Smart moves

Yasmin Malik welcomes the move towards handset-centric marketing by Pakistan’s telecoms.

From BlackBerry to Galaxy: Mobilink is the pioneer of handset-centric marketing in Pakistan.

 
I am seriously thinking of getting ‘smart’. A smartphone that is. And the recent change in strategy among Pakistani telecoms has made me give some thought to local options. It appears that our MNOs have taken some steps away from the long drawn out price wars they were entrenched in for many years and are putting into practice a visible strategy that incorporates a more handset-centric marketing approach to their services. 

Handset-operator collaboration has been a standard practice in many western markets where post-paid and many prepaid connections come hand-in-hand with selected mobile phones.

In many cases, the main incentive for taking up a connection with an operator is the choice of handset offered. 

The force with which a given handset can dominate or even direct the telecoms market was undeniably evident with the launch of Apple’s iPhone and associated ‘App Store’ in 2007 in the US in collaboration with Verizon. Initially, operators such as Verizon in the US and O2 in the UK had exclusivity with respect to iPhone offerings, meaning that if you wanted an iPhone in either market, the choice of operator had to be Verizon or O2.

In 2009, however, Apple’s regional exclusivity contracts expired and other operators were able to offer the iPhone as well. At the same time, the worldwide telecoms market witnessed another driving force in the shape of Android phones which did not only make an entry into the market, but seemed to inundate it, as Android became the mobile operating system of choice for handset manufacturers including HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Recent worldwide smartphone sales figures published by Gartner show that Android has outperformed the Apple’s iOS. In 3Q 2009, the iOS (and hence the iPhone) had a 17.1% share in the market while Android stood at 3.5% – a year later iOS stood at 16.7% while Android had overtaken it capturing a market share of 25.5%. Symbian (Nokia-based), however, still leads the market with a share of 36.6%, according to Gartner.

Emulating this strategy of handset-centric sales, 3Q 2010 in Pakistan saw a visible drive by leading MNOs to couple post-paid/prepaid connection sales with associated handsets. The most prominent of these was the introduction of the Nokia N8 and C3 smartphones by Ufone. Noteworthy from the outset as Nokia has not made a similar collaboration in the Pakistani market before in this manner. 

The true origins of handset-centric marketing in Pakistan can be traced to Mobilink. It was the first to introduce smartphones with its exclusive launch of BlackBerry handsets and associated BIS/BES (BlackBerry Internet/Enterprise Service) in 2005. The company has kept to its long standing strategy to have a first-mover advantage with the recent introduction of Pakistan’s first Windows Mobile 7 OS-based smartphone – the HTC HD7. 
Wasif Mustafa, Director Value Added Services, IR and Geo-Segmentation, Mobilink, elaborates on what the main business objective of Mobilink was in adopting a handset-centric strategy in 2005 and how the handset-operator market has changed since Mobilink’s BlackBerry service launch.

“As the market leader that aims to stay abreast of technology trends, we wanted to be the first to bring the latest and the best in technology to our customers. There were, however, also several more important factors at play.

In 2005, we felt the market was ready for a smartphone – the Indigo family had entrepreneurs, businessmen and high profile corporate individuals, all of whom wanted a full suite of productivity enhancement applications, including wireless access to email, phone, text messaging, organiser and mobile internet. We recognised that need. Today, non-corporate individuals, celebrities, housewives and even students sport a BlackBerry. The market has evolved and the exponential growth in subscribers, growing awareness, the evolution of the internet that has heightened the dependency on data, and a host of applications available on the handset are making users consider owning a smartphone. Today, the need to be ‘connected’ on the go drives the market more than ever before.”
Does the recent introduction of competitor handset-centric and mobile internet-based packages affect Mobilink’s positioning in the market with respect to handset offerings and choices for the mobile subscriber? Mustafa explains:

“The evolution is natural and more choices mean more power to the customers. Keeping this in mind, Mobilink has the widest portfolio in the market not only in terms of the range of BlackBerry handhelds locally but also through introducing new technologies including Android and the tablet.”

The struggling Windows Mobile 7 platform has recently (February 2011) received a vote of confidence with Nokia’s intention to shift its focus from the long established Symbian OS to Windows 7 with all new smartphones that will be offered by Nokia over the next five years. Although Mobilink introduced the latest Windows 7 phone into the local market prior to Nokia’s Windows 7 alliance announcement, it is pertinent to ask why Mobilink chose to do so at a time when Windows 7 was still in the process of gaining market share over stronger rivals such as the Android, iOS and Symbian platforms.

Mustafa counters: “Windows Phone 7 powered HTC HD7 is one of the many exciting smartphone options we wanted to offer to our customers. So although we stand by our flagship BlackBerry offerings, we wanted to provide choices to customers who wanted to opt for a smartphone of some other flavour. Overall we have received a very encouraging response from each one of our smartphone launches and are satisfied with the results on all factors.”

Mustafa is confident too about the effects of competitor strategy (including rival BlackBerry service by Warid) on its own BlackBerry service:

“As far as the BlackBerry business is concerned, we continue to be Pakistan’s leading BlackBerry service provider offering superior technical expertise along with unmatched 360-degree after-sales support to the customers which is our distinct advantage. We are the only operator in Pakistan which works directly with RIM. Our customers recognise and appreciate this advantage, and hence our BlackBerry phones business continues to be healthy and growing.”

The company has made a concerted effort to focus its handset-centric strategy not only on its expected portfolio of Indigo customers but is also catering to its strong prepaid base especially as other operators like Zong have made a strong offering to the low-to-medium end handset market:

“All smartphones launched by Mobilink other than the BlackBerry are available to both prepaid and post-paid customers. Moreover, we have recently launched the Motorola Flip Out which is a medium end handset under the Jazz Jazba platform. As the pioneers of handset-centric marketing, we have a long term strategy to continue to evolve this portfolio and cater to a variety of niches in the market.”

