I admire brands like Tapal and Olper’s which are strong, home-grown Pakistani brands that were nicely built over time, competed against multinational company brands and even beat them.

I am not a big fan of brands like Cola Next that suddenly waved the Pakistani flag after years of inconsistent brand positioning to benefit from the boycott movement against Western brands associated with Israel. I also do not like brands like Kababjees Fried Chicken that suddenly set up a local alternative to a global brand for the same reasons. Nor am I a big fan of those local brands that do not believe in brand building or marketing and distribute their product as a copy of a multinational brand and then believe they have a brand in the market.

Good brands, be they local or multinational, need to be built up consistently and backed by marketing science and art, and companies that believe in brand building do it well. Multinationals know this best, as they have experienced the power of brands in many markets. They do their brand building in a disciplined way year-on-year, while local players are often not great at consistency and let short-term business tactics take precedence over brand investment, and hence struggle to compete with multinational brands. There are several reasons why consumers have strong preferences for global brands and why multinational and strong national brands do well. The two key reasons are perceived product quality and perceived brand image.

1 Perceived Product Quality: Consumers believe global brands offer high-quality products because of their global presence and international success. Consumers perceive global brands as more dynamic and strive to upgrade to such brands, giving them the upper hand over local brands, which are perceived as less dynamic and offer fewer options. By associating global brands with quality, consumers do not question the high price and see it as a good value.

2 Perceived Brand Image: Consumers like to associate themselves with global brands because they like to transfer their brand images onto themselves. Global brands create a global culture and consumers of global brands share a global identity, which they associate with themselves and make an extension of their own personalities.

So, what can local brands learn from global brands?

The reason why global brands are successful is because of the trust they engender among their customers, which they have gained over many years. Consumers perceive global brands as consistent, reliable and trustworthy.

Although it is a challenge for local brands to compete with global brands, it is not impossible, and if local brands are creative and persistent, they can beat the multinational brands by capitalising on their flexibility and creativity. This allows them to swiftly adjust to market dynamics and offer what consumers want; multinationals only offer what they already have in their portfolios and try to force fit those in every market. Local brands can tailor products and even their brand image to be more in tune with their own consumers.

For me, there are three key pillars for the success of local brands: speedy decision-making, customised innovative products and a unique marketing angle.

1 Speedy Decision-Making: Local brands can make quick decisions without getting caught up in lengthy chains of commands and processes. This flexibility enables them to capitalise on opportunities, adapt promptly to market shifts and do so earlier than their multinational competitors. They can do this by thinking outside the box with new twists on customer favourites and new offerings, and by engaging their audiences to help them deliver solutions that meet their wants.

2 Customised Innovative Products: Local brands have a better reading of what their customers want; preferences by city, region and income are better understood by local companies. The trick is to create a high-quality, innovative product that multinationals do not have in their portfolio. Local brands should not worry about their multinational competitors and instead develop mass-market brands that take advantage of local likes and tastes. They should avoid trying to imitate the multinationals and instead focus on consumers who appreciate the local touch and ignore those who favour global brands. Yes, there will always be young consumers who will be fascinated by all things Western, but instead of trying to fight for this segment, they should concentrate on the large group of consumers who are loyal to traditional or local ingredient-based mass products. Multinational companies lack this familiarity with local tastes and their products mostly appeal to fashion-conscious city dwellers in the top 10 cities.

3 Create a Unique Marketing Angle: Being different is important. No one needs another ‘same old, same old’ story. Local brands can beat the multinationals if they pay attention to this and work with the right partners and brand consultants. Local brands can create a unique story to tell and then make sure everyone hears it by leveraging the media to reach their target market.

Local brands need to understand the meaning of the word ‘brand’ as well as the importance of crafting the right positioning and carrying out sustainable and persistent brand-building through a marketing plan. They need to build brands, not offer products. Products are temporary; brands are more permanent. Brands fly higher than products and brands live in consumers’ hearts.

Shoaib Qureshy is MD, Bullseye DDB.
shoaib@be.com.pk