Home Blog Page 43

Radio: The Resilient Medium

Synergyzer
-
2
Radio: The Resilient Medium

SYNERGYZER: Could you tell us briefly about the radio landscape in Pakistan post-2002 and when Hot FM 105 was established?

SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: In 2002, PEMRA began auctioning licenses to radio stations as well as television channels. TV licenses were given at a certain amount for ten years, while the auction prices for radio licenses ranged between Rs 3.5 million to Rs 4 million for a licensing period of ten years. The radio licenses were based on territories, which meant that if a license was issued for Karachi, then it could cover an area 40 kilometers in diameter in airwaves.

Licenses in larger cities cost more than those for smaller cities. It took two to three years to complete the radio license auctions, which occurred in phases during which the prices continued to increase. Each station took anywhere from two to six years to establish its reputation and build its audience. FM 100 was the first one, not only to launch but also to capture the attention of radio listeners. Every station tried to come up with its own unique offering; some, like FM 106.2, played only music, some targeted the English-speaking market like FM 89, while others offered programs in English as well as Urdu.

FM105 was established as Sachal FM by Infotainment Private Limited. The channel started with interactive programs featuring live interactions between the presenters and their audience. We had a newsroom from where we used to play our news bulletin every hour, 17 bulletins per day from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. In September 2012, I took over the channel, and it has been for precisely ten years that I have been running it.

During my tenure, we tried to turn things around, be more effective and increase listenership. Our focus has always remained on Sindh; we started with Karachi and Hyderabad, and then came Mithi, Sangar, Nawab Shah, Shikarpur, Larkana, Naushehroferoze, Sukkur, and so on.

Today, we have 12 regional stations in Sindh, from Karachi to Jacobabad to Mithi, one in Quetta, Balochistan, and 1 in Chitral, all under the banner of Hot FM 105.

SYNERGYZER: How would you say Hot FM 105 is different from other radio channels?

 SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: We are different because we offer programs in almost all regional languages. In Karachi, we have people from across Pakistan who feel good when they hear a program in their native tongue. In order to attract these communities, we have two hours of Pushto, two hours of Balochi, and three hours of Sindhi programs, which are very popular.

There are no measurement tools as such to assess which radio stations or programs are popular. Only by talking to people do we really gauge the popularity of a show, who is listening to us, and where. Otherwise, switching to another radio station is just a tap away. We are unique in the sense that we give people an opportunity to talk for as long as they want and speak their minds.

SYNERGYZER: How many regular listeners do HOT FM105 have and what is your target audience?

SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: There is no tangible way to gauge this, so we take it this way: if the population of Karachi is about 2.5 crore, and if even one percent is listening to the ten or eleven stations that operate in the city, that amounts to 250,000 people. Now, if even one percent of total radio listeners – which is about 25,000 people – is listening to HOT FM 105 at any point in time, that is a significant number for me.

As for the target audience, if you want me to say that we target SEC (socio-economic class) A or B, I’d first ask you: how do you gauge SEC A?

The majority would say a person of that socio-economic class must read the Dawn newspaper, speak English, reside in a 300-500 square-yard house, own a car, send their children to study in a private school, and so on. If we go by this description, then we would assume that they also have a lot of buying power… but that’s not necessarily the case.

Let me give you another example. When curved screen televisions were introduced to the market, I asked people who would buy these televisions, people from Karachi, Multan, or Larkana. One distributor said that the buying power of rural consumers far exceeded that of the metropolitan.

In Karachi, people are more job-oriented. It takes time for them to fulfill their desires for consumer goods. So how many people belonging to SEC A live entirely in Karachi?

You see, it is not just Defence or Clifton that constitutes Karachi; the city is huge. We must also account for people living on the other side of the bridge. Also, speaking English is not a particularly effective criterion or predictor of wealth. People with more buying power reside in other localities of Karachi.

Our target audience, therefore, could constitute a rickshaw driver, a millionaire, a doctor, and even a CEO or chairman of a company. Ours is the only radio station where the Chief Minister of Sindh came and participated in a show, which over 200,000 people saw on Facebook.

Our target audience also differs depending on the show. There are several pharmaceutical companies and hospitals that listen to and even ask to participate in our health shows, which are very popular. We also conduct shows on brands, where the audience is different.

SYNERGYZER: In this digital era, what would you say is the potential of radio? Is it still relevant?

 SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: It is a public medium, and free for all. It is the best medium to disseminate information when it comes to disasters such as tsunamis, floods, or earthquakes, or any critical information for that matter.

During the CoVID-19 pandemic, we did not get any commercials from advertisers. We did not earn anything. We were just surviving. But people, patients were listening to us in hospitals. Radio was the only medium available to entertain and inform them.

Also, Karachi has seen the worst of times; total darkness, curfews, martial law, and states of emergency, during which radio has always played its part in propagating awareness, whether it’s during Ramadan, traffic updates, weather, etc. Television has not weathered these conditions.

In terms of entertainment, you can listen to music in every language on the radio. You cannot ignore the historic relationship music has had with radio since its inception. Whether it’s Coke Studio, Kashmir Beats, Nescafe Basement, or Pepsi Battle of the Bands songs, we have been the biggest promoters of the local music industry.

Moreover, in Pakistan, there are several areas where people have no electricity or there is a lot of load-shedding. There are people who are ill, bedridden, or elderly. It is in these areas that radio thrives, and we are happy to be a part of their lives.

Here in Pakistan, radio is the lowest-cost medium for advertisers, where they do not hesitate to spend. If one television channel is selling its airtime for Rs. 200,000 a minute, then one radio channel is selling it for Rs. 200 – Rs. 1200 a minute, even in Karachi. If you compare these rates with those from Bombay, Singapore, or Malaysia, we are taking peanuts from these advertisers.

Yes, advertisers do not hesitate to give us this amount, because we get the spillover of their total budget, a large chunk of which goes into digital. Take regional newspapers, for example, also; they cost Rs. 30, while the English dailies cost between Rs. 40-45, and what is their shelf life? Three hours, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

SYNERGYZER: How do you keep your target audience engaged?

SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: By talking to them. I myself host a show for three hours every Saturday. We also invite people from various fields to come and talk on our station, and people can ask them questions.

You see, ours is a third-world country, where people suffer from so many issues. There’s CoVID, there are floods, there are earthquakes, there are mental issues, there is inflation, etc. We started a program called ‘Relief through Airwaves’, where we invite people to talk about these issues, diseases, symptoms, and preventive measures, because there are also people in Pakistan for whom reaching hospitals is not easy.

Under the umbrella of health and well-being, we have several programs that cater to men, women, children, and the elderly. We believe when you hear something on the radio, it registers much faster than through any other medium, and people can listen to it while doing their housework, driving, working, etc.

For the past two and a half years, we have been working with SIUT and running a campaign on deceased organ donation, as no one talks about it. Since so many people listen to us, a few weeks ago, a laborer got onto the show and said he wanted to donate his organs after death and asked where he could register himself. This happened because he was a regular listener of our show, and he was completely convinced. If I manage to convince just a single person in a month, it is an achievement for me.

People such as Dr. Adeeb ul Hasan Rizvi at SIUT, Indus Hospital, or LRBT for free eyecare, are serving humanity free of cost. They send their doctors to spread awareness on our shows. It is commendable for us, and I am proud of it.

SYNERGYZER: What are the challenges the radio industry is facing today?

SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: Well, unfortunately, radio operators have not put in a lot of effort in promoting radio as a medium. Secondly, the licenses that PEMRA issued in 2002 expired in 2012. It has been ten years since then, and the renewal fee today has skyrocketed by millions. PEMRA is asking for the last-bid amount as the renewal fee for existing licensees, and SAMAA FM bought the last radio station at a very high price.

Since we could not pay the renewal fee, we took our case to the Lahore High Court, which lasted for five to six years, and we won. But PEMRA then went to the Supreme Court, and radio lost that case. Now, the matter of the renewal fee is still pending with PEMRA.

PEMRA is still stuck in 2012. They are now asking for money for the first tenure, and the second as well. The only solution now is for the government to intervene, since they are asking for 5,000% more money, which no radio station can pay. During formal negotiation meetings, they mentioned canceling the licenses. If this is going to happen, then who will advance in the radio industry? Who will invest in it? I know so many stations where revenue is a lot lower than their expenditure.

