Are you a spoilt woman who is not ashamed to say it? If that description is fitting, then Asim Jofa’s newest billboards are all about you. If you (like us) were bewildered by the bizarre slogans “Why drive when I’m driven?” and “Why wait when I’m waited upon?” that have mushroomed around the city, then wonder no more. We got the brains behind the campaign to enlighten us about the ads that have been the centre of ridicule on social media forums.
“Are you going to rip it to shreds?” asked Muzaffar Manghi, General Manager at Red Communication Arts, the small agency that designed Asim Jofa’s latest lawn billboards. Surprisingly, as he talked about the ad, Manghi was more excited that his creation has become an internet sensation, than defensive about the flak. “For this campaign, we spoke to women who spend s**t loads of money — and believe it or not, they gave us these quotes that you see up on the billboards.” According to Manghi, this mentality of unapologetic showiness is not just a peculiarity of the nouveau riche; this woman exists — in hordes large enough to grab the last piece of packaged lawn off the shelf. “People with old money are shoda (ostentatious) too. I know a girl who chose to attend a small gathering in Lahore wearing heavily embellished designer lawn just to make a statement.”
Like the woman in Asim Jofa’s lawn ads, Manghi is unapologetic. “Asim wanted to celebrate his consumer. These women like to indulge themselves and are shamelessly honest about it. This is the Asim Jofa mindset.”
With all this animated chatter about his campaign, it is imperative we tell you who the man is. His real name is Mohammad Asim; being a certified jewelry designer, the alias ‘Jofa’ comes from the tagline ‘Jewelry of Asim’. His most recent billboards are a precursor to his upcoming collection for Eid and Ramazan, which will be a tad pricier than his average lawn jora which costs up to Rs6,000. Asim says the lady on his billboard is a woman with a distinct attitude. “This is a woman who knows exactly what she wants,” he said several times during our conversation. “Honestly, being Asim Jofa, I eat at regular restaurants. I eat at fancy restaurants in New York but I also eat here at, say, Mcdonalds,” he added, drawing a distinction between himself and his consumer.
“My lawn is probably the most expensive — more than Sana Safinaz lawn. It is a luxury,” he said, as he explained why a product like lawn is being advertised as a symbol of lavishness. At the end, Asim confirmed what we all know already: the campaign was designed to get attention.
Any takers?
“The fact that you’re asking me what I think says enough,” said Deepak Perwani, another amongst the handful of designers who have joined the lawn bandwagon. While Perwani’s lawn billboards had the sultry Sara Loren aka Mona Lizza staring seductively into the camera, Asim’s billboards have replaced model/actor Iman Ali (the previous face of Asim Jofa lawn) with silhouettes. “It’s a teaser for his product,” said Perwani who insisted that the campaign was fabulous. “Hats off to Asim Jofa for getting the attention, it’s a pretty innovative campaign.” Perwani’s public show of solidarity with Asim shouldn’t surprise you; you’ll rarely hear someone from the fashion circle openly lambasting a peer — the talons usually come out in private.
In the words of Fareshteh Aslam, the Brands and External Communications Manager at Unilever Pakistan, “It’s visible and irritatingly consistent. It is asking to be noticed and you can’t miss it — it’s a success!”
Not convinced
Don’t be disappointed yet. We managed to find someone who isn’t afraid to say it like it is. “I saw the billboard in the Gizri area… it makes no sense,” said Kamal Mir, the Executive Creative Director at Prestige/Grey Group in a matter-of-fact tone. “What’s he trying to achieve? The ads now have silhouettes wearing Western clothes, which says nothing about the product,” added Mir, nonplussed. “Sometimes, negative publicity is great because you can be the talk of the town and people will know who you are. But that makes sense for a new person. This is just so abstract.”
The tongues can continue to wag; we can make fun of it and even let our creativity loose by coming up with our own mystifying slogans, but like any advertiser’s goal, the Asim Jofa lawn campaign got people talking. Kudos to them!
Published In The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2012.
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love it when people talk :)
Personally I think that this campaign points to a blaring truth; Muzaffar Manghi loves Sea Turtles. I had a suspicion, but then I saw these ads and I was blown away by the similarity between turtles and their need to be spoilt and the average customer of Asim Jofa's lawn, clearly these women love their Asim Jofa like turtles love their lettuce. Muzaffar Manghi's psyche is a far cry from from Chelonaphobia, he is a man with a heart lost at sea. In fact, I think if someone asked him, Muzaffar would vociferously reply "I like turtles", I guarantee it!
well one things for sure, asim jofa definitely aint a commie
i think its brilliant Campaign, Asim Jofa is my favourite and i think he always comes up with new ideas and concpets which is good to see . people should broaden up now as people in pakistan are very narrow minded. He is only trying to focus on the Elite class. thats why the qoutes are like this.And this is what every woman wants. i think its an amazing idea and concept .
goodluck asim
this is about a woman who, before buying anything, does not ask the price just buys the thing and pays with debit card. while signing she does not look at the amount every woman wants to feel like a queen.
to be honest, I would never want to buy anything from the house of Asim Jofa. I dont want to associate myself to someone who thinks women are bimbos and dumb enough to buy ridiculous clothes at rip off prices. I would more likely want to wear a brand that personifies my strong personality and achievements rather than feeling happy with the amount of men I can lure.
