"So far there was only one international market research brand in Pakistan – Nielsen – but now there is TNS"

Steve Hamilton-Clark, CEO, TNS Middle East & North Africa

H. Aftab Ahmad, CEO, Aftab Associates

Aftab Associates recently signed a formal partnership agreement with TNS. Marylou Andrew spoke to Steve Hamilton-Clark, CEO, TNS Middle East & North Africa and H. Aftab Ahmad, CEO, Aftab Associates to find out what this will mean for Pakistan’s market research sector.

MARYLOU ANDREW: TNS and Aftab Associates have had a long association; why have you now decided to sign a formal agreement?

STEVE HAMILTON‑CLARK: The relationship with Aftab Associates started in 1995 and became earnest in 2005; we used that time to get to know each other. This business is based on relationships, so that was the first criteria. The second criteria was the fact that TNS was looking for the best in the sector and Aftab had long had a reputation – 27 years – for being the best; it is well established and does quality work. The third criteria was that Pakistan as a rapidly emerging market was seen to be very much part of our strategy for expansion.

MLA: What will the formalising of this relationship mean for clients?

SHC: One of the big pluses of working in Pakistan, and with Aftab, is the fact that there are some brilliant minds, but they lack tools. TNS brings tools such as Needscope, to understand unmet consumer needs and wants, and others aimed at stakeholder management and understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty. These best practices combined with the smarts of Aftab amount to an unbeatable offering for our clients. It is also important to remember that we don’t sell tools or products; it is the interpretation of products that makes the difference. TNS is also very sector oriented. We have consumer specialists, financial specialists, telecom specialists, automotive specialists, etc. This adds value, because you are talking to people who speak the same language and this will benefit the Pakistan market.

H. AFTAB AHMAD: Our infrastructure and our local experience combined with TNS’ expertise worldwide and in the region is important. Clients are now looking towards branded solutions and they have been paying a lot of money to buy those solutions from TNS in Dubai; now they will have access to these tools locally and with local client servicing. So far there was only one international market research brand in Pakistan – Nielsen – but now there is TNS.

MLA: How do you make market research attractive as a career?

HAA: First of all we hire people who are passionate about research and we then give them the freedom to take decisions and make mistakes. This is what distinguishes us from our competition. We also offer a very good environment for women to work in. We have a large team of female researchers; in fact, some of the best researchers worldwide are women.

MLA: What do you see as some of the challenges in Pakistan’s market research sector?

SHC: The biggest challenge is that market research as a service industry is not moving as fast as it could in terms of providing insight into data. It is very easy to generate the data, it is a lot more difficult to interpret it and find the story behind the data. And if you do not have the tools and the framework to analyse the data, it becomes very difficult. The other challenge is the quality of the data. Too few clients take the time to look under the hood to see if there is an engine and what kind of engine it is. And this comes at a price. Clients have to recognise that it is difficult to get good quality data and that it is worth paying for.

MLA: Do clients in Pakistan take market research seriously?

HAA: There is a rapid shift in the use of research in Pakistan for a number of reasons. One is that there is serious competition coming from the international brands because of the WTO Regulations. Many major food brands want to enter this market and are now undertaking research, and as a result, local brands have been forced to invest in research as well. The other important development is that in the last few years many people who used to work with multinational companies have moved to Pakistani companies and have brought with them the culture of market research which the MNCs are famous for.

MLA: Has the economic downturn affected market research?

SHC: Globally the answer would be yes. Typically market research has been seen as recessionary resilient and a lot of market research companies were banking on that and most of them, if not all, succumbed to the global crisis in terms of margins and profits. But Pakistan is an exception and there are other markets in the world which have also done relatively well.

HAA: About 10 years ago only three companies accounted for nearly 60 to 70% of the total revenue pie in terms of market research; they were Unilever, P&G and Pakistan Tobacco. Although in the present environment, their budgets have been slashed, this has been compensated by other companies; the international brands that are trying to enter Pakistan and the telecom companies which have become very big users of market research.

MLA: TNS is known for creating products to better understand local consumers. Will we see that sort of thing happening in Pakistan?

SHC: It certainly could. The one service we are very proud of in the Middle East is ‘the Arab as a consumer’. It sets us apart from the competition in understanding Arab consumers. It also helps attract staff because all of a sudden you are working with an agency that is a cut above the rest in terms of consumer understanding; and the actual service gives researchers something to discuss with their clients, so they become more knowledgeable and understanding. The same idea could be applied to Pakistan. If anything, the only thing preventing this from happening is funding. Clients have got to want to make it happen for it to be affordable.

MLA: How will market research develop in Pakistan in the next five years?

HAA: Until about five years ago, there were a few major players and eight or nine small ones. Now there are 25 to 30 players with four or five major ones. Now with Nielsen and with TNS coming into Pakistan, market research is on an upward trend.

SHC: TNS has a strategy of Rapid Growth Emerging Markets – RGEM, which we refer to as ‘our gems’. Pakistan is a rapid growth emerging market and by that definition it is a gem. So when you ask what is the future of the industry, like all gems, when you polish them, they shine, they sell and they command a premium.

For feedback, email aurora@dawn.com

A better world through creativity

Adnan Syed is bowled over by the Design Indaba experience.

‘A better world through creativity’ – as clichéd a statement as any glorifying design, and as such ignored by all of us.

