Talking Heads
ADVERTISING AGENCY HEADS
1 Does your agency have a digital wing?
2 When you pitch for digital business, name the three digital core competencies you offer your clients?
3 Which of your own digital campaigns from 2011 and 2012 are you most proud of?
Ahmed Jamal Mir
MD & CEO, Prestige/Grey
1 Prestige/Grey offers digital marketing solutions through its media department and has partnered with established local digital houses for project execution. It is committed to expanding its digital footprint further as digital marketing becomes more significant in terms of overall contribution to ad spend.
2 Integration: Strategic brand knowledge to build effective digital extensions for campaigns. Collaboration: Synergies with local digital experts for solutions suited to the Pakistani online user. One-stop access: All digital marketing services from planning, creative to buying under one roof.
3 Prestige/Grey works closely with clients for their customised digital marketing needs. In the last two years, Prestige/Grey has been part of different digital marketing initiatives in airline, banking, pharma and the public utility sectors.
Ali Mandviwalla
COO, Synergy Group
All digital media specific requirements are serviced by Synchronize Media, which has expertise in digital media solutions. Synchronize Media has always been proactive in assessing and servicing client needs, particularly in non-conventional and new media. Furthermore, in view of the growing need for specialised digital agencies, we are in the process of bringing a specialised full service digital agency.
Anis Khan
CEO, Manhattan Leo Burnett
1 Manhattan Leo Burnett, by virtue of a global affiliation with Publicis Worldwide has a digital wing called Digitas.
2 Backed by a strong global network support, we offer holistic and integrated digital strategic insights to build powerful brands and offer breakthrough business values to our clients.
3 McDonald’s Drive-Thru, ‘joy on the go’, was a digitally lead campaign with a 360 degree outlook. The campaign connected all the dots and formed true brand affinities for McDonald’s.
Faraz Maqsood Hamidi
CE & CD, The D'Hamidi Partnership
1 The D’Hamidi Partnership is equipped to provide a comprehensive suite of digital services to clients wishing to explore, manage or expand their digital presence.
2 We don’t pitch for digital business. We pitch for brands where the digital frontier is a reality that must be managed in the way other media, promotions and distribution channels are leveraged for a streamlined and well orchestrated brand experience. Depending on the resources, this can include anything from web design to content generation to social media and blogging.
3 We enjoyed developing the Engro Corp. brand website and are looking forward to completing Faysal Asset Management’s interactive portal.
Masood Hasan
Chairman & CEO, Publicis Pakistan & Modem 4
1 We have recently launched a digital wing called Pixl4. This isn’t our first experience with digital work but the first time we are solely dedicating resources to this compelling medium.
2 Design and development of websites and digital brand experiences. Social media and online advertising campaigns – with integrated strategy. Deeper engagement vehicles like apps, games, communities and more.
3 Our digital brand is new, so our projects are more recent, but we are proud of our engaging content generation for Aman Ittehad and the British High Commission in 2011.
Jamal Mubtasim Malik
CE, Velocity Marketing & Communications
1 Velocity has a dedicated digital wing designated to give our clients a 360 degree approach.
2 Our core competencies include gaining access to target audiences categorised either geographically or demographically thus giving the right value for each penny spent. Velocity holds regular interactive sessions with fans of each digital asset to have them totally glued to posts and information updates.
3 Master Molty Foam and Master Celeste.
Khalid Rauf
CEO, Lowe & Rauf
1 We have a full service digital offering, encompassing planning, creative and social media. We build all our own digital assets such as apps, games and websites in-house. We are currently the first and only agency to do all our own heavy lifting internally on this front.
2 Strategy, creative and campaign management.
3 Fair & Lovely Max Fairness and Surf Excel have been our best campaigns in 2011 and 2012. Max Fairness has been very successful in owning cricket through its brand page, along with its website and has a growing community of over 110,000 fans, 101,000 web visits and engagement that peaked to 25% of the total likes. Surf Excel’s launch on social media, with a competition centred on cricket gelled perfectly with their proposition of ‘dirt is good’ and garnered over 42,000 likes on the page within three weeks.
Mahmood Hashmi
CE, Orient Advertising
1 Yes.
2 Media buying and planning, interactive digital media strategy, social media management. One more would be research and analysis.
