“We are in a period of transition, and the question is, how do we prepare for this to ensure we provide the best solutions for our clients?”

AURORA: You were recentlyappointed CEO of GroupMand Amna Khatib Parachawas appointed MD ofMindshare. Does it suggest achange in strategic directionwithin the Group?

ATEEQ-UR-REHMAN: TheCEO position was triggered byour former CEO Naveed Asgharleaving for Canada. Globallyand locally, GroupM is a strongbeliever in nurturing talent fromwithin, and after a processof evaluation by our regionalcounterparts, it was decided togive the leadership role locally.Amna was formerly the ChiefDigital & Strategy Officer atGroupM, and given that mediainvestments are increasinglymoving into the digital space,it made sense to bring herleadership skills to Mindshare,which is the leading brandwithin GroupM.

A: To what extent have mediaconsumption habits changedin Pakistan, and how doesthis translate to the mediaplanning function?

AR: The core objective is toreach and engage audiences,which means understandingtheir 24-hour cycle; what they do;what interests them, what theyengage with. In the past, in termsof media consumption, audiencesspent most of their time on printand TV. Then TV went from justone to a few and then to over 100channels currently, and peoplewere spending a lot more timeon that medium which translatedinto a lot of advertising dollarsgoing there as well. Now we areseeing another transition – thistime to digital – and this one isfaster, especially among Gen Zand the emerging Gen Alpha.Added to this, even the mediaconsumption patterns amongolder generations, includingBoomers, have changed. We arein a period of transition, and thequestion is, how do we preparefor this to ensure we provide thebest solutions for our clients? Nodoubt, TV still leads in terms ofpenetration, but digital is gaining.Earlier, the mix was such thattwo to three percent of the spendwent to digital, but in the last fourto five years this spend has beenas high as over 30%, with someadvertisers going all digital and we see that trend continuing asmobile penetration and internetconsumption grows. However,within the digital space itself, thereare also a lot of changes. At themoment, a lot of spend is goinginto display or video platforms,but things could change with theemergence of e-commerce andsocial commerce.

A: Why is TV still so importantin Pakistan?

AR: Recent market researchby IPSOS Pakistan has shownthat traditional TV still capturesabout 60% of the total mediaconsumption. Global benchmarksare changing and over 50% ofthe investment is now digital, andas high as 80 to 90% in somemarkets. In Pakistan, peoplestill watch TV, especially when itcomes to sports. Compared toany other content, people wantto watch sports on a big screen.This said, the trend is declining,and although the transition willtake time, it will happen soonerrather than later and both clientsand agencies must preparethemselves for that.

A: Do Gen Z still watch TV?

AR: According to the data,they do, but this is declining ata much faster pace and goingforward, if we want to cater to thisgeneration, who will be makingthe majority of the purchasingdecisions, we need to learn andinvest in understanding theirmedia and buying behaviours.

A: What are the digital platformsthat are emerging?

AR: I would not say platforms,because platforms fall into specificspaces. In this respect, I would say‘commerce’; e-commerce, socialcommerce, influencer marketingand gaming. Social commerceis already very prevalent inSoutheast Asian markets. Forexample, the TikTok Shop haschanged the way people usecommerce. It enables merchantsand creators to showcase andsell products directly through acomplete in-app experience. OTTis another potential space that hasyet to come to its true potential.Another area are gaming ads,given the growing importanceof gaming among youngeraudiences. In fact, what dramasare to a mature female audience,gaming is to a younger audience,and gaming ads play a crucial role in engaging tech-savvy audiences.With an expected revenue of over$200 million within the gamingecosystem and a substantial userbase of 63.54 million, gamingads are positioned for a 10% plusgrowth in 2024.

A: Are there enough influencermarketers in Pakistan in termsof numbers and quality? Onehas a sense that there is somefatigue there.

AR: Influencer marketing is anexciting growth area and onein which clients are looking forglobal scale and outcomes driven capabilities. This is wherethe data part comes in. GroupMhas a solution called Goat thatprovides amazing insights anddata at a very granular level. Goatspecialises in data-led, end-to-endinfluencer marketing campaigns,grounded in performanceand measurement and drivesauthentic brand engagement whileintegrating targeted paid mediato reach the right audience andachieve industry-leading results.

A: Isn’t this counterintuitive?The power of influencers wasbased on the fact that theywere ‘real’ in terms of what theypromoted, but today they aremostly paid to promote, whichat some level compromisestheir credibility.

AR: It depends. People willfollow an influencer becausethey like the beauty tips theygive. If they say they have used aproduct themselves and it works,this creates a much strongerconnection with audiencescompared to seeing an ad in apassive environment. Influencermarketing is a great tool, solong as it is backed by the rightdata, so that you use the rightinfluencers for the right brand withthe right communication.

A: Today, audiences areengaged across multipleplatforms and touchpointsand clearly, evaluating reachis no longer as simple aswhen there was just TV, printand radio. How is GroupMoptimising reach?

AR: When you break downaudiences into age groups, yousee a lot of differences in terms oftheir media consumption habits,and to drive better results youhave to have the best expertisewithin a particular space and theability to develop different toolsthat will give you the advantage.GroupM has that advantage byvirtue of being a global agencyoperating in over 80 countries. Weinvest a lot in Research & Data(R&D); in fact, last year GroupMspent over $100 million on (R&D).Xaxis, our digital programmaticsolution has a proprietary toolcalled Copilot, which is an AItechnology that optimises digitalmedia investments for realbusiness outcomes. GroupM hasanother solution called ‘mScreen’that looks at linear and connectedTV data to garner incrementalreach for a particular budget,market, project or media plan. Wehave also developed tailor-madelocal solutions for our clients withinthis space.