We have come so far in this industry with the sole conviction that radio is important. My listeners have spent over a decade with me. Earning money is not my sole purpose. Think about people running radio in rural areas such as Chiniot, Sialkot, etc. How are they surviving? They are running ads for local hakims, even those prohibited to run by the government, in order to survive. Our airtime is our property, we sell time and give the opportunity to advertisers to reach out to people. Advertising on the radio is much more effective than any other medium, but unfortunately, even after 25 years, we’re still learning how to survive.

The radio industry is not threatened by advertisers or listeners. But those who have awarded broadcast licenses have never themselves studied the dynamics of radio and never conducted studies to support and gauge the effectiveness of the medium.

Even the government works in such a way. Whether you are a grade 19 or 20 officers, a minister, chief minister, or even prime minister, all are ignorant of radio. In order for me to make my point of view heard, I will first have to have the prime minister understand, who will then bring it to the cabinet so that cabinet officers can bring in the new rules. And, mind you, this only happens in the private sector.

Otherwise, there is Radio Pakistan and over 55 other channels that are not operating under PEMRA. They are thriving.

If the media industry is worth Rs. 4 billion, then radio’s share is 2.8%, in which a Godzilla comprising 50 stations handed over their commercial business to contractors to run. There is a huge difference between what they make and what I make. We’ve asked them to buy us out as well so that we don’t have to buy licenses and there is a level playing field. But instead, they blame us, saying that we – along with all the other radio stations – have filed a petition in court against them. It is a hopeless and endless situation.

SYNERGYZER:  What are your plans ahead for HOT FM105?

 SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: I think it will get exciting for me once I get out of the survival mode which I am in right now, and looking at the way things are, I think this will go on for another ten years or so. I just cannot go and leave it all behind, as there are lives attached to me here. No one becomes a millionaire by running a radio station. I have no factories running on the side, and I am responsible for the livelihood of so many other people working with me. We just cannot be selfish.

Yes, I might not be paying them in line with the changing economic crises, but that is because advertisers have not increased rates for the past six years. Still, we are getting by. Our revenues have remained the same but our cost is ever-increasing. We had to give a 40% pay cut for two years, but then we revised it in 2022. Despite this, people stayed with us because we paid them on time, which by the way is very rare in media businesses. So, I do not have the capacity to dream now, because my focus right now is to save myself from drowning. The money I should be spending on upgrading my radio station, I am spending on my lawyer to tell PEMRA that we cannot afford to pay a high renewal fee of Rs. 20 to 30 million. And it is not me alone. It is the same case with all radio channels.

SYNERGYZER: How do you see the future of radio in Pakistan?

SYED ZULFIQAR ALI SHAH: Radio will survive. Like it has survived for the past 100 years, it will survive the next 100 as well. But for it to reach its true potential, we will first have to acknowledge its effectiveness. Our government’s current priority is TV channels because they sell a minute for a hundred thousand rupees. For that money, I can sell them airtime for a whole month. We will have to market ourselves in the right way to advertisers because we are already attached to our audience.

One reason for this is that people who are in a position to make decisions do not listen to the radio. I have had many politicians in my studio, and each one of them has questioned me about who listens to the radio these days. When I tell them their voters listen to it, they readily agree to come on the show. It is through these ways that we have to show the government that we can be effective for them, we can run campaigns for them. But it has been a long time since we received any support from the government.

For the survival of radio, the government as well as PEMRA should realize the effectiveness and importance of radio like the rest of the world does. They can go to the United Nations, Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, and the China Summit… but they only go out in public once in 5 years, when it’s time to pander to their constituents for the elections. They should realize that we are the hope of the masses, a source of free information and entertainment for the public. Doing it free for the masses gives us the satisfaction that you cannot buy.

Also, it is important for us to maintain the engagement levels of our current listeners and bring in younger listeners. It brings us great joy when our listeners participate in our quizzes during Ramadan. For a gift hamper worth Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,000, they come in rickshaws from North Nazimabad or Korangi. It’s women, it’s the elderly, its children, and people who are bedridden… we are life and hope for them.

I do not care if a person who owns an expensive Rolls-Royce or SUV listens to the Radio. But a rickshaw owner, a Suzuki pickup owner, or a truck-wala is always listening. Radio is the medium of the common man. And if this medium has survived a hundred years, then it’s worth fighting for.

With changing times and with digital taking over, in the future, satellite radio stations will replace conventional radio. You will not have to pay to receive signals.

So, Radio is in no way dying. Remember when VCRs first came to market? People thought TV would die, but instead, VCRs proved to be short-lived. Today, people speculate that the internet will die, and everything will be through satellite. New things come and old things become obsolete… but radio is an exception.

Freelancing and Gen Z – What’s So Enticing?

Hamna Farrukh
-
1
Freelancing and Gen Z – What’s So Enticing?

Gen Z, the notorious rebels, are the decision-makers of the modern world. This generation of youngsters, myself included, is unlike the previous ones. Other generations might have a different take on us, but nobody can deny the fact that we are the quintessential trendsetters, and one trend all Gen-Zers widely appreciate is freelancing.

Many people came across this term in a more practical sense during the Covid-19 lockdown; however, Gen Z has always favored it. Work from home or outsourcing was not much of a trend in Pakistan before the pandemic and only got the deserved traction during this time of need.

Companies had to adapt to this shift to make ends meet, but now that people have tasted the essence of working from home and freelancing, they are inclined towards it more, especially Gen Z. Millennials and Baby Boomers have always preferred working conventionally, but they too are realizing the benefits of freelancing.

The biggest segment of users on freelancing websites comes from Zoomers. In a world where 3.3 billion people are working, 1.5 billion of them are freelancers, and according to digital payment giant Payoneer, Pakistan saw a hike of 47% in freelancer earnings. We are ranked 4th in the list of countries with the most freelancers in the world. These numbers speak for themselves, and there isn’t even the slightest doubt that freelancing is here to stay.

Now the question that is often asked is why people are opting for freelancing. Isn’t it the rule of thumb that one has to be “seen” to become successful? We’ve always been told that you need to go out and do more. So, why do members of Generation Z lean toward ‘work from home’ (WFH)?

After speaking to a bunch of freelancers and professionals who work from home for their companies and through my own freelancing/WFH experiences, I have compiled a few viable answers as to why we like staying at home.

Freedom of Work

For many Gen Z professionals, freedom is the most beneficial aspect of freelancing or working remotely. As freelancers, we choose to pick our tasks, we can decide which project to work on, set our own hours, and negotiate our own rates.

Most of us don’t like having authority over our heads to force work upon us or micromanage us. We enjoy working at our own pace and it won’t be wrong to say that we like to be our own boss. Although people (me included) who have done it all, i.e. worked as an employee, outsourced for a company, and did freelancing, I can categorically say that you can’t avoid working for someone who demands to monitor the progress.

Though even as a freelancer, you have to ultimately be answerable to the client, working from home is different in the sense that there is no constant pressure over our shoulders. Having a clear goal, and the confidence that we can achieve it in the allotted time frame allows us a great deal of autonomy. When one is in his/her comfortable space, free from any unwanted inhibitions, work just flows easily. Simply being in our own company boosts our confidence since we don’t feel out of place.

Personal Issues

Let’s face it: there are individuals, particularly women who are unable to leave their homes for various reasons. Family pressure is one of the most prevalent examples of the kinds of personal obstacles for them.

Though numerous girls are ‘allowed’ to get an education, they are discouraged from working in a professional setting because ‘she needs to get married eventually’ or ‘we don’t take money from women in our family.’ This is a major reason why the female labor force in Pakistan was reported to be only 20.16% in 2021. As unfortunate as it may sound, it is true.

This is where freelance work and remote opportunities help women feel confident in putting their education and abilities to good use. This also gives liberty to married women with children the freedom to be there for their families while still pursuing their own careers and achieving financial independence.

Freelancers may have a wide range of personal issues, but the majority of female workers I had a chance to talk to had family-related problems.

Perfect Part-Time Money Making

The Maximum age of a Z member is 25 years, so, most of us are students. We have a responsibility as students to devote more time to our studies, but with such high global inflation, we can’t expect anyone else to foot the bill for our education.

Out of the one million freelancers in Pakistan, the majority comprises those who are supporting their education or covering basic living expenses. Freelancing gives us the opportunity to make money when we need it, and there is no added pressure.

Also, many freelancers have full-time jobs because freelancing is a convenient option. Take me, for example; though I haven’t worked on-site while freelancing, I have had full-time remote jobs. I freelanced part-time and made almost exactly the same amount of money or sometimes even more than what I got paid for working full-time.

ZERO Travel Time

Saving travel time and money is a blessing one can’t ignore. This is one of the key reasons why people opt for freelancing. Be it boomers, Millennials, or Gen Z; nobody enjoys having to commute an hour or more each way to and from work.