And yet a bunch of designers set about to disprove this when Design Indaba asked five designers to come together under the banner of Protofarm 2050 to create a unique vision for 2050 that envisions the, “sustainable cultivation of renewable resources with increased urbanisation and population, limited natural resources, climate challenges and digital-biological integration.”

Heavy stuff! And that was only the tip of the iceberg. A gloriously exhilarating, all-embracing, design iceberg that was Design Indaba, an annual Conference and Expo held in February, in South Africa.

Having experienced three days of total immersion in design, and I mean ‘design’ in all its facets, I was forced to admit the importance and impact of the statement: ‘a better world through creativity’, as I saw first hand how design is changing the world into a better place, whether through architectural design, industrial design, graphic design, advertising, film, music, fashion design, sustainable and environmental design, craft, visual art, new media, publishing and broadcasting.

All these varied fields came together in an incredible way to demonstrate how important a role creativity plays in making the world a better place.

Design Indaba was kicked off in a significantly humble fashion by Michael Bierut, partner at the multidisciplinary design firm, Pentagram, who bluntly chastised us with “don’t be so darned clever!”

Coming from a person responsible for innumerable iconic brand identities, it was truly humbling, especially as he went on to detail his failures and how he learnt from them and continues to do so.

And so it went on, morning till evening, as practitioners from all over the world came to talk about their craft.

And the way Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena from Elemental, a do-tank focusing on projects of social impact, spoke of his struggle to create low cost housing, simply brought the whole audience to its feet! His efforts at creating sustainable housing for impoverished people in his country were truly inspiring and almost made me wish I was an architect (all over again!).

Then there was Mokena Makeka, a young architect, striving to find a truly indigenous style for South African architecture… sounds familiar?

Illustrators, fashion designers, industrial designers, etc., came and spoke about their work, struggles and successes.

Confident and brash first-timers, or experienced yet humble professionals, they were all fascinating to listen to, and each had his/her own inspirational gem to relate.

And then came Martha Stewart, fashion and media icon, for her eagerly awaited presentation – and was almost laughed off the stage. Large portions of the audience actually walked out in disgust. In contrast to the other speakers, hers was merely self projection and bombast; where everyone else was talking about life-changing design endeavours, here she was talking about ‘glitter’ and how it has become her company’s most successful commercial product! She made the headlines in the leading Cape Town newspaper the next morning.

What was also inspiring was how Design Indaba, now in its twelfth year, was built on the belief that creativity will fuel an economic revolution in South Africa. A belief in design, and how it can help solve problems arising from an emerging economy. It has grown from a showcase of South African talent to embracing and celebrating design in all its global manifestations. The talent it attracts from all over the world serves to inspire and motivate their own young talent, a perfect example of which was the Expo, held alongside the Conference, where young talent was given centre stage and booths after booths were filled with budding geniuses ‘selling’ their craft, getting exposure not only locally but on a global level.

Coming back to earth after all that was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do.

Adnan Syed is Chief Creative Officer, Adcom.
adnans@adcompk.com

"It took a real leap of faith to launch a product at twice the price of the local benchmark"

Farhan Hassan, COO, U.G. Food Company, speaks to Aurora about the launch of Peki and the challenges of breaking into the cake market.

AURORA: Ülker is a new name in FMCGs in Pakistan. Briefly, what can you tell us about the company?
FARHAN HASSAN: Ülker is a huge success story from Turkey. In 1944, a gentleman called Sabri Ülker, along with his brother, three employees and a single oven, launched a bakery that ended up making 75 tonnes of biscuits in the first year. Today, this bakery has turned into a company with a US$ 11 billion turnover worldwide. Although Ülker does not position itself in this way, it is the largest Muslim-owned food company in the world. Ülker brands are available in 100 countries; the company owns 43 factories of which 34 are located in Turkey and nine in other countries – of which the newest was built in 2008 and is located in Pakistan at Port Qasim. Similar to many other big international companies, Ülker over time acquired a number of different brands, partly due to organic growth and partly by the acquisition of other Turkish owned or regional companies. In Turkey, Ülker is the largest company in the cake business; it is also the largest in the chocolate business. In fact in 2008, Ülker made its first big international business acquisition with Godiva chocolates. Added to that Ülker is counted among the top three soft drinks, ice cream, dairy and bottled water businesses in Turkey.

A: What is the nature of Ülker’s investment in Pakistan?
FH: It is a joint venture. In 2000, Omar Jilani a friend of Ülker’s Chairman & CEO, Murad Ülker, approached him regarding setting up a joint venture in Pakistan. As a result, Murad Ülker and his senior executives came to Pakistan to make an assessment and they saw some striking similarities between Pakistan and Turkey. Murad Ülker comes from a country with a similar history to Pakistan’s in terms of political and economic upheaval, and because his family created a hugely successful business in that environment, he was very positive about Pakistan. Pakistan and Turkey not only as countries, but as people, have a cultural affinity, and this in some way also played an emotional role in appealing to both partners.

A: What is the extent of Ülker’s commitment to Pakistan?
FH: Their investment in setting up a world class, state of the art, food manufacturing site at Port Qasim; one of Ülker’s biggest contributions to the project was the technical expertise they brought. Ülker manufactures enough cakes to ensure that every person on the planet can potentially eat one every 14 days! They have a huge history and a huge repository of knowledge and understanding of making cakes. Today, there is only one Ülker Turkish expat working in Pakistan, and he is the head of our manufacturing facility. Ülker’s biggest level of involvement took place when the factory was under construction and subsequently commissioned.