3 Nokia E7, Nokia N9, Nokia Pakistan Facebook page launch, Philips Avent Facebook page launch, Mobilink Jazz Facebook page launch and many more.
Shoaib Qureshy
CEO, BE DDB & Bulls Eye Communications
1 We have a digital engine, not just a wing. We are not in it for fashion. DDB believes in digital and we are well connected with the Tribal DDB (a leading digital agency) network.
2 Creativity, creativity and creativity. Creativity is the most powerful force in marketing no matter what the medium. Ideas matter, not a stale digital presence.
3 The Pringles ‘burst your flavour’ digital campaign we did in Oman at their launch. It challenged the young to show their true flavours to everyone.
It won the best launch award in the Pringles World out of 70 competing countries.
Mansoor Karim
CEO, JWT Pakistan
1 Our parent company, WPP has acquired a stake in Converge and we work with them on the digital business.
2 We treat digital as a core component of the marketing mix of any brand communication rather than use digital in isolation. We do not limit digital to a certain set of audience and as it is a medium that can reach out to various SECs with a host of unique digital touch points, being a core component of JWT Worldwide, we believe in bringing the best practices and technologies to Pakistan and give our clients the opportunity to explore digital in a way brands in Pakistan have not done before.
3 We created a competition for Gul Ahmed Ideas called ‘Fashionation’ for August 14th. It prompted its fan base to come up with their ‘ideal Pakistani look’ and we received numerous entries from people all over Pakistan truly showing their interpretation of what Pakistani fashion symbolises.
Neil Christy
CEO, Headlion
1 Yes; it’s called Headlion Digital.
2 Our case histories, understanding and command over social media and the tools we offer.
3 Café Headlion won a global case history award by DIDX USA and is available on iTunes and the internet.
Ruby Haider
Chairman & CEO, IAL Saatchi & Saatchi
1 In line with the pioneering spirit of IAL perhaps we were one of the first agencies to venture in the digital stratosphere in 2004.2 Substance in strategy. Enduring ideas. Brilliance in execution.
3 Safeguard: Global hand-washing day campaign. Head & Shoulders: Shahid Afridi viral seeding and game. 50:50: Consumer promotion. Commander Safeguard: Consumer engagement. Lovemark app available on IAL’s Facebook page.
Sabene Saigol
CEO, Red Communication Arts
1 Digital requires a very specialised skill set, one that most agencies do not inherently have. I have considered venturing into this underutilised and underdeveloped area many times. However it must be from a specialised platform, not as one of the services of a mainstream agency.
2 We support our clients in all their digital needs through a solid digital strategy that emphasises innovative digital stories.
In Pakistan, digital is about Facebook and its success is measured by how many fans are collected. This is only a tiny facet of the potential that lies in the digital medium for brands. Real digital successes are those that use on-ground activation coupled with content creation both by the brand and the consumer to create long lasting viral campaigns.
Mahmood Parekh
CE, MCM Advertising Group & e-MCM
1 MCM Advertising Group has a digital wing called e-MCM to assist clients in finding advanced digital solutions in all spheres of today’s e-challenges.
2 e-MCM offers a state of the art environment coupled with a team of highly qualified and skilled professionals experienced in all the latest tools, technologies and methodologies of digital marketing. We provide efficient and cost effective resources in digital management with a focus on e-marketing solutions, social media marketing, AdSense marketing, blogs marketing, website marketing, mobile marketing, silent force digital solutions and creation of digital strategies.
3 e-MCM is almost in the final stages of negotiations with a key global leader in digital business for a strategic partnership.
Imran Irshad
CEO, Pirana
1 DG Harbour is a digital and marketing/media company and a division of Pirana Group. DG Harbour specialises in launching business portals, publisher and affiliation networks and a localised apps gallery backed by reputed technology partners, along with a variety of services for businesses, education, health and other sectors to improve their communication with various stakeholders. It provides turnkey solutions in web presence, digital marketing, online retail management and niche portals (mobile apps, games, etc.).
2 An international presence which helps us to transfer best practices and innovation as they happen. Each of our services is backed by ROI which is measured through analytics in detail. We host certified and research oriented professionals who have international digital media certification in Google and Bing and professionals involved in academic research.
