After Hours: Hasan Rizvi
From his biggest achievements to his rise, the PR guru shares it all
Hasan Rizvi hails from a creative background and continues to make waves in the world of PR with his company, BBPR. We catch up with Hasan to find out everything that goes into becoming a successful PR guru, from his biggest achievements to his rise. He shares it all!
How did your PR journey start?
My PR Journey actually started with events. We used to do a lot of events for FMCGs and we were doing the launch of Pepsi and Burger King and the client asked us to do the PR for it as well. At that time I was too nervous. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle it, I didn’t know what the job entails. I told them I will do it but I won’t charge them for it. So that’s how I did my first PR campaign which was extremely successful. They were very happy and from there on forward Pepsi started giving us a lot of work pertaining to PR and then we just grew from there.
What would you be if you weren’t a PR person?
If I wasn’t a PR person I’d definitely be in some marketing field. But if not even that, then I think dance is second nature to me and I’d be doing that. If dance had a wider scope in Pakistan I would have definitely continued that in fact, it still has a really soft spot in my heart.
What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you on the job? How did you handle the situation?
We have had a really bad situation where the celebrity doesn’t turn up or a bad article is written or someone said something inappropriate. We even had instances where our influencer or celebrity mistakenly names the competing brand instead of the brand we are advocating. So yeah, a lot of mishaps have happened. I think the worst thing that ever happened was when we were having a private Cornetto Poprock Concert and the newspaper article that went out said that we were selling tickets for it. There was major chaos because we were trying to fix the problem, people thought they could call in for tickets and there was no place to call in! We were getting messages on Facebook, random calls and students going crazy everywhere. But we had it corrected the next day.
What is the most gratifying part of your public relations position?
The best part about being in PR is definitely the creative element of it. PR is a greying area between advertising and conventional public relations. I love creating ideas that make noise, that make a difference. I love the whole humanitarian aspect of it - of changing people’s mentalities and giving them a wider spectrum. We are moving towards emotional advertising, brands are associating themselves with causes. Regardless of what the brand’s objective may be, I think the cause in itself is just so powerful that it’s amazing working on causes and brands like that and I feel it’s making Pakistan a better place to live in, to be happy and be unified.
What is that one project you are extremely proud of?
As you may already know we won six PAS awards this year and two Google awards and a YouTube award. I am very proud of all my work; Cornetto PopRock, Knorr Noodles Boriyat Busters, Surf, Bonanza and Satrangi - these are all the campaigns we worked really hard on. But there is one campaign that I would specifically like to highlight which didn’t win an award was BlueBand’s Achai Barhnay Do which was a partnership with Special Olympics Pakistan. Not only was Ronak Lakhnai amazing to work with but the team at Special Olympics was also amazing, a big shoutout to them! I couldn’t have thought of a better cause to be associated with than the cause of inclusion.
How has PR changed in Pakistan over the years?
PR has drastically changed, not only in Pakistan but all over the world. PR is becoming very lead by influencer programmes and has become much more believable than native advertising. Native advertising is very unbelievable and organic now and consumers and brands are moving far away from native advertising. They want to see something that’s more believable. They want to see something that’s more real and they want to see something that more relatable. That’s where PR is.
What is the worst part of your job?
I love what I do so this is a really difficult question. The worst part of my job would have to be dealing with tantrums all the way from celebrities to the stylists to the influencers to the comedians and the hosts. For the most part I would like to make a special mention that most of our celebrities are really good to work with and very professional but there’s always that one celebrity that you want to strangle and kill!
Which social media applications do you use and think are the most useful for your business?
I myself use Instagram the most. However, Facebook is the most commonly used social media platform in Pakistan so far.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in their PR career?
My advice would be to be creative and don’t be afraid of failure because the best campaigns are the crazy, out there campaigns and I think those are the ones that do best.
Name one gadget you can’t live without in your work? Why do you recommend it?
That gadget would definitely be my phone. Everything from social media, to my emails to music and fitness apps, everything is on my phone. Thank God for the makers of the android for making our lives so much easier.
What are some things that sound like compliments but are actually insults?
When someone says “Hasan yaar you look really tired you should take a break” I don’t know if that’s an insult or a compliment because yes I do work 16 hours a day. Nevertheless, hearing ‘ýou look tired’ doesn’t really make me feel any better.
What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?
Regarding what your brain tries to make you do; it’s human nature to look for the easy way out. And usually in conceptualising, we have ideas that we have already thought of that we try to either copy or replicate or other people’s successful PR ideas that we want to duplicate. But I feel like that’s the easy way out and whenever we all sit together and do a brainstorming session, I always tell them that guys we need to think of something that’s novel, something that’s clutter breaking.
What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?
Well most of the blockbuster movies I guess. So everything from the X-Men to Superman, to Batman and Wolverine. All these movies I can watch a thousand times and not get bored of them. Mostly action-adventure genre movies. I don’t like movies that are too serious.
Best part of your job?
Again, the best part of my job is definitely the creative element of it.
How do you unwind after work?
Unwinding I would say I used to do by dancing but now I do by working out. I think it’s the best ventilation system.
What social stigma does society need to get over?
Dance! People need to get over this stigma of dance being frowned upon. I mean dance is a form of expression. Anyone can dance. You can dance on a mehndi, in your bathroom, at home. It’s an outlet. It’s a source of happiness. I feel we should stop looking at it the other way.
What are some unusual places you’ve been to?
I haven’t travelled to any unusual places, I have been to the cities that everyone wants to go to; Amsterdam, Toronto, New York, Barcelona. If you were to ask me what my favourite cities were, I would say Barcelona and Venice because these were the two cities were simply dreamy. It felt like I was walking on the set of a movie.