A: Given Ülker’s huge FMCG portfolio, why did they decide to introduce their cake range?
FH: After studying the FMCG food market space in Pakistan we came to the conclusion that the cake category was either under competitive or nascent. In fact, our sole local competitor simply added cakes to their confectionery portfolio rather than focus on cake as a category. For us, Peki is the sole focus of our business.

A: Who is your target audience?
FH: Our audience at this point is varied for two reasons. One is the size of the product portfolio, which goes from the individual Peki layer cake all the way to larger family sized cake. We need to work across different touch points and target not only the consumer, but the buyer as well. We need to differentiate between a mum who buys the family-sized Peki layer cake because she can divide it into four, six or eight parts, depending on the size of her family, and the five-rupee Dankek which is aimed at a slightly different socio-economic price point. And if you are a bit more affluent, then the 10-rupee product is more innovative; its (smaller/individual) size makes it a different type of consumption product. We have price points across the spectrum of purchasing power.

A: Dankek is also part of the Ülker portfolio, yet it is not being pushed.
FH: Although Dankek was the first brand we launched in Pakistan, we are currently evaluating the brand’s role in our portfolio. The brand that was chosen as part of Ülker’s strategy in Pakistan was Peki. About 18 months ago a decision was made to put all Ülker international cakes under the Peki brand and Pakistan was the first country to launch Peki under this new look, feel and packaging design.

A: Most people are used to buying their cakes from a bakery. How will you change that mindset?
FH: The cake category in Pakistan is largely unbranded and even within the branded category there is no FMCG approach to marketing cakes. The next step is to move consumers from the unbranded part of the cake category into a branded mindset, and that is where convenience, hygiene, sealed freshness, quality of the ingredients, longevity of the product, in terms of the packaging, are going to play a major part. Our aim is that every time someone opens the product, he or she will consistently get the consumption experience we promise.

A: Are there imminent plans to introduce more products from the Peki range?
FH: There is a full portfolio behind the Peki brand which we will be launching in phases. We have a range of other and more sophisticated Peki products. Obviously, the more sophisticated you get, the more investment you need, because the manufacturing process becomes more complex. However, depending on how we can manage the price points for the Pakistani consumer, all this is available. We will be adding a couple of larger family-oriented products to the portfolio very soon.

A: Peki is being marketed under the umbrella of ‘Take a Peki Break’. What positioning are you trying to achieve for the brand?
FH: At the end of the day, after all the planning and strategising is done and the agency, creative and marketing inputs are in, luck favours the brave. We came to this concept after thinking about where our consumer touch points were, and we realised that there was another big and successful global brand that said ‘Take a break, have a…’

A: ‘Kit Kat.’
FH: … in our case we wanted to brand the moment itself. To turn different moments into ‘Peki Peki moments’. There are complexities in doing this. Mainstream advertising has no regard for the specific time of day, afternoon or night it goes across to the consumer. So we had to drive our media buying agency to do something new with the electronic media by having them manage the complexity of running our TVCs and radio spots to coincide with different times of the day. We also had a lot of success with FM radio, because they created five to eight spots which ran at different times with different taglines; for example: ‘Have a Peki Peki drive home’ because Peki Peki is a state of mind. Our tagline is ‘Peki se hi khushiyan, yeh Peki Peki duniya.” Peki Peki Duniya is a place where you can take a moment to enjoy a bit of life. It’s a happiness moment; it could be your drive to work, dinner at home with the family, a cricket match or even a ‘Peki Peki’ joke. So throughout the day we had multiple taglines running through our communication.

A: Given your previous experience in the food business in Pakistan, how do you see the category as a whole evolving in the short term?
FH: My previous experience was with the ice cream business, with Wall’s ice cream. Wall’s successfully brought ice cream back to the hearts and minds of consumers and today ice cream is a thriving category in Pakistan. When it comes to food, Pakistan’s consumer dynamics and certainly its population have their own role to play. Our family-oriented culture, our eating culture, our celebration around food, in some cases our sadness around food, our togetherness around food, all this is contributing towards making Pakistan a potentially huge food market.

A: Do you see any emerging trends?
FH: The food category is going to keep on growing much faster relative to most other categories, not only because of the population growth, but also because many companies are entering the category. I expect to see more global brands coming to Pakistan. Now, whether they commit to bringing in manufacturing investment or not is a different issue; that is impacted by returns, currency fluctuations, government policies and regulatory issues, among other things. But they will certainly come to Pakistan to build their business and make money. For example, the chocolate category has started to show that if you apply yourself to understanding what is in the consumer’s pocket and how much you can stretch that to meet your basic margin requirements, you can create a really good business. Food is to some extent recession proof. People will still consume, although they will down trade to more value for money products. For example, in the case of the Peki 10-rupee product, the only benchmark we had was that a five-rupee local brand had been in the market for a long time. At the end of the day, any person coming into a business opportunity will have to be brave. It took a real leap of faith to launch a product at twice the price of the local benchmark and then to believe that the value of that product at that price point would resonate with the consumer. Interestingly enough – and this is anecdotal – some of our consumers as well as some of our competitors are expecting us to increase the price. The thinking is that this has to be an introductory price because we are giving much more value than the price point justifies. So, even in a recession, even with less money in their pockets, consumers are still saying: “even for 10 rupees I am getting more than this price point should be offering me.” Therefore, be brave and understand the consumer enough to follow your heart and the experience you have been able to acquire from the market.