When I asked a fellow freelancer and work-from-home enthusiast why she prefers it, she said, “For me, it’s definitely the travel time that’s reduced. I get extremely tired of traveling to and from my workplace, which unnecessarily consumes energy. Especially if you consider the traffic conditions of the city I am currently living in (Karachi).”

Her sentiments are right on point. Even skeptics of the freelance lifestyle can’t deny the convenience of never having to leave the house and bearing no traveling costs.

Be Presentable – Umm, What?

We all know how much appearance matters for an on-site position, but as freelancers, we have nothing to worry about. I don’t have to rush for my parlor appointment if my eyebrow gets a little messy or my upper lips aren’t done.

It’s indeed important to look presentable even if I don’t go to work, but there is no added pressure to look a certain way while working from home. This also eliminates the need to buy new clothing articles every few months. It’s a fact that people with permanent workplaces spend more money on their looks than those with freelancing jobs.

We don’t have to be too proper and can let our imperfections take over. Instead of focusing on other things, we can divert all of our attention toward our work.

The debate between freelancing and a traditional office job will continue because people are comfortable with what they are accustomed to. Workers who have spent most of their lives working in offices would find it hard to stay at home. For the members of Gen Z, we began our careers in the modern technological world where everything is possible with just a touch.

In short, freelancing is enticing because I can wear whatever I want, wake up whenever I want, and sit however I want. I am free to be who I really am, uninhibited by everyone’s judgment.

People would even term us Zoomers as lazy, but I like to think of ourselves as FASHIONABLY COMFORTABLE!

Discovering ‘Innergy’ at Synergy

Muhammad Ali Khan
-
1
Discovering ‘Innergy’ at Synergy

‘Without Innergy, there is no Synergy’ was one of the first things I listened to when I entered the Synergy universe. Sitting across from Ahmed Kapadia as he enthusiastically talked about his vision in advertising, was quite an experience – in my head, I was reliving the adventures of an adman who had climbed the ranks through the years to create an advertising empire that needs no introduction. I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by Innergy and how it was so integral to the agency.

From burning the midnight oil with like-minded colleagues to breaking a dance move between meetings, Synergy proved to be nothing short of a full-fledged roller-coaster ride.

The Philosophy of ‘Innergy’

When I heard this word being used for the first time, I was surprised at how great of a status it was given – to be accompanied by the thought that the very existence of Synergy depends on it. It gave me the vibe of ‘energy’ from the way it sounded, but it was definitely more than that. Eventually, Mr Kapadia made it clear to me – it is the inner force that drives Synergy and resists mediocrity at every level. When an advertising professional discovers this innate energy, they are driven by the passion and hunger to do something great. It could be anything – creating a campaign, launching a product, telling a story, or even laying the foundation for an advertising empire.

It is a known fact that advertising is a passion-driven profession featuring high pressure work environments and tight deadlines for multiple projects at a time. However, for many advertising professionals, the daily grind becomes inevitable and their creative flairs find a comfortable spot where the focus turns to churning out the work, rather than spending time on making it better and better. Innergy goes a step further than just the passion for the profession and refers to a hyperactive state of smart ambition, where every single project is viewed as an exclusive one and is brought to life with ‘Synergy’ at the core.

Synergy As a Strength

I always wondered why the agency was named Synergy. Was it referring to the synergy of thoughts brought together by many creatives working on a single project, or was it about the synergy that advertising folk created with audiences in their campaigns? In simple terms, Synergy refers to the ability of breaking down a task and dividing it among peers based on their strengths – all those strengths combined form the Synergy with which excellent work is then produced. This is not possible if even a single person lacks Innergy, because then an integral part of the work is compromised.

One of the things that captivated me most at Synergy was AK’s vision of creating leaders – he entrusted the leadership team with strong authority and counted on their Innergy to drive the management of work efficiently. My leadership abilities were put to the test, and further polished, when I was entrusted with tasks that pushed the art of effective management and wise decision-making.

Resisting Mediocrity at Every Level

The one thing that Synergy seemed almost allergic to was mediocrity. Unless an idea excited you or your audience, it was deemed mediocre. In fact, the leadership at Synergy often held sessions condemning the mediocrity – and its widespread appreciation – which has damaged the Pakistani advertising industry for so long. Even the most well-thought strategic processes and creative interpretations were put to the test and pushed to the very core, challenging every individual to not just create logic, but build a story that speaks to audiences at a deeper level.

Fearless, Ruthless, and Relentless

As the only advertising agency with its own publication – run by an independent team of journalists – Synergy offered its people a very unique opportunity. This was the first time I was told that I was welcome to challenge the status quo openly and fiercely, whenever I liked and however I liked. I thought that even if I did, my thoughts would be supplemented by a disclaimer such as ‘the views expressed by the author do not represent the views of the publication’ – but was surprised to discover that the management was ready and willing to stand by you, especially if your views have the potential to improve the overall advertising scene in the country. The love for brilliant work and status quo-challenging concepts was so great that if a client wasn’t willing to run a potentially award-winning campaign, the agency would take it up as one of its own projects – and see it through to execution.

This reassurance is more than sufficient for a passionate young individual who wants to make a difference in the industry, and not just be another cog in the wheel.

Manufacturing Visionary Leaders

Ahmed Kapadia, along with his immediate team members crafted this ‘Synergy universe’ as a manufacturing facility for leaders – where you could enter as a dysfunctional individual with no purpose and exit as a true leader – subject to the discovery of your Innergy. The agency culture is such that agility, leadership, and management capabilities are integrated across all members of the Synergy family.

Despite the fact that my time at Synergy Dentsu was short-lived, I felt as if I have spent a lifetime here and was trained by some of the most daring and courageous minds in Pakistani advertising. Ahmed Kapadia wasn’t joking when he said that without Innergy, there truly is no Synergy.

Having discovered my own Innergy, I am forever a member of the Synergy family, no matter where I go.

Promoting Culinary Arts in Pakistan

Huzaifa Gaba
-
1
Promoting Culinary Arts in Pakistan

Pakistan is a food-loving nation, passionate about its cuisine, which is full of flavor and bursting with colors. With diverse cultures and their unique dishes, the country offers a variety of culinary delights suitable for every occasion and appealing to every palate; whether a roadside café or a fancy restaurant in an upscale locality, eateries in Pakistan are ever-increasing and never empty at meal times, which serve not only regional specialties but also foreign cuisines from across the globe, be it Arabic, Chinese, Continental, French or Italian. However, despite the saturated food market and a plethora of restaurants and cafes, Pakistan never had quality institutes or platforms where professional and amateur chefs could come together and share their culinary knowledge and skills with the aspiring next generation of chefs or gastronomers on a professional level.

Although there are a few old-school institutes operating in the country, as well as hotels and even women chefs, who have been giving cooking or baking lessons at home, they all have shortcomings; some lacked quality, some hygiene, some only catered to women while some were more convenient for men. Seeing this gap, and getting some inspiration from MasterChef Australia, Usama Ahmed established MasterClass Pakistan in 2017 – with an aim to bring Pakistan’s culinary and hospitality industry to par with global standards.

Talking about his project, Ahmed, says, “The food industry has evolved so much in the past few years, thanks to social media, that now, the food business is no longer limited to opening a restaurant or working as a chef in one; instead, now one has a choice of making a career out of it. Learn the right skills, become an entrepreneur, find a job abroad, compete in international competitions, or create your own YouTube channel to teach others, gain recognition and generate additional income.”

For him, MasterClass’s primary mission or objective is to furnish its students with state-of-the-art facilities and high-quality education to enable them to kickstart successful careers in the food business and contribute to Pakistan’s already robust culinary tradition.

MasterClass has an impressive roster of chefs to train and educate students in the culinary and baking arts. Some of them are on board permanently, while others, such as the executive chef of PAF Chang or other restaurants, are brought in on an ad hoc basis to offer specialized courses. Teachers also include chefs who have worked abroad in Istanbul or Malaysia etc., for years but were laid off during the pandemic and now have returned to Pakistan. “We gave them an opportunity to teach here at MasterClass and they are part of our faculty now. They are here to share their experiences and expertise with our young students,” says Ahmed.

MasterClass offers its students 6-months certificate programs, one-year diploma programs, and two years intermediate programs in culinary arts, hospitality management, baking, and patisserie. All courses are certified by CTH (Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality), the leading professional awarding body for the hospitality sector in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, since MasterClass also offers hospitality courses, it is now offering a ‘Foodpreneurship Program’ – which according to Ahmed is Pakistan’s first food entrepreneurship program.

