As a teen back in 1995, I remember reading a newspaper article on a decision that would transform football forever. It concerned the court’s ruling in favour of a promising Belgian footballer by the name of Jean Marc Bosman. Bosman wanted to switch his club, but the management stopped him from doing this. He took the club, the Belgian Football Association and UEFA to court in 1990.
The case dragged on and on. Finally, in 1995, officials overturned the decision that limited European teams to only three foreign players. At that time, I was quite sceptical about the possible impact of this event. In hindsight, it’s clear that the Bosman case and ruling revolutionised football as we know and love it.
Rory Sutherland, the celebrated adman and Vice Chairman at Ogilvy. Often speaks about how crucial and critical seemingly small things can be. Incremental changes can have a huge impact. Anyone who has studied maths knows about the inflection point. The point where the gradient of the curve changes from either up to down or a change in direction. In marketing and advertising, I think there is a phenomenon for us that is just as far-reaching and impactful as the Bosman ruling was for football. That phenomenon is the shift in mindset from efficiency to effectiveness.
Both these terms might seem similar, but there is a world of difference between the two. It is very visible in advertising and marketing, not only at a local level but also at a global level. I always go back to the example given by Phil Tiongson. A Southeast Asian media professional, in a blog post in 2009. Phil gave the example of the task of climbing over a wall.
Some might immediately search for the best ladder to climb the wall; that is an efficiency mindset. Some may focus on effectiveness, trying to find the best place to climb over the wall instead. Or to go further, question whether you really need to climb over the wall at all. Efficiency is making the best use of the resources you have. Effectiveness means knowing which resources to use to achieve the objective.
I have often come across people asking questions on marketing groups or on social media about which mediums and ways of communication to invest in. Most of the answers are usually about which mediums to use and often fail to realise that choosing a medium or an ad format or any sort of creative. Communication vehicle is secondary to knowing who you are marketing to, and what message you are trying to communicate.
In my personal experience in advertising as a media planner, early on. I realised a few things about the Pakistani marketing arena. Although some people believe a media planner plays little or no role in the creative process or in creating ads. Media planners actively shape how those ads are developed and delivered. But having a fresh and uninvested perspective so to speak, has certain advantages.
The first thing I observed is that in Pakistan. Brands and companies spend a lot of time. Money and effort on getting bang for the buck in terms of media discounts and rates. This is not a concept alien to global marketing, but in Pakistan. When a company changes its media agency, it usually evaluates whether the new agency can reduce costs by securing more ads on the desired channel or medium within the available budget.
Whether you are a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs), or a Multinational Corporation (MNC), you always feel that your budget is not enough, even if that budget is 1 billion rupees. This again is a focus on efficiency. This also meant that for decades, brands focused primarily on media buying and not planning.
What would be an effective approach? In my view, it would be to take time to hone the creative, tweak and change it so that the creative idea and message are powerful as well as impactful. One possible reason why the quality of ads in Pakistan is still not amazing is due to brands and agencies. They know they can take a large amount of money and diffuse their campaign widely. They know however, are failing to note that a creative campaign needs less media spend but needs to create resonance all in itself.
This is something intuitive and also stated by people like Mark Ritson, who is regarded as an expert practitioner in global marketing. That the more creative and relevant an idea is, the easier it is for people to notice it, recall it and take action. Take, for instance, the amazing campaign from Macedonia for testicular cancer awareness, which smartly advertised on eggs because in local slang, male testes are called eggs.
Life is full of irony and paradoxes, and for me. One of the most ironic things is that marketing professionals are striving to break the clutter. But most of the time end up just adding to the clutter, as their campaigns and messages are not effective and impactful. It is akin to a person trying to stand out in a sea of sameness by doing the same things everyone else is doing.
A better or more apt example is a market where the only way to get people to buy what you are selling is to shout louder than the other sellers. So, as a new seller, you enter the market and see everyone is shouting. You decide to do the same. There is, of course, a psychological element at play because as humans. We abhor uncertainty and being social and herd animals, we look to others to identify the behaviour we want to emulate or copy. But as the adage reminds us, what is popular is not necessarily the best thing.
Another area where effectiveness is lacking locally is related to media selection. Pakistani marketers tend to advertise or market where the industry does, not necessarily where their consumer or target audience is. If you are a budget airline, where is the best place to advertise? A huge hoarding at Teen Talwar? Radio? TV?
In my view, you need to take into account the context or editorial environment when choosing a medium and spot. If I were the marketing manager of a newly launched budget airline. I would be marketing on sites like OLX, because the audience would be receptive to my message as they are in the ‘looking for a bargain’ frame of mind. Of course, the best media choice will be based on where my target audience is present. Choosing effective media reduces wastage by a large amount.
Another area to be explored is to talk the language of the target audience. If you and I are having a conversation and I use terms unfamiliar to you. Your level of interest would be minimal if at all. However, if I spoke to you using words you use in your daily life and are emotionally attached to, the impact would probably be more.
The purpose is to create a connection and sense of belonging, and unity in a way. This approach needs to be nuanced and thought through before being practised. As it can possibly backfire in a bad way. People simply don’t like being talked at instead, they like being talked to.
They say the best way to change things is to change your perspective. There is the popular adage,
‘when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’
This is empirically proven and even psychologically proven to be true. With a shift from looking for efficiency to effectiveness as a North Star. I see a bright and promising future for marketing and advertising in Pakistan. Even a more enjoyable experience for the public and consumers as well Â