I have written for Aurora for over 25 years. So when Aurora approached me with the news that they will be printing a special last issue containing the best of what they have published over their 25+ year run and asked me to do a piece for it, my article here is about capturing all that I have believed in and stood for as an individual and through my agency too.

1. “Think Beyond the Line.” Above-the-line and below-the line are old. Think beyond-the-line, because the lines have blurred. Great marketing work is created by thinking beyond-the-line. This will always be the unique thing to do and what counts in marketing.

2. “Purpose is the new positioning.” It is not just about what you sell; it is why you exist. People see beyond the product and into your organisation’s deeper inner self and the truth that lies beneath. People want to buy from good people and good companies.

3. “Being into digital without understanding it is like buying a Ferrari without knowing how to drive.” Don’t do something because everyone is doing it. Don’t follow the trend. Do what you understand and what you can, and do it in the best way. Success will follow.

4. “Brands today are not selling a product; they are selling a belief system.” All products in a category are more or less the same. It is your belief and your point of view that are different. They are what people want to buy.

5. “Marketing is not changing; it has already changed. We are the ones catching up.“ Marketing is centred around the consumer. The consumer will continue to change at a pace we have never seen before. So if you think you know – you are wrong. Keep learning about the consumer, keep your fingers on their pulse and listen to their heartbeat and understand what makes it beat.

6. “The new client wants speed, certainty and empathy – all at once.” This may sound like three different people, but that is the new reality. Clients are under pressure as their brands come under stress. Time is of the essence. Results matter more than ever before, and you need to put yourself in the clients’ shoes to understand what they are looking for.

7. “Our biggest enemy is our own comfort zone.” You don’t have any competition. You are a unique creation of God and you have a gift that no one else has. Know yourself and chase what you were born to. Never stop or settle. Keep going and keep challenging yourself. You will surprise yourself.

8. “Agencies must evolve from service providers to solution creators.” Agencies are not in the service business. They are in the problem-solving business. Those who just serve will evaporate as the competition gets tough and brands come under pressure. No client will want to be serviced. They will only want solutions.

9. “Advertising has to speak the language of culture, not just commerce.” Don’t do business, don’t try to sell, and don’t be self centred in your advertising. Blend into the lives of people, the culture they live in, and what they want. Only then will your advertising sell.

10. “Covid-19 didn’t just disrupt business; it revealed who was built to last.” The pandemic was an unimaginable disruptor for businesses and brands, but it helped separate the men from the boys in every category.

11. “You can’t sell with a mindset stuck in 1999.” We need to look ahead and not back. The future lies ahead, not behind. You can’t drive a car if you always look in the rearview mirror. Brands need to realise this and spend their time looking ahead.

12. “Our industry doesn’t need a reset. It needs reimagining.” You don’t reset what is already there, as it will still be the same thing no matter what angle you look at. Imagine and look ahead; only then can you bring about real change and difference.

13. “We once sold jingles. Now we must sell journeys.” Jingles were the clients’ and agency’s favourite selling tactic. But not anymore. Consumers are not even listening to what brands are saying. To sell, you need to be present and integrate your brands into the consumer journey, and that too without any audio needed.

14. “Brands that didn’t evolve into experiences are fading into irrelevance.” Brand activation is not about sampling or door-to-door selling. It is about delivering real-life brand experiences and feelings to people. Brands that don’t create great experiences will never live in the hearts of people.

15. “Big ideas don’t require big budgets – just big thinking.” Do you have money or brains? Great marketers always have more brains than money; bad marketers always have the opposite.

16. “We need less hierarchy and more hustle in agencies.” Structure and hierarchy are the enemies of great ideas and great work. We need to break away from the mould and old ways. The memorable never emerged from a formula.

17. “If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, it probably is not innovative.” Big ideas are uncomfortable at first and they find a lot of resistance to begin with, but they are the only thing that will change your brand’s future. Don’t settle for what everyone likes. Be brave and stand up for what makes your heart beat.

18. “Consumers are no longer target audiences; they are participants.” The power consumers have today is unlike anything we have seen before. They used to be sitting ducks, but now they hold the gun and can kill a brand. The tide has turned. Embrace your consumers and make them participants in your brand’s development process.

19. “Marketing in Pakistan needs to reflect the messiness of our reality, not just the neatness of our brands.” Great brands are part of the fabric of the society they operate in. Brands cannot only portray goodness if the reality out there is bad and ugly. Great brands connect to the culture they operate in and the lives people live. They cannot always portray life as hunky-dory.

20. “Good advertising creates desire. Great advertising creates movement.” Great advertising can work miracles for your brand, but that one piece of advertising comes once in a decade. Not always and not every time. Learn to understand the difference, and don’t be satisfied with every piece of work you do, because this will make you forget what is great.

21. “Pakistan is the brand to work for.” I have had a chance to work for almost all the great Pakistani brands, but none brought the same feeling that working on brand Pakistan did. As the marketing agency for the Pakistan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, making every Pakistani anywhere in the world proud will always be close to my heart.

22. “We need to stop chasing awards and start chasing impact.” Marketing is about results, never about awards. We need to sell products, not ourselves. We need to make brands shine, not take the spotlight ourselves. We need to work in silence and let the success of our brands make the noise. Great marketing people work behind the scenes; only actors and performers take the stage.

23. “Katakat is the perfect metaphor for today’s marketing; a mixed, action-packed bag with an unforgettable taste.“ Today, marketing is like cooking katakat – a mixture of everything good and made with showmanship and tasty enough for consumers to enjoy.

24. “A marketing campaign is not a sprint; it is a series of strategic moves.” The days of the ad being a one-trick pony are gone. You need to plan and execute different smart moves to deliver brand success.

25. “After 25 years, the one truth that still holds? Great ideas still win.” Marketing will always be about great ideas. Brands don’t need brand managers. They need idea creators and thinkers. Ideas deliver results, not management.

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