A: Recently at the Aurora conference on the New Value Seekers you spoke about creating a ‘sachet’ economy. Could you elaborate on this?
FH: The question is: if the bulk of consumers in a particular marketplace is earning less that $1000 a year, why are you constantly trying to sell them something that has been designed and created for, and marketed to, people who are 20 times more affluent? Sachet marketing is not only about size. It is not only about saying: ‘I want to wash my hair with a great brand of shampoo but I can’t afford the bottle, so if you offer me a five-rupee sachet I will buy your brand.’ It’s also about gleaning insights about those consumers and then giving them more value, at a price point that will delight them rather than simply meet their outlay. Interestingly, many sachet marketing ideas are making their way back to the affluent economies. When a recession hits, most consumers go into a sachet frame of mind; they want to down trade, but they want to still be delighted, no matter what price point they are at. We believed that by giving value, even with a 10-rupee price point, we would get the business, and we have been surprised and delighted by the response.

Farhan Hassan was talking to Mariam Ali Baig. For feedback, e-mail aurora@dawn.com

The power of the experience

Shoaib Qureshy details his favourite experiences.

For a decade I have been advocating the fact that the future of brand marketing lies beyond the traditional advertising form that revolves around TV spots and print ads.

Part of that future lies in experiential marketing, and smart marketers have already embraced and seen the power of it.

The context underpinning experiential marketing is very simple. Brand building efforts have to go beyond the 30-second TVC break or print page in order to enhance connectivity and experience; traditional advertising is clearly a one-way street.

Brand building has to create new experiences at existing and new touch points – be it on or off media. Brands have to go out into the real world (out of TV and print) and into the lives of the people and create real time engaging opportunities to win their hearts and minds.

The term experiential marketing is often stereotypically used to describe a physical event of some sort, but it goes beyond that, the only limit being one’s own imagination. An experience can be arrived at an event created for a brand through something as simple as product trial, an interactive brand driven TV experience, or even a gift through an ambient media that interacts with people. It is not the ‘medium’, but the ‘idea’ that is of paramount importance when it comes to creating an experience. In fact, all traditional and upcoming new media can be used creatively to arrive at an experience.

Experiences engage the hearts and minds of the people. They transport people into a brand bubble of sorts, giving them the time and space to consider the brand, either consciously or subconsciously and to form a relationship with it. Today, with the sheer number of brands available, any sort of relationship is better than none to ensure that when it comes to choosing a brand, the brand has a fighting chance to be the preferred one.

The reality is that people are not sitting ducks waiting to give their full attention to a mass media sermon. Creating a brand building experience is not about interrupting to gain attention; it is about understanding that consumers are engaged in various activities throughout the day, and then ensuring that the brand pops up intermittently in the midst of these activities, un-summoned and always in unpredictable and interesting ways. To be part of the consumer’s life, brands have to make themselves fit in, and not force-fit themselves, which is the problem with advertising’s intrusive nature.

To be a successful brand in the future it is important to embrace the experiential marketing philosophy and add a new dimension to the brand building effort.

Here are some examples of experiential marketing:

Media Max Diaries

Media Max (the marketing arm of ARY Digital Network) sends top business professionals specially themed diaries as a gift every year. This puts their brand into the hands of decision makers who experience it throughout the year by writing and making important notes; good diaries are rare and very sought after.

Lipton Clear Green Rescue

Themed around the message that the antioxidant properties of Lipton Clear Green purify the system. This is executed by having a mobile squad arriving at various ‘food streets’ with sirens blaring and the message: “We have been informed that the people here are indulging in a lot of food… but no worries, the Lipton Clear Green Rescue team is here to help purify your system.” The rescue team then goes from table to table serving green tea the people there.

Lifebuoy Handwash Petition

Large boards were placed at public places such as parks to enable people to sign and show their support for the cause.

Judge & Win Contest for Hero Bannay Ki Tarang

In every episode TV audiences have the opportunity to choose which contestant they think should be dropped from the show by sending an SMS before the elimination is announced, and also to win exciting prizes.

HBL Freedom Account Sales Force

An initiative aimed at driving the sales of one of the bank’s new products to small business owners at their premises. Given that the product is designed around the needs of these small business owners, the interaction is aimed at giving a demonstration of what’s in it for them.

Telenor Drivers of Change

This is executed through an internal company sales event that communicates the company’s strategy of ‘change’. After the presentations, the sales team participates in a go-karting team race to experience the power of the message by actually driving and feeling it.dr

Sunsilk Hair Chefs

A brand ambassador driven conditioner sampling programme for women themed around the brand message ‘food for your hair’. This is executed by having women dressed up as chefs intercepting the target audience at various touch points, who are then given the brand pitch along with samples of the product.

Shoaib Qureshy is Chief Strategy Officer, Bulls Eye Communications.
shoaib@be.com.pk

The wonderman of direct marketing

Tyrone Tellis on the savvy Lester Wunderman.

Like Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, the second man to step on the moon, Lester Wunderman’s contribution to advertising is forgotten, at least by most of us.

I first came across Wunderman while studying at Karachi University. In the library, I found a copy of Being Direct, (Wunderman’s autobiography) and my initial reaction was: “If this guy is so famous how come I have never heard of him?”

However, reading the book was truly a life-changing experience.

In the book, Wunderman takes the reader through a career that spanned over 40 years; starting off as a copywriter, forming his own agency with his brother and friends but no clients, and then going on to work for clients such as American Express, Time and the Columbia Record Club (CRC). In the introduction to the book he writes that he is working on a project for China, yes China!

