25 Thoughts For 25 Years

I have written for Aurora forover 25 years. So when Auroraapproached me with the newsthat they will be printing a speciallast issue containing the best ofwhat they have published over their25+ year run and asked me to do apiece for it, my article here is aboutcapturing all that I have believed inand stood for as an individual andthrough my agency too.

1. “Think Beyond the Line.”Above-the-line and below-theline are old. Think beyond-the-line,because the lines have blurred.Great marketing work is created bythinking beyond-the-line. This willalways be the unique thing to doand what counts in marketing.

2. “Purpose is the new positioning.” It is not just aboutwhat you sell; it is why you exist.People see beyond the productand into your organisation’s deeperinner self and the truth that liesbeneath. People want to buy fromgood people and good companies.

3. “Being into digital withoutunderstanding it is likebuying a Ferrari withoutknowing how to drive.” Don’t dosomething because everyone isdoing it. Don’t follow the trend. Dowhat you understand and whatyou can, and do it in the best way.Success will follow.

4. “Brands today are not sellinga product; they are sellinga belief system.” All products ina category are more or less thesame. It is your belief and your pointof view that are different. They arewhat people want to buy.

5. “Marketing is not changing;it has already changed.We are the ones catching up.“Marketing is centred around theconsumer. The consumer willcontinue to change at a pace wehave never seen before. So if youthink you know – you are wrong.Keep learning about the consumer,keep your fingers on their pulseand listen to their heartbeat andunderstand what makes it beat.

6. “The new client wants speed,certainty and empathy – allat once.” This may sound like threedifferent people, but that is the newreality. Clients are under pressure astheir brands come under stress. Timeis of the essence. Results mattermore than ever before, and you needto put yourself in the clients’ shoes tounderstand what they are looking for.

7. “Our biggest enemy is ourown comfort zone.” You don’thave any competition. You are aunique creation of God and youhave a gift that no one else has.Know yourself and chase what youwere born to. Never stop or settle.Keep going and keep challengingyourself. You will surprise yourself.

8. “Agencies must evolve fromservice providers to solutioncreators.” Agencies are not in theservice business. They are in theproblem-solving business. Thosewho just serve will evaporate as thecompetition gets tough and brandscome under pressure. No client willwant to be serviced. They will onlywant solutions.

9. “Advertising has to speak thelanguage of culture, not justcommerce.” Don’t do business,don’t try to sell, and don’t be selfcentred in your advertising. Blendinto the lives of people, the culturethey live in, and what they want.Only then will your advertising sell.

10. “Covid-19 didn’t justdisrupt business; itrevealed who was built to last.”The pandemic was an unimaginabledisruptor for businesses and brands,but it helped separate the men fromthe boys in every category.

11. “You can’t sell with amindset stuck in 1999.” Weneed to look ahead and not back.The future lies ahead, not behind.You can’t drive a car if you alwayslook in the rearview mirror. Brandsneed to realise this and spend theirtime looking ahead.

12. “Our industry doesn’tneed a reset. It needsreimagining.” You don’t resetwhat is already there, as it will stillbe the same thing no matter whatangle you look at. Imagine and lookahead; only then can you bringabout real change and difference.

13. “We once sold jingles.Now we must selljourneys.” Jingles were the clients’and agency’s favourite selling tactic.But not anymore. Consumers arenot even listening to what brandsare saying. To sell, you need to bepresent and integrate your brandsinto the consumer journey, and thattoo without any audio needed.

14. “Brands that didn’tevolve into experiencesare fading into irrelevance.”Brand activation is not aboutsampling or door-to-door selling. Itis about delivering real-life brandexperiences and feelings to people.Brands that don’t create greatexperiences will never live in thehearts of people.

15. “Big ideas don’t requirebig budgets – just bigthinking.” Do you have money orbrains? Great marketers alwayshave more brains than money; badmarketers always have the opposite.

16. “We need less hierarchyand more hustle inagencies.” Structure and hierarchyare the enemies of great ideasand great work. We need to breakaway from the mould and old ways.The memorable never emergedfrom a formula.

17. “If it doesn’t make youuncomfortable, it probablyis not innovative.” Big ideas areuncomfortable at first and they find alot of resistance to begin with, but theyare the only thing that will change yourbrand’s future. Don’t settle for whateveryone likes. Be brave and stand upfor what makes your heart beat.

18. “Consumers are no longertarget audiences; they areparticipants.” The power consumershave today is unlike anything we haveseen before. They used to be sittingducks, but now they hold the gun andcan kill a brand. The tide has turned.Embrace your consumers and makethem participants in your brand’sdevelopment process.

19. “Marketing in Pakistanneeds to reflect themessiness of our reality, not justthe neatness of our brands.”Great brands are part of thefabric of the society they operatein. Brands cannot only portraygoodness if the reality out there isbad and ugly. Great brands connectto the culture they operate in andthe lives people live. They cannotalways portray life as hunky-dory.

20. “Good advertising createsdesire. Great advertisingcreates movement.” Greatadvertising can work miracles foryour brand, but that one piece ofadvertising comes once in a decade.Not always and not every time.Learn to understand the difference,and don’t be satisfied with everypiece of work you do, because thiswill make you forget what is great.

21. “Pakistan is the brandto work for.” I have had achance to work for almost all the greatPakistani brands, but none broughtthe same feeling that working onbrand Pakistan did. As the marketingagency for the Pakistan Pavilion atExpo 2020 Dubai, making everyPakistani anywhere in the world proudwill always be close to my heart.

22. “We need to stop chasingawards and start chasingimpact.” Marketing is about results,never about awards. We need tosell products, not ourselves. Weneed to make brands shine, nottake the spotlight ourselves. Weneed to work in silence and let thesuccess of our brands make thenoise. Great marketing people workbehind the scenes; only actors andperformers take the stage.

23. “Katakat is the perfectmetaphor for today’smarketing; a mixed, action-packedbag with an unforgettable taste.“Today, marketing is like cookingkatakat – a mixture of everything goodand made with showmanship andtasty enough for consumers to enjoy.

24. “A marketing campaign isnot a sprint; it is a seriesof strategic moves.” The daysof the ad being a one-trick ponyare gone. You need to plan andexecute different smart moves todeliver brand success.

25. “After 25 years, the onetruth that still holds?Great ideas still win.” Marketing willalways be about great ideas. Brandsdon’t need brand managers. Theyneed idea creators and thinkers. Ideasdeliver results, not management.

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