance. I am very clear about this. Yes, the film was a big success, but I would have been an idiot to think that I was a filmmaker, because I am not. I am a brand builder. Because of the film, we had to set up an animation studio and put together a team and it would have been a shame to wrap it up after the film, so I asked Faraz Uzzaman Khan, a former P&G colleague to take it over, and get work outsourced from abroad so that the studio could survive. So if ever I want to make another film, we still have the team and the infrastructure.

A: Why did you join Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan?
AJ: It was an opportunity.

A: Did the opportunity fall into your lap or were you looking at other options?
AJ: Let’s put it this way; I was looking for them and they were looking for me. When I met them in 2006, I was on my way to Cincinnati. When I came back in 2014, as a family, we made the choice to live in Pakistan. But I had certain prerequisites for the job I had in mind. The first was that I wanted to join a local company, as the aspiration to work abroad was no longer there. The second was that I would do something that would use all my faculties. P&G is a wonderful company but it works on verticals. So if you are doing marketing and brand building, you are brand building; if you are doing commercial sales, you are doing commercial sales and have nothing to do with brand building. If you are doing supply chain, you are doing supply chain and have nothing to do with marketing and sales. At P&G, I acquired all three experiences, but to do all three at the same time is not possible in a vertical environment. The opportunity existed at Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan. Zulfiqar Lakhani and his team have built a business we are all very proud of and we are now entering another phase of transformation. Colgate International has recently publicly expressed an interest to up their stake in the company from 30% to 51% and this process is currently going through due diligence. I think for someone like me who has extensive global experience but is a ‘local’ at heart, this is a very good match. The ‘glocal’ philosophy of the Lakson Group is a perfect fit for my operating style.

We have four ‘cares’. Oral care and personal care from the Colgate-Palmolive portfolio and which accounts for roughly 30% of our business. The remaining is our home care and fabric care portfolio, which is local. A lot of the volume and scale that comes is through the local brands. We are the only company which has a tiered portfolio in fabric care (good, better and best). We are market leaders in volume and number two in value share. We have Brite at the top, competing with Ariel and Surf Excel, Express which is in a league of its own and Bonus which competes with Sunlight and other similar brands. And then there is Max.

A: Why have Colgate International decided to increase their equity share and what impact is it likely to have?
AJ:This company started off as the National Detergents Company. Colgate-Palmolive came later, yet over 30 years of association, the Colgate people rarely visited Pakistan and that is a huge compliment. Such visits usually happen if the global company senses something may need fixing or they think they can offer capability that does not exist locally. Even with the potential increase in Colgate International’s stake, there is no particular intention on their part to micro-manage operations. The real motivation here is to earn the legal freedom to fully consolidate Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan’s P&L in their global financial reporting. This is especially desirable as Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan’s organic growth is top of the pack across Colgate International subsidiaries.

A: Traditionally, Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan has been a ‘hybrid’ company in the sense that their product portfolio is made up of both global and local brands. How has this combination worked?
AJ: It is a unique symbiotic relationship. A lot of expertise that comes through Colgate International is applied to local brands and a lot of the street smart wisdom that comes from operating as an entrepreneur in a local business is transferred to Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan.

A: What is the share split between the global and the local portfolio?
AJ: We have four ‘cares’. Oral care and personal care from the Colgate-Palmolive portfolio and which accounts for roughly 30% of our business. The remaining is our home care and fabric care portfolio, which is local. A lot of the volume and scale that comes is through the local brands. We are the only company which has a tiered portfolio in fabric care (good, better and best). We are market leaders in volume and number two in value share. We have Brite at the top, competing with Ariel and Surf Excel, Express which is in a league of its own and Bonus which competes with Sunlight and other similar brands. And then there is Max.

A: Are all these products manufactured locally?
AJ: Yes, they are locally conceptualised and manufactured brands, coming out of the chemical engineer that resides somewhere within Zulfiqar Lakhani. He is an engineer at heart and a great head of manufacturing. And this is yet another reason why I joined. I look for two aspects when I consider a job offer. Can I apply what I have learnt and can I learn something new that will help me in the future. I could see both here.

A: Compared to the multinational companies, you have a rather unique distribution model.
AJ: There are two types of distribution models; gorilla and guerrilla. We use the guerrilla model, whereby we have a lot of small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs across Pakistan. We work with 400 odd distributors covering different geographies. P&G typically uses one big distributor, whereas we work with small entrepreneurs from every nook and corner in Pakistan.

A: Why was this model chosen?
AJ: For several reasons. A big part of it is heritage, although having said so, if today I were to start with a blank sheet of paper, I would not do anything different. The transactional simplification which comes from appointing one big distributor comes at the expense of know-how. Let’s take Karachi. You can either choose one big distributor for the whole of Karachi, who may possibly not know all the customers out there. Or you appoint separate distributors for Nazimabad, Tariq Road and so on and their level of know-how within their smaller scope will be much higher and a lot more intimate. As you go down to strata six or seven towns, it becomes all the more personal. A big distributor with a head office in Karachi will not have this depth of knowledge. Then, there is the spirit a local entrepreneur brings. They deal with people whose income rests on the viability of your brand. When I meet my distributor in Gujranwala, he rolls up his sleeves and says “let’s go out and see.” He has about 13,000 outlets in his scope and he knows each retailer personally because he has been doing this for 30 years. So one part is knowhow, the second is the entrepreneurial spirit and the third is ROI. This is very important because if financial health is not there, it’s a non-starter. We want to partner with our distributors in a way that they are able to get a better ROI compared to keeping their money in the bank.

A: Do they work exclusively for Colgate-Palmolive?
AJ: Typically they have a few principals but we usually end up being a significant part of their portfolio.

A: Over the years, you have not introduced any new brands into your portfolio.
AJ: We have horizontally stretched our brands rather than introduced new brands. For example, although Max has been there forever, the portfolio has been saturated. It started off as a bar and a liquid and today, within the bar there are variants and we recently launched a Max All Purpose Floor Cleaner. Similarly, we launched Palmolive Shampoo a couple of years ago. But new brands; yes that is something we have not done.

A: Is there a particular reason for this?
AJ: All marketing ROS studies tell you that if you can stretch the equity of a brand, it generally gives the highest ROI.

A: To what extent will the prevailing economic situation impact your product portfolio?
AJ: I think we will play to our portfolio more. Pricing is inevitable because the cost of doing business is going up. We are taking pricing in line with the market, because everyone wants to stay on strategy. Companies such as ours have the resilience; that is where our ‘good, better and best’ portfolio comes into play. People can’t do without soap or dishwashing agents; they are not discretionary items but everyday necessities. So people tend to use either less or they downgrade and this is where our portfolio comes into play because it is built in a way to keep consumers within the franchise.

Digital spends have increased for sure, but TV still remains the most dominant and defining medium of awareness for our brands. However, in Pakistan, the biggest paradigm shift is modern retail. The biggest competitor to TV advertising is in-store; digital is a distant number two as a threat to TV. Furthermore, as an industry, we still haven’t cracked the code in digital in terms of content creation.

A: What has been the impact of modern trade on the business?
AJ: Modern trade has created a paradigm shift and has impacted companies such as ours in a variety of ways, both positive and negative. Firstly, modern trade is the story of two baskets. Modern trade requires bigger basket sizes compared to mom-and-pop stores and this leads to upsizing; buying bigger sizes of detergents, bigger bars and so forth and the result is that for all categories the fastest growing sizes are the largest because people have bigger baskets. Secondly, the cost of doing business has gone up, because modern retail by default leads to a lot more price comparisons, so that promotion and visibility become key business drivers. In the past, you would go to a mom-and-pop store with a list and the engagement and interaction with the product was minimal, if not non-existent. Today, with modern trade, you can feel and touch a product and this leads to price comparisons and more promotions and deal hunting. All this increases the cost and complexity of doing business and more marketing investment is required.

A: Are you of the opinion that digital is starting to make a dent in TV’s position as the dominant advertising medium?
AJ: Digital spends have increased for sure, but TV still remains the most dominant and defining medium of awareness for our brands. However, in Pakistan, the biggest paradigm shift is modern retail. The biggest competitor to TV advertising is in-store; digital is a distant number two as a threat to TV. Furthermore, as an industry, we still haven’t cracked the code in digital in terms of content creation.

A: Your mandate as Chief Commercial Officer is substantial; what are the changes you would like to implement in the next few years?
AJ: As far as this company is concerned, I think a lot needs to be preserved, because what we have achieved is the envy of others; our guerrilla distribution network, our brand equity and the local entrepreneurial spirit. What needs to evolve is firstly paperless selling. Much more has to be done on automation; too many transactions are done on paper and because we work with a wide guerilla style distribution network, the information flow needs to be done in real time. Secondly, growing consumption within all our categories. My biggest passion point is the fact that in Pakistan, the average per capita consumption of toothpaste is 73 grams per person per year. For comparison, in India it is 180 grams and in the Philippines it is 367 grams. Growing the pie is a huge priority. Thirdly, raising the bar on quality and investing in our talent. There is a bias that somehow if you are working for a national company rather than a multinational you are not among the best, which by the way is the biggest BS that I have heard. There is extraordinary talent in local companies. I want to give more of myself to the talent out there.

Aziz Jindani was in conversation with Mariam Ali Baig. For feedback: aurora@dawn.com

The tractor market is growing and in 2017, over 60,000 tractors were sold. The market is dominated by three manufacturers. Millat Tractors (Massey Ferguson), Al-Ghazi Tractors (New Holland – formerly Fiat) and IMT Tractors; their market share is 60, 35 and one percent respectively. Smaller brands, such as Belarus Tractors, John Deere and others, import tractors as completely built-up units (CBU) and semi knocked-down (SKD) units and cater to the remaining four percent. Production capacity stands at 70,000 units per annum and models range from 55 to 85hp. Thanks to an indigenisation programme initiated in the eighties by the Pakistan Tractor Corporation, the industry has achieved 95% localisation in terms of production.

“Labour is cheap and we indigenised production a long time ago. We are only importing five percent of the components, mainly pistons and fuel pumps as completely knocked-down (CKD) units. So there is no amortisation cost; hence, we only have the variable cost of production. This is why, Pakistan makes the lowest priced tractors in the world. A 55hp tractor that costs about $7,000 in Pakistan would cost in the region of $20,000 in Turkey, $25,000 in Europe and $30,000 in USA” said Saeed Mushtaq, Head of Marketing, Al-Ghazi Tractors.

Despite the lower prices, penetration in Pakistan still stands at 0.9hp per hectare of cultivable land, much lower than the international norm of a minimum 1.7hp per hectare.

The low prices of Pakistani tractors have given manufacturers an edge in international markets who are exporting to Afghanistan and many African countries. However, exports are limited to certain countries due to internal agreements between the brand owners and their Pakistani producers and because of the lack of technological advancement in Pakistani tractors.

Yet, despite the lower prices, penetration in Pakistan still stands at 0.9hp per hectare of cultivable land, much lower than the international norm of a minimum 1.7hp per hectare. This is because the sales depend on the interplay of numerous factors, including the availability of capital for the farmer, interest rates on lease, government subsidy programmes for the purchase of tractors and fertilisers as well as the presence of small and scattered landholdings.

Growth in this sector is still not stable and there are spells of extremely high and low sales. Sales decline considerably when farmers bear losses and bounce back when the government initiates farmer-friendly policies or there is a bumper crop. The average agricultural landholding size is approximately 12.5 acres, due to which it is not viable for most farmers to invest in a tractor unless banks provide leasing facilities on low mark-up rates or the government provides subsidies on their purchase.

“The mark-up on agricultural loans is about 14%, which is very high and explains why the share of loans for tractors is just about 10%. Currently, the only subsidy scheme available is the Sindh Tractor Scheme by the Government of Sindh, and the largest public sector agriculture development financial institution in the country, Zarai Taraqiati Bank, have shifted their focus from agricultural financing to commercial activities,” says S. M. Irfan Aqueel, CEO, Millat Tractors.

The Federal Government did provide some respite by slashing GST by a further five percent in 2016, down from the initial 16%. This brought prices down by Rs 32,000 to 50,000, depending on the model/horsepower, boosting sales considerably. Another boost came from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is using a large number of tractors in its construction projects. Thanks to CPEC, 38,620 tractors were sold in the first nine months of 2017, compared to 22,169 units during the same period in 2016.

A big bottleneck that the industry had long ignored is the underutilisation of tractors due to the lack of implements for various agricultural activities, including tertiary (harvesting), secondary (agronomic practices) and primary (soil preparation) and the lack of awareness among farmers about these implements.

According to Mushtaq, if the boost provided by CPEC continues for a significant period of time and the government provides further support in the form of abolition of customs duties and a reduction in input tax, the industry will be in a position to invest in capacity building and further reduce prices, making tractors more affordable.

However, a big bottleneck that the industry had long ignored is the underutilisation of tractors due to the lack of implements for various agricultural activities, including tertiary (harvesting), secondary (agronomic practices) and primary (soil preparation) and the lack of awareness among farmers about these implements. This limits the benefits of a tractor and as a result, makes its purchase a less attractive prospect.

“To address this issue, Millat has put great focus on awareness building among farmers and most of our marketing budgets are dedicated to BTL activities such as farmer education programmes, equipment demos and agricultural ‘melas,’” explained Aqueel.

Al-Ghazi are also making efforts in this direction. “In addition to BTL activities, our 80 sales and service centres across the country are spreading awareness and facilitating farmers in moving towards mechanisation,” added Mushtaq.

There is ample evidence that mechanisation can increase agricultural productivity by as much as 30% and reduce costs by 20%, by eliminating labour shortages, improving the timelines of agricultural operations, allowing inter-cropping, reducing tillage and ensuring efficient use of resources. Hence, it is believed that the tractor industry has the power to drive the country towards the next phase of agricultural growth.

Although Pakistan’s tractor industry may be facing challenges of growth on several fronts, the extensive cultivable land that is still untouched presents a strong opportunity for growth.

For feedback, email aurora@dawn.com

Pakistan Advertisers' Society (PAS) in collaboration with Kinetic and Octara is organising the ‘Ahead of the Curve’ AOTC 1.0 – Signs of Tomorrow Digital Conference on April 17 (Lahore) and April 19 (Karachi).

AOTC is a platform where experts from global and local markets work together to share insights on how the world is evolving in the advertising space and continually bridging the gap between offline and online marketing. Therefore, AOTC serves as one of the finest platforms for knowledge sharing where businesses and individuals can discover the best global practices that can be adapted in the local market.

With the massive growth and positive transformation of the global media landscape, the Out of Home (OOH) industry of Pakistan is not far behind in this race of evolution. The journey from conventional billboard solutions to more engaging, interactive and effective OOH planning has been anything but challenging as well as educational.

AOTC 1.0 will open new avenues for brands, media owners, OOH vendors, tech startups, digital suppliers and marketers in multiple ways as they acknowledge the evolution of the OOH landscape globally and locally; glance at the infinite possibilities of the convergence of offline and online through the advent of digital OOH, and understand how programmatic OOH can help in the growth of businesses through more effective planning.

While Pakistan’s OOH industry has already achieved a phenomenal milestone in contextualising the brand essence and connecting audiences on the move through memorable experiential journeys for consumers, it is now time that our industry at large views the potential power of OOH from the lens of digitisation.

This is precisely what AOTC 1.0 – Signs of Tomorrow intends to do. AOTC 1.0 promises to be an event that brings together top industry leaders, suppliers, advertisers and budding marketers, amongst others, where they will be brought up to speed on how to stay ahead in OOH and the convergence of offline and online media through the advent of Digital OOH by global and national industry experts.

With experts including the likes of Dennis Kuperus, CEO Kinetic Benelux & Nordic and Global Head of Innovation, Dave Nelissen, Media & Communication Strategist and CEO, Mount Scott, Peter Choo, CEO Kinetic Malaysia and Sadaf Zarrar, Head of IMC Coca-Cola Pakistan as Keynote Speakers, AOTC 1.0 Signs of Tomorrow will not only change your perception about OOH, but will also broaden your horizons regarding the future of advertising – Digital OOH.

