Ever thought what you actually wanna do?

Hey all!!! its been a long time since I've posted stuff (yea right..... as if you've been waiting for it). Anyways.... What with all the entrepreneurial lectures we've been having at the guest speaker sessions, I for one really enjoyed them. One reason: I always wanted to go for entrepreneurial venture.... well when I say "always" I mean ever since I joined this business program :p. And furthermore the Managerial Accounting course is just so inspiring (okay....... Maybe I'm sounding like Umer Toor now. For people who don't know him, He enjoys studying. I mean who in the...... well, anyways) I actually started giving it a lot of consideration for the first time. The other reason: Don't you just wonder how these guys made their passion into a profession. My uncle(a huge cricket fan) always said during a match: "This is the life, they're earning money AND just for playing cricket."

I mean its not necessary that you can only go for entrepreneurship to fulfill your passion. Your passion can also be to join a company or a brand or an organization or anything that made you go "woah!!! that's cool, I wanna do that too". People make it their life ambition to join Apple or P&G or the school/ college/ university that they studied from. I know I would love to teach at the same school no matter how crappy it might be now. The truth is its only we who can decide what we want to do. Remember that canvas that God gave us to paint a masterpiece, the one Sir read to us about in the first class? Well now we wouldn't wanna paint something that we don't like ourselves. So just to end this boring post, how many of you are for entrepreneurship and how many for a profession? AND WHY? tadaaain

Adapted from : The lame diaries of Haider Khan.

I Market, You Market, We Market Market

If you're starting to wonder if this title has anything to do with what I'm about to write on here, you must be kidding me cuz there's nothing I can write that would have anything to do with the title. Anywho..... Did you guys check out, Cristiano Ronaldo was in an advert for Clear For Men Shampoo. I mean as much as I hate the guy, the man has gazillions of fans all over the world. I'm no market analyst, but I'd say this was a pretty...... smart move by the brand. I mean even though I don't like him I would still buy an All Clear the next time out because..... come on..... the guy represents fame, success, money and ahem ahem. I mean really, this guy doesn't just influence Manchester United or Real Madrid (the two clubs he's played for) fans but, football fans in general. So I think my point is pretty clear clear (though I haven't stated any.... stupid me) that Brands use famous celebrities and public icons to associate themselves with...... You know what? I think I saw something like this written in the book, something about Opinion Leaders..... aaaah!!! I'm too lazy to open the book right now, besides it would make this article more boring than its already getting.

Another recent Advert I saw was Kareena Kapoor in the new SONY VAIO commercial. Her new slim shape....... a dream of all the girls we have out here and her skimpy clothes that help her show that. I mean COME ON!!!!! Could she wear any less clothes...... Of course she could, hehehe. Anyway, thats not the point. The point is that, ummm even if she does influence her target market to buy a VAIO, doesn't mean they will. I mean just because I want a Giorgio Armani Suit cuz its the official Formal Wear providers for Chelsea FC, doesn't mean I'll buy one. IT COSTS MORE THAN $1000. So I really don't know what VAIO are playing at. I don't think the teenage girls or the undergrads in India or elsewhere would be able to afford a VAIO.

But now if you look at Garnier. They take Ashwariya Rai and John Abraham to pull out a similar market but I think they'd be at an advantage seeing as most people they actually influence are able to buy Garnier products. And...... what else???? yeah.... a little bit of Pakistani stuff, but right after the T20 World Cup, Pepsi took Shahid Afridi in their Advert. Smart move???? you could say so.

So I'll sign off by pointing one more peculiar thing, I just realized the personalities and brands associated we just mentioned do not really compliment each other at all. You would expect to see Ronaldo in an Advert for a Nike (he already does though) and what Kareena Kapoor have anything to do with laptops or Football Club with Tailored Suits..... but these brands still use these strategies to great effect.

Blog posts

Alright..... I assure you I know nothing about making blog posts, but I notice that the posts being made here get very little....... awww!!! who am I kidding, it gets no feed back at all. I feel the reason is that most of the posts are copy-pasted. Although it might be very...... informative????..... to read good articles, I don't do so. This is because I (like most... I expect) don't enjoy reading very much. But I would much rather enjoy reading views of other pupils about a certain "Marketing related topic". I assure you if I read something the length of the posts that ARE made on here I would actually have something to say about it. But as much as this thing should be "alive".... its actually that "dead".

Now I don't want to keep dragging on about this but I would rather someone comment on this and express his/ hers views about this.

I'd say:

1. Write your posts yourself. If you have some article that you found interesting to read, make sure you attach your opinion about it. That would make people comment on your opinion about the article.

2. Keep em' short. This is something I feel is important. People don't usually read very long stuff if it isn't Harry Potter. ;)

3. I don't have anymore...... if you do, post a comment.

Reference: http://www.iknowthisislame.com/ihadnothingbettertodo.html

Thinking the Thoughts of the Consumer

I accidently wrote it this long. I hate long texts as well but have patience to read it till the end. Something I know is very difficult for me to do.

The way I see it, every marketing strategy follows this principle. Marketeers always try to make their consumer think in a certain way they want. By Market Targeting along with manipulating consumer behavior, these guys make their consumer believe that these brands are the revelation they were waiting for. Take the telecom sector for example. These guys contribute to one of the most dynamic marketing campaigns going on. These clever people apart from djuice(i use djuice :p) and ufone(they have their own thing going on...... we'll talk about that later) are targeting the youth (more specifically the boyfriend/ girlfriend community) because its not my old man who's up at night enjoying some "jazz". Anyhow its working to great effect as these packages are being availed a lot.

BUT what about the other campaigns?

Every advert I see now days, I see how/ what market is the target. Whether they are relating Hajj or Umrah ads with international call rates by making a son ask his mother on the phone: "Maa..... Main kya dua karoon?". or whether its a father hearing his son graduate in a village :O(OMG.... who the hell gives em' these lame ideas?)..... the point is one way or the other, marketeers are trying to make you think that they have what you need. So as long as the consumer opts for the product..... good. BUT here in Pakistan things are different.

Brand Loyalty Screws Ufone


Now, Asians are deemed to be very brand loyal. Actually its very spontaneous. This group might not leave a brand even when there is blatant wrongdoing by it, but they could also drop it without having a reason at all. But in the case of Ufone, things didn't really work out that great. We know Marketing ROI. Do you really think that there has actually been a turn over of the level that Ufone is actually marketing..... na-ah. The adverts now are becoming merely an entertaining commercial. This is how i feel about the adverts. And they should be taking this into consideration because i am a part of a market they are targeting.

Wateen Campaign: "Give the Customer What He Wants"


Now this ad kind of convinces me. I think its not the offer but the way they present it. Unfortunately I can't find the link but hopefully you'd have watched it on the telly. They make me think "Okay.... these guys have less than half the rates in the market, its definitely worth trying."

Now before you start to think that i am receiving some sort of commission from Wateen, I'd like to point out how lousy one of there other advert is. Even though the offer is good but...... well i have a link to that:
Wateen, trying to be kewl

So, point being that marketeers always try to make you to think a way they want you to. So the next time you see an advert just think for a second, what they are putting through your mind.

Reference: http://www.iwrotethisbymyself.com/iknowthiswasastupidthingtodo.html