The underlying gain in introducing handset-centric strategies is to benefit from the resultant mobile internet usage that subscribers are likely to engage in. Every handset-centric package offered in the last few months has been coupled with mobile internet/GPRS-based bundles giving an incentive to new customers especially to move towards more data-centric usage patterns. At the moment, Pakistan’s mobile subscriber base is one in which only five percent are significant users of GPRS/EDGE services and it will be a test for all MNOs to see if their new focus on smartphones will give the expected and much needed alternative of data-driven revenue streams.

Yasmin Malik is associated with the UK’s Informa Telecoms & Media. yasminmalik1@yahoo.com


First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

Unlocking the cool

Umair Mohsin talks to trend hunter Jeremy Gutsche.

Cool is the next big thing, and in a world of increasing competition, intensified customer demands and globalisation, understanding how to be creative and then build a culture of innovation is more important than ever before. One of the ways companies are doing this is by using ‘trend hunters’ or ‘trend spotters’; people who research ‘what is cool’.

Jeremy Gutsche, a Canadian innovation expert, author and chief trend hunter at trendhunter.com (described by The Independent as “the world’s biggest online cool hunting magazine”) was recently in Pakistan to speak at a workshop organised by Revelation Inc., called ‘Unlocking the Cool: How to Inspire Innovation Potential and Infect Products with Cool.’ Here are excerpts from a brief chat with him.

UMAIR MOHSIN: Tell us about yourself and what you mean by ‘trend hunting’?
JEREMY GUTSCHE: Although I have always been an entrepreneur at heart, it took me a while to discover what my business idea would be. In every place I worked I tried to find that inspiration. When I started trendhunter.com, I wanted it to be a place where people could come to in search of ideas, and in this way I would have access to ideas from all over the world and would hopefully find my own. After Trend Hunter took off, I never needed to pick one idea; we have the world’s largest trend spotting network with 50,000 contributors from around the world who send us their ideas every day. Added to this we get about 40 million views on our website every month. It is from this pool that we gather data to understand what is interesting. Trend hunting is about tracking the evolution of what is cool, and then using this to stimulate creativity and generate breakthrough ideas, ideas which companies can use in their communication, for product development or even more.

UM: Why should marketers care about trend hunting and what is cool?
JG: Cool is unique, cutting edge and viral. We are surrounded by micro trends and innovation; the question is how to make sense of all this noise. Trend hunting is the search for inspiration; looking for something new, a pattern that could inspire the next big idea.
It is not about the rise of big trends such as going ‘green’ or female purchasing power, everybody knows about these, including the competition. We look at micro trends, at unique niches of opportunities and when you spot those opportunities you need to take advantage of them; if you don’t, your competitor or a new start-up might, and then overturn you.

UM: For most businesses your ideas are quite scary. You advocate constant change, relentless questioning and an anti-bureaucratic approach. How do you create a culture like this in a traditional organisation?
JG: There are two parts to this that are important. One is the idea that you need to constantly change. Two, you have to realise that the world never returns to normal. If you look at marketing, you can see things like social media changing the landscape.
I like to say that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. In terms of how to get a traditional organisation to change, one way is to create a ‘gambling fund’. The idea is that although it is hard to try to persuade everyone to do things in a new way, what really stops people from being creative is the fact that they get caught up in a routine. With a gambling fund you are allocating a specific amount of money and time trying out something new. The BBC’s The Office was its most successful programme and it came out of that fund.

UM: What do you mean by ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’?
JG: At the end of the day, what makes a company succeed or fail is the culture it has created. This means both the culture within the organisation and the cultural connection they have made with their customers. A team will always be more successful if it feels connected to the company’s cause and is empowered to try new things and able to test and fail. With customers, a company will be more successful if it can create a cultural connection that makes people feel like the product is made just for them. Too often companies ‘talk at’ rather than ‘talk to’ their customers. To do the latter, they have to create authentic cultural connections which make their customers feel they are part of the same team.

UM: Give us a brief description of the four tactics of ‘the exploiting chaos framework’ and how they work.
JG: The framework has four parts. The first is creating a culture of innovation: deeply understanding your customer and being willing to try new things. The second is trend spotting: identifying emerging opportunities from your customer, competitors or other industries. The third is adaptive innovation: constantly adjusting your strategy to ensure that you are on top of a changing world. The fourth is infectious marketing: bringing about meaningful change is about finding ways to break through the noise and create word of mouth. In periods of change these elements help companies adapt and win. You can either make an emotional connection with people or you can go deeper and make a cultural connection. The difference is that with a cultural connection I see you as being part of my team; I don’t see you as telling me what to do, and because we are on the same team I want you to win and you want me to win. In any industry, when you make a cultural connection people are willing to refer you; someone else will say that your product or message is the best.

UM: What do you mean when you say that for a message to go viral, marketers should ‘relentlessly obsess about their story’?
JG: People talk about a company or a brand in a given way. You can control that message by having a story that is simple, direct and supercharged. The idea is that if people wanted to remember your brand or company in seven words or less, what would those words be?
By figuring out the exact words that best define your company and keeping them simple and conveying them through your communication, you improve your chances of having the best possible impact. You also give people a good reason to choose you over others.

UM: What are some of the top trends for 2011?
JG: Interactive retail: the rise of stores with interactive shopping bags and iPad menus are examples of how retailers are differentiating in a social media savvy world. Real timing: this incorporates Four Square, Twitter and Life Streaming to provide participants with instant gratification. Social media has become the medium of choice for consumers. Another trend is modern cubism. In a cluttered world, people seek refuge in simplified design, such as heat lighting, square architecture and cubic technology. As the quest for visual clarity continues, modern cubism will extend beyond design to other areas like retail. Yet another trend is discrete consumerism. Whether it is Starbucks disguising one of its chains as an indie espresso bar or Absolut going labeless, it speaks of a trend whereby consumers are shying away from traditional brands and labels and favouring creativity. To survive in this world brands need to create irresistible experiences.

Umair Mohsin is Director Digital Media, Media Idee. umair.mohsin@mediaidee.com

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

Unapologetic glamour

Fareeha Rafique profiles HSY, the man and the brand.