AOTC 1.0 will also provide a fantastic opportunity to listen to some of the notable industry thinkers as they share their views on the progress and significance of OOH in Pakistan through thought-provoking panel discussions.

Moreover, AOTC 1.0 will open new avenues for brands, media owners, OOH vendors, tech startups, digital suppliers and marketers in multiple ways as they acknowledge the evolution of the OOH landscape globally and locally; glance at the infinite possibilities of the convergence of offline and online through the advent of digital OOH, and understand how programmatic OOH can help in the growth of businesses through more effective planning.

Commenting on the digital conference, Ahsan Sheikh, CEO, Kinetic Pakistan said: "As the leading OOH agency of Pakistan, we at Kinetic are immensely proud to be the Knowledge Partner for AOTC 1.0 Signs of Tomorrow and to host this conference in association with Pakistan Advertisers' Society. I believe AOTC is a great platform for learning and it is only through events such as AOTC 1.0 that our industry at large will foresee the future of OOH and witness the evolution of outdoor advertising from OOH to Digital OOH."

AOTC 1.0 Keynote Speaker, Dennis Kuperus, CEO, Kinetic Benelux & Nordic and Global Head of Innovation also shared his views: "It is amazing to see that Pakistan is embarking on a journey of digital OOH at such a fast pace, and is far ahead of many of its counterparts in the region. I am extremely excited to be a part of this evolution and as always look forward to share my two cents about the future of digital OOH with everyone through the fantastic platform of AOTC."

This content has been produced in partnership with Pakistan Advertisers' Society (PAS), Kinetic Pakistan and Octara.

• <strong>1.) Top of mind versus engagement</strong>
• <strong>2.) Point of difference versus perspective</strong>
• <strong>Personality: What does the brand stand for?</strong>

Traditional wisdom dictated that highly visible brands are successful. However, the changing landscape worldwide, led by global warming, the digital invasion, the Millennial generation and a new wave of politics driven in equal measure by civilian activism and partisanship, has left an indelible mark on customers and brands. Trust, the foundation of every relationship, is increasingly driving the customer narrative and brands can no longer standout only by being known; they have to connect with their customers at a human level to really matter to them.

Ever wondered why customers will pay a premium for Toms Shoes or prefer to buy from The Body Shop when their local supermarket offers a plethora of similar products and at more competitive prices? It’s because these brands are driven by a strong sense of purpose and as we look for meaning in an increasingly complex and nuanced world, we acknowledge and appreciate purpose at both a conscious and subconscious level. Everything these brands say, offer and do is driven by the lens of purpose. A recent Gallup research found that when purpose and product are aligned, customers gave almost twice as much ‘wallet-share’ relative to when these factors didn’t align. In my view, there are two differences in this approach of brand-building compared to the traditional model.

1.) Top of mind versus engagement

In the past, when there was a limited set of brand exposure opportunities, it was thought that if your brand is seen more often by customers in the right place, they will remember it more than other brands. With people now using multi-screens and having the luxury to choose the content they want, it is a challenge to force them to watch or listen to information that does not interest them. Therefore, it becomes imperative to engage them in meaningful conversations on the topics that matter to them and with a tonality that resonates with them, rather than having a transactional interaction.

2.) Point of difference versus perspective

Although it is still important to communicate what you have to offer as a brand that your competitors don’t, it is even more important to communicate what you stand for as a brand. Authenticity breeds trust. The functional benefits that you offer need to be clearly spelled out; for example, the functions of a mobile phone, durability due to a new technology, additional convenience or environment friendliness. However, this is not enough, because your laundry list of benefits is just another list compared to your competitors’. What really makes people develop an affinity for a brand is the emotional benefit – how will it make them feel when they use it.

A common myth is that it is impossible to infuse purpose as an afterthought once the equity of a brand has been established.

I disagree. Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ is a relatively recent trend given that the brand has been around for decades. Airbnb were known for couchsurfing and low-cost lodging, yet the company re-oriented their mission in 2013, articulating their purpose to making people, wherever they are in the world, feel like they belong. Airbnb owned this purpose by adopting the tagline ‘Belong Anywhere’. The brand became a technological solution for people to come together, learn from each other and be better.

A recent EY Beacon Institute and Harvard Business Review study of 474 executives found that an overwhelming number of business leaders believe, in theory, that purpose is a transformative lever; 85% strongly agreed that they are more likely to recommend a company with strong purpose, and 84% strongly agreed that business transformation efforts will have greater success if integrated with purpose. Another study on Millennials, released by Deloitte and the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, reveals that two out of three Millennials in the workplace would keep working for a business because it was driven by a distinct purpose.

I don’t think extensive convincing is needed to establish that brands with purpose don’t only make sense in theory, they have clear societal and business benefits. However, it is easier said than done, as this purpose must be aligned with the brand ethos and rooted in honesty. Let’s begin identifying the purpose of your brand by answering a few simple questions.

Benefit: What does my brand do both physically and mentally? How does it make people feel?

Coke is a brand synonymous with cola drinks that provide refreshment or add flavour to food, but is that why people consume Coke as opposed to any other beverage? When you ask people, they admit that Coke makes them happy.

Now think about all the Coke communications that you have come across over the last few years, and you will notice that although the product is always shown to be refreshing people, it is also always presented in the context of ‘happiness’. Be it a TV ad, digital activation, label design or association with music, each one is carefully deployed to trigger the emotion of happiness.

Relevance: How relevant is the brand to peoples’ lives? Do they need it and do they know that they need it?

Dettol globally stands for health by providing protection from germs. But why do people use a soap every day made by a brand that has been traditionally used as a disinfectant? It’s simple; through years of teaching children healthy habits in schools and educational advertising, Dettol has built up a significant level of awareness around the relevance of using an antibacterial soap for hand washing; after all, it protects you and your family from falling ill and that really matters to a mother.

Personality: What does the brand stand for?

Is it possible for anyone to say ‘Just do it’ without Nike coming to mind? It’s probably one of the best known campaign taglines in the world, primarily because this attitude is reflected in everything that Nike do; in every product design and customer touchpoint. ‘Just do it’ is what often makes people choose Nike over other brands that offer almost the same products and are at times even cheaper to buy. Hopefully, these examples will help you understand the concept and the potential dimensions. If you want to move forward in the pursuit of purpose, I would suggest taking the following steps.

Arrange internal brainstorming sessions to identify the potential purpose your brand could stand for; validate this by running your top two or three ideas past your consumers and sharing them with your agency team to test them for creativity; lock in the purpose and commit to it by aligning the key stakeholders and include the purpose in the brand guidelines as a mandatory filter and finally, ensure that every brand decision is run through the filter of this purpose.

Hopefully the above will help start the right conversation within your organisation, and when you initiate the discussion with key stakeholders, trust me, you will already start to sense how the world will begin to conspire to make your purpose come to life.

Fahad Ashraf is Director Marketing, Reckitt Benckiser. fahad.ashraf@rb.com

All illustrations by Creative Unit.

• These days, barring a few relics, there is no surviving-sans-trumpet-blowing. Sadly, this reality has infected the education sector along with all the rest. Education is a product to yield a profit, a business with a bottom line. At the end of the day, it must make money.
• The crucial thing most educational institutes have not figured out is what their brand stands for. I don’t mean ‘we have <em>gora</em> faculty/our campus has iPads/we guarantee results!’ I mean the single, unique aspect a brand represents, that drives it forward.
• In our current, fraught environment, where divisions upon divisions abound and where toddlers are exposed to ugliness like ethnic and sectarian strife, is it not far more vital to concentrate on the sort of beliefs and personalities children will be imbued with?

There are (still) some hallowed brands that do not need any sort of advertising. In fact, the significant absence of any promotion adds to their intangible glory. They are permanent, impervious to the ravages of time.

This is the case, to some extent, in the education sector. Global giants like Harvard and Oxford, and local ones like Aitchison and Karachi Grammar School have the unique problem of turning hordes of yearning potential customers away: the greater the rejection, the higher the prestige.

This harks back to a far more innocent time, of course. A time before gigantic billboards and breathless jingles and frenzied songs and dances, all to sell a phone/a cone/a loan.

These days, barring a few relics, there is no surviving-sans-trumpet-blowing. Sadly, this reality has infected the education sector along with all the rest. Education is a product to yield a profit, a business with a bottom line. At the end of the day, it must make money.

Like many other sectors, we have witnessed a move away from small set-ups built around high quality and hard work, toward mammoth giants that have campuses like tentacles, spread across entire cities. And the game has changed accordingly.

Schools and colleges are divided into tiers, in a sense. There are the ludicrously expensive ‘designer’ institutes where admission is a privilege hard-fought and won; where high-strung parents are judged alongside their offspring, with questions around new-fangled notions like the father’s role in the child’s upbringing, the mum’s career choices and so on. There is no need for marketing here. The long queues outside the buildings and the eye-bleedingly exorbitant fees convey the message better than a 100 billboards.

Then we have the giants, born of efficiency and geared toward expansion. (I remember decades ago, City School and Beaconhouse started down the road of multiple branches. It was a brand new phenomenon back then. Confusing even, for parents and kids accustomed to one name-one school. We eyed such institutes with suspicion: how could proper standards be maintained across locations? How naïve we were!). Names like Roots and Beaconhouse are universally recognised, churning out thousands of graduates every year.

The crucial thing most educational institutes have not figured out is what their brand stands for. I don’t mean ‘we have gora faculty/our campus has iPads/we guarantee results!’ I mean the single, unique aspect a brand represents, that drives it forward.

Such expansion requires mass awareness. You need to get the word out there, to every neighbourhood where you are present. What does this translate into? Billboards on every street? And more importantly, what sort of message should be crafted? What are students and parents searching for? A trusted name? Experienced staff? Top grades? A foreign system? Or perhaps a well-rounded experience, blending academia with an extracurricular focus?

Therein lies the rub. Everything I listed here is functional. It is about practicalities, about resources and results.

The crucial thing most educational institutes have not figured out is what their brand stands for. I don’t mean ‘we have gora faculty/our campus has iPads/we guarantee results!’ I mean the single, unique aspect a brand represents, that drives it forward.

In short, what sort of human beings does that institution develop?

When I was a student, my school did not focus on how many As I would get (well, it did to an extent, but that was not the raison d être by far). It cared more about the kind of woman I would grow up to be. The faculty (a glorious group of intellectual, ethical spinsters) focused on our values during classes, effortlessly incorporating crucial life lessons within subjects. I learnt about honesty, integrity, and independence. I learnt how to stand up for myself, for other women, and to speak up when it was needed. Such things are not promoted or sold or marketed. They just are. They are evident in every person exposed to that system, and what could be better advertising than that?

A marked contrast, then, to the claims made by educational institutions today that focus on aspects which, while relevant, don’t strike me as truly meaningful. So there are high-tech labs and foreign-trained teachers; vast tennis courts and cafeterias; an emphasis on top results and the means to get them. And I realise these factors matter to students and parents too (especially in Pakistan); why else would we churn out kids with 20+As in O’Levels every year?

But what values will they give to the kids under their care? Will they even consider this something worth teaching? Or will everything revolve around getting grades and getting ahead?

In our current, fraught environment, where divisions upon divisions abound and where toddlers are exposed to ugliness like ethnic and sectarian strife, is it not far more vital to concentrate on the sort of beliefs and personalities children will be imbued with?

If I were a parent, I would not be swayed by claims of state-of-the-art-tech or ginormous hoardings on every corner, or (the worst!) two kids in nasal American twangs excitedly discussing a specific college. That stuff is easier to come by than the stuff that actually matters.

So give me a marketing campaign that revolves around the quality of the people they develop, not the number of grades they get. Show me an educational institute that prides values over results. I have had the fortune to spend 11 years in exactly such a place, and I am grateful for it.

Sara Qureshi is Marketing Head – Exams, The British Council.
saraqureshi75@gmail.com

• Brands that rely too heavily on purpose-based marketing can sometimes face a backlash for using people in need and charities as marketing tools. Employee engagement can be difficult to inspire and customers are quick to judge and slow to forget if they believe a campaign is not sincere and has an underlying business purpose.

For the longest time, it was enough for brands to just deliver a good product and attractive marketing, and soon you had big sales and profits. But no more in the future, as consumers increasingly want brands to represent something bigger than their sales and profits. They want brands to be good and do good.

So in this article I am going to talk about putting sincerity at the heart of your brand mission and giving a real purpose for your brands’ existence rather than being number one or the biggest in your category or satisfying a basic consumer need.

Here, I want to set one thing loud and clear upfront; brands searching for a purpose must think 10 times before deciding on one. It’s not about just stealing or owning any social issue for short-term gain or benefit, and that too with sales intent.

The ideology that I am trying to talk about is not what we see happening in Ramzan, when brands leverage the opportunity and try to become better and do good, like we do as individuals and the moment Ramzan ends, we are back to our old bad selves. I am also not talking about when companies just want to put a few marketing elements under the umbrella of CSR every year with the intent to kill two birds with one stone by trying to portray that they are making our lives easier and the world a better place, but in reality, they are doing none of the two.

Such supposedly ‘sometimes doing good’ brands can be seen across our corporate brand world on special occasions or when brands are facing a PR issue. What made Coke suddenly care for Edhi? Or was it a response to the Pepsi ‘Liter of Light’ campaign? These are questions that come to mind when you see work which just appears out of nowhere, with no consistency or longevity. Yet, no matter which marketer or CEO I talk to, they all say we are doing good and usually it is this kind of good. Also, because of the way corporations are structured, brand people believe that such goodness is meant for the company and not their brand on an ongoing basis. So corporate affairs gets to handle CSR and the brand managers don’t want this in their plans on an all-year basis, rather only on special occasions when they think that they can leverage an opportunity to sell more.

Brands that rely too heavily on purpose-based marketing can sometimes face a backlash for using people in need and charities as marketing tools. Employee engagement can be difficult to inspire and customers are quick to judge and slow to forget if they believe a campaign is not sincere and has an underlying business purpose.

However, there are some exceptions to this practice as well and following are great examples with a good purpose at the heart of the brand DNA. This is the type of sustainable goodness that I am talking about.

One such brand is Careem. Their purpose is to provide a livelihood to people and their business model is ‘ride-sharing’, thereby enabling people to make money for themselves and in the end, make a profit for Careem as well. This is the order and scheme of things needed for this new thinking. Then everything that the company does drives this purpose, including their advertising. Profit should not be the purpose, although usually that is the case as companies think of profit first and then find a purpose to put into the mix to make that profit.

If you agree that brands need a bigger purpose, the next point is that the purpose should be rooted in the brand and make sense to consumers as well and not just the company. Marketing people often fail to realise the fundamental fact that a brand exists in the hearts and minds of people, not in their corporate offices. So the purpose should not be something that you happen to like, it should have a brand connect and be liked by your consumers.

Purpose is the new positioning – separating brands that do good from those that merely fulfil a need. Purpose is not something you can just glue on a product. It takes a consistent effort of three to five years at a minimum before consumers start connecting a brand with its stated purpose.

Often, revisiting brand history and purpose is a good starting point to develop a compelling brand purpose. However, this requires a lot of hard work and needs the attention and time of senior management. It should not be left to juniors in the organisation as this ideology speaks for the leaders of the business. Yet, brand owners often make this mistake.

Here I will mention a recent example of my work for Stylo. The company was introduced to me two years ago as being Pakistan’s largest women’s footwear brand. The owners wanted me to help them find a brand purpose. I spent almost two years with them helping them identify ‘women empowerment’ as their purpose and this was articulated as ‘Jo chahoon woh paoon’. It was a hand-holding exercise that went from making them understand branding to helping them think beyond product, seasons and sales. I took them through to consumer research and let them hear what women had to say and inspired them with great brand examples. All this was done at the board level and even the first set of marketing and advertising work was developed with the owners. But what should not have happened then happened. They involved their junior people and passed the project on to them to execute consistently. Yet, the junior people never accepted the idea in their hearts the way the owners did. They changed things and the follow through was not there, mainly because they were not a part of the two-year initial process. Plus, the owners were not involved in the execution. So, the goodness that was created was lost and it was back to business as usual.