3 United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) campaign: Regional Ramadan fundraising campaign 2012. UNWFP conducted its first Ramadan fundraising campaign this year by capitalising on web-based tools and activities. The campaign focused on the Muslim tradition of breaking the fast at the end of the day during Ramadan. Pirana provided a communication strategy, supported by the creative concept and all design materials required for the online campaign.
Seema Jaffer
CEO, Bond Advertising
1 Bond has recently initiated its digital division. This move was inevitable because of the growth we anticipate in social media. A large number of customers are already spending serious amounts of engaged time on social media be it Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Pakistan already has a Facebook population of over 6.5 million and this has almost doubled since last year. As an agency with a strong media capability we felt it is important to have digital media as part of our portfolio of services as it adds immense value and is the need of the day.
2 All elements of the digital strategy have to be integrated. That is the beauty of it. We can create a buzz for our clients by mapping out a smart social strategy. Key elements include developing an engaging website, building content and managing Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs and digital campaigns. Again driving people to engage, share, tweet is all part of the offering as well as the seamless integration with the ATL and BTL campaign.
3 The campaign for August 14th, 2012 for Bank AL Habib Young Savers was based on a song from a vintage Pakistani film. The communication revolved around a powerful message to our young, reminding them of the sacrifices made by previous generations. Ultimately the communication was geared to build upon the values that Bank AL Habib stands for. Integrity, hard work, nation building and belief in our future. Digital provided the perfect platform to reach our target and was a powerful medium in getting us a positive and engaged response.
Shahnoor Ahmed
Chairman & CEO, Spectrum Y&R
1 This is a powerful new area and is evolving every day, and its potential is not fully realised. It is still the blind leading the blind. Digital has not been marked out as a separate wing or department at Spectrum, however that does not mean we are not giving attention to this emerging medium as every proposal today has a digital component to it and comes from within the creative and account management resources at the agency. Y&R internationally has digital on top priority and training workshops are held regularly to keep every office up to speed on new developments.
2 There are two aspects to the digital business; the big idea and the execution. We are involved with the client in developing and presenting the big idea which can be standalone digital or digital and ATL or digital and BTL. These can be from simple web banners that connect to an ATL campaign to various options for social media and mobile apps, viral, etc.
3 The MaxFresh social media campaign, because it involved attracting the young. Engaging them with hip apps, games and contests helped uplift the brand, significantly. Candi biscuits and some on-going work for Zong is also very exciting.
Sohail Aziz
CEO, Message Communications
1 Message Communications has started to promote brands on the world wide web.
2 We offer clients direct access to running campaigns by providing login and password; we also provide the third party reports to clients.
3 Campaign for Professional Accountancy of Commerce (PAC).
Syed Masood Hashmi
CEO, Orientm McCann Erickson
1 Yes.
2 We provide integrated marketing solutions because McCann Worldgroup believes that digital marketing should not be used as the icing on the cake and digital strategists should be part and parcel of the process of creative and brand building. Orientm McCann is our creative agency; Orientedge UM is our media management company and Orient Public Relations is the PR wing. All these companies are under one roof so that in the brand building process all stakeholders, including digital, are involved. This provides us with a wider perspective on consumer insights compared to agencies that have a myopic view in digital only. We also provide billing with third party audit, making it transparent.
3 Anne French, face of 2013.
Taher A. Khan
CEO, Interflow Group
1 iDigital is the digital wing of Interflow Communications. It provides digital communication strategies and digital content to our clients. Within the larger Interflow Group we have DHQ which provides a full suite of digital and mobile solutions. Major clients include Cadbury, KESC and USAID.
2 We believe that website development and social media management are typical propositions. Our core competencies are brand performance focused. These include: Digital visioning to help brand custodians establish a vision for their brand. D-Start which includes digital audience segmentation and contextual social media analysis leading to insights in developing creative content for relevant digital mediums. D-Audit is our digital audit so that clients can assess their current digital properties. We are conducting D-Audit with James Andrews, a renowned American TransMedia Strategist working with Nike, the Grammy Awards, etc.
3 I am very proud of the work we have done on Azm-e-Alishan. We have sustained this digital initiative for over three years with triple digit growth in all metrics. On Facebook we have 164,000 likes.
