Get Maya
Brand Maya Khan
Category Television
Idea Fire the #@%$@#
Details In the chase for ratings, Maya Khan chased unsuspecting couples in a park and humiliated them on camera.
A day later, the clip started a slow circulation on Facebook. The pace picked up and a petition to oust her from the channel was launched. A week later Khan was asked to resign and the channel issued an apology. Unrepentant and defiant, she was courted by other channels keen to capitalise on her notoriety and quickly found another job. However, what this proved was that social media when used correctly can be very effective in getting the desired results. You want your brand to go viral, start looking in the right places for inspiration.
Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?
Brand Imran Khan
Category Politics
Idea I’m sexy and I know it
Details One fine day, Imran Khan, cricket god and cancer crusading angel decides he is meant for greater things. Like politics. Moses style, he spends years wandering in the wilderness before a tablet shows him the way. Okay perhaps he saw the light before the iPad came out. However Khan has used social media very effectively. With nearly 500,000 Facebook fans he has finally caught up with Pervez Musharraf. He has nearly 400,000 followers on Twitter. Then there was that famous automated telephone call and that was a stroke of genius. Whether he is the messiah we have been waiting for remains to be seen. But one thing is clear. He knows his target audience and he knows when and where they will be receptive.
The journey of a lifetime
Brand Louis Vuitton (LV)
Category Fashion
Idea Life is a journey
Details LV is an incredible brand. It is apparently the best loved luxury brand in the world. What makes it a great brand, apart from beautiful products is the communication and how well integrated it is between the digital and the real world. Their films chronicling the journeys of well known life travellers (posted on their website), their Facebook page (10 million fans), their display windows, their trunks for transporting yachting trophies and their sponsored vintage car races in Monaco… there is no dichotomy between retail and online – both translate beautifully and seamlessly into a stunning celebration of life’s journeys.
The high street in your home
Brand Daraz.pk, dealtoday.pk, Olx Pakistan
Category Online sales
Idea Digitising sales
Details Daraz is the first site to offer a complete online shopping experience. It has the simplest registration process and the site is easy to navigate. Offers clothes, shoes and accessories for men and women in a range of brands and with the added ease of cash on delivery if you don’t want to pay by credit or debit card. Dealtoday.pk has digitised coupon cutting and has many people logging on first thing in the morning in search of the best discounts on food, fashion, beauty and more. Olx provides online classifieds, a place to hawk your used items or find what you are looking for at bargain prices. What remains to be seen is whether these sites will herald a bright new future for Pakistani retail online. Let’s hope they do.
Kids will be kids
Brands Karachi Karachi Hai Yaar (KKHY), KarachiTips (KT), Comics by Arslan, Ministry of LOL type affairs
Category Social commentary
Ideas We are young, free and we will be alright
Details KKHY is a page that celebrates Karachi. Like the city, it makes no sense; it has no direction and seems to have something for everyone. From prayer timing reminders to photographs of the city (old and new) and random jokes. It’s entertaining and oddly endearing enough to have a following of nearly 300,000. KT was started by three college kids under 20. Its core offer is brash, irreverent with funny tips about the city. But there is more, charitable drives for the flood affected, assistance in setting up a mobile library and a range of unique t-shirts. All of which translate into 46,000 followers in one year. Comics by Arslan is another great page, started by a marketing graduate in Islamabad a year ago. The comics, parodies and social commentary delight 88,000 followers, most of whom share the content on their pages frequently. LOL balances humour with social commentary via spoof news. 10,000 followers in six months.
These may not be huge numbers but compared to the corporate might of FMCGs and the resources at their disposal, these kids have accumulated success rather effortlessly and offer lessons in humility. If you speak to them, they will tell you they never expected such a following. They were clear about what they stood for, kept their focus on what they wanted to say and to whom. Study them if you are frustrated about the elusive young. Clue: stay away from cutesy crap.
S. Hyder is a creative working for a Pakistani advertising agency.
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