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2010 has just started and if we take a look around we
live in an entirely different world today as compared to the world
almost a decade ago. One might wonder that what would be the reaction of
those, who never lived to see this wireless cyber age, if somehow manage
to get back to life, they’ll die again instantly of surprise and
amazement. What once used to be shown in super fictitious movies has now
become reality. The world literally transformed over the last few years
and the credit goes entirely to Internet. Not only the developed
counties are entirely dependent on the internet but this statement holds
true for developing nations like us, Pakistan. What once was a luxury
has now become a necessity for success and growth in every walk of life.
Growth of Internet Usage:
Pakistan is a developing nation where political instability and
turmoil has become a norm. Despite all the problems faced by this
nation, its growth in the internet world is staggering and comparable
with the most progressive nation. Given the direction in which the world
is going, this trend will continue and will only accelerate.
According to the Morgan Stanley Report, Pakistan is within the top 5
countries with the highest addition of internet users. From 2006 to
2009, there has been more than 50% addition in the number of internet
users. Though internet penetration is still quite low in our part of the
world as not everyone can afford a computer but internet cafes popped up
like mushrooms everywhere to fill in the void, hence internet is within
everyone’s reach.
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This growing trend can also be witnessed
in the cellular sector in which the number of subscribers is increasing
at an exponential rate. Yes, the boom has definitely reached Pakistan or
in other words this boom became a big bang in Pakistan.
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Advertising in Pakistan:
Once upon a time a great philosopher (no names taken) said,
“legalize it or I’ll advertise it”. Dynamics of marketing and
advertising changed phenomenally over the last few years. From one
national television and a few newspapers, today hundreds of new mode and
mediums of communication are available. Traditional marketing and
advertising has become stale and lack novelty. With a variety of options
and opportunities, the internet has become the unique and innovative
advertising medium. Not only does this medium provide prospects for all
kinds of businesses and their communication, but it also presents a mean
to flaunt the message incorporating creative ingenuity and
distinctiveness.
As the rules clearly state that there are no rules in advertising but
logic has it, a campaign must appeal to the targeted audience and they
should be able to associate with it. With conventional forms of
marketing:
• Message is being delivered to the masses in a static form. They
involve negligible levels of user interaction and not targeted to a
specific audience.
• Not only is the time and cost to market through these mediums is very
high but it is also impossible to measure its effectiveness.
• What’s more is that if any campaigns launched via these mediums raise
negative comments and reaction, it is again costly to react, recall,
revise and re-launch.
Compared to this, the digital medium:
• Provides targeted advertising and any message can be customized
according to the target audience.
• Any campaign can be launched for testing, revised and re-launched in a
matter of days.
• Furthermore, with verifiable and transparent reporting tools, it is
easy to measure the effectiveness and performance of any campaign.
Though internet usage is growing at a very fast rate in Pakistan,
marketers mostly are unaware of the advertising opportunities associated
with this medium. Compared to other nations, we are still lagging in
this domain. Considering the fact that UK online spending has exceeded
spending on traditional advertising mediums, Pakistan is nowhere near
par. With mostly telecom operators taking the lead in this domain, it is
time that organizations take full advantage of this medium as well.
Together with print and television a brand should be activated through
internet. No matter how much we disagree but it is true that frequency
sells and with the changing lifestyle of an average Pakistani, how
ingrained this medium has become in our lives, digital marketing is the
next step which marketers have to take.
If you are interested to make your product into a brand seek our expert
advice, visit
www.strategicalliancez.com for all your online needs.
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