The secret behind the success of brand HSY may well be that the man HSY has never been one to shy away from publicity. Be it a promotional multimedia projection screened before the start of his show about the design house, or the impression you get when you walk into his studio in Gulberg, Lahore; Hassan Sheheryar Yasin’s label HSY cannot be faulted for being too understated at any point. Walk into the flagship store and you will see the doors as well as the reception emblazoned with the HSY logo, framed magazine covers with the designer’s image on them or fashion shoots done by the label adorning the walls.

Yes, Hassan Sheheryar Yasin makes his presence felt. And that contributes to making his designer label immensely popular. An example of this would be the Facebook page, which, Yasin tells me 218,762 people ‘like’, giving them maximum fan following among other Pakistani designers on the social networking site. ‘HSY the king of couture’ proclaims the Facebook page, echoing the title bestowed on him by an issue of Harpers Bazaar some time ago – ‘the new king of couture.’

Flamboyance is a running theme, indeed. When asked to define the brand’s identity, Yasin says that is a very big question.

“HSY’s aim has always been to be more than a brand, to be about a lifestyle. I wanted to create an image that is larger than life.”

And that lifestyle is about “unapologetic glamour; we sell desire to want to be that much more – that is what HSY has always been about.”

As a designer, Yasin certainly brings his own personality to the brand.

“I have always led a life that has those values. I love to do what I am doing every single day. I am truly a spirited person. HSY is about me to a great extent.”   

As a design house, HSY is best loved for ostentatious bridals that have an old world charm. However, Yasin is a versatile designer. The western wear he shows depicts a design sensibility that may just be what is required for exports; the clothes often have a western cut with ethnic embellishment. The result is an aesthetically appealing ensemble which can be worn in any city in the world. And the label has shown in many a city of the world – Amman, Athens, Delhi, London, Los Angeles, Mauritius, Montreal, Mumbai, New York, Prague, Riyadh and Toronto to name some.

A design house that has travelled the world in 10 years cannot just happen without some savvy marketing and edgy groundwork backing it. Yasin may say that he is not a marketing major; “I don’t know what the catchphrases and keywords are,” but, he feels “it’s an inborn ability”.

And the label’s success story is testament to the ability he thinks is an inborn trait in people.

“I think you need to have a gut instinct rather than textbook formulae. And I think that is something I have always had – I have always known what people want.”

Marketing, he emphasises “is key – it’s as important as your product. If one is weak the other will fall and vice versa.”

If that is true for marketing, advertising is no less important – at least to HSY. Clearly he has never been one to believe in the no-advertising theory for his label, like Zara, to quote a foreign label, or Bunto Kazmi, to quote a local example. Quite the contrary, Yasin claims he is entirely responsible for having “shaken everyone else into advertising”.

Before he started off the trend, it wasn’t being done, he says. And states, “I will eat humble pie for other things but not this!” (Although he smiles off the query when asked what are the other things for which he would be happy to eat humble pie.)  

The label does have a methodology as far as advertising for its various lines – Ready- to-wear, HSY Resort, Menswear, Bridal, Couture, World of HSY Prints – is concerned. There is a bridal campaign they do with celebrities who wore HSY on their wedding, there is the lookbook (sent to special clientele only) which is published twice a year.

“The lookbook is broken into ad shoots to maintain a consistent look (we don’t do shoots), I speak on television a lot (we call that TV advertising) and there is celebrity endorsement – which is celebrities wearing our clothes.”

So yes, there is a lot of advertising, but not necessarily in the most clichéd of manners, which is the fashion shoot. Although the lawn launch has been given ad space in the manner best loved by lawn designers – through billboards. Still, even there, there is something that sets apart this designer’s lawn from that of others – from the marketing perspective. Where others have had exhibitions in two or three cities, lawn from this label will be sold in eight cities, “so that we go to the customer, the customer doesn’t have to come to us”.

Having come this far, Yasin says his progress as a designer has gone as he planned.

“When I started out I had a certain niche in mind and I have got there. It’s been a fantastic progress.”

At 36, he is comfortable enough to be able to say “by now I think it’s pretty evident how much we have achieved”.

Still, resting on one’s laurels is not for the likes of him. The label is constantly trying out new avenues, be it in the form of collaborations or new ventures. Collaborations, which, he says are “essential to us, and important for the industry to develop,” have been undertaken with Bareeze, Luscious, Nirala, and Stoneage, to name some. The latest, in fact, is a SAARC initiative by the name of SABAH (SAARC Business Association For Home-based Workers).

“SABAH needs us but we also need them – we lend the power of our image to other brands to benefit from as well.”

The SABAH project is an initiative to promote economic and social empowerment of female artisans across Pakistan. With so many fingers in the pie, it is little wonder that the designer at the helm of it all states, “I don’t know anyone busier than myself; we are always doing something new. I would love to do so many more things, but I would have to clone myself to achieve that.”

Among his achievements, Yasin counts the recognition he has given his country abroad.

“We have promoted Pakistan more than anyone else, and that’s something we want to continue. We have made it matter to have ‘made in Pakistan’ on the label.”

The label is going places this year as well, after showing at Dubai Fashion Week in April, they are showing in London in May, and New York in June.

“We are always ahead of the game,” he says.

“The moment you think everything is perfect you might as well shut down shop.”

Fareeha Rafique is a Lahore-based journalist. fareeha.rafique@gmail.com

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

Worth watching?

By Taimur Tajik

I will be honest, I hardly watch TV. That’s because for someone like me there is hardly anything on TV worth watching. And when there is something worth watching, it is usually maimed beyond recognition by a lengthy series of commercials, each skillfully placed at precise intervals to completely disrupt my viewing pleasure. I think I speak for most viewers when I say commercials are irritating. They are, by their very nature, designed to invade our field of vision and proposition us when we least desire it. Even worse is that most brands nowadays think that if they air their ad 15 times every half hour, it will win them hordes of loyal consumers, chomping at the bit to purchase their products.