A: One of the big challenges interms of data is the decisionto ban third-party cookies bynext year. How will this impactthe media planning andstrategy function?

AR: It is a learning curve, andgiven that it is going to becomea reality, we have to be readyfor this change – and we havealready done so. At the globallevel, GroupM has a joint initiativewith Google Chrome and wehave launched a first-to-marketprogramme called The PrivacySandbox. The idea is to acceleratethe process of preparing for thethird-party cookie deprecationwhich is due in the second halfof 2024. At GroupM, we believethat advertising can, and should,respect people’s privacy while stilldelivering exceptional value toconsumers and advertisers. Theygo hand in hand; it is not one orthe other, and this programme(which is specific to GroupMclients) will guide clients in termsof targeting, optimising andmeasuring their digital investmentsacross their display and video. Alot more science is coming intothe picture. The Privacy Sandboxis just one of the many exampleswhere GroupM is helping clientsadapt their marketing strategiesto maintain their relevance and beeffective in the post-cookie world.

A: Will AI play an important partin this?

AR: Data is the fuel that drivesAI, and the good part is thattoday there is a lot of data andAI will provide solutions aimed at efficiently developing targetedmarketing and media strategies.AI will also expand to other areasand this is something we are reallyexcited about. We have alreadystarted working with a few clientson developing models within theAI space. We are also working onthis with our global teams to giveus a head-start locally.

A: Science implies bothknowledge and rigour inimplementation. How and wheredo you find the resources toaccomplish the tasks requiredin a data-driven world?

AR: As a company, we don’tnecessarily pick people whoalready have an established skillset. We believe in developingthem, and this is why we havealways considered ourselvesto be a learning institute wherepeople undergo very rigorousprogrammes – and in thisrespect, we have locally as wellas regionally driven programmes,where we develop people withthe kind of skill sets and expertisethat do not come close to anythingfound elsewhere else. It is theseskill sets that really differentiate usas a media company. Earlier, skillsets were much simpler and this isnot a transition where everythingcan be transformed 100% inone go; it is a process. We havealready established a team ofexperts in data, tech, influencermarketing and content and wehave people who understand andcan create different AI models. Animportant aspect is understandinghow data can be used and thereis a lot available. Clients have first,second and third-party data, butnot many of them know what todo with it. Our role is to help themformulate and organise their datastrategies. Earlier, we workedwith clients on media strategies,now we are working with them todevelop data strategies – and weare able to do this because wehave invested in the right skill sets.

A: Are our higher educationalinstitutes offering the kind ofcourse degrees required forpeople who want to get into data?

AR: I joined GroupM with anMBA in marketing. In those days,there were no specialised MediaSciences Bachelor or Masterdegrees; at the most, there wouldbe one course on media withinthe framework of the degreecourse. Today, most universitiesoffer specialisations within MediaSciences. Globally, there arespecialisations in data sciences,including AI, and I think we will bemoving into that space as well.A lot of educational institutes willhave to look at how they designtheir curriculums and put morefocus on AI and data.

A: How much collaboration isthere between academia andcompanies such as yours?

AR: As we speak, there is anIBA lecturer on the premisesinteracting with our people. In fact,we consistently engage with theuniversities and intend to do a lotmore. I have already defined newareas that we will be looking at,and they will include collaboratingwith educational institutes aswell as young people looking forcareers, in terms of letting themknow what is needed and howwe can help them. Within ourregion, Pakistan is one of theleading markets when it comesto talent export and we havealways promoted this. Go andwork in other markets and shine,and if they come back, transferthat skill set to the country. In thedigital space, the competitionis not just local, it has becomeglobal, and we have to strengthenour skill sets at a much fasterpace, and for this, a lot morecollaboration is needed; betweencompanies, between institutesand even with the government.For our part, we are devisinginteresting course modulesthat will start with our ownemployees and then we intendto open them to the industry.GroupM has always believed indeveloping the ecosystem sothat everyone within it grows. Theecosystem should not just beabout profitability; it is also aboutdeveloping people and givingback to communities. Our visionhas always been to make surethat advertising works better forour clients and people.

A: Other than the more future-facing national companies, howmany local clients are readyto take the steps required forin-depth data-driven media andmarketing strategies?

AR: When any change happens,the first step is realisation andacceptance, and from the peopleI have been talking to, includingpeople who are not our clients, therealisation about the importance ofdata is there; however, the prioritymight not – and the reason is thatin our market, clients are still atan infancy stage when it comesto utilising data to its full potential.In this respect, GroupM hasdeveloped multiple in-house datasolutions that focus on conversionrate optimisation based onpurchase patterns; accumulatingdata insights for forecasting andplanning; data-backed AI solutionsthat can be turned into campaignsand automating listening datausing AI bots to reduce humanintervention. So the journey will bedifferent for different clients, andsome will be more proactive thanothers and come to it sooner.

A: Is it a problem that manyorganisations have trustissues when it comes tosharing their data?

AR: You cannot provide solutions,if you don’t understand the client’sbusiness and have access tothe information that will helpus to understand them. To yourquestion, I think the majority areopen in terms of sharing. A lot haschanged in the past few years interms of collaboration betweenclients and their agency partners.

A: Given the increasingmedia complexity, doyou think Pakistanicommunication specialistsshould collaborate more?

AR: I find it positive that everyoneis heading in the right direction; wemay be taking slow steps but weare taking steps and we will getthere. But yes, everyone has tocome together in bringing changeabout and the weakness is thatwe don’t always do, especially oncommon themes that would helpthe ecosystem. We tend to stayin our silos, which is okay too,although the impact will not be thesame. But overall, I believe we aremoving in the right direction.

Ateeq-ur-Rehman was in conversation with Mariam Ali Baig.For feedback: aurora@dawn.com