Purpose-based marketing has many other challenges. Brands that rely too heavily on purpose-based marketing can sometimes face a backlash for using people in need and charities as marketing tools. Employee engagement can be difficult to inspire and customers are quick to judge and slow to forget if they believe a campaign is not sincere and has an underlying business purpose. A simple way to counteract scepticism is to be sincere. Sincerity can be seen and felt. If there is criticism, listen, adapt and learn. Don’t pull out immediately or support one cause once and another next; be consistent and prepared to stand your ground once you embark upon a brand purpose. Social media has become the best litmus test for such work, so make use of it. If the purpose is the right one and approached the right way, employees and customers will share it, reinforcing the brand and the message every time.

These days, brands are expected to improve the lives of their consumers and do their bit for society. A reputation has to be earned and brands must recognise that they need to work harder to win the loyalty of their customers. However, this responsibility should not be viewed as decorative. It is only through a genuine desire to do good that we can become the meaningful brands our customers want us to be. So focus on purpose not just profit.

Shoaib Qureshy is CEO, Bulls Eye DDB. shoaib@be.com.pk

• <strong>1. Don’t make promises you can’t keep</strong>
• More agencies need to be upfront with their clients and explain to them that the Millennials are logo averse and are loath to be influenced by or share anything that they feel is company focused. You can ‘Karo mumkin’ or ‘Light up Lives’ all you want, Millennials would rather share ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ because it does not tell you to buy Dove.
• <strong>2. Don’t try to force fidelity</strong>
• <strong>3. Don’t tell them what to do</strong>
• <strong>4. Speak their language</strong>

I have had a rough year.

Granted it’s not the worst I have had but it’s pretty close. It all started with an insane notion that I had of striking out for myself and being my own boss. I imagined myself breezing into boardrooms and wowing clients with all my years of experience – nay wisdom – until they begged me to take their money. I imagined that once I broke myself out of the shackles of systems and processes, I would be free to do work that really mattered and would sweep the award shows. Grand Prix’s and Clios were frequent wins in this fantasy.

As you can imagine, it didn’t quite work out that way.

I found myself doing the same old work, with the same tepid results. I made fluffy (but pretty) PowerPoints that passed for strategy presentations. Shot the same old TV commercials with the same old billboards. I wrote catchy jingles instead of having actual conversations with my consumers.

I was shouting just fine, except nobody was listening. This was my mea culpa.

I have spent a significant part of my career selling soda to teens. Each time someone younger (and smarter) would point out that the teens they are a changin’ I would smile and insist that they have always been changing, and it is that change itself that is the sweet spot for our communication. But somewhere along the way those kids grew up. And became the Millennials.

Now just in case you have been living under a rock of your own awesomeness (just like me), Millennials are those born between the early 80s up until the year 2000. They spend an average of 25 hours a week online and are possibly the most lucrative market right now and I had no idea what to say to them or even how.

Until I fell in love with a Millennial. And then lost her.

Now anyone who has ever been in this situation has of course been through the seven stages of grief. While I am not even halfway through, my road to reconstruction has given me a unique perspective on where I went wrong, and what I could have done differently.

So here are my tips on how to sell to Millennials, in no particular order.

1. Don’t make promises you can’t keep

Millennials have all the time in the world for information and no tolerance for bull. They have, at their fingertips, a repository of knowledge that can challenge every claim you could possibly make. They have access to industry experts and opinion leaders whose unboxing videos and verdicts can make or break your product. Millennials are starved for content. They would much rather engage with a story than listen to one. They want to know how your brand will be a part of their life and how far you are willing to go to be a part of theirs. A great case in point would be Coke Studio versus Pakistan Idol. While the former has been around year after year, the latter came in and went. No Millennial will develop any affinity for a brand that does not consistently deliver. While Coke Studio’s merits and demerits are debated and discussed endlessly every season (hence engaged with), Pakistan Idol is all but forgotten.

More agencies need to be upfront with their clients and explain to them that the Millennials are logo averse and are loath to be influenced by or share anything that they feel is company focused. You can ‘Karo mumkin’ or ‘Light up Lives’ all you want, Millennials would rather share ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ because it does not tell you to buy Dove.

2. Don’t try to force fidelity

Loyalty is not a thing of the past, it has a new definition. Millennials are no longer loyal to brands but to themselves. The same woman who until recently was buying Sunsilk off the shelf would now prefer to buy her shampoo and scrub from N’eco’s. The boy who graduated from SZABIST or IVS would rather be an entrepreneur than work at an ad agency or a large multinational. They have realised that starting a family or owning a car and a home are ambitions that can wait. They choose a more fulfilled life over a full one. Now before you feel that this observation is limited to a privileged few, you would do well to remember that these ‘few’ are the ones who are spending to the tune of $200 billion just in the US alone. And even the ones at the other end of the economic spectrum are not buying the cow... they are renting it.

3. Don’t tell them what to do

Remember that thing about an average of 25 hours online? Here is why it matters. When a Millennial wants advice on travel, they won’t ask an agent, they go to TripAdvisor. If they want a new mobile phone, they go to Tech Crunch. They will get their information from blogs. They will carry their advisors with them in their smartphones. I pity that brand that tries to sell them their product. When it comes to purchase decisions, Millennials are more influenced by user generated content than by slick productions. One of the most frequent requests that brand managers make of their agencies these days is for a ‘viral video’. More agencies need to be upfront with their clients and explain to them that the Millennials are logo averse and are loath to be influenced by or share anything that they feel is company focused. You can ‘Karo mumkin’ or ‘Light up Lives’ all you want, Millennials would rather share ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ because it does not tell you to buy Dove.

4. Speak their language

In case you haven’t noticed, Millennials are more Urban Dictionary than Oxford. Acronyms serve as well as words. Do you know what bae means? Hangry? TL maybe? Learn. Just like any other consumer segment, Millennials respond best to marketers that speak their language. But a word of caution here. Just because you know the words, doesn’t mean you automatically have the right to use them. Context is everything and a brand that throws in Millennial speak in their communication “just because...” is like that creepy old uncle at the party who is dancing alone to Justin (Timberlake, not Beiber) thinking he’s super cool “just because...” he knows the lyrics. Odds are that he will be going home to Netflix and chill with himself tonight. Don’t be that guy.

Ali Hayat Rizvi is Creative Director, Creative Chaos. alihayatrizvi@gmail.com

I love Jennifer Aniston as much as Donald Trump loves his hair. I have watched an episode of Friends every day since 1994 as well as all her films. Yet I never truly understood this movie title [The Object of My Affection] until I saw someone post a video by Manhattan-based advertising agency called Badger & Winters. The agency makes a statement about women in advertising in this highly engaging short film, titled "We Are #WomenNotObjects."

The agency promised to quit one of advertising's worst habits – objectifying women.

Before you read further, I suggest you Google ‘Objectification of Women’.

I did and the first 100 images were ads – and advertising was not even a keyword in my search. So were Badger & Winters fair in highlighting this issue without any hidden agenda. The agency after all specialises in brands for women and what better way to position yourself as an agency that understands women than by saying: “We understand women.” But that’s another debate.

The rationale given revolves around the accusation that a male dominated industry consciously demeans women in order to boost sales in a male dominated society. I agree this happens, but I wonder in what way it is demeaning? In my opinion, it reaffirms the premise that women are superior and that men need a little extra effort to convince a woman that they are worthy of her. It does nothing less but glorify women. Why is the advertising industry being singled out? Since time immemorial women have been at the vanguard of temptation.

Over three billion people in the world believe that a Man chose to listen to a Woman, instead of listening to a God. The forbidden fruit represents the core of human psychology. Even if you fall in the ‘rest of the world’ category, you cannot deny the fact that for billions ‘this forbidden fruit’ has been the cornerstone of how the human civilisation evolved. Hence the question why blame the advertising industry.

Advertising is and must be reflective of basic human insights. Take the example of the first Axe campaign which had to change course because of this objectification.

The story behind the original campaign was simple – a hallmark of a great idea. Buy Axe, women will love you for it and will do anything for you.

Now, is that something to be ashamed of? Is it not one of the most normal, mundane reactions one can think of? We all know that our spending habits change the day we fall in love. We spend more on restaurants, colognes, clothes, gifts, jewellery - and all that is triggered by a woman – ‘the woman’.

A few years ago I was scared to admit that I didn’t like the new Old Spice campaign; a creative execution everyone was raving about. It won awards and was said to have brought Old Spice back from the brink of extinction. Then one day my wife saw the ad and it was the first time I heard her say something nice about an ad ever since we have been watching TV together.

It bothered me that I was not able to comprehend the genius in the ad and I started searching for the case histories that would explain what made this great campaign. What I found out was not only interesting but also relevant to the defence of advertising industry.

The campaign was built on the premise that women play a major role in influencing men’s choice of brands in personal care and therefore it was aimed at women. Once I got that I immediately saw the great idea behind the campaign.

And it is not only personal care; women directly or indirectly influence a lot of men’s purchasing decisions. Yes, there have been instances where this insight has resulted in offensive campaigns. But why blame the entire advertising industry for this? Do you blame all doctors when you hear about a malpractice? If you look at it from a different perspective, it is actually sad that men need the affirmation of women to convince them that a particular brand is good for them. I can understand the disgust these ads create, but I would rather feel sorry for these men, than blame the advertising industry for objectifying women.

A man yearns for compliments from the opposite sex, whether it’s the cologne he uses or the lifestyle he has. It is in a man’s innate nature to please women, to make them happy and win their approval. William Golding sums it up perfectly on behalf of the advertising industry “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.”

• Shock, as it's commonly perceived, shouldn't be disturbing, tasteless or even offensive. Far from it. Now more than ever for a generation of consumers raised on television, to be effective it must have a component of entertainment.

First published in the May-June, 1999 edition of Aurora.

Queen Victoria subjected herself and her regime to a period of legendary austerity. The impact of her mourning was so powerful that the notion of a 'Victoria’s sensibility’ is still prevalent today. Not only was London painted black to honour the cortege and also serve as a symbol of admonition to those who might find cause for celebration, but, thereafter, Victorians would find fault if two books by authors of the opposite sex were shelved next to each other and even cover the legs of a table for fear that they may appear too bare and offend the high moral sensibility of the times.

So overwhelming was the abstemious display of remorse that it would place modern day Pakistan’s already stringent censorship policy next to indecency. Ironic, you might say. But what is more ironic is that during this period of grief, Victoria was already entrenched in an intimate friendship with none other than one of her loyal servants — as proven recently by the discovery of the couple's correspondence — which earned her the sobriquet, `Mrs. Brown' among palace insiders. But while the news of such an affair is easily shocking in a public setting, it is by no great stretch of the imagination, a natural and desired evolution between understanding parties in a private setting. Victoria continued to be loved by everyone – which is just the point. People consume ‘shock’ differently in a public versus a private setting. The use of ‘shock values' in industries such as film, art, fashion and music has often been met by extremities from the public at large. But in a private setting, it is often much less blatant, consumed in an environment of silent digestion and dismissed as being among the many accidents of titillation one comes across in everyday living. It's like watching a comedy by yourself. Chances are you don't laugh as much watching it alone as you would have done had you been viewing the same comedy in a public setting, among friends — or even a hall full of strangers.

The use of shock isn't a recent development. Consider medieval fairs where human deformities were on display, latter day circuses where dwarves are dressed as clowns, modern day soap operas where surreal human relationships are forged or even the streets of our cities where beggars display their handicaps. They have all used shock to their advantage. To both entertain and gain monetarily. And they have done so successfully because deep-rooted in the nature of the shocked (the audience) is the cathartic belief that they are not like ‘the shocking' – leading to a sense of smug satisfaction with their own lives.

Similarly, it is effective to use shock – or any of its sibling tactics in advertising. The purpose is simple: to command attention and generate talk value – considered the most persuasive arena for advertising registration. As Dr Samuel Johnson proclaimed, “advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, it has therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises and by eloquences sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic.”

Shock, as it's commonly perceived, shouldn't be disturbing, tasteless or even offensive. Far from it. Now more than ever for a generation of consumers raised on television, to be effective it must have a component of entertainment.

When shock is used as an end in itself, it fails miserably – likened to the rantings of a madman. But when it is used strategically – in association with a powerful idea or as a tactic to communicate that powerful idea and in accordance with brand values – it commands enormous attention and unequivocal opportunities for branding.

Shock, as it's commonly perceived, shouldn't be disturbing, tasteless or even offensive. Far from it. Now more than ever for a generation of consumers raised on television, to be effective it must have a component of entertainment. So, it can be humorous, charming, inviting, daring; it can be used to create awareness, induce trial, change an opinion, or challenge a habit. In effect, the intelligent use of shock – in all its original, memorable and flexible variety – can become the advertising craftsman's most potent secret.

Even risk averse clients who fear the likelihood of public condemnation of their advertising will find reason in urging their agencies to use shock. This is because while advertising may appear in a public setting (i.e. mass media), it targets the private setting (the individual mind). It always has. Through a public medium, it speaks privately to one person at a time (remember the shotgun vs the rifle theory?) If it didn't and insisted on considering its 'audience' as exactly that – a segment of statistically correct consumers – it would sound like a speech. Speeches bore people to sleep. And nobody buys anything when they're asleep. Copywriters know this skill best when they are selecting a tone of voice: in speaking to their audience, they select one person from the crowd, give him a definite and identifiable personality and then address him. Only then does their advertising sound meaningful. Jack Trout and AI Ries further recommend in their best seller, 'Positioning' that you have to "shock your way into the mind of the consumer." In other words, a weak approach results in weak returns. What's more, shock value enhances advertising visibility, memorability and saleability. What could be better?

Of course, despite this argument, advertisers still insist on playing safe – which is okay so long as there's a budget for frequency of exposure. But it's when the budget is low and expectations high that it's time to lose your reservations. Risk is good. Don't underestimate audience reaction by way of shocking them through advertising. They know its place in the grand scheme of things, i.e. it's an ad and not an environmental disaster. Given that advertising is what's left when everything you've communicated is forgotten, it's sensible to commit to your communication the kind of creative energy it needs to succeed with impact in the market – which means, making the most of advertising creativity now.

Over 100 years ago, Victoria seemed to know the secret. It’s time we catch up.

Faraz Maqsood Hamidi is CE and CD, The D’Hamidi Partnership.

• <strong>Growth of a modest advertising medium</strong>
• <strong>Thinking inside the rickshaw</strong>
• <strong>Limitations</strong>
• <strong>Moving forward</strong>

Transit advertising is not a new phenomenon. Particularly in developed markets where every ad impression is valued in a cluttered communication landscape, transit advertising is an opportune method of out of home (OOH) advertising. In recent years, various factors have led to the growth of a new form of OOH advertising, one that uses an otherwise modest medium; the rickshaw.

Growth of a modest advertising medium

According to a study on the automobile industry conducted by the Government of Pakistan, in 2010 there were about 100,000 registered rickshaws on the roads of Pakistan’s cities. Although their shape varies slightly, some features, including a plain rear, are almost universally common; 15-20 square feet of plain rear at eye level, which have recently gained recognition as an inexpensive OOH medium. This benefit in an increasingly regulated and expensive billboard world was fuelled by its affordability.

Rickshaw drivers are currently charging an ad rate of about Rs 200-300 a month. As a result, by placing advertisements on about 10 rickshaws at a cost of only Rs 2,000-3,000 a month, small businesses and low-budget marketers have found an inexpensive canvas to showcase their products and services.

Today, rickshaws are advertising diverse products, services and events. There are ads for retail outlets, political parties, religious events, herbal medicines, tutoring services, generators, office equipment, immigration services, real estate and even web hosting. Lately brands such as Ufone and Zong have found their way onto rickshaws, although big brand interest is limited as they remain concerned with image.

Thinking inside the rickshaw

The full potential of rickshaw advertising has still not been explored and a lot more can be done both on the outside and the potential of the interior remains largely ignored, when in fact it houses something very valuable there – the customer. What other medium can offer the opportunity of continual interaction with customers across various society segments for a time period ranging between 15 minutes to an hour and sometimes even more?