I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. Brands and advertisers in this country need to embrace a simple truth: nobody wants to see your ads. Yes, you may think your product is incredibly useful and that your ad may be very creative, but it will never compare to the entertainment value of regular programming. Instead, you need to start accepting this as the main challenge. Forget about your brief and marketing objectives for a second. The first thought should be ‘how can we entertain our audience?’ Once you have answered this, the next task is to squeeze in all your essential communication. Imagine creating ads that are so entertaining that viewers actually want to watch them? Digital and viral marketing have proven that advertising can create such a pull effect. Every day, millions of consumers are logging on to online video forums such as YouTube and Metacafe to watch their favourite commercials. TVCs don’t have to be seen as obstacles to regular programming. Nor do they have be such a hard sell. If brands and advertisers were more in tune with their consumers, they would know that TV audiences have quite an appetite for media and are ready for more savvy forms of advertising. But change won’t come easy, and creative advertising is anything but a textbook subject. Despite budget restrictions and conservative thinking, brands and advertisers have to learn how to adapt, take risks, and deal with the hit-and-miss culture of advertising. Speaking of hits and misses, below are some of the commercials I happened to catch during one of my rare visits to the small screen.

BRAND: Sooper

Message: Sooper cookies, super taste!
Effectiveness: Watching Sooper’s TVC, I can’t help thinking back to a better time when their advertising meant something. During the brand’s infancy, it was all about the ‘Sooper’ wordplay. After its enormous success, it adopted a more confident and boastful ‘sab se ooper’ positioning. Despite being a plain egg and milk biscuit, the brand had something unique to say… until now. Although the latest TVC is a visual treat, it leaves me rather hungry for some meaningful message. ‘Maza kar lay… dil bhar kay!’ That’s it? There’s nothing very ‘Sooper’ about that. You would have thought that after the revival of LU’s Bakeri that Sooper would have hit back with something more substantial. In fact, with all the dancing and enhanced product shots, it seems as if Sooper is taking a page out of Bakeri’s book. Whatever it is, it just goes to show that when you’ve reached the top, the only way left to go is down.
Verdict: With competitors coming up strong, Sooper needed a hit commercial now more than ever. Apart from a big production, it really doesn’t do (or say) much for the brand. Seemed rather ‘sooperfluous’.

BRAND: Djuice

Message: Khamoshi ka boycott.
Effectiveness: On paper, this whole ‘Khamoshi ka boycott’ idea seems like a good initiative. It is not an entirely unique idea (I recalled Tata Tea’s ‘Jaago Re’ campaign) but it is different to what is currently going on in the category, the subject matter is relevant to Pakistan and it does connect to Djuice’s youth platform and product. It is not a bad commercial, but it feels like the campaign needs time to grow into something sustainable. I am not sure how successful this will be as a social initiative, but it is good to see brands taking some sort of conscious step forward in an effort to improve the country, even though there are many bigger issues worth talking about.
Verdict: Points for effort. Djuice might be on to something, but my lips are sealed until the campaign develops.

BRAND: HBL Internet & Phone Banking

Campaign: HBL Internet & Phone Banking
Message: Har aik kay liye aasan.
Effectiveness: I am usually the first person to give credit to a brand when it tries something new, bold and off-the-wall. However, after seeing HBL’s internet and phone banking commercials, it is clear that ‘different’ is not always better. It is obvious that HBL is trying to break the clutter and in all fairness, the commercial is far more attention-grabbing than a lot of the financial ads on TV nowadays. Having said that, it seems rather irresponsible that a brand would risk lowering its image for the sake of gaining attention. Not only is Mr Bean quite a departure from HBL’s earlier brand ambassadors, the campaign, idea and execution drags the brand down.
Verdict: Got my attention, but not for the better. I might expect this sort of low-brow advertising from a small-time bank or a new entrant in the financial market, but not HBL. 
   
BRAND: Pepsi

Campaign: World Cup fever
Message: Yeh duniya hai dil walon ki.
Effectiveness: I would have loved to have seen Pepsi do something grand to support our team. Instead, we are left to watch our star players battle over the last remaining Pepsi in an airport. Wow, I am on the edge of my seat. The commercial hardly makes me feel anything. It’s not funny, it’s not convincing, it’s not even that original (see Nike’s Brazilian football ad from 1998, where the Brazilian soccer team turns an airport into a makeshift soccer stadium after their flight is delayed). With such a significant event, Pepsi had an opportunity to do something creative, grand and fun. This kind of advertising hardly gets me excited about cricket or Pepsi… or anything else for that matter.
Verdict: Big occasions call for big ads. Really feels like Pepsi ran out of fizz for the World Cup. This commercial is boring, if anything. It feels like I’ve seen it a million times before.

BRAND: Bakeri

Campaign: 2011 cricket World Cup music video
Message: Josh-e-Junoon.
Effectiveness: From the idea, to the acting, to the execution, everything about this commercial leaves me feeling proud to be a Pakistani. By the overwhelming response on YouTube, it is clear that this initiative made an impact with the thousands of cricket lovers across the country. Apart from some very well selected shots and the little insightful gestures, the thing I like the most about this video is that they did not ruin it by forcing the product into shots. This TVC could easily have been cheapened by shots of people scoffing down biscuits. Thankfully, the product was included sensibly, sparingly and naturally – with class and taste.
Verdict: Does wonders to enforce Bakeri’s positioning as a ‘feel-good’ brand without unnecessarily pushing the product. Great initiative, executed with style and finesse.

Taimur Tajik is Associate Creative Director, Spectrum Y&R.

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

A writer’s life

By Moni Mohsin

 

When people ask me what I do and I reply that I’m a writer, invariably a misty smile transforms their faces. ‘A writer!’ they murmur. ‘How lovely’.

I know what they’re thinking. That I’m one of those lucky few who don’t have to work. Instead I get to dream, to receive inspiration, to see visions. They see me strolling in a secluded spot, say a deserted beach with golden sand or a garden with fountains and palm trees, when suddenly I am seized by the creative impulse. I stop. A paper and pencil materialise out of thin air. I write and I write, unaware that darkness has fallen and fireflies are now providing light for me. I am oblivious even to their flickering beauty for I am caught in the grip of creative frenzy.

No effort is involved, no agency. I am merely the receptacle of revelations from on high. When sufficient revelations have been received to fill 300 pages (more would be a bore), a book happens. The book wings its way to a publisher who publishes it to rapturous reviews. People fight to buy it. Journalists fight to interview me. I receive prizes, applause, and lots of money. Naturally. I am a writer.

