Pakistan’s underrated luxury brands
Pre-historic or post-modern, in peace or in trauma, human beings have always been inclined towards the creation of beauty and self-expression as means of their personal survival and identity. Modern Pakistanis, too, are heavily invested in the creation of tools of aesthetic indulgence; it’s a sound business enterprise as the need for pleasing surroundings and luxurious products is one that does not diminish; it hasn’t faltered since the Neanderthals wore pigment-stained seashell necklaces around their necks. It’s what we draw solace from in a world that has been consistently unpredictable. Brands are identity- national identity There are imported products and there are ...
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Marketing Pakistan: Know your product
On the one hand, it seems that Pakistan doesn’t have much to offer travelers these days with the exception of expats visiting their families, Lonely Planet reading backpackers, Sikh pilgrims and cricket-mad Indians—many of whom have waned from the ‘insecurity’ situation. Then, on the other hand, the ‘Ministry of Marketing’ (let us suppose that one exists) has plenty of underutilised fodder to attract positive international interest, if only they would. From an ancient civilization that’s older than the Pyramids (the Indus Valley along with Buddhist and Gandhara aren’t adequately promoted like the Mughals as they’re pre-Islamic), historical architecture (including pre-Partition buildings that ...
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Yes, my name is Romeo Armani
When I wrote my first story, I was hesitant to show it to anyone. The main reason was my name. I was hesitant to associate my real name with the story. Eight years passed and the story got buried under a pile of papers on my desk. When I was leaving for England, I emptied my drawers and came across the same little story. For some reason I decided to put it in my suitcase and take it with me. In England, I redesigned many of my dreams and reinvented myself in order to achieve my goals. After I completed my ...
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Why we buy junk food (and other junk)
Ever noticed how a six-year-old screams in excitement at the thought of junk food and squeals in pain at the thought of fruits and vegetables? While many parents accuse the persuasiveness of food companies’ marketing strategies for their children’s avid interest in junk food, they are guilty of the same tactic. Whether it’s the Popeye story to get kids to eat spinach or Bugs Bunny to get them to eat carrots, parents employ the same strategy. But it is not just kids that are gullible in the face of such immaculate marketing; it is every aunty that gasps at lawn billboards and ...
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They’re armed, dangerous and crazy about lawn!
Winter is nearly over in Karachi and I can already see billboards of Iman Ali modeling for lawn. This is just the beginning of the lawn madness in Karachi. Every year, designers hold exhibitions selling overpriced lawn where mobs of women claw and push each other to get the best pieces. Even if the prints are a big disappointment, women will still wait in long lines at exhibition venues. Aunties gone wild I made the mistake of attending one Gul Ahmed lawn exhibition. While I was standing at the counter, a middle-aged aunty came and pushed me from behind because I had asked the ...
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How to generate business excellence
I’d like to shed some light on a topic much debated in companies that have survived more than five years and would like to get out of the break-even trap. They wish to bring their capabilities at par with the corporations they once aspired to be, and the key is operational excellence. This is achieved by building operational capabilities, which in turn come about by undertaking structured programs for epic-systematic high performance. To develop a rewarding development program, four factors are crucial to a corporation’s goals: Aim to create value by developing a marketing road map that grants a systematic process for ...
Read Full PostThe customer is always right…but is he happy?
During uncertain times, the customer becomes the lifeblood of any business. But today the brand team is struggling with which existing and prospective customers to target with their current offers via multiple channels of interaction. Many established corporations are aligning their resources towards BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China, for growth opportunities and are aiming to hone in on the rise in disposable income within these economies – notably China, whose new five-year plan aims at a growth strategy fuelled by domestic consumption instead of the trillion-dollar generating strategy of exports maximisation. What they are finding is the difficulty to ...
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TV ads: Is all the dancing really selling?
Products in Pakistan have not always been sold by armies of men and women dancing to uncoordinated perfection. However, recently advertising ‘charts’ have been hit by four choreographed entries: Tarang, Sooper, Warid and Chaika, which are running on all major TV channels night and day. Does dancing sell? Does this mean that singing and dance routines are what grip the Pakistani people and make them go buy brands? Or, does this simply mean that this is an idea that can be easily sold to clients by agencies? Agencies have developed a stereotypical solution for all marketing communication needs and forgotten the essence of ...
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Stop portraying Pakistan as the Meera of the world!
“What do you do?” “I’m a PR consultant.” “Personal relationships?” “No, public relations.” “Oh, you organise events?” Unfortunately, that is what I get from most people when I travel to Pakistan – either this, or I just have to settle for telling them that I work in marketing; which is a socially acceptable and easily understandable term. PR is not a well known field in Pakistan and is still in stages of infancy; despite the presence of a few PR agencies, the field still remains remarkably untapped. Media and its teething problems One of the obstacles in the development of this field, as I see it, is ...
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What advertisements are doing to our children
“Bubloo tumhara sabun slow hei kia?” chants an arrogant, animated girl character in a liquid soap ad, teasing the poor boy who has been silly enough to not know that soap bars are useless compared to liquid soap. Such is the shallowness being imparted on children during their formative years through advertising. They develop a narcissistic attitude towards what they see as ”me and my things.” As ad filmmakers are formulating the most effective ways of enticing consumers to buy their products, they have found children are good targets. Younger minds are easy to manipulate and are seen as long-term potential buyers. ...
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