The Nation’s Advertiser
The Government of Pakistan ranks among the topmost advertisersin Pakistan. Over the last five years, government expenditure ontelevision and print totalled nine billion rupees. According to Aurora’sFact File (published in November-December 2024) in FY 2023-24, thefederal government was ranked number 1 among the top 10 advertisers onTV and the provincial governments Number 4. In print, the federal government was ranked Number 6 and the provincial governments Number Five 5 among the top 10 advertisers.
By any yardstick, this gives the Government of Pakistan tremendousspending power – even taking into account the fact that unlike the privatesector, where ad tariffs are set by the media owners, the governmentdetermines its own tariffs. Given the cumulative volume of advertising placedby the federal and provincial governments in the print and electronic media,this gives the government enormous leverage over media coverage.
The government may be the nation’s largest advertiser, but it is not thenation’s greatest communicator. In terms of conceptual and creative executionand strategic direction, government ads are plain dull. Is there a reason forthis? To some extent, it can be argued, that government advertising is aboutticking the box. Government advertising is more about announcements ratherthan persuasion – electoral advertising being the exception. Given their heftybudgets, governments (federal and provincial) should theoretically be prizedclients for advertising and media agencies that have the capability to deliver,at the very least, an adequate level of quality rather than the dull resultsseen on the electronic and print media. And whilst on the subject of media,the government should be significantly upping its presence on social media(usage at the moment is mainly confined to electoral/political advertising),given that 60% of the population is under 30.
At the root of the problem is the fact that governments in Pakistanseem trapped in old-fashioned notions of how to carry out advertisingcommunications, and seem unable to hire the right resources to do the job.There is actually plenty governments can do with their ad budgets, and onmultiple levels. To take just one glaring example. Pakistan is among the 10most affected countries by climate change, and there is so much awarenessthat needs raising in terms of water conservation and management andenvironmental protection. Health and safety are other areas that wouldbenefit from targeted advertising. Yet, successive governments seem to havedevolved this responsibility to the private sector and individual initiatives. Thebudgets are there. What governments need to do is repurpose and redeploytheir budgets, reorganise their internal human resources and hire the bestexternal strategic and creative minds. But, perhaps first of all, the questionsthat need addressing are: what is the purpose of their budgets and whatresults does the government seek to achieve by advertising?
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