Now, the truth. A writer’s life is one of solitude bordering on loneliness, self doubt bordering on neurosis, daily slog and, with a few stellar exceptions, of penury and obscurity.

First the slog. No writer writes as if taking dictation. What you see on the page of a book is the result of months of toil. A writer, when asked the secret of writing replied, ‘The secret of writing is the application of one one’s rear to the seat of a chair.’

People are genuinely surprised when I say that writing is work like anything else. You put in the hours, every day, every month. You sit at your desk at an appointed hour and get up at an appointed hour. And slowly, in lurches and lapses, your book takes form.

Yet writing is only the half of it. The other half is rewriting. In any half decent book, what you read has been rewritten countless times. I wrote The End of Innocence seven times over five years. I have lost count of the number of times I edited The Diary of a Social Butterfly. Tender Hooks, because it is more recent, I remember more clearly. I wrote it once, editing every day the work of the previous day. When I finished, I read it through, rewriting large sections. Then I sent it to my readers; four writer friends whose opinion I trust. They wrote back with suggestions and queries. So I edited it again. Then I sent it to my agent who sent it to five publishers. My Indian publisher responded immediately. She liked it. But could I look at her editorial suggestions? The British publisher also wanted some changes. Then some more. And later, still more. Thankfully, my American publisher was content with the British version.

And now for the neurosis. Because writers work alone with no boss and no colleagues, they don’t get daily or monthly feedback on their performance. So if we have made a monumental gaffe we only find out once we have finished the book – sometimes as much as seven years later. In all that time, we have to trust our instincts and keep the gnawing worries at bay. But we do worry. Will anyone like it? Will anyone publish it? Will anyone buy it?

Will readers understand it? Will the critics savage it?

The main problem with critical savaging is that it’s done in public. Unlike say an insurance company, nobody calls you into their office and gives you a dressing down for shoddy work. No, a writer is told off in newspapers, in blogs, on radio and on television. It’s a bit like being a politician in that your failures are broadcast to the world but unlike most politicians, a writer cannot pass the blame on to someone else (in Pakistan’s case invariably America). We just have to grin and bear it. And live to write another day.

Then there’s the torture of finding an agent. Most agents discourage unsolicited manuscripts. I was turned down by two before I found The One and then too because a kind friend introduced me. Whereas most people think this just happens, like say, puberty, it doesn’t. It’s a slow, painful journey for most writers, littered with rejection letters. And don’t even get me started on publishing. That is a master class in deflation. My agent filters rejection letters his writers receive but not all agents are as sensible or as kind. A friend of mine was told by a publisher that there was not a sentence in his 300-page book that could not be improved.

Now: money. If you want riches, don’t become a writer. The odds of becoming a J. K. Rowling or a Michael Crichton are on par with you discovering Mullah Omar’s hideout. In fact, even if your modest aim is financial self-sufficiency, forget writing. Advances are mostly derisory. Five thousand pounds (roughly seven or eight lakhs) is considered a reasonable advance for a debut writer. Never mind that you have paid your way through a creative writing degree and spent another three years writing your book. You should count yourself lucky that you are being published at all. For every writer who is published, ten are rejected. So, don’t focus on the money. Forget food. Live, instead, on the prestige. And the envy you see in other people’s eyes as they envision you on that deserted beach or in that fragrant garden.

Now that I have dealt with fortune, let me proceed to fame. I have two words for you. Forget it. Two years ago I was invited to a reading at a London college, along with three well known Pakistani writers, each of whom has several books to their name. We read from our work. People listened politely. As we were wrapping up, a girl asked a question. ‘I read lots,’ she said. ‘And I have heard of Khalid Hosseini. But I haven’t heard of any of you. Why?’ What do you say when someone asks why you are not famous?

You might think I was actively discouraging you from becoming a writer. Not for a second. I am merely reading out the small print. The large print is that I wouldn’t do anything else even if you paid me. Because when it all comes right there is no other job in the world to rival it. To be privileged enough to create, to communicate at the deepest level with people you have never met, is a feeling like no other. And yes, there are odd moments when inspiration strikes. It usually happens inconveniently when you are travelling on a crowded tube or queuing in a supermarket and you don’t have a pen to hand, but still it is electrifying. Writers have a name for those rare moments. They call them ‘gifts’. In a sense the whole business of writing is just that.

A gift.

Moni Mohsin is a writer based in London. Her latest novel –  Tender Hooks – is out now.

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

From jazba to junoon

SAC reviews the TVCs that dominated the World Cup season.

Green shirt fever swept hearts across the globe. Word of mouth and furiously updated Facebook statuses proved that the zest and zeal for cricket lives on. People said they felt united; they sent texts to Shahid Afridi to thank him for uniting the nation and as expected, they watched it on TV, no matter which channel was airing the match.

Advertisers planned in advance to cash on the millions of eyeballs and went about trying to create legendary campaigns to outshine one another. The question is, did they?

Mobilink: Yeh Mera Jazba

Another feather in the cap of Alizafaramania. A lyrical TVC that harks back to cricket history, tied in with a fistful of Pakistani soil (the latter clearly endowed with Hogwart properties, as one can only assume it materialised through the Floo Network). The dark, muted colouring is in the ‘signature style’ of the director Asad-ul-Haq, and although the lyrics are acceptable, the repetitive chorus is on the borderline of making one want to run away from the TV every time it comes on. The lyrics are sung by Ali Zafar, but not in Ali Zafar typical style which, please note, is not a problem. Shahid Afridi’s walk up the pavilion to the stadium was much appreciated by women. But it is in same CCP (Cut, Copy, Paste) style. Given their budgets and place in the market, Mobilink had the opportunity to change how advertising is done in Pakistan and take it to the next level.

Originality: Hmm... Pakistani cricket fans and players and lots of green flags.

Execution: High-end budget, with a weekend in Thailand thrown in for post-production. Just glad it won’t be airing any more.

Worth remembering for: The Pakistani soil that stands the test of time.

