Interesting … Zong is betting that a offering simplicity of call features and calling plans will differentiate it by cutting through the clutter of packages. The concept of this ad may not be original but I think this is a good approach.
Here’s an interesting marketing trend inspired by mobile phone culture. Building on the popularity of Text messaging advertisers are using the texting acronyms (omg, bff, g2g etc) in their ads. I’m sure phone companies are enjoying this attention — after all data has become one of their major revenue producers. I have also noticed this in magazines. However all this new vocabulary may leave parents confused and that is not exactly what the advertisers want. This goes back to the generation gap post I did a while ago. A recent Wall Street Journal article notes this trend emphasizes that it is important to explain the shorthand, otherwise the ad will miss a large number of its audience!
Young adults 18 to 24 years old spend about 32 minutes a day texting, according to the Yankee Group, a research company. The texting phenomenon has given rise to acronyms like “paw” (parents are watching), “lol” (laughing out loud), “g2g” (got to go) and “ooc” (out of control).
Some of the ads that use the shorthand have drawn a big audience. Cingular’s spot has attracted more than 1 million views on YouTube thus far. The ad, for an unlimited texting plan offered by the carrier, featured a mom questioning her daughter, Bethann, about all the texting she was doing. Bethann’s response: “o-m-g, i-n-b-d.” (Translation: “Oh my gosh, it’s no big deal.”) She explains to her mom that she is texting her “bff Jill.” The ad has spawned numerous imitations on YouTube.
Frito-Lay, McDonald’s, AT&T and others have tried to demonstrate their street cred to the teenage set by using text-messaging abbreviations in their commercials. An Internet video ad for McDonald’s in Korea shows two men warming up their vocal cords to sing the McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it” jingle. At the end of the video, a voice-over chimes in: “Are you ready?” The screen reads: “r u ready?”
Almost after a year of its arrival to Pakistan, China Mobile is making a big impact on the telecom market of Pakistan. With Paktel’s new Zong campaign it has taken a fresh, bold and humorous approach to marketing. The choice of name is interesting - a bit “Chinese” it seems. I found the ad hilarious (Himmat hey to pass kro warna bardasht kro). No doubt, the bar has been raised.
Another notable point was that the pre-launch buzz was created by using quite a few channels including social networking. The TV campaign has been well received as well. See the clip below.
The last promotions and service packages caused a big surge in subscribers to Paktel. Let’s see how this one goes!
I have previously discussed the explosive growth of media captured on mobiles and the need for sharing it, to make it work without putting too much burden on the users. A few interesting trends have emerged in the last few months. PixSense has picked up momentum and their solution was implemented by Telenor - great news for this Pakistani startup. At the same time, Nokia has been on a roll, acquiring soical networking and mobile ad startups such as Enpocket. Nokia has also introduced Ovi, a set of services for mobiles, which needs a post of its own. Twango, a media sharing application, is one of the companies Nokia bought for around $100 million. Naturally that caused headlines and prompted many (including myself) to take a look at Twango’s services.
With so many photo and video sharing sites (photobucket, snapfish, mobango etc) it can be hard to compare and select one. What is it that makes one media sharing site better than others? I believe its a combination of a few factors. Usability and presentation. Features such as online editing, tagging, time lines, subscriptions etc. Ease of sharing with people (without forcing them to register) and at blogs and networking sites. There’s the reliability and trust element as well; many don’t want their personal stuff uploaded to a random startup with sketchy privacy policies.
TM has posted a detailed analysis of Telenor’s Picshare launch and gave it a 6/10 rating. I recommend read the full review and the related commentary at TGP. In this post I’ll review Twango, its features and how it works. My usage scenario is simple and typical. I want to be able to share my media easily with friends and family anywhere in the world.
In this post we take a look at the role of advertising in building brand equity, using the case of Wateen’s recent product launch. Advertising is paid form of marketing promotion in which the sponsor is advertised and the message is controlled. Brand Equity refers to the value built-up in a brand. It is measured on a scale determining the extent of customer awareness. Besides awareness, brand equity is also directly related to the consumer’s experience with the brand itself. This experience finally decides the fate of product in terms of success and brand loyalty or failure within the potential target audience.
Within Marketing Mix i.e. Target market and 4P’s (Product, Price, Placement, Promotion), Product refers to the promise made to the customer or solution provided to the customer. Value is the perceived difference between the costs spent by the customer against achieved benefits. The lower the cost in relation to the benefits the lower is the value.
Hence, marketing communication or advertising during the product launch is a strategic decision and must be handled with care. Launching the product or service aggressively without practically placing it or making it available might bring critically negative impact on brand reputation. Such campaign destroys instead of building a brand. It is just like a promise made to the customer and then not being fulfilled. Such mistake at launch stage, specifically in case of a product like WiMax which still have to struggle a lot in getting mass awareness and with delivery issues, can severely disrupt the company’s and brand’s image within early adaptors of the product.