If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?
I would want Ellen DeGeneres to narrate my life because I think she would add the humour, the seriousness and the humanitarian element. She would say it all just the way I wanted it to be said.
How did your PR journey start?
My PR Journey actually started with events. We used to do a lot of events for FMCGs and we were doing the launch of Pepsi and Burger King and the client asked us to do the PR for it as well. At that time I was too nervous. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle it, I didn’t know what the job entails. I told them I will do it but I won’t charge them for it. So that’s how I did my first PR campaign which was extremely successful. They were very happy and from there on forward Pepsi started giving us a lot of work pertaining to PR and then we just grew from there.
What would you be if you weren’t a PR person?
If I wasn’t a PR person I’d definitely be in some marketing field. But if not even that, then I think dance is second nature to me and I’d be doing that. If dance had a wider scope in Pakistan I would have definitely continued that in fact, it still has a really soft spot in my heart.
What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you on the job? How did you handle the situation?
We have had a really bad situation where the celebrity doesn’t turn up or a bad article is written or someone said something inappropriate. We even had instances where our influencer or celebrity mistakenly names the competing brand instead of the brand we are advocating. So yeah, a lot of mishaps have happened. I think the worst thing that ever happened was when we were having a private Cornetto Poprock Concert and the newspaper article that went out said that we were selling tickets for it. There was major chaos because we were trying to fix the problem, people thought they could call in for tickets and there was no place to call in! We were getting messages on Facebook, random calls and students going crazy everywhere. But we had it corrected the next day.
What is the most gratifying part of your public relations position?
The best part about being in PR is definitely the creative element of it. PR is a greying area between advertising and conventional public relations. I love creating ideas that make noise, that make a difference. I love the whole humanitarian aspect of it - of changing people’s mentalities and giving them a wider spectrum. We are moving towards emotional advertising, brands are associating themselves with causes. Regardless of what the brand’s objective may be, I think the cause in itself is just so powerful that it’s amazing working on causes and brands like that and I feel it’s making Pakistan a better place to live in, to be happy and be unified.
What is that one project you are extremely proud of?
As you may already know we won six PAS awards this year and two Google awards and a YouTube award. I am very proud of all my work; Cornetto PopRock, Knorr Noodles Boriyat Busters, Surf, Bonanza and Satrangi - these are all the campaigns we worked really hard on. But there is one campaign that I would specifically like to highlight which didn’t win an award was BlueBand’s Achai Barhnay Do which was a partnership with Special Olympics Pakistan. Not only was Ronak Lakhnai amazing to work with but the team at Special Olympics was also amazing, a big shoutout to them! I couldn’t have thought of a better cause to be associated with than the cause of inclusion.
How has PR changed in Pakistan over the years?
PR has drastically changed, not only in Pakistan but all over the world. PR is becoming very lead by influencer programmes and has become much more believable than native advertising. Native advertising is very unbelievable and organic now and consumers and brands are moving far away from native advertising. They want to see something that’s more believable. They want to see something that’s more real and they want to see something that more relatable. That’s where PR is.
What is the worst part of your job?
I love what I do so this is a really difficult question. The worst part of my job would have to be dealing with tantrums all the way from celebrities to the stylists to the influencers to the comedians and the hosts. For the most part I would like to make a special mention that most of our celebrities are really good to work with and very professional but there’s always that one celebrity that you want to strangle and kill!
Which social media applications do you use and think are the most useful for your business?
I myself use Instagram the most. However, Facebook is the most commonly used social media platform in Pakistan so far.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in their PR career?
My advice would be to be creative and don’t be afraid of failure because the best campaigns are the crazy, out there campaigns and I think those are the ones that do best.
Name one gadget you can’t live without in your work? Why do you recommend it?
That gadget would definitely be my phone. Everything from social media, to my emails to music and fitness apps, everything is on my phone. Thank God for the makers of the android for making our lives so much easier.
What are some things that sound like compliments but are actually insults?
When someone says “Hasan yaar you look really tired you should take a break” I don’t know if that’s an insult or a compliment because yes I do work 16 hours a day. Nevertheless, hearing ‘ýou look tired’ doesn’t really make me feel any better.
What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?
Regarding what your brain tries to make you do; it’s human nature to look for the easy way out. And usually in conceptualising, we have ideas that we have already thought of that we try to either copy or replicate or other people’s successful PR ideas that we want to duplicate. But I feel like that’s the easy way out and whenever we all sit together and do a brainstorming session, I always tell them that guys we need to think of something that’s novel, something that’s clutter breaking.
What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?
Well most of the blockbuster movies I guess. So everything from the X-Men to Superman, to Batman and Wolverine. All these movies I can watch a thousand times and not get bored of them. Mostly action-adventure genre movies. I don’t like movies that are too serious.
Best part of your job?
Again, the best part of my job is definitely the creative element of it.
How do you unwind after work?
Unwinding I would say I used to do by dancing but now I do by working out. I think it’s the best ventilation system.
What social stigma does society need to get over?
Dance! People need to get over this stigma of dance being frowned upon. I mean dance is a form of expression. Anyone can dance. You can dance on a mehndi, in your bathroom, at home. It’s an outlet. It’s a source of happiness. I feel we should stop looking at it the other way.
What are some unusual places you’ve been to?
I haven’t travelled to any unusual places, I have been to the cities that everyone wants to go to; Amsterdam, Toronto, New York, Barcelona. If you were to ask me what my favourite cities were, I would say Barcelona and Venice because these were the two cities were simply dreamy. It felt like I was walking on the set of a movie.
If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?
I would want Ellen DeGeneres to narrate my life because I think she would add the humour, the seriousness and the humanitarian element. She would say it all just the way I wanted it to be said.