Pepsi: Yeh Dunya Hai Dil Walon Ki (TVC)
This TVC saturated the airwaves. I waited to be swept away by the ‘Morven Goldesque Rhythm of Unity’ feel I remembered from Cups past. I waited and waited. It didn’t happen.

Originality: The TVC was ‘inspired’ by the one made by Nike for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In that incarnation, the TVC featured the boys from Brazil killing time by playing football. In this incarnation, it featured our boys in green fighting over a can of Pepsi. This shift from ‘aspirational’ to ‘ass-pirational’ is presumably why it qualified as a different concept.

Execution: The airport departure board is made in computer graphics. Hallelujah. Note to Pepsi creative director: next time, shoot an actual board and make the annoying kid in computer graphics too; only taller. And less annoying. With more facial expressions. Also, the token hot girl is not actually hot. It would be wrong to comment on the cricket stars. I cannot say a word against them because they are cricketers, not actors. Now, a word about the overlays (they appeared only in some versions of the TVC), presumably pitched as a subtle homage to Hollywood funded comic book reincarnations: in this Sin City, it is the overlay that is the sin. Lastly, the TVC’s musical score is defined not as much by the melody as it is by the subdued clapping in the background.

Worth remembering for: Yeh dunya hai dil walon ki - a strong tagline that aptly encompasses Pakistani cricket mania. First, think of what Imran Yusuf said on ESPN Cricinfo: “In Pakistan we make embarrassing rip-off adverts. The closest that branding has come to art is transformed into the closest cricket has come to a ballet performance by theatrically challenged five-year-old girls.

But then we say to ourselves, ‘at least we’re not India’.” Now, think of Shahid Afridi saying Indian hearts will never be as big or as open as Pakistani hearts. Then, you will appreciate why the biggest saving grace of this tagline is that it was not prescient of what was to come. And hence innocent.

Pepsi: Yeh Dunya Hai Dil Walon Ki (Music video)
Despite the flaws, let me pay homage to an irritating yet infectious melody that is still ringing in my ears 35 days later, providing opportunities for family members to hit me on the head with whatever they can lay their hands on.

Originality: May I say, as a by-product of Pakistan’s colonial hangover, how heartening it is to see white people used as props? Next time, dispense with the musical instruments altogether and have them pretend to be sofas, tables, or in the case of Charlie Sheen, potted plants.

Execution: Conceptual gripes aside, the redeeming features are the production values. The street cricket shots are refreshingly artsy, the cricket footage hits the right note (how many of us still dream of Afridi air-kissing Kallis?!) and the shot of Ali Zafar rising from the ocean is masterful in its representation of the average Pakistani woman’s fantasy; affluent, clean shaven and about as sexually threatening as a kohlapuri chappal.

Worth remembering for: Smart editing, sophisticated colour tones, white people doing what they are told and the reinforcement of the message that ‘Pakistan still has internationally appreciated popular singers’. This is not a bad message at a time when most other Pakistani ‘rock stars’ either still live with their mothers or are not so much ‘pop divas’ as ‘pop divans’.

Continental Biscuits: Josh-e-Junoon
Ali Azmat is a refreshing break from the over exposed Ali Zafar. The lyrics have substance and his voice evokes a sense of nostalgia for years gone by. The execution has nothing compelling about it in terms of direction or cinematography. And why was Ali Azmat not in the video? Did he ask for too much money? Or did he promise not to be a corporate sell out, and therefore chose not to appear? Also, given that the song is so similar to Jazba-e-Junoon, would it not have been better to use the original and get the band together for this one song? And why were those actors pretending to sing along? Was it karaoke night and no one told me? Shame, I would have loved to join in.

Originality: Nothing original about this TVC, and it must have cost tremendous amounts of money in media placement alone. They certainly did not spend it on ideation and execution.

Execution: The models/ actors/extras lip singing was superfluous. The various sign-postings which appeared had the worst typography ever. In this day and age when websites are offering free font downloads, one would have expected better. If you are spending x hundreds and thousands to join the national pride wagon, at least consult your designer rather than let your client decide which fonts to use.

Worth remembering for: Wishing it was actually Jazba-e-Junoon.

HBL: Hum Hain HBL

Rare are the cases where creative and strategy come together and this TVC is a case in point. It creates a sense of pride in the five brand ambassadors. Simple execution; no sing-song, wannabe Bollywood parade. Not a big budget production and demonstrates how well a simple idea simply executed can work.

Originality: Simplicity, pride and ownership of the brand ambassadors and national fervour.

Execution: No drama, no hassle. To the point. Effective.

Worth remembering for: Shahid Afridi’s lemon yellow tie and Ahmed Shahzad’s unibrow.

Wishful Thinking

Like a classic Pakistani client, who likes mixing different directions to make their own papri-chaat, here is an idea. Why not use the director and cinematographer from the Pepsi music video with Ali Azmat’s song Josh-e-Junoon? We might have a winning combination. Worth keeping in mind?

SAC lives in Karachi and watches more TV than one would like to admit.

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

A win for Pakistan

By Marylou Andrew

Winners of the Young Lotus Award: Maheen Meenai and Umair Anwar.

Two young creatives – Umair Anwar (Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy Lahore) and Maheen Meenai (Copywriter at Pirana) – proved precisely why it is important to encourage and motivate young people when they stole the show at the Young Lotus Workshop by winning the Young Lotus Award at Adfest 2011.

Graduates in Communication Design from the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Anwar and Meenai have been involved in advertising for five and three years respectively. Both are 27 years old and extremely bubbly; you don’t have to meet them to figure that out, their enthusiasm and vivacity come through loud and clear even over the phone line.

In February 2011, Anwar and Meenai entered some of their best work into a competition organised by the Advertising Association of Pakistan (AAP) for an opportunity to represent Pakistan at the Young Lotus Workshop in Phuket, Thailand. Anwar entered a Minute Maid campaign and Meenai a film she had made as a freelance project. Several other creatives – visualisers and copywriters – from AAP member agencies across Pakistan also entered their work.