In the book, Wunderman gives us tips and insights. When he and his brother started out in advertising, they used a technique known as the ‘split run’. The split run is widely used in US advertising but is relatively unheard of in Pakistan. It provides a practical solution to a classic adman’s problem: when choosing between two options, which creative/slogan do you go with? The answer is both. Run one option in half the newspapers/magazines of your choice and the other option in the other half. Thanks to this split run, advertisers can identify which option worked better based on reader feedback. The process is then repeated to sift out what works from multiple options.

Wunderman and his brother also discovered while creating ads for woollen socks that a positive line worked better than a negative one. The line ‘Keep your feet warm’ sold more socks than ‘Don’t get cold feet’.

It was Wunderman’s instinct and his trial and error learning of insights that helped him revolutionise the direct marketing industry. An example of his excellence was the work he did for Jackson & Perkins. This company, which specialised in mail order roses, had at one point, a large stock of roses, which if left unsold, would have to be destroyed. Wunderman came up with the audacious plan of mailing these roses free to those customers who had not replied to the company’s initial mailing.

The offer read:

“Send no money now. Nor pay a penny when the plants arrive. By June 10th, the roses will be thriving in your garden. If you are completely satisfied at that time, pay the bill. If the roses do not thrive as promised – if they are not satisfactory in every way – tear them out of the ground and pay nothing.”

According to Wunderman (in an interview with Alan Rosenspan), when he showed this copy to Jackson & Perkins, they looked rather pained. Surely no gardener would want to tear roses from the ground? This, Wunderman declared was the crux of the idea. His brilliant insight into a gardener’s nature brought the results. By the end of June, Jackson & Perkins had collected on almost 75% of their outstanding invoices and cheques were still coming in. As Wunderman said in the interview:

“We not only sold the roses, we created an extraordinary new sales technique.”

These days we hear a lot about ‘stickiness’ in relation to websites and advertising material. In easy terms, stickiness refers to how memorable or easy to recall the communication material is. In the deluge of information and advertising that people are exposed to daily, what determines whether a message gets through, is recalled or not or, even passed on, is the degree of stickiness. As Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book, The Tipping Point, the stickiness factor dictates that messages must have a certain character which causes them to remain active in the recipient’s mind. Furthermore, they must be deemed worthy of being passed on.

However what creates stickiness for a particular message can only be uncovered through testing and experimentation. This is very important, given that these days every marketer craves word of mouth, while more companies are considering viral campaigns. The caveat is that what works for one client will not necessarily work for another. There are no shortcuts or prefabricated formulas to success. Having said this, there are general rules and principles which remain true in almost every situation. Through observation, savvy marketers know how people behave and what appeals to them. Wunderman was one of the savviest there ever was.

In his chapter on stickiness, Gladwell writes about Wunderman’s showdown with McCann Erickson. Wunderman had helped make the Columbia Record Club (CRC) a household name. However, CRC subsequently hired McCann to create TV commercials to support its direct marketing print ads. Wunderman was not convinced that McCann would do a better job than him in enhancing the response to the print ads.

The solution was a showdown in 26 media markets. CBC was to run Wunderman’s direct marketing print ads in TV Guide and Parade; in the meantime Wunderman would run his TV commercials in 13 of these markets, while in the remaining 13, McCann aired its commercials. On this basis McCann then went all out and bought primetime slots and out-spent Wunderman by 400%. Wunderman, on the other hand, bought fringe time slots in the small hours of the morning. Primetime spots versus fringe time. McCann Erickson, the darling of Madison Avenue against a self-taught, direct marketer. The outcome was a foregone conclusion – or was it? Wunderman trounced McCann. His TV campaign resulted in an 80% increase in the response rate to the print ads while McCann’s only generated a 19.5% increase.

Wunderman used the principle of interactivity long before the internet was invented. On one occasion he included a little gold box in the corner of the print ads he developed for CRC and then made a series of TV ads to encourage viewers to look for the gold box, with the promise that if they found it, they would receive a free record. He created a link between his TV and print ads.

In our market where direct-to-home mail marketing is rare, we would do well to adapt some of Wunderman’s principles and learnings about marketing. Today we are saying that marketing has become more of a conversation rather than a monologue; the experts were saying the same thing about five to 10 years ago. But Wunderman said this over 20 years ago!

This farsighted man paved the way for much of modern advertising’s principles and social media philosophies.

Tyrone Tellis is Media Planner, Red Communication Arts. tyrone.tellis@gmail.com

Nature's Call

Javed Q. Khan shares his very own experiential experience.

The concept of experiential marketing is simple, whereby brands become proactive and allow consumers to experience the product first hand. This concept can have a profound effect on consumers if done effectively. However, the question is: are we ready to take experiential marketing to the next level?

We have witnessed construction projects coming up with fully furnished model flats on site to entice potential customers to buy into that dream and become part of an illusion (I call it an illusion, at least until the time the project is completed). We have also experienced door-to- door sampling from various brands.

On a recent trip to the United States I found myself in a giant supermarket where I noticed small kiosks with branded processed food bags and microwave ovens and smiling middle-aged women standing next to them. Curious, I approached one of the kiosks where I was politely greeted, followed by a request to try the new scrambled egg and bread sandwich. My instantaneous nodding assured the lady that I was rather hungrier than I was curious about the brand she was introducing me to. This form of experiential marketing is cost effective and generates results through impulsive buying patterns, which although I did like the sandwich was not quite the case for me.