We have had more than a 100 original songs uploaded on our website, multiple competitions and integration with TV content and on-ground activities to create seamless campaigns. We have also started working with international clients including Philip Kotler for whom we have re-imagined digital and revamped the World Marketing Summit web presence.
DIGITAL AGENCY HEADS
1 What are your growth projections for digital media in terms of volume and value in 2013?
2 Out of the mediums available on the digital platform, which are the most sought after by clients and why?
3 Which of your own digital campaigns from 2011 and 2012 are you most proud of?
Amer Sarfraz
Partner & VP of Business, Bramerz
1 Digital spend is hovering at approximately six million dollars (Rs 574.5 million). With more brands acknowledging digital as an efficient medium, we are expecting a volume growth of approximately 20% with approximately the same pattern followed in the value of digital spend. Most of it would be coming from national level players, MNCs and telcos.
2 Apart from telcos, most MNCs and local players are focused on Facebook and the reason is the presence of the young and ability to target demographics. Another major reason is the fan following and the social network’s ability to build on the existing fan base, which means the reach is always growing with every new campaign as opposed to starting afresh with every campaign, a traditional media phenomenon.
3 Dell Brand Ambassadors campaign was our best performer in 2012. The Ambassadors were shortlisted from the universities and were given challenges to promote and sell Dell Notebooks via activation and other tasks against incentives. In two months, the campaign resulted in sales of 672 notebook units, generating approximately Rs 30 million in sales revenue.
Ehmer Kirmani
CEO, Media Ideé
1 We are expecting north of $13 million (Rs 1.24 billion) in 2013 to be spent on digital media, up from an estimated nine million dollars (Rs 861.78 million) this year. The market is growing easily at 20-25% a year.
2 It depends on the objectives. At the moment social media seems to be the favourite. The second highest growth we have seen is in mobile marketing with SMS as a platform. SMS marketing is direct and if used properly has very high reach, lower costs and guaranteed delivery. Other media like SEO (including reputation management) or web applications are also very much sought after for campaigns or long term brand building.
3 I am most proud of TCS Connect: We launched Pakistan’s first digital brand and did it across traditional, direct and digital media. This sort of integration is highly sought after in the region. We’re proud to be the first to do so in Pakistan.
I am also proud of the first ever coupon campaign we did for Nestlé Milo where we replaced the traditional form of packet redemption with mobile media. The campaign scored highly with the Milo audience due to its instant connection, engagement and entry method.
Mohsin Jafri
CEO, Lane 12
1 Growth will be between 15-20% while hitting the Rs 800 million ($8.35 million) threshold. This will change if new mobile technologies are launched next year as access will become easier for high and low end consumers.
2 Facebook is a platform that brands think can spark engagement. They have an opportunity to touch the lives of their audiences, know them better; to inculcate the brand’s essence in people’s lives and eventually get people’s input for a better brand experience.
3 Gillette: We launched a campaign around the Pak-India match last year which resonated with our audience. The activity spread like fire and 25 fans in a minute ensued. Strepsils ‘Shout out challenge’ turned out to be a huge brand recognition activity.
Amin Rammal
Director, APR, Digispace, Firebolt63 & The Brand Crew
1 Global digital media spend for 2013 is estimated to grow around 16-18%. In Pakistan, 30-35% would be a conservative estimate. Value may exceed once demand is substantial to increase CPC/CPM.
2 Facebook and Google Display Network (including YouTube) because of scale, familiarity, efficiency, ease of placement and buying. Twitter is considered by select clients for promotional purposes and LinkedIn for HR.
3 UBL First SuperSaver campaign about saving for the future. HBL hum hain Pakistan photography contest for Independence Day. Omoré Karachi launch Facebook campaign. HBL services campaign during World Cup Cricket.
Qazi Fakhir Jamil
CEO, Converge Technologies
1 The market will go up by 15-20% in 2013; estimated market size would be Rs 1.6-2.2 billion ($16.70-22.97 million).
2 Facebook remains the most sought after, due to its interactive functionality. Mobility is the most sought after medium. There is still time till Twitter benefits business/brand profiles. For some strategic businesses LinkedIn can be used very well to gain advantage.