The school’s three-month basic culinary arts/baking course costs between Rs 240,000 to Rs 250,000, while the price of a two-year intermediate course is Rs 375,000 –  which is more than a four-year bachelor’s degree, however, Usman Ahmed justifies that his school has more costs to cover than an average university.

MasterClass
Founder, MasterClass Pakistan Hospitality Business School

“Unlike a typical university, we offer something unique. Other universities’ sole expenditures are utility bills and rent. However, our major expenditure is on quality food ingredients. Inflation is at an all-time high, and tomatoes and onions have become expensive. Also, we have electrical appliances, such as ovens, blenders, food factories, etc., so you should understand why we charge more,” he explains.

As for MasterClass’s competitors, he says there are no direct competitors at the moment. COTHM (College of Tourism and Hotel Management), for him,  is one institute that he believes is worth recognition and the proud bearer of the title of ‘pioneer of the private culinary and hospitality schools in Pakistan’.

For him, to be able to compete with a giant like COTHM, one needs to maintain high-quality and aggressive marketing in order to attract the larger part of the market. MasterClass uses the digital medium to advertise since it is popular among Gen Z, who make up a significant portion of their target audience. “Unlike the 90s kids, who were only given a choice between Science and Business, today’s youth are more self-aware and know what they want from their lives and aren’t afraid to make risky choices,” says Ahmed.

The schools also hold promotion events from time to time as well as blogger meetups and team-building activities.

Ahmed believes that since its inception, MasterClass has developed into much more than merely a culinary and hospitality school; rather, it is now a one-stop solution to all the challenges faced by food businesses.

With a background in marketing and communications, Ahmed recognizes the potential of the business and in 2019, he established a full-fledged advertising agency named Wingsmen, which primarily works with food brands. The two companies (MasterClass and Wingsmen) collaborate to better serve their respective clientele. For example, the students, apart from learning how to cook, also participate in activities such as team building, creation of brands, meeting brand teams, participating in blogger meetups and cooking competitions, getting involved in product testing as well as research development and recipe shoots. “Over the past two years, MasterClass has made over 400 high-quality recipes for a wide range of clients, including National Foods, Shangrila Foods, Mehran Foods, and Young Foods among others,” says Ahmed.

Although Wingsmen have their own office, personnel, and management, they use chefs and facilities of MasterClass when needed as it gives them an advantage over competing agencies. “Gone are the days when brands had to go after chefs to get their calendar to assist them in producing a TVC. If a ketchup brand approaches us for a TVC shoot, we offer them free research and development of the brand in question, which helps us in brand acquisition since brands can obtain all the solutions in one place, “ he adds.

Currently located in Gulshan, Karachi, Ahmed plans to expand the school to other areas. According to him, the reason why he did not set up the school in places like DHA or Clifton was that people residing here can afford (and even prefer) to go abroad to learn the culinary arts and skills. “Also, these people are not primarily the target audience of MasterClass. Our potential target market is SEC B+ and B who can afford these courses,” he says.

It has been five years since he established MasterClass, which has been spent on stabilizing the business, and now he believes it is time to move forward. His next step would be to go for franchising and identifying reliable company partners.  Hence the next five years will be pivotal for expansion and reaching new markets. “There are plans to open at least three more branches in Karachi, one each in Lahore and Islamabad; the branches can either be on a franchise model or an equity-based investment model, we are open to both options.”

There are also plans to launch some new courses that will mostly concentrate on hospitality, travel and tourism, digital marketing, as well e-commerce so that students not only learn how to make and bake but also learn to market, advertise and sell their products.

Ahmed is also mulling offering online lessons, which will definitely be convenient for women/girls or people who cannot attend classes in person, however, he says the certificate for such courses will only be issued once the candidate takes a practical exam on campus.

The Effectiveness of Facebook Groups

Raaj Kheraj
-
1
The Effectiveness of Facebook Groups

Selling a brand is an art. And sometimes, secrecy is a great way to market your brand. You must be thinking how can a brand be a secret on social media? The answer is Facebook groups; a VIP and unconventional way to interact, engage and learn from your most valuable and highly-opinionated consumers.

It’s very simple. On one side you are trying really hard to get as much organic reach as possible on your brand, while on the other, there are millions of people across the world who claim to use Facebook groups on monthly basis. These groups can actually help businesses connect emotionally with audiences.

Pakistani market is also big on groups, with Soul Sisters, Soul Brothers, and SWOT being the most relevant ones. These groups have been engaging people from different walks of life and that’s why brands have been using these platforms for their benefit. One of the main reasons for the success of these groups is that people are more comfortable sharing in groups than on a brand page. They love to share their life stories and experiences and connect with other beings. The engagement here is more humanistic hence when brands talk in groups, they do it in a very native way, rather than how they do it on their own handle.

Groups are a great way to create positive WOM, especially for small-scale businesses. Here’s a great way how brands use groups to increase their sales.

Soft Swirl; a local soft-serve ice cream brand that has a large variety of offerings on its menu grew massively in a very short span of time through group marketing and E-word of mouth. A small-scale group marketing tactic did its job by enticing consumers to try the brand. The reviews on food groups (SWOTs, Food Beat, Karachi Food Dairies, etc.) brought a storm in the market and led to increased brand awareness and equity.

It’s important for a brand to listen to what their consumer has to say. Make them feel heard. Solve their problems. All of this creates a bond that goes a long way. And groups are the place to do all of this. People are more open to their opinions, positive and negative.

Take KAMN as an example. A digital community that acts as a forum to discuss and critique marketing and advertising campaigns. Such a critique is necessary as it helps the brands and their custodians to understand what works and what doesn’t and then curate the upcoming campaigns.

The notorious Facebook page ‘Voice of the customer’ has become a launching pad for rants and raves. The consumers are less seen as consumers and more as ‘rantumers’. This is a group in which brands are a part and as soon as there is any problem highlighted, the admin directs it to the brand via comments, and the brand then responds based on its own SOP.

Let’s get down to business and discuss a few main reasons why Facebook groups are the best way to reach and engage with consumers.

This nature of groups is the reason that people desire to be in groups, thus making them effective. In these groups, your #1 BFFs (a.k.a. the loyalists) are standing by to serve as your very own cheerleaders. Another important aspect is reach; the Facebook page’s organic reach may only be about 5%, but the group’s reach will be much higher.

Most importantly, where else, besides formal marketing research forums, can you speak directly to your target market and receive real-world feedback on your brand? Facebook groups are the best way to conduct research on what the TG thinks about your brand and to what extent they relate to it. Did I mention that it’s free? This information can be useful for big companies as well as brand-new startups.

Also, you can create a group especially designated for your brand. Your brand’s Facebook group should be a forum where your consumers can discuss your product or service with one another. Allowing them to possess the ability to express honest opinions benefits your brand greatly in two ways.

Having open and sincere conversations with your customers helps them feel comfortable using your brand, which builds trust between the customer and the business. Second, this straightforward and direct manner of communication gives you the power to directly address their concerns. For instance, if they are complaining about shipping costs, you know that problem needs to be your top priority going forward. This is the ideal time to let your clients know that you value their feedback, that you pay attention to what they have to say, and that you are working to enhance their experience.

If you don’t want to communicate directly, you can indirectly connect with your consumers via brand ambassadors. They have become an important staple in online brand communities. They serve as minor celebrities and figureheads for the brand that people can turn to for advice, guidance, and influence. Such as Kanwal for the Soul Sisters community. A successful tactic for boosting engagement is to occasionally have a brand ambassador moderate a specific post within the group. Boosting engagement can be as simple as bringing a new voice or opinion into the fold, and brand ambassadors serve as excellent guests for stirring up interest.

We all have been a part of at least one group; hence we can relate to all this. And our own understanding and use of groups can help us identify the use of the group. Any group that you are a part of you’ll be contributing to it, you’ll be writing your opinions, and sharing your feedback if you’re familiar with the topic.

In short, businesses must follow their target market as users continue to swarm various online social media networking sites. While TikTok and Instagram are receiving a lot of attention nowadays, starting a Facebook Group for your company, or collaborating with an already existing one, will increase brand interaction across all social media platforms as well. And if building relationships is what social media is all about, spending your marketing budget on having a Facebook Group presence will have more of an impact than publishing a single piece of organic content.

The Lady of Ceremonies – Ashifa Paracha

Synergyzer
-
1
The Lady of Ceremonies – Ashifa Paracha

SYNERGYZER: What was the objective behind launching the Digital Leaders forum?