My next experience was a lot bigger and bolder.

On the same trip, I visited New York. I was sitting with a friend at a busy coffee shop in the middle of Times Square on a chilly winter day. As we parted ways, I decided to take a walk and enjoy the Christmas holiday spirit in the form of wives loading up their husbands with shopping bags waiting for them to collapse and kids getting ready to have their picture taken on Santa’s lap. I was enjoying the holiday spirit, when I felt a sudden urge to detach myself from the crowd and give in to what can only be described as nature’s call. (Please don’t stop reading as I don’t intend to get any more graphic than I already have.)

So I went into a store and asked if I could use their restrooms; this was politely denied. After a couple more rejections I walked into a store and decided to buy something which would increase my chances of using their restrooms. After buying a not needed, but expensive pair of jeans, I dared to ask the salesman the way to the restroom, to which he replied:

“Our policies restrict us from allowing customers to use our restroom facilities; however, you could use the Charmin Restrooms across the street.”

Repeating “right across the street… Charmin” I power walked in that direction until I saw a huge signboard with the Charmin logo. I had no idea what Charmin was, and why they had two beautiful girls standing on a stone pathway guiding guests through snow covered trees and winter landscapes.

Once inside, I completely forgot why I was there in the first place. What I witnessed was a huge hall with Charmin tissue roll escorts everywhere. People were waiting their turn to use the restrooms while watching a Charmin tissue roll commercial on flat screens placed all around the hall. When my turn came, I was stunned to see the fixtures. Every bathroom was designed to look the same as one would find in a home, with sinks and commodes designed by Kohler, as well as televisions in half the bathrooms and iPods in the other half. Their tagline was ‘Enjoy the go’. Building on their latest ‘Bear in the Woods’ TV campaign, Charmin built the restrooms to look like cosy cabins in the woods.

Charmin wanted people to talk about their experience. They rolled out their annual luxury public restrooms in New York City’s Times Square, incorporating an aggressive social media campaign to connect with consumers around the world. In keeping with the bear theme, guests could stop at the ‘Grin and Bear it Photo Station’, which consisted of a six-person sleigh driven by Leonard the Bear, or they could dance their paws off at the ‘Bear Boogie Dance Stage’ under red and blue flashing lights. Weary shoppers could also rest their feet at the ‘Log Lounge’ in front of a campfire or shop at the ‘Bear Boutique’ displaying Charmin branded merchandise, while kids could play in the ‘Timber Tree House’ with Charmin toilet tissue swings and slides. The Charmin bathrooms hosted more than 300,000 people from 118 countries, who spent an average of 29 minutes each in the cabin (I said average).

Charmin capitalised on a basic need by setting up temporary restrooms in the middle of Times Square during the busiest time of year – the winter holiday season. It was a bold and expensive move. It wasn’t just a BTL campaign or a brand activation campaign. It was a 360-degree marketing campaign that incorporated TV commercials that were aired on the major channels, social media blogging and interactive campaigns to boost their major expenditure in Times Square.

Without extensive media airing, or social website blogging, this venture would not have gained the hype it created. The result is that halfway across the world I am now sharing my experience.

The reason I am sharing this experience is to inspire brand managers. (I am sure the brand managers reading this must be muttering: “Try getting budgets assigned for my projects.”) But the key is to take the initiative.

Give a free hand to advertising agencies and brand activation companies to come up with ideas that will create a snowball effect, that have a media strategy incorporating all communication platforms. Yes it will require big budgets and this is where synergising with other brands will play its role. (The Charmin activity was a joint venture between Kohler, a leading bathroom fixtures brand, Samsung and iPod.) The return on investment if done with passion will be substantial.

So my question remains, are we ready to take experiential marketing to the next level?

Javed Q. Khan is CEO, Marksman Advertising.
javed.khan@marksmanadvertising.com

The Brand That Neil Built

Neil Christy on the power of the status update.

I am Neil Christy – revered by over 3000 people in many countries.

People think I am intelligent or crazy. My personality traits include being funny, wise, naughty, honest, down to earth, rebellious, etc. My USP is that I am creative. They know me by the name of Neil Christy and know I sell services like advertising.

I am a brand. I have made myself a brand via status updates.

The ancient theory that individuals are brands sees new light thanks to the ‘status update’ phenomenon. Whereas a few years ago, ‘you’ as a brand could reach a maximum of 50 people in a day and eventually you could make yourself a regional brand, today you can cross 5,000 a day and literally make yourself a global brand.

Although for most of us reading this, ‘status update’ means Facebook, there is also Twitter and LinkedIn. And the inspiration behind Facebook’s decision to give a live-feed to the updates was the phenomenal craze of Twitter. LinkedIn has over 60 million members, with a new member joining approximately every second. Twitter has over 50 million users and Facebook has more than 400 million active users of which over 35 million update their status every hour.

Imagine the power you can have if you can convince the world that you are the doctor they should come to, the architect your dream home deserves or the ad agency that will do wonders for your brand. Besides myself, many people on Facebook know this… read the following status update from Pervez Musharraf: ‘Congratulations to our Facebook community for crossing 100,000 members. With a firm belief that communication leads to an informed consensus, I look forward to our continued engagement. My sincerest best wishes to all of you.’

Pervez Musharraf currently has over 170,000 fans who are cheering his status updates with the like button. Now that’s brand building for textbooks.

Even organisations are jumping on the status update bandwagon.