3 Luxstyle.pk, Pakistan’s first ever entertainment video portal; PSO’s Secure Code, product authenticity taken to a new level via digital; Dove real women campaign; Live screening of the LSA, red carpet event, an industry first.
Shakir Husain
Founder and CEO, Creative Chaos
1 We expect Facebook to grow by 100% in 2013, resulting in 15 million users from Pakistan. Smartphone penetration will also double from five million plus users to almost 10 million and the use of mobile applications will become more commonplace.
2 Social media platforms will be the most sought after for all clients, followed by owned media (e.g. interactive microsites). The role of brand websites will be underplayed and branded smartphone applications will pick up pace in 2013.
3 Key campaigns: Coke Studio (YouTube, mobile and brand website). Vaseline winter quest (interactive microsite supported by Facebook). Magnum pleasure hunt (interactive microsite supported by Facebook and Twitter).
CORPORATE HEADS
1 On a scale of 1-10 (with one being the least and 10 the most), what weightage has your company put on digital media in terms of marketing/ advertising in 2012? And do you plan to increase this in 2013? If so, by how much?
2 Do you currently work with a digital agency or do you have an in-house digital team?
3 What three measures have you taken to enhance your company’s digital capacity in 2012?
Aamir Ibrahim
Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan
1 In 2008, Telenor was among the first few companies in Pakistan to realise the importance of social media. Regular activities, such as blogger workshops, blogger awareness sessions and product launches with bloggers were among our initial initiatives. We were among the first companies to set up a separate digital marketing unit with services such as web, social media, digital media buying and e-commerce. There has been a major shift in our advertising to cater to the increasing use of social media and the internet. We have increased our focus on digital in terms of budget and resource concentration by three times compared to last year and we aim to double our efforts in 2013.
2 We have an in-house digital team as well as specialised agencies ranging from digital strategy and social media management to website and software development. The digital team spearheads all digital initiatives with our digital partners.
3 Through our customer services solutions on social platforms, our interactive online communication with our stakeholders, our innovative product and VAS integration on social and a range of other digitally integrated activities, we are striving to put ourselves in our customers shoes, understand their needs, take feedback, improve and come up with products and services that target those needs.
We understand the limitations that the internet currently has in Pakistan, in terms of limited access and lack of content. We see mobile internet as a means to create wider public access to the internet. Programmes such as I-Champ, under which we go to schools in rural and semi-urban areas to create awareness about positive influences of internet use are part of our effort towards increasing access. This will also ensure that we are able to hear the voice of the larger base of our customers whom we cannot access through digital. As for content, we have been running programs like Apportunity which encourage local students and bloggers to come play their part in developing localised content.
Afnan Ahsan
CEO, Engro Foods
1 Engro Foods has some of the biggest and best-loved brands in the country and our journey to reach out to consumers through digital media has just begun. Right now, we would be somewhere near a three on the scale. However, since digital media provides great opportunities to connect with customers, we have comprehensive plans for our current and potentially new brands, which will unfold in 2013 onwards.
2 Given the specialised focus required to build consumer engagement through digital platforms, we have seen great value in working with an expert partner in this area.
3 The first has to be appointing a digital agency to address our communication needs. The second is an integration of the digital strategy with our overall marketing communication strategy. The third measure is identifying key opportunities going forward.
Arif Shafique
GM, Pakistan & Afghanistan, Nokia
1 Eleven or maybe more. Our team and partner agencies’ efforts in the pre-planning phase have set new benchmarks for brands in Pakistan where we achieved over 800,000 fans on Facebook and Pring in less than 190 days!
2 Both. We have an internal team which looks after all the initiatives on digital media, while Carat and TNBT are the recruited agencies to manage our online presence in Pakistan.
3 2012 has turned out to be a defining year for Nokia Pakistan’s online presence in Pakistan. Firstly, we launched our online presence through our social media pages and later announced the extension of the Pakistan page on our Nokia Global website. Secondly, we invested in human resource and hired specialised resources to manage our social media sites and content on the digital front. Thirdly, to build the traffic on our website and local pages, we increased our digital spend.
Ehsan Malik
CEO, Unilever Pakistan
1 We are enhancing management focus and investment to become one of the most digitally savvy organisations. Our investment will double each year until 2015.
