‘Firms can use politics as a stepping stone to achieve economic progress’

Julian Saunders says Pakistan has the potential to follow innovative communications.

KARACHI: Pakistan has the potential to follow innovative communications and make it big in the advertising industry as the nation has a lot of young people who are socially and politically driven,according to The Joined Up Company founding partner Julian Saunders.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Saunders said innovative communications can be used as a stepping stone to lead firms towards progress and gave the example of a local telecommunications company which recently launched a ‘politically-driven’ slogan which has been accepted well by the public.

“People in Pakistan are very educated and intellectual. They grasp things quickly, and it is easy for them to understand what you are trying to say,” he said.

Saunders, who was invited to Pakistan by the Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) to train marketing and sales personnel, said, “Understanding your consumer in detail is vital to stand out amongst competitors. You need to understand the core details and their mentality - their pressure points, what they love and hate, ad what makes things easy for them.”

“We are in a period where blandness is not going to work. If you are bland and lack differentiation, it is very easy to get lost as there is so much competition out there to get your share of attention,” he stated.

Saunders said that communications is also much more ambitious now. “It is not just about getting the information across to consumers, it is about involving them along with you,” he said.

The communications expert said that to gain higher brand loyalty, a firm should involve the consumer to spend time on the brand. He gave an example of social networking site, Facebook, where consumers can get more information.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2011.