ASHIFA PARACHA: When I started Pakistan Digital Awards back in 2017, I did not realise that times had changed. Earlier I remember all the agency CEOs in Pakistan were friends. They did compete with each other but it was a healthy competition and their friendships remained. They shared ideas, communicated and met regularly. Now, this is not the case. There various separate groups. So, I decided to establish an association where everyone could become a member and participate regardless of the differences with other groups or people, a kind of common ground where they could work and give their input for the greater good of the industry as a whole. This association or forum was named as the Digital Leaders. But we did not get the government’s permission to use that name for our association, because back then, the government itself was launching Digital Pakistan.
Shortly afterwards, we learned that even MAP (the Marketing Association of Pakistan) was not a government registered entity but a private one. That’s when we decided to keep the same name and start as a private platform.

We had launched PDA on a foreign format. There is BIMA Awards in UK and PDA is similar to that. For Digital Leaders too, we did a lot of research first on international events and platforms. UK has a platform with the same name, and they have been working very actively since 2009. We are in talks with them, and have expressed interest in bringing out talent to their forum so that people internationally can also learn what is happening globally in terms of digital.

We had the first Digital Leaders Conference last year, where a lot of people talked about their projects/startups, and I was surprised to learn about the amount and quality of work that was happening in Pakistan. Yet, no one knows about it.

SYNERGYZER: From an advertising and PR professional to an entrepreneur. What prompted the shift?
ASHIFA PARACHA: I started my career in 1999 at a publishing house, which ran a magazine titled ‘Eating Out’. I was responsible for generating its sales. Though it was new for me, I loved the job as it gave me an opportunity to meet new people, visit companies and agencies so much so, that today, I have a friend in almost each of the agencies in Pakistan.

Then I joined Maxell Advertising, and although I was the media manager there, I took care of almost every department; client service, business development, strategy etc., and learned a lot on how they all worked. After Maxell, I joined Interflow Communications, which at that time for me, was a big jump. Then came Asiatic where I worked on bigger campaigns for clients such as Union Bank, SCB, Metropolitan Bank, Mothercare and Soneri Bank.
Then came a bad patch as after Asiatic, I did not get a job for a long time. Wherever I went for an interview, they would tell me I was over qualified/experienced for the job or that they couldn’t afford me etc. Losing all hope, I began working online, as a freelancer for Canadian and US companies, which earned me good money.

One day, a client I had worked for earlier, got in touch and inquired where I was working. When I told him I was freelancing, he suggested me to start my own agency. I was daunted by the idea as at that time but he motivated me saying he’d be my first client. Hence, in 2009, I got my NTN number and launched Brand E (short for brand engagement) Advertising. Once I was running my own show, I also ventured into PR.

I joined the Federation House (FPCCI) as a member, where I can to know that they were coming up with a women’s chamber in South and I was asked to join. Then later I was offered to be the chairperson for digital and marketing committee at the Federation. Part of my job description there was to do something out-of-the-box for the industry at least once a year. We also had other people on board from the industry as well who volunteered, and we decided to have Digital Awards, which we launched in 2017. In the first time, we gave awards to iflix and Foodpanda and our jury included Amna Khateeb from GroupM, Faizan Ahmed from HBL, Rasheed Noorani from Indus Valley, Adam Dawood from Yehvo, Zain Suharwardy from Daraz etc. Since it was the first time, we held the awards, our first experiment, we learned a lot from it. Also, it got a mixed reaction from people, because we did not allow bloggers to the awards and they started speaking up against me. They thought I was a fraudulent woman and I was being tagged everywhere, until I took a legal action against them. The second time, it proved to be a success. PDA has completed six years in 2022 and I am enjoying working on what I am involved with currently.

SYNEGYZER: Tell us about the Digi Leaders’ Conference?

ASHIFA PARACHA: We started the conference in January last year. The first one took place in Lahore and this year, on Nov 24-25 in Karachi. Again, this event too, like the other two is based on international events, where we invite local leaders to speak. There is a theme every year, and every speaker gets fifteen minutes to speak. It is mandatory for every speaker to attend the full session. Here in Pakistan, people come just fifteen minutes before their own session and leave right afterwards. This is not allowed at the Digi Conference. Why should people listen to you when you do not have the time to listen to others? Simple. Every speaker is a leader, and respect should be mutual. There are some CEOs who attend both the days of the Conference.

SYNERGYZER: You have initiated so many new events in the industry. Was it really necessary to launch She Vows and for women to have separate awards?
ASHIFA PARACHA: Well, it is a long story. It began in 2015 with the idea of educating women. As I have been part of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, I observed that women eventually become entrepreneurs but they do not know how to run or market their businesses. I wanted to train them as well as council them. Secondly, it was the perpetual problem of not supporting one another.
So we decided to arrange regular meetups and we have been doing them since 2010 till date. We invite women, most of which are small business owners, professionals and even housewives etc. We also invite one successful woman to share her story with the rest, to which all women can relate to and be encouraged. The awards happened for the first time this year. The reason being that it is the same faces I see at every award ceremony and the same set of women winning those awards. There are many others who are doing a lot more and they deserve such recognitions as well. Secondly, there are so many international brands operating in Pakistan but only Lux that hosts awards every year and then there is HUM Awards. So, we are trying to bring other brands as well, and in talks already with L’Oréal.

For She Vows, we got in touch with various associations and asked them to nominate a woman from their organisation themselves, someone who was under 45 years, had an inspirational story and had worked successfully in the organisation for a few years. We said we’d award these women on their achievement, and strictly not have any celebrities. So that was the idea, to connect people, to inspire them, and award people who truly deserved it.

SYNERGYZER: Tell me the challenges your work involves and how do you deal with them?

Well. When the award time nears, we start getting endless calls from different places asking whether they are getting the award or not and what are the chances of them winning? Earlier we did give them hints if they were winning, but we’ve had such bad experiences that now we have stopped that. Last year, for example, a certain bank rang us up to ask if they were receiving and award or not. They said they wanted to know because they might be travelling on the dates the awards were to happen so they wanted to know beforehand. So, I told them that they could come but not bring their senior manager as I didn’t think there was an award for them. They did not take the news nicely; they said they wanted the awards and threatened that they won’t let us work in the market. Similarly, an insurance company said if we are not winning an award, our competitors should also not win, otherwise we will talk to the jury members ourselves. So we get a lot of threats of this sort.

SYNERGYZER: What are you planning next?

ASHIFA PARACHA: We are planning an event in December, and we are inviting all women professional to take some time off and unwind with us. We will take them for different activities, such as scuba diving, camping etc., a break sort of things as well as an opportunity for them to network in a relaxed environment. It will be a four-to-five-day event, and if it does well, we will do it in Lahore, Faisalabad and Hyderabad as well.

In January we have an event for content creators, which will be attended by a thousand people. We’ve recently signed a contract with Silicon Valley and will be hosting a DG Global Awards, in collaboration with them in the UAE.

Once upon a time, there was Brand Loyalty

Asrar Alam
-
4
Once upon a time, there was Brand Loyalty

Even if you’re not in the business of advertising – a drop in the ocean of people – you can still read this. I am not going to drag you into industry jargons and any tedious branding lectures. Let me open this with a fun tweet. I promise I’ll stay on point, and you promise, no hard feelings.

I was going through my Instagram after Pakistan lost a cricket match against Sri Lanka (not the final, but the one before it) and my thumb stopped at a tweet made by our very own Shaan Shahid, tweeting, “Fakhar: 16 balls, 15 runs only, 2 balls from the middle of the bat… and you are supposed to be playing national cricket. Wow!” It sounded like fair criticism as we all were upset and truly, Fakhar hasn’t been performing well, lately. But the fun began, when I read a random reply below the same tweet. Someone wrote, “Sir, aapki 500 films may say 2 ya 4 dekhnay waali hain, Fakhar nay kabhi apko kuch bola?” It was funny and a bit below the belt, but still I couldn’t agree more (It cracked me up though). That’s the topic we are discussing today. Brand loyalty in modern times – goes down the drain when you start underperforming.

Let’s change the lens to see things more objectively in the advertising and marketing sense. The questions are:

  1. Do consumers still fall in love with their favorite brands?
  2. Why is it too difficult to keep consumers loyal?
  3. Is brand loyalty really dying?

We often see marketing individuals discussing these questions on relevant forums and some of them have started believing that brand loyalty is going through the process of slow death, but why is it happening in the first place and can marketers win it back through advertising?