Anwar and Meenai did not know each other before Adfest, but when they met in Phuket they immediately knew they would work well together. The two attended a day and a half of lectures at the Young Lotus Workshop, based on the theme, ‘get inspired by the world around you’, after which John Merrifield, Creative-at-Large, TBWA Asia-Pacific, gave the 36 participants a brief for a Pepsi campaign.

“We were asked to create a two-minute video for Pepsi which incorporated two elements: a Pepsi can, and the line, ‘every Pepsi refreshes the world’. They gave us just 24 hours to complete the film,” says Anwar.

Meenai says that she and Anwar brainstormed for eight hours and couldn’t come up with anything that both found sufficiently exciting. She explains that one of the best parts of working with Anwar was that “we kept challenging each other and we were not afraid to say exactly how we felt.”

The big idea came when Anwar was sipping his Pepsi and dropped some on a piece of paper.

“At that point we just knew that we had to incorporate that idea into our film somehow,” he says, and thus the final video was based on the concept of a spontaneous cola painting.

After the initial judging, the Workshop mentors (from TBWA’s Asia-Pacific offices) first chose four finalists (Australia, China, Malaysia and Pakistan) before selecting Pakistan as the winner.

Meenai says she felt like a “million bucks” when she heard their names announced, while Anwar explains that for him the important thing was that “Pakistan won”.

Winning the Young Lotus is not the end of the story. Anwar and Meenai’s winning film is the Asia-Pacific entry in TBWA’s global Very Short Very Cheap Film Festival to be held later this year. The winners at this Festival will receive a $5000 cash reward from Pepsi and another $50,000 for a community development project aimed at furthering Pepsi’s mission of ‘refreshing the world’; they will also receive a free trip to Cannes Lions 2011.

Although Anwar and Meenai are obviously hoping they will win the global award, for the time being they are riding high on the wave of success and their feelings are best expressed in Meenai’s words:

“I have come back with so much more confidence; I am dying to see what I will do next because I have more faith in my abilities.”

Ultimately, of course, this is a win for Pakistan, a thought echoed by Shahnoor Ahmed, CEO, Spectrum Y&R and Chairman, AAP.

“I am completely blown away by the success of these young creatives; the more so because this is the first time Pakistan has ever sent representatives to Young Lotus. However, the AAP is always looking at what’s next and we hope we can start an exchange programme with agencies in the Asian region so that young people from Pakistan can go and work in other agencies and vice versa.”

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

A few of my favourite things

By Omer Ahmed

 The Economist

Category: Print

Perfect example of intelligent print advertising. Gripping visually and conceptually, it made me chuckle.

Agency: Memac Ogilvy & Mather, Dubai

 Wrangler

Category: Print
The photography takes the trophy bringing movement to the layout. Originality with a hint of risk, the ad succeeds through a combination of good photography and a stimulating line. The next big thing in apparel advertising.
Agency: Fred & Farid, Paris

Tapal

Category: Print
The ad spells richness thanks to the dominating tone of red. The infamous line ‘Laal hai toh Tapal hai’ is intelligently placed next to the English copy. The incorporation of Tapal’s range of products gives the ad a soothing completion. Strong visual, first rate art direction.
Agency: Adcom, Pakistan

SKF

Category: Print
The analogy of freedom using a butterfly clad in the national flag is priceless. An interesting visual backed with a line that speaks of genuine patriotism.
Agency: Unknown

Mitsubishi Pajero

Category: Print
Visually dominating, this ad compelled me to admire every detail. The excellent execution does complete justice to the concept. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that this was made in Oman.
Agency: TBWA, Oman

MCB

Category: Print
From an agency that never fails to impress, the ad uses black and white intelligently. With an eccentric visual and excellent layout, this ad has a strong beauty of its own.
Agency: The D’Hamidi Partnership, Pakistan

PSO

Category: Print
An awakening campaign highlighting national unity during the 2010 floods. Neat and clear layout. The copy starts with a strong message leading to an emotional call for action. Simplicity at its best.

Agency: Orient Advertising, Pakistan

Landscape

Category: Print

This particular communication won my heart with its minimalism. Intelligently highlighting its services as a design and architectural firm. A smart headline coupled with a clear and convenient action call.

Agency: Unknown

Omer Ahmed is Creative Director, Orient Advertising. omer_ahmed@orientpakistan.com

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

The Cadbury saga

By Zohra Yusuf

It is difficult to associate wars with chocolate, the extraordinary confection that manages to create in its adult consumers simultaneous feelings of great indulgence and guilt. Deborah Cadbury, a descendent of the renowned family whose name more than any other’s is linked with chocolates, describes her own wide-eyed wonder when she visited the family’s chocolate factory as a child:

“To my child’s eyes it was as though I had entered a cavernous interior that belonged to some benign, orderly and highly productive wizard who had somehow saturated the very air with a chocolate aroma… all I could see was chocolate. It was all around me in every stage of the manufacturing process. There was molten chocolate bubbling in vats towering above me, vats so huge that they had ladders running up their sides. Chocolate rivers flowed on a number of swiftly moving conveyers through gaps in the wall to mysterious chambers beyond.”

This first impression captures the imagination of every child.

It is the chocolate of storybooks, dreams and longings. So how do wars enter this idyllic world?

In Chocolate Wars, Deborah Cadbury meticulously investigates two strands of the chocolate story. The first is the industry’s Quaker origins in the United Kingdom and the beliefs and principles they brought into the business. The other explores the un-Quaker practices that began to make their mark when the nascent chocolate business began to become competitive. However, competition took on more serious overtones in the 20th and 21st centuries with sell-outs and acquisitions. In fact, the book is sub-titled ‘From Cadbury to Kraft: 200 Years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry’.

Deborah Cadbury’s history of Quaker entrepreneurship is as fascinating as her meticulous recording of the rivalry that ultimately became a determining factor in the dominance of the global chocolate market.