Commuting in a rickshaw, with not much to do, customers have the time to read a leaflet, fill out a small market research survey or send a text message (voice interactivity is not recommended given the noisy environment). Such activities may seem implausible at the moment given the absence of doors (hence basic safety), however retrofitting can be undertaken to resolve this problem. These activities need to be voluntary and should not be perceived as pushing. Training should be imparted to the driver regarding engaging customers. In fact, the driver is an important character in this enterprise and has to be on board; any communication must be acceptable to him.

Doing this requires energy and investment but we are looking at several minutes of engagement with millions of customers in thousands of rickshaws.

Limitations

First among these is image, particularly for high-end brands. As a low income mode of transport, rickshaws are perceived as a low-quality advertising medium. However for nationally advertised, mass-targeted brands, rickshaws are an opportune medium, which can be further improved by investing in their overall look. Another issue is effective tracking. Keeping track of whether or not a particular driver is fulfilling his contractual commitments is not an easy task and brings with it additional resource requirements and cost implications. In some cases the contractual commitments may not be limited to displaying ads but may also involve the upkeep of the three-wheeler both inside and outside. Efficient management of this medium is a learning curve which will improve with time and experience.

Moving forward

Let’s do the math… about 100 branded rickshaws plying a metropolitan city is comparable to the total cost of one or two category A billboards. It is an investment in uncharted territory but is worth every paisa in an increasingly cluttered communication landscape.

Muhammad Talha Salam is a faculty member at FAST School of Management Lahore. talha.salam@nu.edu.pk

• Sadly, I have never been blown away by a telecom brand in Pakistan. Looking at the client logos on my wall, let me rephrase that to “I have seldom been blown away by a telecom brand in Pakistan.”
• For a brand to be truly influential, it needs to do remarkable things. Stand for something. It is not enough to just make ads about social and environmental concerns.

Let me start by appreciating the most dominant force of change of our time; mobile technology. Becoming more affordable and making internet access increasingly ubiquitous with every passing day; enabling social, economic, environmental and political change... everything is happening at the same time. Nothing since the invention of the wheel has influenced peoples’ lives this way. Expression. Communication. Interaction. Mobile technology holds the key to peace, progress, mass movements as well as to discord.

Now, with 4G technology, telecom brands are faced with the choice of either focusing on the functional aspect of this technology or putting the emphasis on more transformational attributes.

They can either talk about their service as being technologically superior or bring out a progressive (window to the world of opportunities for all) or emotional side (connecting hearts) to their marketing.

As a sector, telecoms in Pakistan have become highly commoditised, with brands aggressively fighting for their share of voice 24/7, 365 days. Like any commoditised sector, all the players offer similar services (good network coverage, clear voice, fast internet and value addition), none of which can be seen as a point of differentiation for any particular brand.

Sadly, I have never been blown away by a telecom brand in Pakistan. Looking at the client logos on my wall, let me rephrase that to “I have seldom been blown away by a telecom brand in Pakistan.”

Yet, instead of focusing on creating champion ideas that can act as differentiators, most brands keep hammering us with the same type of ads.

I remember being totally blown away by Idea Cellular’s ‘Walk n Talk’ (2009) campaign, where brand ambassador Abhishek Bachchan urges users to be health-conscious by simply walking and talking when they are on the phone. This was one in a series of ads spread over three years that tackled societal issues such as the caste system, disability, education, democracy and health. Every year they picked an issue and positioned themselves by offering life-changing ideas to address negative influences. And they did this with imagination and creativity. They didn’t just make ads; each campaign was followed up with action. They helped fight deforestation by positioning the mobile phone as an efficient tool to read newspapers, generate e-bills, make payments and issue e-tickets; in short, as a tool to save tons of paper every day.

Sadly, I have never been blown away by a telecom brand in Pakistan. Looking at the client logos on my wall, let me rephrase that to “I have seldom been blown away by a telecom brand in Pakistan.”

Here is an idea. Mobile technology does have a negative impact on physical and mental health. Why has no brand come forward to address this? A huge space is left unexplored at a time when differentiation is hard to find. Why? The most common and dumb answers to this question range from (in no order): “Oh that’s not what our brand stands for” (what does it stand for then?) “That’s not an own-able space” (what space do you own? Red/blue/green?) “This is not a unique positioning; any other brand can say or do this,” (delighted to report that ‘fastest internet and clearest voice quality’ are also not unique!).

However, for the sake of argument, consider this possibility. Imagine that your brand has decided to break away from the norm of promising the moon. What can a telecom brand do to actually contribute to making people healthier and happier? Have a more positive influence over the customer’s life? Make a difference in shaping the country’s future and without compromising on revenue?

Ever heard of TeleMedicine or mHealth – apps that use mobile technology to improve people's health? They include everything from mobile messaging services to encouraging healthy behaviour to medical specifics such as remote monitoring for diabetes patients. Before you dismiss this, know that these apps are more nuanced than just sending text messages to remind people to book a medical appointment. A lot of research has gone into understanding what can motivate healthy living. Take the example of BabyCenter. Their programme sends pregnant women updates about their pregnancy. They do not just provide information about nutrition and exercise; they encourage women to feel good about their pregnancy by sending them messages telling them about the various stages in their baby’s development and then they follow through post-pregnancy with newborn-related messages. Besides helping with chronic disease management, empowering expectant mothers, and reminding the elderly to take their medication, telecom brands have the potential to bring relief to an over-burdened medical system by extending healthcare to people who otherwise would not have access to it – and in Pakistan, that would be a whopping 51% of our population.

For a brand to be truly influential, it needs to do remarkable things. Stand for something. It is not enough to just make ads about social and environmental concerns.

We only spend 0.9% of our GDP on health and according to the Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, there are only 127,859 doctors and 12,804 health facilities to serve more than 180 million people. Now, if we add 40 million smartphones (and the growing scope of the telemedicine ecosystem) to this healthcare equation, suddenly there is the possibility of brands bridging this supply-demand gap and impacting society in a much larger and long-lasting way. There is huge potential for a telecom company to take the lead here, and this is not about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Healthcare access globally is becoming a revenue source in consumer-driven markets like ours. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Telemedicine can boost revenues and create healthier customers who are actually likely to become more profitable as well. It has never been harder to differentiate; and there has never been more confusion in the telecom industry about how to do so – but the choice is yours. Continue yelling more for less or change the game.

I say this often before closing my presentations: For a brand to be truly influential, it needs to do remarkable things. Stand for something. It is not enough to just make ads about social and environmental concerns. Customers demand authenticity. Look at what Dove did when they redefined beauty and gave women more self-confidence or Airtel, when they announced the Open Network initiative under Project Leap. The most influential people always stand for something, they strive to resolve cultural tensions and act on issues that others around them are passionate about. So what are you passionate about?

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

Strepsils Pakistan, a Reckitt Benckiser (RB) brand, in an effort to create brand recall and promote Pakistani musicians has launched an initiative called Strepsils Stereo.

The launch coincided both with the August 14th Independence Day celebrations as well as, tangentially, with the approach of the autumn-winter season, which typically sees an increases in throat-related ailments and consequently in the demand for products such as Stepsils.

Strepsils Stereo is basically A capella – a musical composition which relies entirely on the voice (solo or multiple), providing all the sound without any instrumental support – by Ali Noor, and the first song is based on a cover of Khayal Rakhna, originally performed by Alamgir.

According to Fahad Ashraf, Director Marketing, Reckitt Benkiser: “the primary purpose of Strepsils is to enable a clear throat and clarity of voice. We had been thinking of exploring music as a platform, and the idea of Strepsils Stereo with its focus on A capella fit like a glove with the brand.”

Elaborating further, Ashraf says it was a rather organic process. Getting Ali Noor on-board was an easy decision as RB had already collaborated with Noor on a project for Veet Pakistan (another RB brand). The question was how to stand out on a platform that had already been co-opted by Coke, Nescafé and Pepsi. The answer came from Noor who suggested the A capella route. “It was taken up instantly; we were all super excited and on the same page!”

As Noor says, A capella had never been done before in Pakistan, at least not on a large, commercial level and: “it was unbelievably challenging. There was no precedent to draw from and selecting the right vocalists with the right chemistry with each other was both extremely challenging and tedious, especially as it involved recording every sound and beat and then using editing software to align and synchronise the sound clips so that the end result was a beautiful and harmonious song.”

According to Noor, although Khayal Rakhna was a cover, all forthcoming songs will be originals, as “our music industry desperately needs original work to sustain its sense of independence and freedom that it enjoyed in earlier decades.”

Ashraf further clarifies that RB opted for a cover in order to test whether the concept of A capella would actually work – and clearly using a well-loved musical rendition was the way to do it.

Along with Noor, the vocalists in this A capella were Ahsan Pervaiz, Rachel Viccaji, Sara Haider and Zoe Viccaji.

“I have worked with Zoe, Rachel and Sara often, so I knew how harmonised they are with each other and bringing them on-board was an easy decision,” says Noor. However, he adds,
“Ahsan was a discovery. He had assisted me on various technical post-production projects and when I told him about this project, he did a version of this song in his own voice and edited it so expertly that I knew he had to be a part of this venture.”

"The Pakistani audience has become very reactive to the monotony that cliché music brings and Strepsils Stereo will not go down that road."

When asked about the commercial and creative impact of brands adopting music as a communication platform, Noor says brand patronage rather than brand sponsorship is what needs to be encouraged.

“With brand sponsorship, it is the brand that dictates what to do, when to do it and how to do it and that stifles creativity.” On the other hand, he says when a brand helps develop a musician’s original idea, believes in it and supports the creative mission, “that is when a truly win-win situation takes place between the musician, the brand and the audience.”

The initiative is being promoted on digital and there are no plans to take it to TV.
According to Farzana Abdullah, Associate Director, Adcom ZenithOptimedia (Strepsils' media agency), “digital doesn’t require the huge budgets that ATL does, yet it delivers immense engagement, focused reach and shareability value.”

Abdullah adds that although only two weeks have passed since the launch, the KPIs achieved so far have “completely surpassed the KPIs originally set” – target video views were set at 350,000 and 1.8 million views have been achieved.

Given that the initiative did develop organically, the next steps have yet to be determined in terms of whether Strepsils Stereo will, in future, take the format of entire seasons with episodes, or simply as single songs – all this and more has to be planned.

“The only decided thing is there will be no covers and only originals from now on. The Pakistani audience has become very reactive to the monotony that cliché music brings and Strepsils Stereo will not go down that road,” concludes Noor.

• <strong>1 Your fair skin is the epitome of beauty!</strong>
• Why do boys get to choose the girl? Let’s ‘break’ the norm and do it the other way round. Oh wait! With that brown complexion you can’t possibly reject that boy.
• <strong>2 You are ‘you’ and that is perfectly imperfect!</strong>

"Hello, I am the 21st century. Welcome to the age of beauty hacks, makeup fads, Make Up Alley (MUAs), Instagram one-minute DIYs, beauty blenders of all sorts, face lifters and nude to bronze to rainbow highlighters. Wait, there’s a face slimming app, retouching, re-colouring and giving just the perfect glow! Damn girl, that is a killer doggie selfie right there! But some of you still manage to look so repugnant, so average? Wow! That must take a lot of ignorance and perhaps a lot of confidence and self-love!”

As ‘beauty’ becomes one of the largest categories in the world of brands and advertising, we like to believe that beauty is equal to fairness and fairness is directly proportional to being beautiful.

The majority of the subcontinent is a victim of objectification and it is common to stigmatise people based on skin tone. So, what manufacturers do is to find the right product to cater to the needs of these heartbroken human beings. While the product has one sole reason and functionality – to make you ‘white’, it will not be restricted to women’s prettiness only, it will also work for the oh-so-handsome McDreamy men too.

Brand teams come to the agency asking them to create wonders: “Something very creative, and very out-of-the-box!” We, as passionate creatives, believe we can change the world. Yet when it comes to talking about beauty, we prefer to limit ourselves to two kinds of communications only.

1 Your fair skin is the epitome of beauty!

For the advertiser who believes in ‘selling dreams’ and everything that is larger than life. Always here to help audiences develop unrealistic expectations about beauty; making them believe that only with a fair skin can they overcome all impediments. Like it’s as simple as one, two, three!

The promise
You can land a job with your fair complexion (oh I wish!). That foreign graduate with killer looks your Aunty Rashida told you about... well, he has finally agreed to marry you.

Why do boys get to choose the girl? Let’s ‘break’ the norm and do it the other way round. Oh wait! With that brown complexion you can’t possibly reject that boy. He has a good job, his own house and is well-settled. Let’s put on Fair & Lovely to help you gain confidence while your complexion turns white and voila! In three years you will be ready to get married! (That’s how long it will take the new and improved fairer girl to be equal to the boy and his status! If only we can actually achieve all this in three years in real life!).

Why do boys get to choose the girl? Let’s ‘break’ the norm and do it the other way round. Oh wait! With that brown complexion you can’t possibly reject that boy.

Roz roz koi parlour kaise jaye ga? Scrub and scrub, clean and clean, wash karo with vitamin! Another Fair & Lovely jingle and it sounds like a Tarang tea whitener ad (I guess it’s just the deal with everything white maybe?!) Come, sing and dance your way to fairness. Please note: The models are 32-24-32; only a simple fairness ‘whitewash’ is required. Because we completely, totally and proudly own stereotypes!

Get a mega star to endorse fairness! You can be half as good as this superstar in this ‘Fair and Handsome’ ad if you use the same fairness cream that had made him what he is today. The message is heartening I tell you. You don’t need to hide your face because of your brown skin. Be bold, be handsome – be white and become a chick magnet!

2 You are ‘you’ and that is perfectly imperfect!

We sell reality and slices of life and make audiences believe in and love themselves for who they really are. Give them the confidence to go out without makeup and flaunt those freckles, those wrinkles! Owning up to your oh-so-round face with a brown skin. While we are at it, we will not forget to objectify you and turn you into stereotypes nonetheless!

The promise
Be the rebellious tomboy. Let’s talk about it and make it a public agenda! Let’s own your beauty with the power of one honest selfie at a time. Dove did a social experiment and seemed to be pretty successful with its internet viral campaign.

This world has stopped discriminating, thanks to Dove.

Flaunt your curly hair, break the dress code, work your way around your dark complexion and accept the fact that you are imperfectly perfect. This is what you will see in Gul Ahmed’s Summer Lawn Collection ad. NOT a fairness cream for a change, but we will associate fashion and clothes with beauty and perfect figures!

Both types of communications work, but the questions is: who wins in the battle of skin tone and self-esteem? So here is the point: the key to a good campaign is to read the research, look at the product offering, dig into the insights and create magic. Yet the dark fact of the matter is that these insights are based on society and people. And we do believe that the embodiment of beauty is fair skin and we worship a person based on his/her fake and enhanced beauty!

Society will brand you a tomboy if you disagree with the sajna sawarna, even if you are a girl in every sense of the word. The dark girl who knows she doesn’t need to be fair to get an interview, to score well, find a job, or get a rishta. Wait, what? No rishta if you are not gori? Well, that is quite possible. After all, that is what actually matters at the end of the day. That is how your compatibility with your better half-to-be will be determined; how your home running skills are judged. It is also the only way you can become a good companion, wife, working woman or a mom. So, you can be fair, or you can die trying!

With so many new beauty and fairness products coming in every day, the world is a paradise for advertisers. However, if we have the power to change the world, how about changing mindsets? Heaven forbid that we should possibly work towards changing the ‘insights’ altogether. Can we also not sell imperfection as the quintessence of beauty? How about we make our flaws our uniqueness and work on that only? Make people more powerful for the bigger things in life rather than making them dumb blondes? Hey! Did I just stereotype here?

Uh-ho. Well that’s how my mind started to behave while writing this article.

Let me ask the question: Will you behave responsibly and dare stop selling dreams or behave irresponsibly and sell imperfections? Or will you work towards developing a third type of communication?

Maryam Yousaf is Creative Director, Bramerz. mrym.ysf.9688@gmail.com

• Remember that as a challenger brand, you can choose to be the predator or the prey. The choice is yours. The predator is the change agent, and the prey is the follower of the conventions set by the market leader.

