The digital space in Pakistan is undergoing a tremendous evolution. The next two to three years are going to determine the future. Having headed Starcom Pakistan, Omar Abedin has had his finger on the pulse for quite a while. In light of his experience, he highlights the top 5 trends that are going to shape the future of digital in Pakistan:
- Marketers will develop a better understanding of the digital space. They will try to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape, as much as possible. They will not succeed entirely.
- Marketers will realize that the agency is not their slave / servant / pet to be mistreated at will. They will realize that the agency is the professional, they know stuff about their work that the marketer cannot know, simply because it is their job to know. Hopefully, this will result in a more equal relationship, one based on mutual trust and understanding, that will result in better work.
- Marketers will start taking calculated risks, in their communication, their social spaces, their activations, their media choices.
- Brands will realize the importance of building brand equity and will refocus on this much neglected and misunderstood area. They will reduce the number of shortcuts they take in their work, focus on building real consumer insights, and building strategies based on those insights.
- Owners will start investing more purposefully in marketing, not because they want to, but because they have to. Competition in almost every industry / category will increase exponentially, and brands that are not differentiated will find it impossible to fight solely on price (specially against the Chinese!).
- Digital experimentation will rise and ROI-driven marketing will become the rage as owners / CEOs demand a return on the marketing investment. This brings us back to point #1 above.
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