Before we jump to a quick conclusion, let’s have a better context to it.

I’ll throw a couple of more similar questions.
Do people still worship their favourite movie stars like they did before?
Do you think anybody will become as popular as Michael Jackson? A superstar, like Shahrukh Khan? Can any brand or a celebrity graduate from just a popular name to a big household brand with a love mark?
Of course, people like their favourite stars but do they really love them?

Back in the day, celebrities were worshiped like gods and the same was the case with brands. The audience, now, is more rational and logical than emotional. It’s simpler now; if you don’t find your favorite drink good enough, you switch to some other brand. You want more from everything. There is an eagerness and openness to try new things, and there are more and more options available to be experienced. It won’t be oversimplification if I said, in today’s age of information and accessibility, brand loyalty has a completely new meaning. It’s not about what a brand is, it’s about what a brand can offer. It’s not about who you are, it’s about what can you do to stay relevant. A consumer is as loyal to a brand as a brand is committed to its quality and promise to deliver. A couple of flop movies and someone as big as Shah Rukh Khan comes under pressure. Similarly, if Shahid Afridi was part of our national cricket team today, he would never have become such a huge brand or Shaan Shahid in the same regard.

To remain a big brand, you must perform and be alive and engaged in daily conversations. A fair example here are Kohli and Babar Azam, who are bigger brands in the world of cricket because of their statistics. The day their stats start going down, they are in deep waters.

The flip side of this picture is the clutter in the minds of consumers, thanks to the media mix. Multiple screens make us watch dozens of ads and videos in the same 24 hours we had once for lesser content. The modern consumer is now able to compare the quality of a product in the most logical way. The buck really stopped in the name of favoritism and now people don’t care if a movie star has six packs. Your daily Instagram feed can show you much better bodies, much better dancers and singers than the ones you see on the silver screen. With an attention span of less than 5 seconds, you have to grab the attention. Whether you’re a product or a personality. Remember Andy Warhol said about 70 years ago that “In future, everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Well, the future is here, and being world famous for a longer period of time is nearly impossible. You’ll be replaced by the next big thing.

If we talk about brand quality and its offering, another cause of this shift is competitiveness. Brands today have become super competitive in their offering and services. And that too is a responsive measure since brand teams know they have to present the best or nothing. For all kinds of audiences, settling for lesser is not an option. I’ll just ask you, why would you buy a plane ticket from your ‘favourite’ airline without comparing rates? There is no guilt in not buying your T-shirt from your favourite brand when there is a ‘buy one get one free’ offer on the store next door and don’t forget the quality is not bad either.

Today, it’s even more difficult to remain a big brand compared to yesterday. Once you become a loved brand, you must try even harder. You make efforts to keep them closer to you so they never forget about you. Again, you make a lot of functional efforts to create that emotional connect, which technically also stems out of something very functional. You love Coke and Pepsi because there are both emotional and functional connects. With apology to all happily married couples, as long as you treat your customer as your girlfriend, things go in your favour. The day you start taking them for granted, your brand loyalty is gone.

Building the PSX Brand

Synergyzer
-
3
Building the PSX Brand

SYNERGYZER: You started your career with advertising. Could you tell us how you got involved in the marketing of financial products, as well as a little about the organizations you worked for during your professional journey and the roles you served there?

RAEDA LATIF: Yes, I started my career in advertising. Right after my graduation, I started working at Prestige as an intern. From there – while doing my MBA – I moved to Circuit, where I got the opportunity to work with various brands, especially Tapal, for which I was part of the team at Circuit which revamped the packaging (as back in those days their tea was sold in brown packages). I remember going for meetings and strategic discussions on the brand, the product offering, the target audience, etc. with the packaging perspective with Imran Mir. The brand at that point was facing problems penetrating the north and central regions. So, to understand the reasons behind it, I, along with the Tapal team, visited those regions, met and interviewed the retailers, and discovered that the brand lacked visibility because their packaging was soft, and once placed on the shelf they would fall off. There was a perception that this is hand-packaged tea. That is when we pressed on hard packaging as well as color change immediately to combat the bright yellow of Lipton. We also addressed the perception issue through documentaries that focussed on the north and central regions along with region-wise activities. Other than Tapal, I also worked on LU biscuits and Habib Oil brands in the FMCG sector.

Thereafter, I moved to Cybernet – a technology firm. I liked it because it was challenging to brand technology offerings. Branding of tech products was not common in those days and Cybernet started that in Pakistan in a professional manner.

Back then, I could not understand why the internet was such a luxury and why just for SEC A and not for SEC B and C, and that is where the introduction of Cyberstudent as a flanker brand came about. The cyber student card was my brand and we launched it in all major cities of Pakistan. The Lakson Group distributors were assigned the distribution of the card to make it available at every nook and cranny of the city, whether they were pan shops or chai walas etc. We branded it for students and priced it lower than the main Cybernet offering.

From there I moved to the financial sector and joined Union Bank, where I looked after the mortgages and I just loved it. The mortgage market was a virgin market with vanilla products and there was so much room for value-added specialty product offerings. I was instrumental in introducing interest-only step-up loans, and home construction loans (these are disbursed in phases), and adding modifications to the basic offering. I worked on introducing insurance for the homeowners, balloon payment options twice a year, created a network with Real Estate agents through agreements to increase outreach, and introduced a host of home-related outlets to offer discounted products to our home loan customers. I set up a branch cross-sell channel for lead generation. Union Bank was an advanced bank in terms of technology and customer management. We could see the customer-to-product ratios easily and work on them to build up. There was a BI dashboard where all the leads and calls used to be logged in and we could access it seamlessly. This was an important lead generation tool that I used effectively to onboard new customers. ATL campaigns for home loans helped create awareness and bring in leads. Digital platform in those days was a far cry but I managed to use email marketing and ads in outbound emails as a tried and tested method for me which brought in a lot of leads and queries to build the right conversion funnel.

Though I have done my MBA in Marketing and IT, somehow this all came to me naturally. For my MBA thesis project, I selected to make a report on the business of a brokerage house, which I feel gave me an immersion into the thick of things related to finance and ignited my interest as well. Understanding financial management, branding, and marketing financial products is a different ballgame altogether as compared to FMCG brands.

Following Union Bank, I moved to IGI Financial Services – on the marketing and product management side. The group was at a critical point in transforming into a financial services group. I got a chance, to begin with, research to outline the group branding direction. Managed to bring all four entities, namely Investment bank, Insurance, Securities, and Funds (Asset management arm) all under the IGI financial services brand. This was a major achievement in the industry where, for the first time, a group of financial services were branded under an umbrella brand and thereon company brands followed product brands. In short, a proper well-defined brand architecture was introduced.

Along with Marketing, I received a huge portfolio of offerings; in fact, I set up the entire wealth management unit for the group. The group had everything yet they were not selling it as a package; there were separate teams for auto insurance, mutual funds distribution, stock investments, insurance, etc., but no single offering where you could go to a relationship manager and he could guide you about portfolio investing. As it is, there are no wealth managers in this country, everyone sells their own products or their group offerings. The wealth management teams the banks boast of, mostly sell insurance policies branded as retirement and education products but they are actually insurance coverage products. So, at IGI, I proposed and introduced wealth management for the marketing of financial services as a single offering branded as IGI Wealth.

Along with Life insurance, it is important to have auto insurance but we thought people should have travel insurance too, and though it is a short-term offering, we branded the travel insurance product by introducing a campaign of the frog. This was in the year 2007. The campaign showed a frog with its arm in a sling and leg wrapped in plaster, with the tagline: It could cost you an arm and a leg to travel without insurance. That campaign did extremely well. Also, at IGI, I actively utilized the digital platform; our emails would carry banners of our product offerings because at that time (2007/2008) we did not have social media. Facebook was making its entry and we hopped onto the digital bandwagon. Our websites would have animated headers promoting all offerings. The digital activity helped us a lot in achieving cross-sell as the auto insurance customers would get a discount on travel insurance and vice versa. The same was applied to all offerings for limited durations at times.

From IGI, I then moved on to UBL Funds. Now mutual funds are of all types and people do not know that there is a fixed-income mutual fund for conservative investors and there are equity-based funds for people who are aggressive investors. I began the journey of building mutual funds into brands, came up with tutorials, animated movies on life goals and plans, saving money, starting early, and of course, making the right investments. I worked there for a couple of years and then moved to Faysal Bank, where again there were Islamic and conventional liability and consumer products. There, I worked on corporate as well as product brands. The conversion of the bank into an Islamic one had begun. That same year, 125 Islamic branches were set up.