In any branded category, you will inevitably find brands that enjoy a leadership position. Market leaders enjoy a favourable status quo, whereby they can almost sit back and enjoy the spoils of victory, simply by retaining a high level of consistency in their brand delivery. This is especially fruitful in a growing market like Pakistan where brand owners can enjoy year-on-year growth by virtue of simply retaining a leading market share.

Other brands face a less cushy reality. They face disproportionately higher market, business and HR pressures. They have to work twice as hard to achieve favourable results. One can hardly blame such brands for wanting to be like, or at least acting like the big boys (or big girls), in the hope that some of their success will rub off on them. After all, it is only natural to gravitate towards the market leader. However – a naïve and short-sighted hope. Imagine if David had tried to copy Goliath’s moves in their epic battle. It would have simply hastened Goliath’s victory, as David would have played to Goliath’s strengths. Instead, David chose to move out of his comfort zone and do something different, which was not in his favour in conventional terms. He changed the game.

The need is to reverse the food chain so that the predator becomes the prey. Challenger brands that recognise this fact have gone on to become change agents in their category. They are the brands which succeed in changing their situation from unfavourable to highly desirable. To succeed, brands must be and remain challengers at their core.

Remember that as a challenger brand, you can choose to be the predator or the prey. The choice is yours. The predator is the change agent, and the prey is the follower of the conventions set by the market leader.

I can relate to this better than most, as I have spent a good deal of my career strategically leading a challenger agency brand after having served in a leading agency. If a challenger brand was a spaceship, it would have to expend half its fuel supply to lift off and achieve optimal speed before success even becomes visible. It is really tough to be a challenger brand in a category infested by big sharks. This is why we decided to name our challenger brand agency Pirana; a small fish, capable of devouring much larger prey, as a result of its sheer ferocity. To survive, let alone succeed, we had to quickly come up with our own highly-differentiated offerings. The same applies to other categories – brands are brands and the principles that lead to brand success tend to be fairly consistent across the board.

Remember that as a challenger brand, you can choose to be the predator or the prey. The choice is yours. The predator is the change agent, and the prey is the follower of the conventions set by the market leader. Brands get to set their own goalposts. Following the rulebook of the leaders may help them scrape enough for an abysmal existence; however, for sustained success, brands must be prepared to change the rules of the category they operate in. They need to embrace the role of David in the face of the seemingly invincible Goliath.

Read: Nailing big ideas.

Challenger brands have certain advantages over leadership brands. For example, they don’t need to be all things to all people. They can afford to be somewhat polarising, standing for something unique in the market. True challenger brands are about provocation, seduction and transforming categories. I believe this attitude of seeding a change of behaviour in consumers is the defining characteristic of today’s challenger brands. Strong challenger brands need to have a point of view, some form of belief or value system that sets them apart. They believe in themselves and they project their beliefs insistently.

Here are some guiding principles for brands in competitive categories dominated by strong leading brands:

Acquire a strong footing in the market before you decide to challenge the leader As a newborn brand, it is wise to carve out a defendable niche while staying under the leader’s radar. Newborn challengers are not ready to get into head-on battles with the leaders. Good, well thought-out first steps can help challenger brands shape future victories. For example, I used to handle the Crest brand, which was a challenger to Unilever’s dental care brands which dominated the Arabian Peninsula some years ago. The Crest team decided to create and own the ‘beauty’ sub-segment rather than launch a head on confrontation with Unilever in its traditional areas of strength. The strategy paved way for a massive and effective offensive to challenge Unilever for leadership a few years later.

Chart out your path to future leadership before you begin your war with Goliath
Every brand leader should have a clear vision of their desired endgame, even when conventional logic makes victory seem unlikely in the prevailing market conditions. Nokia enjoyed a strong leadership position in feature phones for a long time. Then Nokia became complacent, no doubt disinclined to believe their brand could ever be overcome by a competitor’s product. Apple had a clear vision about changing the category through the introduction of the smartphone. Nokia has become a shell of its former self, while Apple invented an entirely new, game-changing alternative (offering internet, emails and apps).

Become the thought leader of your category
Strong challenger brands should develop a lighthouse identity that other brands (even the market leaders) look up to. Achieving thought leadership is easier to achieve than market leadership. Thought leading challenger brands take on the guise of future leaders – definitely a good thing in my book. You may never have flown with Virgin Atlantic, but you probably know what they stand for.

Read: The importance of simple ideas.

Red Bull started off as an unlikely challenger in the cold drinks category, yet it ended up carving out its own sub-category. Red Bull has always had the irreverent edge to counter the staid sameness of the cola brands that dominate cold drinks. Red Bull stood for extreme sports versus the traditional and tiresome platforms adopted by the leading colas.

Don’t lose your challenger brand edge and aggression
Creating a challenger brand is not easy and keeping the maverick spirit going is an even harder task. The main reason challenger brands achieve success is because they are truly different from the leaders and followers. Traditional leader brands are good at maintaining strong consistency in execution. Strong challenger brands are great in maintaining a strong consistency of differentiation.

Be a maverick by considering new technologies and new ways of doing things
Good challenger brands excel at innovating. They redefine categories. They rewrite the rules while bringing in a disproportionate benefit to their consumers. Careem revolutionised the car-for-hire category in Pakistan by introducing a unique democratised model, driven by smartphone technology. Although they were not the first, they changed the market dynamics significantly in a way that had their competition reeling.

There is a fine line between calculated risks and stupidity
Be a smart maverick. When you pick fights with the big boys, make sure you only pick those that play to your strength. Remember, the big boys have deeper pockets than you have and would like nothing better than to watch you fail.

Afzal Hussain is General Manager, M&C Saatchi World Services, Pakistan.

• Pakistan needs to create other narratives. There are true stories to be told about the country; its art, great historical sites, its food, its music, the stunning beauty of the northern areas and, most important of all, the culture of hospitality.

I am back at my desk in London after my fourth visit to Pakistan – where I ran a training course and seminars for Pakistan Advertisers Society called ‘Brand Building in the Digital Age’. It was a joyful experience; great hospitality, warmth and conversation (as for all previous visits).

What I have just written will come as no surprise to Pakistanis, who are justifiably proud of their nation, culture and the welcome that embraces strangers and visitors; that pride is particularly evident now as the country celebrates its 70th anniversary.

But it is a surprise to many others who have never visited – including intelligent and well informed people.

There is a frustrating gap between the reality of being in Pakistan and the image of the country abroad, especially in Europe and the USA. This frustration was the topic of many conversations, and a long one, when I visited the Dawn offices to meet friends at Aurora.

The cause is not difficult to analyse. Twenty four hour news media feed on bad news stories. So, the image that stays in the mind is of a TV journalist reporting on violence and human tragedy. We tend to remember most what we have most recently seen – it is a well-known psychological effect – and so this image crowds out others.

In London, where I live, people believe violent crime is on the increase because incidents make the headlines and create (occasionally gory) picture stories. In fact, the opposite is true. All trends show that violent crime is on the decrease.

Now, of course, the media have a duty to report the news. That is not my point. And I can’t see the appetite of 24-hour TV news media for violent picture stories diminishing.

So, what to do?

Pakistan needs to create other narratives. There are true stories to be told about the country; its art, great historical sites, its food, its music, the stunning beauty of the northern areas and, most important of all, the culture of hospitality. As a Londoner, I can go all day without talking to a stranger, whereas in Pakistan, I had many spontaneous conversations with people as I went out and about in Lahore and Chiniot.

Pakistan needs to create other narratives. There are true stories to be told about the country; its art, great historical sites, its food, its music, the stunning beauty of the northern areas and, most important of all, the culture of hospitality.

In a nutshell, if the problem is geo-politics, the opportunity is culture.

For example, people come together over music (all musicians are great collaborators) and food is the stimulus to conversation. History challenges the simplicities of headlines with a more nuanced understanding. Everyone can appreciate the pleasure of walking together through stunning landscapes. If you want to understand someone go on a long walk with them.

How can Pakistan do this? I think there is an opportunity for a leader to make the case for a proper budget to promote tourism to Pakistan. But not the kind of tourism campaign that just shows pretty pictures – but one that tells the many true stories of what it is like to be in Pakistan and its different regions with their own distinctive characters.

There has never been a better time to start this, with the advent of social media like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. These are fuelled by human stories told through images and short films. The time is ripe now (not for an oversimplified advertising message), but a broad platform that allows many to make films and share images. My working title for this is ‘My Pakistan’.

If you go on YouTube right now you will see the problem and the opportunity in seconds. Search ‘Pakistan’ and you get the bad news stories – leading films are of Trump and the tense relationship with the US. Well, that sort of story is probably not going to change any time soon. But you could create another YouTube channel that tells different stories.

Pakistan has the resources – a whole generation of young people are growing up whom we might call ‘digital natives’. They know how to create and curate images of themselves on social media and these skills can be harnessed for the greater good.

If you would like to know more about what I have in mind, just respond to this post and I can develop this thinking in more detail. If you think I am being naïve and unrealistic let me know too.

Julian Saunders is strategist, trainer and writer. He was Strategy Director, Ogilvy and Head of Strategy, McCann-Erickson and has worked on behaviour change campaigns for the UK Government and on innovation in The Zoo at Google. He blogs at www.joinedupthink.com

TCS Holdings recently launched a customer loyalty card called TCS Card with the purpose of providing hassle-free prepaid services to their customers. Using this card, users can load balance onto their cards (from Rs 1,000 up to Rs 20,000+) and pay for transactions online. The balance can be recharged at any Express Centre or via HBL online banking. Card holders will be provided reward points on each transaction and these can be redeemed by shopping on Yayvo.com or making further transactions.

To encourage adoption, TCS is offering 250 free sign-up points and Rs 200 worth of Sentiments vouchers to new users. According to Naiyar Saifi, Director Marketing and Public Affairs, TCS Holdings, “in these times, when logistics companies face stiff competition, customers need services that reward them, ease payments and help them track their transactions – something only TCS is currently providing.”

He adds that in future, the aim is to make the card “a complete wallet for customers who can then use it to pay for fuel, grocery and utility bills etc.”

CarFirst, a start-up that sells used cars on an online auction platform, has raised one of Pakistan’s biggest series ‘A’ funding (first round of financing for start-ups by private investors). The funding was provided by the Frontier Car Group (Delaware LLC) which build and operate marketplaces for used cars in emerging markets. The group is run by European entrepreneurs and investors and operate in Chile, Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. Their aim is to increase efficiency of selling and buying cars in challenging environments through technology implementation.

Launched in 2016, CarFirst aim to provide car sellers with a safe, hassle-free process to have their cars inspected and sold at a fair price within an hour. Although the precise amount of the funding was not revealed, Raja Murad Khan, Founder, CarFirst, says that the funding will be used to increase the number of inspection centres (initially in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad) and eventually across the country. A major chunk will be used for operational costs and advertising.

“A larger network requires more partners who purchase from us and we are also looking to develop a larger sales team and warehousing. We are aiming to increase revenue by over 300% by the end of 2017,” says Khan.

The Automotive Development Policy 2016-21 has brought about a drastic change in the automotive landscape of Pakistan. The policy, since its announcement, has attracted many global car brands that are looking to invest in the country, including Nissan Renault, Audi, BMW and Volkswagen. Anticipating a tough competition, the existing brands are gearing up and launching multiple new models to retain market share, while other companies are entering into joint ventures with foreign car makers to set up plants.

Here are a few key statistics about the sector:

Read a detailed coverage of Pakistan's automobile sector here.

Khan is an actor, but many would opine that he is a better marketer. It’s like a cricketer who joins the team because he was an average bowler, but turns out to be a stellar batsman. However, with great popularity comes great criticism and Khan is indeed one of the most polarising celebrities to come out of Bollywood. People either love him or hate him; there is little room for anything else. However, while the naysayers may have a lot to say about his films, his acting, or his signature dialogue delivery, even his biggest critics admit that, as things stand, Khan’s monstrous success and popularity have little to do with acting. You need to be not only lucky, but also incredibly smart to be that successful for that long.

S.W.O.T – The SRK Way

Even before he became the undisputed king of marketing in Bollywood, Khan knew what worked for him and what didn’t. This could be because he briefly studied Mass Communication or because of his enterprising personality. Yet, Khan has always known where his strengths lie. True that he experimented here and there, but he is mostly stuck to what works for him. His personality and his chocolate hero image have solidified his status as a sweetheart for the young and old alike. He knows his art is not as refined as Amir Khan’s; that he will never have Hrithik Roshan’s looks, Salman Khan’s body or the novelty that any new face has on offer. However, perhaps the smartest thing Khan has done over the years is build a deep-rooted relationship with his audience. At a time when celebrities were considered ‘stars’ the common man could only look at from the other side of the screen, Khan became relatable to every man. One of the biggest reasons for his astounding success is the fact that he resonates with the public. And it’s not just about the dimples; since the beginning, his self-deprecating sense of humour, friendly relationship with the press and ability to take criticism have all made him ‘likeable’ and marketable. He is neither as unapproachable as Amir Khan, nor as controversial as Salman Khan and his passion to sell himself well makes him a dream to market.

He is the embodiment of a self-made Bollywood star; a true rags-to-riches story… the stuff of movies. Unlike many of his peers, he had no contacts, no relative in the industry, no one pulling strings and directing roles or auditions his way. In a country where millions of young boys, with no money or contacts, want to become a ‘hero’, Khan, who was one of them, became one. More importantly, throughout all these years he has remained committed to his fans. Be it coming out onto his balcony every day to wave at his fans, or making a movie dedicated entirely to them, even at 50, he still seems like a fauji at heart.

SRK – The Brand

When Khan decides to sell something, he does it unapologetically, no holds barred. Whether it is a film he is promoting, a show or a watch, when he gets behind something, he pulls out all the stops. He doesn’t sell the product, he sells his image. Take his promotional campaign for Ra.One. Regardless of the lukewarm reviews, the film did incredibly well at the box office. Honestly speaking, the film was mediocre at best, but Khan sold it like Mission Impossible meets Tron.

he marketing campaign for Ra.One started with more than 200 days left for the release, but that didn’t mean he was cutting corners; it just meant he intended to go harder. At the end, he spent an excess of 1.5 billion rupees on Ra.One, more than half of which was directed at marketing. However, as mentioned before, when he decides to sell something, he does it with everything in him. For Ra.One’s marketing campaign, it seemed like he called everyone on his contact list. A total of 25 local and international brands including Sony PlayStation, McDonald’s, Videocon, Nokia, Coke, Cinthol, Indian Grand Prix, ICC World Cup, ESPN Star partnered with him. Some called this level of merchandising nothing short of manic, but considering the average quality of the film and the extraordinary business it did, experts call it magic.

Take smart risks

Marketing pundits suggest that Khan has the Midas touch; everything he touches, turns into gold – be it a below-average film or a basic pan masala. However, while his persona is flamboyant and entertaining, there is method to his madness. It is normal for production houses to be conservative and spend money on distributing a film to more screens, rather than on marketing. This is perhaps why, more recently, Khan has mostly worked with his own money or generated it through partnerships. In an interview with Mint, he expressed his discomfort about working with someone else’s money. “You have to put your money where your mouth is. There is a huge amount of money in the market. I don’t work with that money. I work with my own money; I don’t borrow from the banks.” In 2002, he and wife, Gauri Khan, co-founded Red Chillies Entertainment, a company that has backed most of the films he has recently starred in. When it comes to marketing, most production houses prefer engaging in sure-shot marketing strategies, rather than taking risks on innovative marketing strategies. However, with his money in play, and his passion for trying something new, all bets are off. And looking at how consistently his brand power is growing, all his risks are paying off.

Teamwork

Call it false modesty or a humble-brag, Khan has always insisted that he not be given credit for his success as a marketer. Even though it is his name and money at stake, he understands the importance of not always giving in to his own ideas and of not rejecting other people’s ideas. “For years, I have sat down with some very smart and intelligent young people who come up with out-of-the-box ideas. I’m in a position — and I’m not trying to be modest here — to use those ideas and have the resources to build up on them. But I’m not the birth-giver to those ideas.” His clutter-breaking strategies have been the driving force behind the success of his brand. Be it the 200-day long, spam-like promotional campaign for *Ra.One* or the game and karaoke-app for *Chennai Express*; be it ‘Slam! The Tour’ for *Happy New Year* or plugging *Dilwale* into the 20-year anniversary of *Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge*, his marketing ways are a product of rigorous brainstorming, inclusive idea-swapping and an effective team to execute all plans.