In the 19th century, the Quakers were the pioneers of business. Apart from Cadbury and Rowntree in the chocolate segment, they were the founders of Huntley & Palmers, Barclays Bank, as well as what is today the giant multinational, Unilever. With their strong sense of business ethics and concern for the welfare of their staff, they were precursors to the concept of fair trade which in the 21st century led to formal cooperation with the Fairtrade Foundation, as well as Anti-Slavery International. Although the Cadburys at one point in time faced accusations of promoting slavery in Portugal in a society that was beginning to acquire consciousness about such issues, they did manage to win the libel court case against The Standard newspaper. Their concern for employees and slum-dwellers was a source of marvel and inspiration to many businessmen. When the Cadbury brothers, Richard and George, set up their first factory in what came to be known as Bournville, creating a pleasant and comfortable work environment (especially for their female staff) was as important to them as exploring the global potential of their business.

However, Richard and George did end up abandoning some of the Quaker principles of self-denial and frugality instilled in them by their father, John Cadbury, when the business after years of struggle and bankruptcy finally became very profitable. Chocolate Wars is not simply an account of the growth and competition in the chocolate business but a story of personal triumphs and tragedies. Even as the Cadbury brothers were beginning to see their venture succeed beyond imagination, another young man with Quaker roots, the American Milton Hershey, was experimenting unsuccessfully with producing various forms of chocolate. Much later he would emerge as the American chocolate king.

Meanwhile in Switzerland, Henri Nestlé and Rudolphe Lindt were gradually laying the foundations of an empire that, together with Cadbury, would rule the confectionary world in the coming centuries. Henri Nestlé’s story is particularly fascinating. He had been experimenting with formula milk for babies when Daniel Peter, who had been trying to make chocolate, arrived at his doorstep to seek urgent help for his infant who was dying due to rejection of mother’s milk. This life-saving episode was to eventually give birth to a collaboration that created Nestlé’ chocolates.

It is anecdotes such as these that make Chocolate Wars all the more readable. Cadbury has researched deeply into the lives of the chocolate pioneers across three countries – England, Switzerland and the United States. She has traced the success stories of all these enterprises against the fast changing business scenario of the 20th and 21st centuries. The takeover of Cadbury by Kraft is well told and the account reads almost like a thriller with details of bids and rebids. Irene Rosenfeld, the head of Kraft, who had her eyes on Cadbury and especially its market potential in Asia and Africa, made a successful hostile bid in the face of a hostile British press (the Evening Standard termed the bid ‘brazen imperial ambition’). In fact, this loss of an enterprise akin to a national heritage to an American company is still bemoaned by much of the media in Britain.

It is said that a book should never be judged by its cover. However, Chocolate Wars gives the feel of a beautifully designed chocolate box with the signature Cadbury purple – in a muted shade – dominant. The illustrations would be a delight for designers. Apart from the period they evoke, the detailed illustrations also represent the owners’ efforts at promoting their brands at a time when professional advertising services, even when available, were frowned upon. Some family members posed for sketches while others wrote the copy!

The ‘chocolate wars’ may have ended in a defeat for the British owners of Cadbury but this account by Deborah Cadbury celebrates essentially the success of chocolate, regardless of brands and their origins.

Chocolate Wars
By Deborah Cadbury
Harper Press
340pp. PKR 2,195

Zohra Yusuf is Creative Director, Spectrum Y&R.

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.

Desktop Thinking

Defining ‘luxury’ in any market or context is a difficult thing to do. The more so in a country like Pakistan where the majority of the people barely dispose of the basic necessities that underpin a dignified life. To resort, therefore, to the old adage that what is a luxury for one person is a necessity for another is perhaps to be guilty of extreme glibness. And yet, despite Pakistan’s poor socio-economic indicators, there are pockets of huge wealth strewn mainly (but not solely) across the four main cities of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad. Nothing new here; this has been so for the past 64 years. What is new is that these pockets of wealth have grown and with them (as with the rest of the world) attitudes towards ‘luxury’ have changed, with the result that today there is a developing market for what can be termed (with many caveats interposed) as ‘luxury products’. (As our cover story points out, many international brands available in Pakistan under the nomenclature of ‘luxury’, actually fall into the category of high street brands in more developed markets – and the recently opened Next outlet in Karachi is no exception.)

So what exactly is a true luxury brand? Although there may be a few quibbles here and there in the following definition, luxury products fundamentally define themselves by their price tag, their lack of affordability save for the wealthy ‘few’. However, with the price tag comes the responsibility to provide unsurpassable quality not only in the product itself, but throughout the buying experience – and where necessary, in the post-purchase service as well. The challenge, therefore, to become a purveyor of luxury is enormous. It requires huge investment, highly developed skills, cumulative knowledge, extended manufacturing timelines and the ability to customise. In fact a true luxury product or service is one that has been tweaked so as to respond to a single person’s preference.

A relatively new ingredient in the mix is the requirement to market. For much of the last century, luxury products relied mostly on their word-of-mouth reputation. However, now with what has been termed the ‘democratisation’ of luxury, marketing is essential and requires its own particular skill set, a finely calibrated approach (so that while trying to push the product, exclusivity remains intact) and high budgets.

In essence, luxury goods define themselves by their heritage and tradition. The achievement of unsurpassable quality is a product of time, not only in the manufacturing or the delivery (in the case of a luxury service) but also in the acquiring of technique and skill. Whether it is a Hermès bag or a stay at the George V in Paris, what distinguishes the luxury experience is the attention given to all the minutia that go into the detail and which are then woven into a seamless expression of excellence.

In Pakistan, the opportunities to access luxury at this level are rare. Although a number of international luxury brands are now available, the total luxury experience in terms of in-store ambience, personalised service and product packaging is missing. Nevertheless, these brands do cater to a market which is underserved and further expansion in this category can only help create more jobs and better skills. However, what Pakistani entrepreneurs should be doing at this stage, is thinking about creating at the very least their own premium quality brands (no, there aren’t any) or introducing premium quality services (none there either), especially in hospitality. The question, however, is do they have the drive to do this? Producing quality requires single-minded commitment to the objective, unlimited patience and the total subjugation of any desire to cut one single corner.

Defining luxury is indeed a difficult thing to do. But in essence, luxury is driven by the confluence of two passions. The passion to create a product of seamless perfection and the passion to possess and experience it. We have the second; we are still waiting for the first.

First published in the May-June 2011 issue of Aurora.