The idea of ‘one product, six customers’ was missing in the banking sector (and I believe it is still missing to a large extent); a credit card holder usually does not know about other products; hence this was my focus at Faysal Bank. I used the digital medium to launch campaigns for lead generation, cross-sell and upsell conversions. Among other offerings and campaigns of Business Account, Lifeplus account, digital banking app, credit cards, and money line, I worked on the launch of the Faysal Bank titanium credit card. Whilst planning the campaign I looked at the existing gold card customers, reached out to the eligible ones with well-crafted messages over social media as well as directly encouraging them to upgrade to titanium, and those who were interested, put in their request. I created banking customer personas for the purpose of digital marketing.  The cardholder personas were used for the campaign and tracked in the digital space as a lookalike and custom TA. We ran targeted digital campaigns for lead generation.

Whoever was interested would share the details through a single click which would be saved on a google sheet owing to the lack of a proper BI / sales management system, which we shared with our sales team. Through this, we generated thousands of leads within a two-week campaign. We had to pause the campaign in the midst as leads were pouring in and our teams had to follow a certain TAT to reach out and connect.

In 2018, I joined the Pakistan Stock Exchange and this place gave me a much wider playground.

SYNERGYZER: How is marketing PSX products different from marketing banking products or other financial services?

RAEDA LATIF: We have a diverse range of investment products and our focus is to create awareness and consideration. We have stocks and ETFs, we have mutual funds based on stocks and shares, we have Islamic product offerings including shariah-compliant equity, shariah-compliant ETFs and sukuks, as well as simple accounts (Sahulat accounts), bonds, and sukuks among other products and offerings.

Our communication is targeted towards investors, who could be laymen, salaried individuals, someone who earns Rs 25,000 a month, high net worth individuals, day traders, and those who want to build their wealth portfolios such as long-term investors. The conversion part is taken care of by the brokers who are also known as TREC-holders. We raise awareness and tell people that they will not make money by saving only, but if they invest, they can multiply their savings.

SYNERGYZER: What changes did you bring to PSX since 2018… did it exist earlier how are you raising awareness and if you could tell us something about the investors… which SEC do they belong to. More individuals’ companies etc.? 

RAEDA LATIF: Since I joined PSX, I have worked on diverse areas and target audiences. We have been keen on building a digital footprint for the Exchange. The website revamps, a separate data portal for data and information as well as the social channels of PSX have been the first-year achievements. This was followed by the introduction of the virtual investing tool, knowledge center, blogs, tutorials, and media presence.

There are two broad TGs for the Stock Exchange. One is the corporates including listed and non-listed entities and the second is the investing public which includes individuals, and institutional investors. We work on both levels along with other stakeholder groups.

One important aspect is to encourage listed companies to be more open in terms of investor relations. If an investor wants to learn more about the company, they should open their doors to him. We have made it mandatory for companies to have analyst briefings once a year and apprise investors and analysts of the company’s performance and their immediate short-and long-term plans so that it is easier for investors to make decisions. We have also started creating awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESG reporting (Environment, Social, and Governance)

Then there are the non-listed companies – the overall corporate sector – who we educate on why they should come on board to list. We tell them to consider listing to raise money and become a strong brand. Listing themselves on the stock exchange will make foreign investors look at them, banks will have more trust as they will be part of a transparent domain, and loans and JVs will be easier. There is more due diligence undertaken by potential partners, investors, and banks for a private company, but if it is a listed company, it is easier.

Moreover, it also builds your legacy; companies become more resilient and transcend generations. They do not close down when the head of the family dies; there is a board and then a CEO and runs like a proper business. Such companies in the long run can also form conglomerates. We have seen many strong brands in Pakistan die as there was a lack of succession planning and the brands split and disintegrated.

Next is the target audience group of investors, whom we educate to build their wealth through one on one sessions, tutorials, webinars, etc. on digital platforms. We started holding webinars back in 2018/19. Yes, Covid-19 made zoom common but we had webinars even before that and a good number of people have been attending them. We educate them to save and invest, we talk about the economic aspects and how inflation is impacting the value of our savings and investing or what should be the investment lifestyle journey, etc. We’ve worked a lot with women, a case in point being Jinnah University for Women, where we talked to the girls and after the first and second visits to the university, they sent a team for the CFA society research competition participation as well. Webinars give us access to a large audience but we simultaneously have our feet on the street. In 2019 alone, we held sessions in over 200 institutions on simple things such as how to open your brokerage account, the difference between saving and investment, and what to look for while investing, etc. This year the number is also over 180 in-person sessions with educational institutions, associations, chambers, etc.

We also created a separate website for stock market information which at the time was the only one offered by a stock exchange in Asia. When we launched that data portal, I received congratulatory calls and emails from international investors and fund managers that this was a great resource. You see, when it comes to marketing investment products, which are complex, we just cannot make an ad and publish it.

We also introduced the Sahulat Account which you can open with your CNIC. It is targeted towards women, students or non-salaried persons, and those who want to begin small and simple.

As a result of all our activities, we have seen an increase in the number of overall investors and women investors as well. I am an active member of the Facebook group for Women Investment. I have also held workshops independently from the PSX platform and also in collaboration with other groups including the British Council WOW among others. Although men also attend such workshops, we do have focused training for women, professionals, and housewives as well.

SYNERGYZER: 2022 has been a very volatile year for the stock exchange. How are you managing to maintain the robustness of the market?

RAEDA LATIF: Volatility is everywhere, it is there in crypto, in international stock markets, and in the local stock market as well. This whole volatility and the stock market environment are linked to the global and local macroeconomics and, secondly, the political stability of the country. Today, inflation is a global phenomenon. In countries like the US and UK, inflation is at historic highs i.e. 9.1% and 9.9% respectively. The UK has seen such high inflation after a 40-year period. As inflation increases, interest rates tend to rise. This encourages money flow into the fixed-income debt instruments. Whilst that is the case, the companies listed on the stock exchange have also given out strong dividends to the investors. Pakistani companies have on average offered a 40% return in the current year. In the year 2020, the Pakistan stock exchange was the best-performing exchange in the region and the 5th best-performing in the world.

One has to know how these corporates work, whether listed or non-listed. When costs of inputs go up (e.g. shipping etc.) the companies increase the prices of their product offering. They are not an NGO, hence, if it costs them Rs 100, they will charge you Rs 120 or Rs 130. They will keep their bottom lines intact. However, the corporates do at times reinvest or do not make too much money and consequently do not give out dividends.

But, it is important for them to give out dividends because their demand increases by doing this, i.e. their shareholder value. Many investors look for dividend income when they buy stocks while others look for price gain ie. capital gain. Together, capital gain and dividends from shareholder value.

Marketing and creating awareness of the opportunities that the Stock Exchange can offer for investors, whether local or international, is one of the methods to keep our volumes and activity ongoing. Our brokerage firms play an important role in opening accounts, offering investment advice through research, and increasing activity through introducing digital apps for customer convenience.

SYNERGYZER: Is the investment climate still attractive? What is the current sentiment?

RAEDA LATIF: Business is doing well. You see, whenever there is some political noise, people get into the ‘wait and see’ mode, and this begins a domino effect (I am not selling, I am not buying). Lesser people will be active in the market as they wait and see, and so the volumes shrink, as there is not much activity. But when there is a positive trigger in the economic environment, that positive sentiment then trickles down to the general public and the investors and they get into buying mode. Smart people buy when the market is down and prices attractive, during the bear period, and when the market is bullish, they reap the dividends and capital gains. In short, there is buying and selling activity going on all the time; some people run houses for daily income; others are long-term investors. Right now, I’d say the investor sentiment is neutral as the country is going through a critical phase.

SYNERGYZER: What in your opinion are some of the challenges involved in marketing stock market products?

RAEDA LATIF: The major challenge is budget; we do not have the kind of marketing or educational budget that I would ideally like to have to raise more awareness. With our current budgets, we may be able to reach out to a million people, perhaps between two to five million, but then there is a population of two hundred million out there, hence with a shoestring budget, we have to manage. We need more to reach out to more people. We go to educational institutions every year because there is a new batch every year. We target a minimum of 100 sessions every year across Pakistan. We go to women’s chambers and associations etc. along with educational institutions. Another challenge is that investments being a complex subject, they cannot be communicated or marketed through an advertisement on radio, print, or TV. The marketing for financial products is different from an FMCG offering.

