Crunch time for Nestlé

Nestlé Pakistan recently launched Nestlé Crunch in Pakistan. This is Nestlé’s first confectionery product to be manufactured locally (there are two other Nestlé confectionery products available in Pakistan: Kit Kat and Polo; but they are not manufactured or marketed locally). Additionally, Pakistan is one of two markets (Indonesia is the other) where Crunch will be presented in the form of chips with a chocolate filling (it sells as a chocolate bar in the rest of the world), thereby making it a cost effective snack.

 

‘The New Digital Age’ giveaway!

Aurora is giving one lucky person the chance to win a free copy of ‘The New Digital Age‘ by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, due for release in Pakistan next week. 

Desktop thinking

We keep repeating this again and again. Because it is a recurring Pakistani theme – despite the absence of governance, horrendous security issues and a supposedly tottering economy, any glimmer of an opportunity for innovation or growth is seized by Pakistani entrepreneurship and turned, more often than not, into a new format for success. As recently as January 2013, our cover story on Branchless Banking confirmed that Pakistan is not only the fastest growing branchless banking market in the world, it is considered to be a laboratory of innovation. In March, we saw how small and medium sized businesses are enthusiastically taking the lead in establishing Pakistan’s presence in the online retail space. Now, in this issue, we examine how franchising is establishing new models for Pakistani business and brand success.

The marketing of Pakistan’s political parties

Muhammad Talha Salam on the maturing of political marketing in Pakistan.

Formally executed or not, the strategies of many political parties and the activities of their followers have striking analogies with several marketing principles. At times, these analogies and their conceptual underpinnings are overshadowed by the corruption associated with politics. Yet the dynamism that ensues with the amalgamation of two otherwise distant fields – politics and marketing – has surged in recent years in Pakistan. The realm of political marketing is emerging formally in Pakistan within the folds of professional marketing. Political marketing deals with how politicians, political parties, governments and associated stakeholders harness the vast knowledge base of marketing in their political undertakings.

Parties and Positioning: Different political parties have their own ideology and strategy framework in which they operate and from which they deviate very little. Any strategy shift, as rare as it is, still remains rooted in the ideologies of their founders.

Dalda combines Mother’s Day and Elections into single campaign

Dalda recently launched the ‘Vote aap ka‘ campaign – combining elements of Mother’s Day with the elections for a series of situation-based ads that ask people to ‘vote’ on Dalda’s Facebook page and choose between their mother and their friend/spouse etc.

Aurora spoke to Ahmed Chagla, Senior Creative Director, Lowe and Rauf (Dalda’s creative agency) to find out a bit more about the campaign. But first, here is a look at the three TVCs…

Maa ya Shohar - Maa ya Apni - Maa ya Dost

What is the objective of making people choose between their mother and other people in their lives?

Election fever!

Aurora talks to four brands which are cashing in on the elections.

We asked…

1. What was the objective of an election based campaign and what is your message?
2. Were there any supporting activities or is your election initiative limited to advertising?
3. How does this fit in with your overall brand initiative?

They said…

Djuice ‘Angootha chalao’ - Usman Javaid, Director Marketing, Telenor

1. The Angootha chalao campaign is aimed at raising awareness about the importance of voting, encouraging the young to vote in particular and providing election related information. The message is that the need of the hour is positivity and hope and that it is through the individual contribution of the young people of Pakistan that we will be able to determine our collective future.
2. The campaign is limited to advertising. Increased tele-density has played an important role in shaping the dynamics of these elections; for example some candidates have integrated the mobile phone as a critical medium in their overall political campaign. To capitalise on this trend and ensure the involvement of young people, Djuice has introduced an ‘election bundle’ which caters to their need to be informed and updated about the elections.

“We firmly believe in the strength of the print business and that a growing print business will give us the ability to manage the internet business even better”

Ravi Dhariwal, CEO, Bennett, Coleman & Co., speaks to Mariam Ali Baig about The Times of India’s experience in growing print revenues. 

MARIAM ALI BAIG: How has The Times of India approached the question of transitioning from a traditional print model to digital?

RAVI DHARIWAL: Firstly, we believe that this is going to be a long transition; it will not happen overnight. Secondly, we believe that it is never going to be a complete transition from print to digital; they will complement each other. Both mediums have their strengths; print is immersive while the internet is interactive, and I think both can work with each other so that the story is told better. What we are doing is to let our print journalists write for both mediums, although we manage the two business ends separately. We have an internet division and we have a print division and the advertising and the commerce is sold separately, although we also sell multimedia solutions to some key clients and this includes print and the internet as well as radio and television.