2 We work with four digital agencies to manage social media and online properties of brands assigned to them. We have streamlined online buying through Mindshare (partnering with Symmetry).
3 We have created a digital council, comprising of some of the most digitally savvy young employees. They are reverse mentoring the leaders. We are organising workshops by key industry players like Google.
Faisal Sabzwari
Country Manager, P&G Pakistan
1 Our use of digital media should rise exponentially in the coming years. Consumers are already heavily engaged in this space. For us the focus is figuring out ways to enhance the effectiveness of our digital media use and fully integrate digital into our brand building plans. This will enable us to build one-to-one relationships and connect with consumers in a real-time, digitally-connected world.
2 We have a hybrid setup in Pakistan. In addition to having in-house community managers who manage social engagement for our brands, we work with a digital agency for digital advertising planning and execution.
3 Our focus has been on developing knowledge, putting in place the right tools and building capabilities to enhance our digital capacity. The company has taken key capability interventions and invested in systems that enable us to get a deeper understanding of consumers, better consolidate and manage consumer data and measure activities and results. We have established strategic global partnerships with leading digital companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo etc., to help accelerate our efforts in the digital space. Finally we have leveraged the power of our company scale to maximise speed, reach, efficiency of operation, and privacy compliance.
Mujahid Hamid
Executive Director, Zulfiqar Industries (ZIL)
1 In 2012 the weightage given to digital media in terms of marketing and advertising was negligible as we focused more on social media. We plan to focus on digital in 2013 and would give our intended weightage a 4.
2 We plan to partner with a digital agency and benefit from their understanding of this particular media to reach our consumers.
3 For a company that has only recently increased its focus on consumer-centric marketing, the sheer realisation that this media is where the future lies, is the biggest step in the right direction. We will partner with the best resources in the business to enhance our presence in digital.
Muneer Farooqui
President & CEO, Warid Telecom
1 Eight. However with the increasing popularity of digital media as an advertising tool and advancements in measuring the ROI of this medium, we look towards increasing our focus to the maximum.
2 We are currently engaged with one of the leading digital media agencies in the country and have a dedicated in-house resource to manage Warid’s online universe.
3 Our partnership with our digital media agency allows us to fully integrate ATL and BTL with digital to maximise synergies between these mediums. Our past experience with this medium has allowed us to further modify and define a cohesive digital strategy for 2013 and beyond.
We have substantially increased our investment in digital to ensure a consistent presence on all the major online touch points including social, mobile, display, search, etc.
Omar Manzur
Head of Corporate Communications, Mobilink
1 Four out of 10. In 2012, our focus was to learn from and adopt digital media as a platform for marketing and launch a digital presence for all brands. In 2013 we plan to increase this by a factor of two with inbound engagement.
2 Mobilink works with multiple digital media agencies. They help us manage our brands and are responsible for web management and social media insights and analytics. We also have a dedicated in-house digital team which manages these agencies.
3 Creativity, engagement and organic growth.
We offer our customers exciting new activities on digital media that keep them connected to our brands. Jazz was recently ranked as the most engaging brand on Facebook from Pakistan by Socialbakers (the fastest growing social media analytics company globally that keeps a track of all brands and their engagement).
Kalim-ur-Rahman
President & CEO, JS Bank
1 I would put our weightage for reliance on the digital media for marketing and advertising in 2012 at a 5. We intend to increase it in 2013 to a rating of 7.
2 We work with a digital agency for specific tasks. We also have our own in-house digital team capability.
3 The three measures taken to enhance our bank’s digital capacity in 2012 are the relaunch of our website; search engine optimisation, advertising on Facebook and Twitter and creating a fan page on Facebook.
Saad Amanaullah Khan
CEO, Gillette Pakistan
1 In 2012 it was 1 and now we will take it to 2 or 3 out of 10. Still low focus, but we are working towards making it a bigger portion of our equity building pie.
2 We have an in-house digital team and we use Brainchild as our external digital buying/planning agency. Plus we have different digital creative agencies for every brand.
3 We are driving more deliberate organisational focus on digital media by building the digital capability of our marketing teams, allocating a minimum of one percent of our budget for each category to spend on digital and making digital as part of all our initiatives’ holistic planning.