Brokerage houses are also working on limited marketing budgets hence they have traditionally not focussed on brand building. Strong brands induce investor confidence and we encourage our brokerage houses to focus on smart marketing and branding techniques.

The time is ripe for this market to have digital disruption and apps with seamless UI and UX. This is the need of the hour. Customers who are investors need to see their investment portfolios on their smartphones. There is a lot of work happening on these lines.

SYNERGYZER: What are PSX’s plans for the future?

RAEDA LATIF: We intend to have more engagement from our target audience, that is, people who are looking to build wealth whether they are businessmen, salaried professionals, students, or housewives. The sooner they start, the better for them as compounding requires longer tenures to take effect. We are also targeting matured salaried classes as they are getting tax deducted at source and are already in the documented domain. Since these people do not have much time on their hands, they put their money in the bancassurance retirement plans which in the first 5 or so years are loss-making avenues. So, we would like to educate them on the benefits of investing in stocks, ETFs equity and fixed income, and mutual funds.

To introduce Experiential Marketing for trial generation, we have introduced short courses on investing and a virtual portfolio tool. We plan to introduce competitions where participants will build a virtual portfolio, give themselves virtual money and build stock portfolios in their accounts.

Our focus will remain on building trust by creating a strong brand strengthening brand equity, strengthening our regulatory arm, digitizing more, and better customer service. We believe that when these ambits are strong, trust will automatically follow and people will know their money is safe. Yes, the markets will have ups and downs as well as risks and we communicate those risks through our education. So, when someone makes an entry, they are making informed decisions to buy, sell, invest and/or hold.

We are also upgrading our brokerages, and this is one major area. We are helping them market, holding digital marketing sessions for them, and inviting experts to train them.

Right now, the perception is that investors enter the stock market to make a quick buck in the short term.  We don’t want that anymore. We want people to come in with a long-term view, and get shareholder value rather than go in and out.

Pakistan Stock Exchange has shariah-compliant investment options also. About 50% of our companies are shariah-compliant, which are acknowledged and endorsed by Meezan shariah scholars.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is one area that we want investors to look at because, overall, it helps the economy and our people. When our corporates are compliant with the ESG practices and reporting, then there is more transparency, and more capital flow to the market and into these companies.

All in all, a lot of work is required and it is ongoing. I am geared to continue building the PSX brand and the Pakistan Story for Investments.

The startup symphony… or otherwise

Imtiaz Noor
-
2
The startup symphony… or otherwise

Running any business is no easy task, running a business while constantly raising money from external investors is a completely different level of complexity. Welcome to the world of startups, where pretty much all the participants are always in a race to grow the business while raising funds to sustain the growth and revenue.

This is a constant dance between metrics, operations, human resources, and financial planning (though in my personal opinion, the meticulousness of planning is sometimes questionable) and the speed of all 3 combined. It’s like a dozen levers that need to constantly be tuned and adjusted to keep a balance of sorts and that is the real challenge.

The Pakistani startup system is no different. A vast range of companies exists, at different levels of funding, growth, success, and even prestige. Some startups are ‘cooler’ than others and just having their name in your Linkedin bio is a bragging right of sorts (irrespective of the fact that you were fired or left on your own).

While all the way up to early 2022, most announcements were regarding fundraising rounds, while most of the second half of the year has been overshadowed by news of a different kind, layoffs, winding ups, and scaling back of operations, while others introduced additional revenue assurance mechanisms.

In the course of the last few months, multiple startups have pulled back while the word on the street, is that even VCs are being very careful about deploying any additional capital considering the global economic crisis. Compounded with Pakistan’s own economic challenges, that doesn’t sound great for Pakistan’s startups.

From those that pulled out completely, Airlift, the startup that was being touted to be Pakistan’s first unicorn seems to have been the biggest casualty.

Careem scaled back on some business lines they were exploring, and SWVL pulled back from mass transit and decided to stick to inter-city transport alone. Vavacars and Carfirst both pulled out completely from the market. These are the ones that actually made their moves public. There are several other ventures, both large and small that had to change operations, pull out completely or downsize their teams without making any public comment.

Each has a different story to tell. From how they scaled to how things went down in a window that coincided with others.

SWVL and Airlift

In logistics terms, SWVL and Airlift both launched in Pakistan within a close time frame to each other. While it is difficult to say with conclusive evidence which one was more successful, Airlift definitely had a more aggressive branding strategy.

Along came the pandemic and both of them scaled back their operations extensively in a wait-and-watch mode. Airlift decided that the pandemic and the effects of the pandemic would be long-lasting and they made the pivot to Quick Commerce, focusing on instant grocery deliveries and grew extensively.

SWVL on the other hand, re-launched with greater aggression in Pakistan post-pandemic, launching in multiple cities and also offering an inter-city service. On June 2, 2022, however, the leadership decided to significantly reduce its offerings in the Pakistan market.

Airlift, on the other hand, launched as a bus-sharing service to address the lack of convenient, comfortable and cost-effective public transportation in 2019. After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, they decided to move to instant groceries. The model scaled very quickly with multiple dark stores serving many parts of the target markets 24/7 and thousands of riders earning their livelihoods through earnings via Airlift. The model was a success with Foodpanda launching Pandamart in close proximity.

This led to Airlift also launching international operations in some South African cities.

In May of 2022, Airlift decided to scale back operations to create an additional runway for business continuity and in June 2022, the decision to close down shop completely was taken. Financial insolvency was cited as the core reason, however, there appears to have been a common thread amongst the industry that the company was not very responsible with the management of its expenses, and while it is fairly normal to incur losses in order to grow faster, it seems that the costs absorbed by Airlift were significantly higher than what many people in the market are willing to pay for some services and products.

While we cannot comment on whether this was a key driver in the decision to not continue funding the operations by the investors, we do know that the investors decided to pull back and this resulted in Airlift being unable to continue their operations.

Vavacars

Vavacars was backed by the Dutch petroleum group Vitol and had operations in Pakistan and Turkey. Vitol also had investments in local petroleum storage and distribution company Hascol (which ran into another set of legal challenges in Pakistan earlier in 2022).
Vavacars operated as a marketplace model to buy and sell used cars and to standardize testing in the ‘used car’ market. While other companies like Pakwheels and OLX also launched their own car certification models, Vavacars went ahead and actually arranged for the transaction with an offer within an hour. After five years of operations and branding, June 2022 saw the demise of Vavacars as well. While it’s worth noting that Vavacars continues to operate in Turkey, it is pertinent to note that in June 2022, they might have been facing pressures to manage costs more effectively considering the slide in the USD – PKR values and the economic uncertainty surrounding the market generally, possibly pointing towards a sharp decline in car purchases and a sharp increase in prices (of both cars and fuel).

Carfirst

While CarFirst too operated for over five years and they were well-funded by the EMPG group and others, the long-term viability of the CarFirst business model was called into question with the shuttering of Vavacars, which lead to closure as well within a few days of Vavacars folding operations from Pakistan.

Both of these companies wanted to change the way cars were bought and sold in Pakistan and this meant creating changes in public mindset and acceptance. This is no easy task and the amount of time it took to be reasonably cashflow positive is not at all unrealistic. Not to mention, the car market in Pakistan is very grey, with a lack of standardized processes that affect transparency in pricing. The operation itself would be very capital intensive with a lot of cash being locked up in the purchase of the cars themselves and then maintaining and managing an operation to sell them after some possible value-addition/enhancements.

It comes as no surprise though that in view of a poorly performing economy faced with a sharp decline, there are limited avenues to success that may cause investors to pull out of the market.

Between SWVL and Airlift, there are two common themes that come into play. One common theme that appears is while all of them extensively funded growth by deploying ‘blitzscaling’ techniques, the same is not always a good idea if done without keeping the stability of the growing user base in mind. One simply cannot scale effectively by pure acquisition, without driving repeat user behaviour to ensure profitability on a consumer level. This is the one challenge that will always hit consumer facing companies.

The second, and equally important aspect, is the ability to build and maintain positive unit economics. Each order must remain profitable. The desire to scale faster often tempts founders to grow very fast and take the risk of running losses to grow, but such an act is a very careful and balancing act between maintaining on two fronts, horizontally, across customers, and vertically, across the depth of services to customers. If orders aren’t positive, no customer will ever break even, and simply the cost of covering the losses on orders will eat up all profitability.

In the case of Vavacars and CarFirst, they seem to have been impacted strongly by the high cash lockup nature of the vehicle acquisitions (or acquiring debt from the public and locking in liabilities + financing costs) and then operating in a non-transparent market to try and sell those assets.

1...424344...116Page 43 of 116