Wireless week has a special report out on mobile advertising- its challenges and rewards. As with any new technology, business is trying to make sense of what will work. The report points out that “advertisers are familiar with working with print, TV, radio and the Internet as separate entities. But mobile networks can bring together the Internet, video, text, gaming, music and more.” An important point as emphasized in the report is: Advertisers want to buy audiences and not technology.
I am including an excerpt about the sms based advertising in the US. I consider this approach relevant to Pakistan’s market.
Text-based campaigns and WAP sites have become the two main avenues for brands to reach mobile subscribers.
One of the companies involved in text-based advertising is qtags, a Houston-based mobile marketing company that uses short codes to provide mobile interactive content, including promotions and coupons. Its clients include Accenture, NAS Recruitment, Fidelity Investments, Toyota, Verizon Wireless, American Express, CITI and Hewlett Packard.
“Our goal,” says founder Allison Gower, “is to help the consumer control their advertising.” Qtags connects consumers and brands off-line and online, Gower says, by making content interactive via SMS. An example is texting a keyword like “Verizon” to qtags’ shortcode, 78247, and the user gets information about jobs available at Verizon Wireless. The texts are saved online. Many of the current campaigns are job recruitment related.
The service can help brand names build communities of consumers who have an interest in their products, Gower says. The overall service is free of advertising although community sites might have sponsored sites.
Mobile provides context of time and place, she says. When someone enters a store and sees a promotion, a consumer can text to get specials listed on their phone.
Thanks to TM for sharing these at his blog. I loved these ads for their topic, message, presentation, and the fresh approach to marketing. As Atif pointed out with a few other ad campaigns covered here and here, this is a great way to provide a public service message and promote your brand. The fact that it is a departure from the usual ads in Pakistan makes it even more fun.
You can see additional ads in this series here.
As Independence Day is approaching, Mobilink again has taken lead by erecting Independence Day billboards in Lahore & other cities. Mobilink has always been on the forefront of societal marketing activities and have always been very keen on Corporate Social Responsibility. The copy statement on this billboard states “Hum Bolein Azadi Ki Zuban” (Translation: We speak the language of freedom) which is very well integrated with Mobilink’s brand image statement i.e. “Reshaping Lives”, thus posing a brand personality of someone who is aggressive, mature & independent, thinks very well and cares, all of which further ensures brand loyalty and adds value to brand equity.
As far as Mobilink’s Independence Day campaign is concerned, specifically this particular Billboard and generally the whole campaign (including the TV commercial) is not promoting the company or any of its particular product or package but it is all about Pakistan, people of Pakistan, their hopes, issues and their lives besides the message of unity and love and the one who is communicating this message looks much familiar.
The cute little girl with Pakistani Flag in the background catches one’s attention at once. Besides freedom, the message in Urdu is also trying to remind the nation that we need to reassure commitment to our country that we will keep our promise with Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah & our land to make it prosperous one day. The Billboard has been applauded by all here in Lahore.
I wish others would also get inspiration, especially Government institutions, PTCL, NBP etc must also respond and I would wonder if they take lead next time. Even if it is all about business, two thumbs up to Mobilink and other private companies who struggle for subscriber base through social activities. Compare this to Government institutions who had a monopoly since the beginning and our nation has always been on the giving end.
As I mentioned earlier, FLARE is one of the few (perhaps the only one?) media publication about Telecom in Pakistan which promotes free download of its digital version. It is particularly useful for expat Pakistanis. I have started reading the online version regularly now. For those interested in latest phones it has tons of ads plus a section devoted to phones and prices. Here’s the July issue (about 28 MB) - download here, click on the image below or from the Flare site.
Read on to see the Telecom topics covered in this issue of Flare.
Read more »
For Pakistanis abroad there used to be limited choices to stay in touch with Pakistan. Internet changed all that and recent Web technologies are creating another wave of change. About a decade ago it used to be online groups, a few news website such as DAWN etc and more recently blogs have become popular with Pakistanis all over the world. Lately there have been some interesting developments for online access to media including live TV. I’ll mention a few here which stand out. Please send me your favorites as well.
FLARE Magazine covers Telecom, mobile phones, information technology and other technology related topics. This magazine is available in print and more interestingly, the full print versions are available for download in PDF format. Get the June issue from their site or from this blog.
Watching Live Pakistan TV Online Even though this is not directly related to telecom but worth mentioning here. One of such sites which I have been using is JumpTV. For residents of US, select Pakistan TV channels are available for FREE at Jump TV. The channels include Aaj TV, TV One and a few other Pakistani channels in regional languages such as Apna Channel.
This is streaming video so a broadband connection is needed. The size of the streaming video is small but acceptable. Enjoy while its free. For those outside US, a fee applies.
Watching TV from your PC many not work for everyone but this is where the world is heading. There are many other companies competing in this space. Joost is another service in works which promises better quality but it has no Pakistani channel yet.
This blog was started by Babar Bhatti to share and analyse new and interesting developments in Pakistan Telecom industry. More ...
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