Look for a new angle

As anyone, who sat through the three hour monstrosity (otherwise called Happy New Year), will testify, Khan and his co-stars really put their hearts into selling that film. Slam! The Tour was a dance tour conceived, executed and marketed entirely by Red Chillies Entertainment. The company is said to have made more than two billion rupees from the tour alone. Not bad for a three hour monstrosity. In addition to the dance tour, Red Chillies organised a reality dance show (borrowing from the film) called Dil Se Naachey Indiawaale. His production house then decided to give a new spin to SMS marketing by sending subscribed users the Happy New Year trailer via WhatsApp.

In conclusion, judging from the momentum of his success, there is no one in Bollywood who can rival the ways and wit of Khan as an entertainer and marketer. His impact was best put into words in 2009 by Michael Lynton, the then-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produced Saawariya. In 2008, Khan’s Om Shanti Om and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya released on the same day, yet despite truly being an artistic piece of cinematic storytelling, Saawariya tanked, while Om Shanti Om became one of the biggest films that year. Speaking to The New York Times, Lynton shared his experience, “You don’t go up against Shah Rukh Khan, no matter how good your product is.”

Sometimes you’ve got to break rank. No, I’m not talking about breaking the rules or getting yourself into trouble. I’m talking about letting your brand appear human, letting it feel and making others feel. The life of a brand manager used to be pretty simple and ideal: You’re in charge of a brand where you and your agency devise slick campaigns and ideas to elevate the perception of the brand. In Pakistan, it’s especially about appearing refined, in control, buttons tightly-buttoned, hair nicely blow-dried, makeup on point and not a feather out of place.

The advertising culture in Pakistan isn’t very open to showing real emotion or vulnerability. Granted, we’ve watched enough Indian ads to soften up a bit, but we’re still not there entirely. We stop short of being completely raw, honest and representing a true reflection of the ‘aam awaam’ (the average citizen). We still can’t help glossing things up and adding a touch of aspiration and up-market happiness.

But this can’t fly for long. With brands now having to keep up with social media and its ever-evolving ‘wokeness’ (defined by Urban Dictionary as a measurable state of awareness about what's happening in the world), brands now have to pay closer attention to what people want, because consumers no longer limit their dissatisfaction for the brand to small talk and their living rooms. They can now get on to Twitter or Facebook and let the brand know how they feel. This means that brand managers and their agencies now have to sit up and keep up. They must react to criticism, laugh when the consumer laughs and to an extent, mourn when the consumer mourns. With the expectations for brands to be more human, the range of emotions expressed must be there too. And while it’s easy to celebrate with your followers, mourning is subjective and for a brand, challenging.

That said, there are brands out there that have succeeded in saying the right thing at the right time. A local favourite is Espresso; the café. Not a brand to shy away from being straight-forward and blunt on good days, Espresso always sends out a message of support and hope in dark times, which shows that they are paying attention to what is happening in the country, all the while keeping the sensitivity of the situation in mind.

Another example is Careem. In times of emergency and confusion, the brand has been known to cut fares or offer free rides to those affected. Internationally, you’ve got brands like Airbnb and Facebook who activate ‘disaster response services’ for people; it’s not an ad – it’s a smart way of responding and customising services accordingly.

That’s what matters. It’s not always about a nicely-designed ad. Every brand has to respond to situations in a way that is relevant to their brand, while being careful to not appear as if they are ‘selling themselves ’. So pay attention, brands. Go ‘woke’ or go home!

• <strong>Geometric motifs</strong>
• <strong>Arabic looking text</strong>
• <strong>The colour green</strong>
• <strong>Arches, minarets and domes</strong>
• <strong>The hijab</strong>
• <strong>Profound copy</strong>

Let’s face it; the world of advertising is a make-believe world. It is a world built on outward appearances and people ridicule it for its superficiality. However, a lot of effort goes into making that artificiality appear real and in most cases the success is determined by how close to reality the advertising appears to be.

Sadly, superficiality is rampant in the advertising we see around us and nowhere is this most painfully obvious than in the advertising for Islamic financial services. There seems to be a customised DIY kit for churning out communication for Islamic banking.

Geometric motifs

Some form of geometric element is essential. Pirated CDs used to be the rage a few years ago, when for a meagre Rs 50 one could buy a CD chock-full of ready-to-use motifs, icons, templates, etc. Nowadays, it is easier (and most importantly, ‘free’) to log on to the internet and find the widest variety of visual elements a mere Google search away. (Make sure you type ‘Islamic’ along with ‘motifs’ to ensure you don’t end up using Romanesque motifs.) However, with the explosion of lawn this spring, I am sure one can easily use the textile design/filigree motifs and pass them off as pseudo-Islamic for use as backgrounds in the design.

Arabic looking text

Swirly-whirly, calligraphic logos, with lots of ahrab or accents, the more the better. Whatever the language of the logo, it ‘must’ look Arabic… because ‘obviously’ Arabic equals Islamic.

The colour green

This could be an ‘Islamic’ sequel to The Colour Purple for which Oprah ‘didn’t’ win an Academy Award… but in this case it’s the essential palette for all Islamic banking communication. The only exception being if the brand has an obviously ‘Islamic’ pedigree, in which case other colours may be explored.

Arches, minarets and domes

This one plagues the architectural arena as well; the easiest way to create an Islamic look is to plonk a dome on a building or plaster pointy arches all around. Fortunately, in art direction terms one could be more subtle about it; unfortunately, we still end up making a pastiche. It seems just as ridiculous as pretending that our clothing suddenly becomes ‘Islamic’ with…

The hijab

As women are the more popular choice of gender in advertising imagery, they need to wear a hijab otherwise advertising for Islamic banking will just not fly. I would lump other ‘Islamic’ accessories in this category too; tasbeeh, topi, etc.

Profound copy

Any thesaurus will do. Take key words with even a remotely sublime/profound/ pseudo-religious connotation and apply basic copywriting rules to it. And voila, you have an ad that is bound to be a hit with your target audience. Don’t forget to add a healthy overdose of solemnity and ‘preachiness’ to the voiceover if it is being adapted to radio or TV.

The advertising of Islamic banking services suffers from a similar malady that afflicts most ‘Islamic’ art as it is practiced today. It lacks soul and is mostly superficial mainly because it is not true to its essence. (It is beyond my jurisdiction, whether or not ‘Islamic’ banking as practiced here is truly Islamic, but perhaps that is the core of the problem.)

Anyway, the advertising we see vacillates between product-focused communication, with a cosmetic application of Islamic motifs, or lightweight, seemingly profound ‘thematic’ ideas, where the financial product seems out of place. Juggling the balance between thematic and product-focused communication is something we all struggle with every day of our advertising lives, but if one manages to tap into a core insight/idea/belief related to the brand, and if one has a talented art director to work with, there is no reason why a memorable piece of communication cannot be created.

The only example that comes to mind was the main bhi Ameen hoon campaign by UBL, where the DIY kit outlined above produced something which was intelligently simple, visually crisp, and profound without being preachy and at least something worthy of ‘Islamic’ banking.

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

The mornings on Madison Avenue in New York have a surrealistic urgency about them. Dressed impeccably, hundreds walk this street every day. Their movement overtly synchronised, as if choreographed for a fashion show. Almost all of them with the same frown are intensely lost in thought. Many of them, if not all, have one thought revolving in their heads, everyday every morning: “when will I bag a wireless account?”

Strange you might think, but not if you are familiar with geography and advertising, because Madison Avenue has always been metonymous with the advertising industry and with an estimated media spend of around $500 million, wireless also known as the telco industry, is what many ‘Mad Men’ dream of every day – every morning. The wireless industry boasts one of the highest spending in marketing. A key reason being when it comes to battle of the brands, the wireless industry leads the arena for the fiercest rivalries in advertising. Not to mention another reason for its aggressiveness is that, unlike other industries, the ROI in wireless can almost be measured in real time. Innovation in pricing, product or promotion usually has an immediate effect, giving little time to react.

With over 400 million subscribers the wireless market in USA is more than the population of many countries. Verizon leads the pack with over 140 million subscribers, followed by AT&T with over 130 million and T-Mobile bridging the gap with around 70 million. The bitter rivalry created through the challenger platform between Verizon and T-Mobile is how the audience sees the wireless industry in the USA. AT&T has not only been sporadic, but also almost nonchalant in its advertising; it seems less interested in churning out advertising and more interested in acquisitions, hence audiences ignore AT&T as competition and are accustomed to Verizon and T-Mobile in the ring (pun intended). T-Mobile has positioned itself as the challenger brand (surprise, surprise), gradually but steadily adding to its subscriber base. T-Mobile this year went for the jugular with the biggest advertising assault in recent times by buying three minutes of airtime in the Super Bowl. For those who are not aware, a 30-second spot during Super Bowl costs about $5 million. Multiply that by six and you have the annual advertising budget of many top brands. Team T-Mobile in Super Bowl was led by Justin Bieber and included Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg and Kristen Schaal; the objective was to sell its unlimited data plan and exploit the pain caused by Verizon billing.

Apparently the agency was given a one-line brief, “you have enough money to spend” or perhaps that is exactly what the agency deciphered. The result was obvious, to say the least; it seemed more like a well-executed high-school assignment. This perhaps was the pitch; “Let’s divide everyone using mobile into four demographics, make a series of ads casting the celebrities they like and place them in a funny situation”. PS “We need viral content, so let’s do a really sleazy one based on sex”.

It was in my opinion the worst use of millions and the worst possible campaign for 2017. There was no strategy except to make a 30-second sketch of celebrities who catered to different audiences – and then just plug-in T-Mobile in the story. There is no soul, or in technical terms a brand DNA. The simple exercise of removing T-Mobile and planting any brand in the campaign can prove this hypothesis. Research conducted by YouGov BrandIndex one month after the campaign measured the ‘Buzz’ (what consumers have heard about brands), WOM (how much respondents have said about brands) and Purchase Consideration, and came up with a Top 10 list. On Buzz, T-Mobile was 9th, 10th on WOM and nowhere on Purchase Consideration.

While ad agencies still tango around how to calculate the ROI of a campaign, my premise is simple. If you spend over $50 million on a single campaign, and it does not have a significant effect on the purchase decision, you are doing something wrong. Or you have a really good sales team (aka account management team).

The Verizon response came within a month.

‘Unlimited’(data packages) finally got a network it deserved (pun intended) because of two reasons. One, Verizon was being attacked vehemently by T-Mobile with its Unlimited Data and was suffering massive losses in numbers. In 2016, T-Mobile added 3.3 million customers to the most lucrative segment in the industry – post-paid. Compared to that Verizon roped in 2.3 million which is almost half of what they added in 2015. Two, for Verizon to go Unlimited is the appointment of a new CEO. A man who figured out the obvious – the importance of Unlimited in this streaming age of everything video.

In an industry dominated by ‘price-packaging’ and technological advancements, it is but natural that the Unlimited plan should be truly unlimited.

So what next? This is where you come in. Your chance to show the world that you don’t just have the insights; you also have the foresight as a marketer. Predict the next move of T-Mobile, Verizon or the wireless industry and if your prophecy is right, we will feature you in our next blog. Comment here!

• The easiest way for a company to fail is for its top leaders to become victims of their own pride and completely disregard feedback from the ground up and especially middle management.

Change management in an ever changing world is perhaps the most important thing a corporation can invest in today. Fast-paced changes in organisational structure and mission, objectives and goals need rapid response from senior management and this is where the doctrine of change management graduates from an art into a precise science.

You can never over-communicate when you ask your organisation to change. Employees are fearful and apprehensive of change. Few executives realise that change communication is less about driving change within an organisation than it is about the models of communication used to convey messages to the target stakeholders. The bottom line is that the old methods no longer work.

What should this communication aim to achieve? First it must counter resistance from the employees and align them to the overall strategic direction of the organisation. This can be achieved by providing counselling to overcome change-related fears or apprehensions.

Secondly, it should inform the stakeholders about the reasons why the change is being effected, the benefits of successful implementation of such change as well as the details of the change (the modalities and logistics of change). The communication must also devise an implementable plan for re-training and re-educating key members of the organisation.

The easiest way for a company to fail is for its top leaders to become victims of their own pride and completely disregard feedback from the ground up and especially middle management.

So what are the principles behind a successful change management strategy?

1 The message must be clear, unambiguous and inspire confidence. It should be truthful and factual and not seek to obfuscate or hedge. An example of what not to do is what Facebook recently did. Although the vision is undoubtedly clear – to find a way of showing advertising to people who access Facebook through their mobile phones (a rapidly increasing number) – how this will be achieved is not clear. From top to bottom there is confusion as to whether this is going to be achieved by creating new tools for Facebook applications on Blackberry, iPhone and Android sets or whether Facebook is going to acquire Research in Motion or whether it is going get into the business of manufacturing its own cellular mobile phones with Facebook as its operating system.

2 The message must resonate. Winston Churchill’s speech during World War II before the Battle of Britain helped Britain survive the blitzkrieg. A business leader needs to lead but he has to lead by consensus. Similarly, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address helped a war torn and divided nation get its act together.

3 The communication must be on target. Imagine the CEO of a pharmaceutical company telling his research team about the numbers and targets required for the next quarter. Similarly, it often happens that support departments, such as legal and finance become privy to business and technical information that is beyond their remit.

4 Timing and delivery is everything. When Kennedy took on Nixon in that famous debate in 1960, most people listening to the radio thought that Nixon had won the debate. However, television audiences saw the profusely sweating Nixon contrasted with the youthful persona and good looks of Kennedy, and it was the latter who won the election.

5 The communication should not be a one way stream. There should be ample opportunity to the recipients to provide feedback. The easiest way for a company to fail is for its top leaders to become victims of their own pride and completely disregard feedback from the ground up and especially middle management.

• <strong>New dynamics</strong>
  • • The modern grocery retail market represents a key area of expansion, which is likely to attract more foreign retailers to Pakistan. The increased competition will boost the sector further and the entry of foreign players will force local retail giants to rethink, revamp and remodel their businesses.
• <strong>Rise of the 'mall' culture</strong>
• <strong>Grocery shopping gets a facelift </strong>
  • • Naheed expanded its footprint from the original 1,100 square feet of retail space to a 32,000 square feet, four-level departmental setup.
• <strong>The retail roadmap</strong>
  • • Kiryana stores: a dying breed?
    • The devil is in the design

"A store has to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise. It has to help people enrich their lives. If the store just fulfils a product need, it is not creating new types of value for the consumer. It’s transacting.” Words spoken by former CEO, J.C. Penney, Ron Johnson, which aptly describe the way retail business has traditionally been conducted in Pakistan.

It was a time when every neighbourhood had its own kiryana store (a small, enclosed shop, with rows upon rows of products piled right to the top). Families had fixed monthly grocery lists which were handed over to the shopkeeper who would then get all the items together, bag them, and hand a chit with the billed amount scribbled on it. Apart from the haggling (it was expected), the next customer decision was whether to pay in cash or have the amount put on a monthly tab and whether or not to have the groceries delivered. Product choices were limited and the purpose of the ‘shopping’ was to ensure there was enough rice, flour, sugar, salt, cooking oil, banaspati ghee, masalas and spices to last the month.

Naheed and Imtiaz supermarkets in Bahadurabad, and Agha’s, Motta’s and Paradise in Clifton, were among the few retail outlets where customers had the luxury to browse the shelves that were stocked with limited varieties of imported brands and/or local packaged goods. Other than that, shopping excursions were limited to Juma Bazaars or eagerly anticipated visits to Laloo Khait (now Liaquatabad), Empress Market or Jodia Bazaar – the wholesale hubs of Karachi.

So the story of retail remained until the turn of the Millennium.

Imtiaz Abbasi, MD, Imtiaz Super Market, remarks that it was the noughties that marked a significant shift in lifestyles, consumer preferences and buying patterns.