Also just to add, the scary thing is that I don't think hes joking or being funny about it. It's serious.
Plus from a marketing and design point of view, if they are giving off such a luxurious appeal, fix the language; do not use "I'm" - use "I am" instead, SPEAK the brand. Bad typography and poor illustration. It is a sorry attempt at design. No doubt the figures prove the campaigns popularity but not all popularity is "good" popularity. I always ridicule lawn campaigns because they are so cliche and boring, I am always on the look out for something different, but this is too pretentious and disgusting. I like how the author mentions "old money" in it as well... haha. Interesting read.
Okay.... all of that is well and good, but will his niche target market buy his collection? Women may make such comments in passing but when they read it up on a billboard no matter how spoilt the woman is, she would still think that it is ridiculous in writing. I am very curious to know, if this campaign has just created word of mouth and talk around the brand or will the sales figures actually show that the campaign SOLD.
The campaign is slick, eye catching and a pleasant few miles away from busy billboards with models and flowing dupattas and prints that have become so commonplace. Asim Jofa seems to know how to get people's attention. Only difference in this campaign is, it does so without making him liable to international law suits ... unlike his last one. Job well done RED and best of luck to Asim Jofa on luring the glitteratti we all know and love so much!
It's a pathetic add campaign from an unknown brand. No one wants to buy his Rs 6000 lawn suit. Lets see how long the company lasts. i say max 2 more years. then no more JOFA, if they keep up this attitude and ignore the masses.
From an advertising point of view, this campaign is a total clutter-breaker. It's memorable. It's got people talking. People spend $100,000 on Haute Couture..... if some people like vanity, let them be. Live and let live.
Cheers Jofa & Manghi!
This article failed to mention Asim JOFA's social media presence...I think his facebook page has like around 400,000 followers or something.
Asim JOFA is the industry leader not only launching his lawn in timely fashion but also coming off with the most creative ad campaign in this lawn war...people who get it love it and the rest will hate....Asim JOFA a jewelry designer turn fashion designer, claiming a market share in only a matter of years...says a lot about Mr. JOFA .a.k.a Mr. Perfectionist
Haters gonna hate. I loved the campaign, it was different and said what every women feel. Every woman wants to feel special, every woman is a princess. And I'm not surprised that all the crappy comments this campaign has received are all from guys. Tell you what men, shame on you that two other men realize what it takes to understand a woman and all you boys can do is cry about it. Good job to Red and Asim and Mangzi!
Alright, just saw all the ads and to be honest, before reading the article, I was already intrigued. I'm an avid buyer of lawn and in the media myself, and whether its negative or positive press, as long as its press, nothing else matters.
The billboards tell the truth like it is, women do think that way, as much as many are scared of admitting it.
I particularly like the idea of not using a model's face because to be honest, a close-up of a pretty face with too much makeup with only a smidgeon of the actual product showing on the massive billboard is ludicrous!
This is eye-catching, subtlely sultry and very different. Finally, international humour and cleverness is being introduced to the cheesy ad world of Pakistan!
All i can say is that many many more people now know about Asim Jofa than before this campaign was launched. That means the campaign has achieved the best possible result. As far as the reasoning behind the campaign goes, from a branding point of view it totally works. I may have chosen silhouettes of a more pakistani flavor, however that's an execution issue rather than a fundamental flaw in the campaign. Good work Manghi!
whatever it is... I like the ads....
when you have s??t load of money you can waste it any way you want, it would have been prudent if this asim jofa hired a better agency and decreased few billboards. from every angle this is going no where each board is contradicting other. creation of confused mind and Mr Manghi seems to be one still couldnt come to terms with his village background and new found commercial glamourous sensational life. thinks most of people are spoilt childs as these are kinds in his circle.
and i am sorry to say it didnt get people talking, and still what they are talking is very important because you are trying to position a brand (specially when its new) and there is something called negative marketing.
Its different and eye catching, so it achieves most of its purpose. The woman they show is one every woman would secretly like to be. Again a great promotional line, but then this is my view.
I can't believe 1. someone wasted enough time to write this article, 2. anyone is arguing that this ad campaign is something a 13 year old couldn't do.
“Honestly, being Asim Jofa, I eat at regular restaurants. I eat at fancy restaurants in New York but I also eat here at, say, Mcdonalds.” Umm and who are you again?
Fully agree with "Just Someone"! Unfortunately in PK the fundamentals are upside down. In US nobody cares what you wear but who wears means. In PK I have noticed that people are very shallow & only impresses others either with their ill gotten wealth or designer clothes where they do not even remove the tags. I find it very cheap & in fact funny! They are living in Cuckoo world.
Nicely written. It's imperative as an entrepreuner to know who your target audience is and design the advertising campaign around it. That's what Asim Jofa/Manghi have done and if it comes at a cost of probably, not being hundered percent politically correct, then be it.
sadly, most people in pakistan who have a lot of money have no style. when i was back home in 2002, i noticed people would show off their money by inverting the tags on their shirts to show the name of the designer they were wearing. this was incredibly pathetic for me to see because i am a poor student in the US and i wear more high end stuff than most rich in pakistan without giving a lick to what i wear or showing it off. i buy good stuff because it lasts longer and not really for any other reason. one thing i like about the west is that MOST people here dont respect you just because you have money or fancy things, they respect you for your achievements and accomplishments. Hopefully Pakistanis can become like that someday as well