Microsoft released a beta test version of the Outlook Social Connector. When a user clicks to read an email message, the new window fills up with the sender’s most recent social networking activities (a.k.a. updates).

So what makes a status update so phenomenally successful? There is only one reason. It helps people build themselves into brands. It is a statement in the most literal sense and not just a one-way statement, because the comments you get on your update turn into a conversation. People have fallen in love, proposed, sent hate messages, sold services, made people laugh, brought about change, and started a movement via updates.

A few months ago women from all over the world, including Pakistan, were posting the colour of the bra they were wearing on that particular day; a very naughty thing for a very noble cause – breast cancer awareness.

From a branding point of view, status updates are a marketer’s dream come true. Reach at zero cost.

Status updates are an important aspect of any fan page because they provide two-way communication between the company and their fans, while keeping the page fresh with new content and information giving fans a reason to exchange thoughts.

Many companies struggle to understand how to best use status updates. Either they don’t use them at all, or their updates come as product announcements or they update so often that users are overwhelmed and the update turns into noise. Starbucks, on the other hand, has established a good frequency of updates, sharing something new every couple of days.

The best example of how Coke is truly committed to its Facebook fans is the story of how the page came to be. The page was originally created by two fans who just loved Coke. Coca-Cola found the page and rather than trying to buy it or creating another ‘official’ page, they rewarded the two fans and collaborated with them to continue building the page and represent the brand.

My favourite brand when it comes to updates is Red Bull. Their uniqueness is captured in their innovative incorporation of Twitter into their Facebook fan page. Integrating a Twitter stream is not special on its own, but Red Bull doesn’t just pull in tweets from their official corporate account, as you might expect most brands to do. Instead, Red Bull has aggregated tweets from sponsored athletes like skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and snowboarder Shaun White and included them directly in their Facebook presence.

What’s in it for me you may ask? Well, it is called social media for a reason. It is a messiah for people like me who are not social. Imagine this for a moment. Headlion is considered to be one of the most recognised creative brand names in the advertising industry. In these dry days for the advertising industry, our recognition in the marketing and advertising world has been made possible via one medium – status updates.

DIDX Podcasts, a US-based company identified Café Headlion as the first Pakistani company to use social media effectively. The advertising of one of the most talked about cafés in Pakistanwas done entirely via status updates. No print, outdoor or TV advertising was used, yet Café Headlion has a distinct personality and USP all because of status updates.

According to a Facebook application, ever since I joined Facebook I update my status six times a day. That’s 6,000 status updates in three years or in other words 6,000 advertisements about myself as a brand.

In the autumn of 2009 I started a series called ‘pursuit of happiness’ inspired from the movie. I would start the day with things that made me happy. Simple stuff, nothing creative, yet in a matter of days I was getting comments about things that made other people happy.

What I achieved from the series was: important things in life matter to Neil, so he is a cool person. He values what I value, the simple things in life. Therefore I want to meet Neil. Almost half the clients in the Headlion portfolio are somehow directly or indirectly connected to social media. Because they feel that what represents Headlion (and this includes my team) are things they want to associate with.

By the time you finish reading this article millions of people around the world will have made a statement.

I am a brand and have built this brand on Facebook. If you want to know how you can become a brand, search Neil Christy on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

My status update on the day this article is published in Aurora will be: ‘Life is like an article in Aurora. You want the best position, you want people appreciating you and you want to make sense. Now click the like button :).

Neil Christy is CEO, Headlion Group.
neil@headliongroup.com

“At the core of all we do sits this idea and the person who comes up with this idea”

Michael Maedel, President, JWT, speaks to Mariam Ali Baig about the role of the ad agencies in a digital world.

MARIAM ALI BAIG: Is JWT’s commitment to Pakistan as firm as before?
MICHAEL MAEDEL: Absolutely. We are not a company that either jumps into a market or pulls out of one. We are here to stay. We have been present in many markets which have gone through troubles similar to Pakistan’s. I am not saying this because I want to be nice, but Pakistan is a market with enormous potential. Yes, the political situation has to be stabilised, but if you look at the size of the market, at the wealth of the country, I would be, for the mid to long term, absolutely positive about it. There is a good reason why Pakistan has been put in the group of the next 11. I think it will just take a bit of time. Talking to our clients here, there is an incredible sense of commitment and optimism about where their businesses are going. It struck me from the very beginning, and this time again, that there is not a trace of defeatism or of being downbeat. Yes, there are challenges and obstacles, but the sense in this country is that ‘we are going to prevail’. I think this is a terrific attitude.

MAB: When we met last, you mentioned that there would be an increased level of acquisitions by JWT in Pakistan. Is this still on the cards?
MM: It is. The first challenge we face as an industry and as a company is the fact that we have to change. We need to think about how we can expand our service offering, and which categories are meaningful and relevant, and these are not the same in every market. The second challenge is the growth of digital because our whole business will become digital. Internet penetration is here to stay; social media has changed the conversation between consumers and brands. Manufacturers are no longer in full control of their brands. Consumers are talking to each other with the enhanced credibility of talking one-to-one and the ability to cover the world within a nanosecond. There is a force in play which we have to include in our thinking. These are the areas where we might need to bring in additional expertise.