“Due to increased exposure, Pakistani consumers were more aware of what was happening internationally. Suddenly, even our most loyal customers, who had been coming to Imtiaz for generations, were no longer satisfied.”

Varied product assortments, greater convenience and accessibility, better merchandising, improved service and an enhanced store experience became the new retail rules to live by.

Quick to recognise this shift, local retailers began to invest in improving store layouts and broadening their product mix. There was also a renewed focus on customer service, rather than just relying only on price competitiveness. As a result, this growing, and as yet untapped, retail potential put Pakistan on the radar of global retailers, keen to enter this market.

Before exploring the trends redefining retail in Pakistan, it is important to understand how the retail landscape has evolved.

New dynamics

According to a research study conducted by Standard Chartered Bank last year, between 2011 and 2015, the size of the retail pie in Pakistan jumped from $96 to 133 billion, a 38.5% increase in four years. The current value of Pakistan’s retail sector is estimated to be $152 billion, as per Planet Retail (a global retail consultancy) figures. It is the third largest contributor to the economy (after agriculture and industry), accounts for 18% of the total GDP, and is the second largest employer (after agriculture), providing jobs to more than 16% of the total labour force. (NB: As most of retail in Pakistan is unorganised, and therefore undocumented, industry experts agree that the on-ground figures are much higher).

With an annual growth rate of eight percent, retail sales are expected to cross the $200 million mark by the end of 2018. The main factor fuelling this growth, apart from increasing urbanisation, is an improving employment-to-population ratio, which has led to higher disposable incomes, thereby expanding the middle class, which in turn, has increased consumer spending manifold (estimated at $293 million in 2017 and projected to cross $333 million by 2018). This is mainly because Pakistan has a young population (more than 73% of the 220 million residents are below 35 years of age) that is upwardly mobile, social media savvy, brand aware and on the lookout for quality products – and enjoyable experiences.

This is probably why the (traditionally dominant) number of new kiryana stores that have opened is less compared to the growth in the number of general and department stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, between 2000 and 2016 (source: Retail Sector Report, Punjab Board of Investment and Trade). One possible reason is that young people are less keen to buy from street merchants, vendors and hawkers, and prefer modern, destination-oriented stores (For more, see box on Kiryana stores: a dying breed?)

The other trend disrupting traditional retail is e-commerce (Read our interview with Zain Suharwardy, MD, Daraz.pk). Although still at a nascent stage, internet retailing is expected to become a significant complement to brick-and-mortar grocery and non-grocery retailing in the coming years.

Given these dynamics, it is hardly surprising that the bulk of recent retail investment (local and international) has been in the development of two categories: shopping malls and department stores, boasting contemporary architecture and expansive multi-level formats.

The modern grocery retail market represents a key area of expansion, which is likely to attract more foreign retailers to Pakistan. The increased competition will boost the sector further and the entry of foreign players will force local retail giants to rethink, revamp and remodel their businesses.

Rise of the 'mall' culture

Dolmen Centre in Tariq Road (established in the 90s) was the first vertical shopping complex in Pakistan, built on a multiple floor layout.

“The concept of indoor, covered, air-conditioned shopping areas was alien in Pakistan. If you wanted branded products, Zainab Market or Panorama and Rex Centres were considered the

go-to places,” explains Jabir Hussain Dada, SEVP & Head of Business Unit, Dolmen Real Estate Management. This was the first time that organised retail started in Pakistan, with well-known local brands, such as Saeed Ghani and Liberty Books, opening there, along with several fashion brands.

However, the Centre did not turn out the way the Dolmen Group had envisioned it. Dada recalls that there were not enough local brands and those that were there, did not want to assume the risk of paying the high rentals that large retail spaces within Dolmen Centre demanded. “Perhaps the market was just not ready at the time and there wasn’t enough customer footfall to justify the high costs of operating within the Centre.”

It was not until almost a decade later that Pakistan had its first shopping mall, when Park Towers opened in Karachi, with McDonald’s being one of the first and most prominent brands to take retail space there. The mall quickly morphed into a social venue, where people went to be seen and enjoy the amenities (a glass capsule lift and escalators were a novelty), rather than to purchase items they needed.

The opening of Dolmen Mall Tariq Road in 2000, proved to be a game changer. Dolmen Group’s prior experience had made it clear that the only way to convince the big names to come on board as tenants was to ensure enough customer traffic. The two strategic decisions that paid off were the establishment of Sindbad’s Wonderland (rides for children) and a food court. Positioned as a family recreational spot, games and other activities were organised for children, while the food court offered family meal deals. Seeing that the mall was suddenly bustling with activity, even on weekdays, is what convinced retailers to invest in retail space there and in a matter of months, all available space had been rented out. The same business model was replicated for Dolmen Mall Hyderi, with food and children’s activities used to draw in crowds.

Over the next 15 years, a series of malls, mostly in Karachi, including The Forum, Millennium Mall, Atrium Mall, The Ocean Mall and Tower and The Place came up, completely redefining the shopping experience.

At this point, the entry of Hyperstar in 2011 (operated by the Carrefour retail chain) as an anchor tenant at Dolmen Mall Clifton proved to be a masterstroke. By offering everything under the sun, from home solutions, personal care products, electronic appliances, clothing, grocery items and even fresh produce at wholesale rates, Hyperstar became a retail hotspot. People preferred shopping in the pleasant, comfortable and secure environment that the hypermarket offered, not to mention being spoilt for choice in terms of the products, brands and categories, all available under one roof.

The formula worked, and seeing its success prompted other mall operators to adopt the idea of having department stores as anchor tenants; Ocean Mall is home to the Alpha Supermarket, for instance.

According to Muhammad Adnan Hamid, CEO, Alpha Supermarket, “when deciding to set up Alpha, we didn’t want to start with a standalone concept. If you go in as an anchor tenant, the per square feet charges are considerably less compared to what ancillary tenants pay. In addition, facilities, maintenance, security and electricity are managed by the mall operator, which allows us to focus on our core business operations. Of course, the benefits go both ways; the expectation from anchor tenants is that they will attract more shoppers to the mall.”

Today, malls have become the battlegrounds where brands, small, medium and big, the known and the obscure, are fighting it out for consumer attention. And consumers are loving every bit of it – and asking for more. According to retail experts, northern Pakistan is currently leading the retail race and several multipurpose malls are under construction in Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi. The LuckyOne Mall in Karachi, touted as Pakistan’s largest mall yet, and the Packages Mall in Lahore are recent additions to the landscape.

Dada attributes this trend to the realisation on the part of the business community that the Pakistani consumer has matured. “People do not come to Dolmen just because of the products available or the ongoing sales promotions. They come because they enjoy the ambience, the sense of luxury and security, the value added services, and yes, also because they can browse through extensive category assortments with ease and convenience. It is all about the retail experience.”

Grocery shopping gets a facelift

It is interesting that this shift in consumer shopping preferences, from a ‘product-price focus’ to an ‘assortment-experience’ focus, was not only noticed by investors who began to channel funds into the mall business, but also by local grocery retailers. Cases in point are Naheed and Imtiaz supermarkets, both of which underwent a 360 degree remodelling and transformation after 2008.

Both had humble beginnings as small, standalone kiryana shops in Bahadurabad. While Imtiaz’s strength remained budget grocery offerings, such as flour and masalas (a USP the store maintains), Naheed differentiated itself by introducing imported brands of biscuits, cereals, chocolates, chips, coffee and other beverages, as well as ice-creams.

Munsub Abrar, the person at the helm of affairs at Naheed Supermarket, points out that “at the time, Agha’s was the only other store where people could buy international brands; my father saw a gap in the market on this side of the bridge and took the risk of stocking premium products, which paid off.”

Makro and Metro Cash & Carry had just entered Pakistan and gave people the first glimpse of what organised retail looked like. However, the business model did not work and once the initial hype of seeing endless rows of packaged goods and walking across spacious aisles fizzled out, so did the customers.

Dada is of the view that Metro and Makro made the strategic mistake of replicating their international model without understanding the dynamics of the local market.

“Both were targeting wholesalers, but in Pakistan, shopkeepers are used to going to Jodia Bazaar, Empress Market and Bohri Bazaar to buy their stock. The setup offered by Metro and Makro did not resonate with the audiences they were targeting. Shop owners wouldn’t buy from them, and families couldn’t because there was a bulk purchase limitation; you couldn’t go in, buy a pack of biscuits and walk out.”

Naheed and Imtiaz benefited from this tremendously. There was an instant realisation that there was a huge market potential, completely untapped as yet, that they could cash in by remodelling their stores and adopting a multi-level, department store format.

Abrar explains that “we saw that grocery shopping was moving away from being a necessity and was becoming a family activity. Urban consumers were looking for a shopping venue that was aesthetically pleasing, well-stocked, and not too heavy on the pocket.” And so, Naheed expanded its footprint from the original 1,100 square feet of retail space to a 32,000 square feet, four-level departmental setup.

Imtiaz was quick to follow and established new outlets in DHA, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Nazimabad, three of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Karachi. As an Imtiaz loyalist said: “I would have continued buying from Imtiaz, despite the fact that the store is so crowded that you have to fight your way through the crowds. However, since the Gulshan store has opened, I take my family along because there is no jostling and we can shop, or just look around without being disturbed.”

Naheed expanded its footprint from the original 1,100 square feet of retail space to a 32,000 square feet, four-level departmental setup.

Taking timely risks by expanding and improving the face of their retail setup, Naheed and Imtiaz have redefined grocery shopping for the Pakistani market, particularly the discerning, and expanding, middle-income segment.

Abrar identifies three key success factors that will be the key to sustained success: product assortment and quality, exceptional customer service and well-designed in-store layouts. While it is easier to control the first, the other two pose a challenge, mainly because of the dearth of trained retail professionals.

Abbasi seconds this view and cites the lack of retail training institutions, as well as specialised retail courses in universities, as one of the most critical issues that need to be tackled.

Hamid also attests to this vacuum of skilled human resource and recounts the challenges the Limestone Group (owners of Alpha Supermarket) faced when planning the supermarket’s launch. “Retail design is a science but unfortunately in Pakistan, there are hardly any specialists in this field. Every retailer is left to their own devices when developing the store planograms.”

In the case of Naheed and Imtiaz, it was the decades of retail insights of the individuals who started both chains that helped in design planning, and for Alpha Supermarket, it was Hamid’s international retail experience.

No surprises then that most retailers on Tariq Road, Bahadurabad and KDA Market were completely unaware of terms such as compression and decompression zones or about how product and shelf placement should be organised. The only point of agreement was that ‘aisle space’ was an important consideration.

In Hamid’s view, the lack of layout and design awareness is what is harming smaller retailers as an increasing number of consumers are opting for larger, and better organised department stores (For more, see box on The devil is in the design).

The retail roadmap

All macroeconomic indicators point to a sustained boom in Pakistan’s retail industry. The modern grocery retail market represents a key area of expansion, which is likely to attract more foreign retailers to Pakistan.

Abrar believes increased competition will boost the sector and the entry of foreign players will force local retail giants to rethink, revamp and remodel their businesses.

A second area of opportunity is projected to be in the ‘mall culture’, particularly in the northern part of the country, as well as in second-tier cities where there is a demand-supply gap.

“Pakistan has been identified as one of the top 10 emerging retail destinations,” says Abrar. However, he is also quick to point out that unreliable power supply and lack of developed retail space are two key constraining factors. “Retailers are forced to assume all the risk as well as the costs of infrastructural development, such as parking space, with almost no governmental support.”

Another policy reform that is increasingly being demanded by the main stakeholders is the establishment of a national retail association that can represent the sector’s interests, negotiate with the government over tax reform and introduce consumer protection laws.

Most important perhaps is the lack of online services offered to customers by well-established names in the business.

Abbasi succinctly sums up the future of retail in Pakistan: “One thing that will not change is that people will continue to shop; what will change is what, where and how they shop. For retailers who are able to read the market pulse and predict future buying trends, the sky is the limit.”

Kiryana stores: a dying breed?

Has the rise of modern grocery retailing made the age-old kiryana stores a dying breed?

In fact, The Path to 2020: Taking the Long View of Retail Market Entry, a research report compiled by Deloitte and Planet Retail, suggests otherwise. Of the total grocery retail sales in 2015, modern grocery outlets accounted for only 8.59% and projections for 2020 place this figure at a mere 8.98%, implying that the bulk of grocery purchasing (91.02%) will still be done at traditional retail outlets.

Interestingly, most kiryana store owners appeared confident that their business volumes and customer base will remain unaffected, and therefore, they saw no reason to change a business model that has worked for decades. Akram Sethi, a grocery shop owner in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, highlighted two key factors that will keep kiryana stores relevant in local retail. The first is that in terms of volume, the low-income segment constitutes the majority of the population in Pakistan. “This section of society prefers to go to the corner shop to buy daily consumption items such as fruit, vegetables, milk and tea. Most are daily wage earners with limited budgets and when they don’t have cash, they buy on credit. No department store is going to offer them this facility.” Second is the home delivery that the smaller shops offer, free of any charge, simply because they ‘know’ most of their customers. While several online grocery services are offering home delivery (For more, read Groceries online on page 18), the audience they are targeting is not the average kiryana store customer.

Finally, with population growth expected to continue in the region of two percent per year (according to United Nations estimates) and increasing rural-urban migration, the customer base for kiryana stores does not seem to be under any threat.

The devil is in the design

Following international retail SOPs, several local retailers are using their store layout to maximise revenues. Impulse buys, such as candies, are placed at the decompression points – the first 15 feet or so inside the store entrance. Customer behaviour studies reveal that this area should be open and inviting, and free of overpowering displays and signage clutter because this is where customers form a subconscious brand image of the store.

The area beyond the decompression zone is considered the most valuable space, often referred to as waterfront property. This is where the best product displays, sales and signage should be displayed, along with the retailer’s core product lines. This is why bakery goods, meat, vegetables and grocery items are usually placed at a corner of these stores because they are strategic buys for customers. If these product categories are placed near the entrance, people will enter, buy and leave, without taking stock of the other product offerings. Therefore, the key is to plan layouts in such a way that by the time customers reach strategic buys, they have already been exposed to the maximum number of impulse buys.

The second important factor is to ensure synergy in product placement. This means positioning baby products, such as diapers, baby milk and accessories close to cosmetics, fashion products and perfumes as mothers are the primary decision-makers in the purchase of these items.

Next is the question of visual merchandising and shelf placement, both of which play a key role in influencing buying patterns. Well-known brands, such as Dalda, Head & Shoulders, Lux and Rooh Afza, are placed at the lowest or the topmost shelves because customers will spend extra time and effort looking for them. New brands, on which retailers charge higher margins from manufacturers, are placed at eye-level to ensure greater visibility and ease of access to induce trial purchasing.

For feedback, email aurora@dawn.com

All illustrations by Creative Unit.

As Pakistanis we have learnt to enjoy small moments of happiness, rainfall in Karachi, the lights coming on, a long weekend. Add to the latest, the hype and celebration over the campaign by Pakistan’s High Commission in London.

If you have not heard about the campaign, Pakistan’s High Commission have paid for London’s double-decker buses to display images representative of Pakistan for four weeks to promote tourism. The campaign is part of the 70th Independence Anniversary celebrations. The images display beautiful faces representing the people, landscape, architecture and artifacts of Pakistan. Pakistan’s High Commissioner, H.E. Syed Ibne Abbas, speaking to the press had this to say: “This publicity campaign showcases the beauty of Pakistan, its culture, landscape and people, and will help promote tourism in Pakistan in the most effective way.”

The campaign has gone viral and trended on Facebook, at least locally, and anything positive in the global media about Pakistan is a blessing. The question from a marketing point of view is whether this campaign has been effective?

Taking into consideration the fact that it is part of a larger promotional campaign to be rolled out, I have my doubts. My first issue is with the tag ‘Emerging Pakistan’. This slogan or positioning does not differentiate Pakistan from any other nation in the region. India spent billions on their ‘Incredible India’ campaign and Malaysia described itself as ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’. This particular phrase lacks warmth and emotion, in my view.