MAB: Will the present generation of senior creatives be able to make the leap into the digital world?
MM: Funnily enough, more often than not, creatives are the most conservative people in the advertising world, because they hang on to what they are really comfortable with. Digital expertise is certainly not confined to the creative community alone. People don’t always have a full understanding of what digital really means. Digital does not mean making a quirky five-minute film and uploading it on YouTube. Digital allows a very measurable dialogue and one that provides constant feedback about a brand and managing this constant feedback is the challenge. In the past creating a campaign was like giving birth to a baby or baking a cake, once the campaign is out, the work is over. With digital I have constant feedback which forces me to keep fine tuning or adapting the work I have already done. It is about a conversation that is constantly going on.

MAB: In effect, the way of doing business in the advertising world has changed?
MM: Change will be the only constant, which is why I think that we are living in the most exciting period in this business since it was invented. Technology has opened up so many new possibilities. The question is how do we connect all these channels; how do we introduce brands? Look at how some of the major car manufacturers are launching their new models. In the past they did it through traditional media campaigns, shows and dealer promotions. Today they give 100 new cars to their target group and then ask them to write blogs, upload videos and use social media to communicate the benefits. This is what creates the buzz and the excitement. The approach has changed. The second thing that has happened – and I haven’t really sorted this out completely in my mind – so bear with me. I am trying to shed the terminology ‘consumer’, because it implies that over here is someone who has a product or is sending a message, and over there is someone who consumes it, and I think this is a pretty passive expression of the role. What you need today are brands that have an ideology, or a point of view that enables them to create a community. It is not a question of being a consumer; it’s a question of being part of a brand community and taking part in the interchange of ideas and the dialogue that is going on out there. This is creating a completely new dynamic in the relationship between a manufacturer, a brand and members of the community.

MAB: To what extent are the traditional structures of advertising agencies going to change?
MM: One of the characteristics of this digital world is that it is simply, completely and utterly impossible for any agency in the world to have all the talent under one roof at the same time; things are happening too fast. For example, I cannot start from the assumption that my resident creative director is the salt of the earth and he is the only one who knows everything. You have to open up. Then you have to battle egos, battle vanity, battle the fear of the unknown. This requires a group of very curious, well informed and well connected people who can act as producers in the sense that they are bringing different talent together, and that’s not easy because it requires different managerial skills. Until recently, agencies worked on similar lines to the old Hollywood studio model of the 1920s, where the studio employed the writers, the directors, the actors, everyone. What is the studio today? The producers have an idea and then they hire the best possible talent to help realise the product, and that is the way I see agencies heading tomorrow.

MAB: What will be the role of the advertising agencies in such a fast changing world?
MM: There is an important role for an agency. The boundaries between all these channels are blurring; where does the campaign end and the activation start? Where does the activation end and the media content come in? The art is to connect them, and this is where the new role of the agency lies. The more channels you have, the more important it becomes to ensure that the brand is rooted in an idea, otherwise you will end up with a dog’s breakfast. There is an underlying, clearly defined idea which is then amplified through the usage of different channels. Our core responsibility is the development and the ideation of that concept. When it comes to execution, some of agencies will do it in-house, others not.

MAB: Until about five years ago agencies were acquiring different specialisations. Is this trend reversing?
MM: Because digital has become such a dominant fact in our thinking, we tend to forget that we are not even one second into this digital journey. YouTube did not exist five years ago, and how old is Google? These are all very young companies, and the risk is that if you were to go and buy one of those companies, you might be buying something which is relevant today, but there is no guarantee in the world that it will be relevant tomorrow. While we are sitting here, someone next door could be thinking up the next big thing, and I want to have access to that person. So, although acquisitions will not go away, they will increasingly be replaced by a model of affiliation for a certain timeframe and then things will move on.

MAB: Given the multiplicity of channels, how confused are clients about what they should be doing?
MM: Everybody is confused at the moment, which is why companies like us have a very confident and important role to play. When you talk to individual channel specialists, they will tell you ‘mine is the most important and effective channel’. Clients are not interested in managing specialisation, all they want is one point of contact – which is the agency – and the knowledge and confidence that this agency is open-minded enough to bring in the best possible partners and not try to apply a do-it-yourself system.

MAB: Clients are also confused regarding whether the media house or the agency should be driving the creative.
MM: I don’t think it is necessarily a God given right of the agency to always be the one with the best possible idea. I think you have a bunch of really smart people on the media side who for good reason, are focusing on digital. However, what they will say is that because they have access to all the data, they know much more about consumers than an agency ever could and are therefore in a better position to deliver. Data is important, absolutely, but you also need this unique ability to take facts and then make this leap – which you cannot construct – it is, in effect, the ingenuity of a group of people who are able to come up with an idea which really connects and catches peoples’ attention. The best structure in the world cannot deliver an idea. It can get you to a certain level, but it will never be a big idea. This is where good agencies with the right kind of people will always have a role to play, because at the core of all we do sits this idea and the person who comes up with this idea.

MAB: To match these changes, isn’t a change in the recruitment profiles of agencies required?
MM: We are trying not to recruit out of the same pool. This merry-go-round whereby agencies hire from one another does not broaden the skills set. What I would like to do is to recruit sociologists and anthropologists. What intrigues me is the phenomenon of social media. I think it is a reflection of an underlying sociological change. What is it that makes it so intriguing for people to communicate, in many cases, under different identities? What is going on out there that makes them want to escape real life for this pseudo virtual world and live out their dreams there? Do they live in a society which they perceive as so oppressive that they need to save the world? Or is it just the fascination of a new possibility? I want to have that expertise to come into our thinking process.

For feedback, email aurora@dawn.com