In order to fight the trend of negative news about Pakistan we need to use Behaviour Economics and work to shift the paradigm. Here is a suggested strategy. The paradigm for people in the West is that Pakistan is a dangerous and hostile place. We can employ that construct and turn it on its head to change the perception. How can this be done? A plausible way is to create material that seems to endorse the perception but actually refutes it. For example a print ad with the headline ‘When you come to Pakistan, you are in danger. Of falling in love with the beauty and people.’ The body copy could elaborate and evokes the style that made PIA ads great, inform people about the positive aspects of Pakistan.

Another angle could be to use popular culture. Use peoples’ frame of reference and play with it to communicate what you want to. This campaign could be a print ad in leading Western papers such as The Telegraph, etc. The ad could show a picture of green mountain pastures with the Karakorams in the background. The headline could be something like. ‘They wanted to film the Hobbit in Pakistan but our mountains were too high.’ The body copy could build on this with facts about Pakistan having a good number of peaks over of 8,000m and pristine and majestic mountains.

These are just suggestions, I am sure you get the idea, but in my view just showing images on a bus alone will not be enough to challenge the perception that has been created about Pakistan. Again, there is more to come from the Pakistan’s High Commission so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

In the recent past, the tide of negativity towards Pakistan has been dented with the experiences of Westerners who visit our country and then dispel the impression that Pakistan is a country of violence, terrorism and extremism. One such video is the ‘Rachel visits Pakistan’ video:

In my view this video is more effective than the bus campaign or any government statement. The best way to bring tourists to Pakistan is to let the foreigners and influencers from other countries show the world that Pakistan has a lot to offer. At present, we have just witnessed a historic event. In a seemingly fairytale scenario, Ronaldinho, the Brazilian football superstar along with some of the most iconic footballers such as Roberto Carlos, Robert Pires, Ryan Giggs have played two matches, one in Karachi and one in Lahore. For the ever increasing football following and for Pakistan this is a great achievement.

When it comes to changing the negative perception and projecting a positive image, the video of Rachel as well as a sound bite or video from Ronaldinho are much more effective than pretty images on London buses or any outdoor campaign in a Western capital city.

Yet, this retail ‘revolution’ (if it may be called that) has taken time to gain traction. The mall and department store-cum-supermarket formulations started to make their appearance as long ago as the late 90s. It was, however, a rather slow and uphill progression – and for a long time, spaces were empty and customer footfall low and slow. To a large extent, this was a matter of habit and perception. Customers apprehended that prices in these larger establishments would be higher compared to those on the street and retailers were worried that locating themselves away from the hustle and bustle of the street would lose them business. Yet today, malls and department stores are buzzing with shoppers and spaces are at a premium. So what changed?

Firstly, the economy improved and the middle class grew (accounting, according to some estimates, for 35% of the population). Secondly, younger families with better media and travel exposure (and more money) shifted their preferences to the convenience and overall experience of the mall. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, technology and the start-up culture has reshaped entrepreneurship in Pakistan, leading to the emergence of a generation of retailers, willing to invest and experiment with new business models – the most obvious example was the lawn revolution, which started out with designers producing fabric to sell at three day ad-hoc exhibitions; today, these ventures have turned into versatile design houses with flagship stores in multiple malls.

In tandem with these changes in the retail paradigm, new employment and career avenues have opened up. Just as the entry of fast food franchises in the mid-90s led to better-trained and dressed and friendlier wait staff, retail is now creating employment with long-term career opportunities in store sales, management, operations and customer service, both at the front and back end. Even five years ago, working in a shop was considered akin to being a dukaandar; today, this perception has changed.

Despite the buzz and boom, retail in Pakistan is still at an early stage of development – and scope for expansion is there, although heavy investment is required to build, operate and market such malls, added to which, managing such large enterprises requires considerable expertise, especially in terms of matching the right footfall with the right brand offering at the right location. Globally, retail is said to be experiencing hiccoughs, partly due to overcapacity and partly because of the influence of online shopping. In Pakistan, too, online retail is catching on, albeit at a slower pace. However, as the global experience is currently demonstrating, for many people, there is no substitute to the ‘let’s go out to the shops experience’. What has changed is that customers also want access to the convenience of online shopping; hence the rising popularity of the omni-store model, whereby customers can move seamlessly between off and online according to their preference of the moment. This model too will begin to surface in Pakistan and coexist with the current retail landscape.

There is much to look forward to in terms of the further evolution of retail in Pakistan. However, if retail is to grow as it should, it will require government support given its increasing role as a big employer in both the services and manufacturing sectors. So far the Government’s attitude to retail has been largely as a source of taxes and while legitimate taxes must be paid, the Government must be encouraged to create enabling policies that will sustain and grow what has now become a key driver of the economy.

This is because there is another side to the equation, which holds that although culture changes over time, people fail to see themselves as changing and tend to cling to prevalent values as if they were etched in stone. Brands can always choose to play it safe and remain within the bounds of the received cultural framework, and in a society such as ours, sometimes it is better not to rock the boat or challenge the status quo.

It is tricky to alter culture to suit an objective. As Ries and Trout demonstrated, no brand is a giant; the consumer is the ultimate giant. Yet, this very consumer who may view his or her world through many lenses – one of the most important of which is culture – is also malleable and open to change. A contradiction in terms of what I have asserted regarding the colonial comparison? It would appear so at first glance.

Rory Sutherland in a TED talk spoke about how radical changes can be brought about more effectively through small tweaks rather than grandiose, multi-million rupee campaigns. As a follower of behavioural economics (BE), he advocates changing the paradigm and using lateral thinking. In another TED talk I saw, an example was given of how a simple change in the form requesting people to donate their organs resulted in a large increase in the number of donors. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell writes about an experiment aimed at pinpointing whether fear or incentives worked better in prompting students to go and be vaccinated against tetanus. The results proved inconclusive, until the location of the on-campus health centre providing the vaccination was added to the mix. This immediately proved more effective in motivating students to take the required action. Despite the fear or the incentive, what actually prompted the desired behaviour change was simply providing information about the location of the place where action could be taken.

Looking at our society, tons of money is spent, and I daresay wasted, by brands, organisations and even the government on trying to bring about change. A glaring example is the ongoing 'Say No To Corruption' campaign by NAB. Call me a sceptic, but I fail to see how displaying messages on ATMs, posters and making in-flight announcements on PIA, are going to rid our nation of corruption. It seems to be an example of a badly thought out (if thought out at all) strategy.

Corruption, like tea, is looked upon as part of our lifestyle. To alter the beliefs and actions with regard to both, huge campaigns may not be the best way. Instead of opposing tea, as did Coca Cola or trying to fight corruption as NAB is doing, asking people for incremental change might be a safer bet. For example, a communication asking people to drink one cup of tea less a day, or say no to corruption for a day.

A more powerful route is to reframe the scenario. In the corruption reduction campaign, focus on educating people about the cost of corruption and how it affects them. This could be framed around how corruption increases the cost of goods and services. Various strategies can be devised, based on research and involving BE. The one strategy that is almost sure to fail is hitting entrenched behaviour head on. This only results in resistance and wasted resources. As Julian Saunders informed us in his article:

“BE also illuminates why small things can make a huge difference and provide explanations as to why a specific execution performs or fails. BE gives marketers a sharp reminder that grand strategies can fail unless we pay attention to details.”

Recently I saw an amazing video with a different sort of public service message. Produced and created by Starcom, the video shifts the paradigm on the tendency most of us have to habitually litter a space.

To sum up, when you are looking to transform a culture, BE is the change you require. Brands, government organisations, social activists and educationists need to invest in BE to avoid spending millions on a wasteful campaign. And if they don’t, they run the risk of continuing to produce BS.

In the last few years, the US economy has seen a considerable slowdown in the growth of traditional retailing, evidenced more than anything else by failing flagship stores and retail malls. While the groundwork for this slowdown has been a few years in the making (accelerating since the Great Recession of 2008), it has become more pervasive in the last two years which have been particularly devastating for traditional retailers in the USA. This has caused many to predict the death of traditional retail as we know it, brought about by a combination of indifference by Millennials, the rise of online shopping and the slowing down of the economy.

Considering the list of major retail brands that have either gone bust or are significantly reducing their store footprint in the last two years, it is not hard to see why this talk of gloom and doom is finding traction even amongst the most established of market analysts. However, although a deeper look does indicate that traditional retail is struggling, all things do not point to a great retail apocalypse, at least not yet, if only because the economic fundamentals do not add up. Overall retail spending (online and traditional across categories) continues to grow, albeit more slowly, the US GDP has now grown for eight straight years, wage growth, while slow, is also going up, gas prices are still at historic lows and unemployment is hovering around a low of five percent. So what is wrong with retail? Scratch the surface and you see more significant trends shaping the future of the retail landscape in the US.

1) Experiences versus ownership

One of the key factors driving the growth (or lack thereof) of volume in retail is the way consumption patterns are shifting. A key driver experts point to is that consumers are moving beyond the materialistic satisfaction of owning things to paying for experiences that will broaden their horizons. So, while growth is tapering off for capital purchases like furniture and cars and is down on categories like clothing and accessories (around 20% since the recession), it is up in categories such as air travel (airlines shuttled a record breaking 823 million passengers in 2016). There has also been a restaurant renaissance with food and drink growing twice as fast as any other category in terms of retail spending. In fact, 2016 marked a tipping point when Americans spent more on dining out than they did at grocery stores. Then there is the fact that although car ownership is down, car rentals are up. All indicating that retail spend is not drastically down, it is simply being directed to different avenues.

2) Social media validation trumps instant gratification

A key driver shaping the redirection of retail spend is social media, particularly among Millennials. Experts claim that one of the key weaknesses of the established retail landscape (malls et al) has been the way they underestimated the impact of social media on young people. As more Americans get on the social media grid, their focus has turned towards acquiring validation from peers, through likes and shares. This has, in many ways, displaced the dopamine high that came from the gratification of friends salivating over the latest and often costlier fashion accessory or tech gadget. As social media continues to proliferate, malls have started using the medium to enhance the retail experience and broaden their appeal, often by giving greater share of retail floor space to restaurants, indoor mini-golf, movie theatres and arcades – avenues that lend themselves to be centre stage in social media sign-ins.

3) Evolution of online shopping

In the last few years, online retailing has moved beyond traditional categories such as media and books to encompass just about everything under the sun, including experiential purchases like clothes and even high-ticket items like appliances. The research firm Forrester recently estimated that online shopping is now a $200 billion revenue generating industry in the US. With online suppliers simplifying their transaction process (robust security features, risk-free returns and free shipping policies), it is not surprising to see why online shopping is catching on. Take, for example, Amazon – where sales over the last six years have grown from $16 to 80 billion. Adding to this tsunami of competitive pressure is the rise of mobile commerce which, thanks to better designed and more secure shopping and payment interfaces, has grown tenfold since 2010 and now accounts for nearly a fifth of total digital spend in retail.

4) The mall glut

While the effects of the retail slowdown are being felt from rural strip malls to iconic locations on New York’s Fifth Avenue, a large part of the problem is that America, in the last 40 odd years, has gone overboard building malls. According to Cowan Research which specialises in the sector, since 1970, the rate of growth of malls in America was twice the growth of the population. This has led to overcapacity in retail real estate, equivalent to 40% more per capita than Canada, five times more than the UK and 10 times more than Germany. Considering the scale of the glut retail leasable area, it was no surprise that when the recession hit, mall traffic fell by more than 50% on average and has not stopped dropping since. This, coupled with the rise of online shopping and changes in consumer behaviour, has meant that anchor stores, like J.C. Penney, Macy’s and Sears, which were once the major traffic draws for malls are now struggling to attract customer footfall.

Furthermore, as the retail landscape of the US changes, a growing number of market observers are cautioning against being too pessimistic on the future of retail. In their view retail is not dying; it is simply changing like it has done numerous times before. According to them, retail is prone to cyclic disruption to its business model and we are simply witnessing the next stage of the retail evolution rather than retail extinction.

Tariq Ziad Khan is a US-based marketer and a former member of Aurora’s editorial team. tzk999@yahoo.com

A story regarding a study that revealed that the number of pedestrians in the US killed or badly injured while using headphones had tripled in six years, recently caught my attention. The study warned of ‘inattentional blindness’ whereby headphones cause distractions that lower the resources the brain devotes to external stimuli.

Thinking about inattentional blindness, it struck me that there is a broader context to the term in the world of brands. In fact, the term mirrors the main problem brands are faced with today, irrespective of their origin or category.

In Pakistan, the majority of brands seem to be taking life one day at a time, doing their ‘critical daily chores’ in the hope of becoming masters of their own destiny. The problem is that they tend to become so focused on executing campaigns and sales promotions and meeting weekly targets, that they often blindside themselves to the larger context which the brand operates in, and this often at their own peril. To name just a few, here are some blind spots brands easily fall prey to.

Promotion blindness

Promotions deliver great results; well almost always. The moment you launch a sweepstake, insert a coupon in a magazine or offer a discount, your cash register goes into singing mode. With the world screaming recession and consumers screaming inflation, promotions seem to be a promising solution. However, as the saying goes, too much of a good thing can also be bad.

Lesson Go slow on promotions. Don’t let short-term monetary gain blind you and stop you from building long-term equity for your brand.

Safety blindness

Safe bets are no bets. Bets are meant to make you win or lose. However, to deliver an incrementally good performance, you may fall into the trap of making safe, rather than bold decisions. Safe bets will make your brand ordinary, and people don’t like ordinary people; they fall for the superheroes because they make them feel good.

Lesson Raise the bar. Move out of your safety zone and make bold moves.

Spreadsheet blindness

Spreadsheets are great. And who loves numbers the most? Those notorious financial managers. Personally, I love to visualise spreadsheets as big football stadiums with one-inch boxes overflowing with numbers. It is important that businesses realise that brands belong in the ‘stadium’; they are like living beings putting up a great show to inspire audiences (us humans; you, me…) to come to the stadium. In other words, spreadsheets come in different shapes and sizes and your brand needs to find the one that suits it best.

Lesson Don’t let your spreadsheet rule your brand. Let your brand deliver the spreadsheet whichever way it wants to.

Product blindness

You assume your consumer will fall in love with your product and start to promote it on every imaginable platform the moment you tell them about it. This is like assuming that Elvis Presley will rise from the grave and declare you to be the best singer in the world based on your shower singing skills. No. Consumers like emotional connects. They like to know who you are before they enter into a relationship with you on Facebook.

Lesson Stop shoving your product in your consumer’s face. Ensure your product is welcomed into your consumer’s space.

Rationality blindness

Businesses run on logic but brands run on emotions. Humans are emotional beings; do not expect them to follow your two plus two equals four formula, or to take out a calculator every time your brand speaks to them. Give them a break; let them hire an accountant to do their calculations while they revel with your brands on their person and their minds.

Lesson Stop putting facts and more facts in your campaigns.

Be emotional every now and then. It’s good for your brand’s general health.

Past tense blindness

Human beings (especially brand custodians) love to talk about the good times, good experiences, good relationships, good memories. However, be sure not to head down memory lane on your next encounter. Call your wife by your former girlfriend’s name and kaput goes your relationship. The same applies to your brand.

Lesson Don’t get stuck in the past. Focus on the future and how things will be different for your brand every next moment.

Here are a few tips on how to avoid inattentional blindness.

1 Enjoy randomness
It works wonders. Take yourself out of a decision or a situation from time to time. Approaching a situation again at a different time or level or mindset works wonders. It will help you see the unseen.

2 Contextualise your decisions
Think beyond today. For every key decision, think what it will deliver immediately in the short term and in the long term. Don’t base your decision on a single term.

3 Go beyond the category
We all get stuck in our problems and your problem is the category you operate in. The more you get stuck in it, the more you let your category drive your decisions. Think beyond it. Learn from what is around you. If your sales are good, see if sales in other categories are as good and use logic to work out why. This will make you more attentive.

4 Be a consumer
Stop being a brand custodian. Would you, as a consumer, ‘love’ what you get from your brand?

If the honest answer is ‘yes’, then you are on the right track!

Naimul Abd is GM Marketing at a leading retail company. naimulabd@gmail.com