Advertising and media industry in Pakistan

As compared to yesteryears, television in Pakistan has grown tremendously. The proliferation of satellite channels and cable TV networks, has made it possible for a large number of Pakistanis to have access to information around the world which had hitherto remained inaccessible. The number of TV channels is expected to grow further in the coming months/years as many channels are waiting in the wings to enter this thriving field.
As per latest research by Gallup, around 78% of the total urban population watches television, out of which 13% are occasional viewers and 65% are regular ie people who watch TV at least 4 days a week. Owing to this tremendous growth, it is now considered an even more effective medium in terms of its Reach and Impact.
Total TV viewership in rural Market is 49%. In terms of rural areas with electricity, it is 53% and only 9% viewership in the non-electrified rural areas.
COMBINED CABLE & SATELLITE (C&S) VIEWERSHIP IS CURRENTLY ESTIMATED AT:
-- Urban : 53%
-- Rural: 13%
PAKISTAN TELEVISION CORPORATION (PTV):
Pakistan entered into Television Broadcasting age with a small pilot TV Station established at Lahore from where transmission was first beamed in Black & White with effect from 26 November 1964.
Television centres were established in Karachi and Rawalpindi/Islamabad in 1967 and in Peshawar and Quetta in 1974. While introducing the sophisticated branch of the electronic media in the country, the broad perspective kept in mind was to inform and educate the people through wholesome entertainment and to inculcate in them a greater awareness of their own history, heritage, current problems and development as well as knowledge of the world at large.
AAJ TV
AAJ TV is the logical progression of the Business Recorder mission to dispense unadulterated information through easily accessible mediums. Extensive planning, spanning over 2 years, has gone into perfecting the organisations operations. AAJ TV is the only digital satellite channel to have an Earth Station in Pakistan that broadcasts directly to the AsiaSat satellite with a footprint of over 60 countries.
AAJ TV caters to all tastes by providing three well-defined programming blocks in the form of News, Current Affairs and Entertainment. Building on the immaculate news reporting experience of the Business Recorder, AAJ TV provides round the clock news coverage from around the world in collaboration with its partner news sources in more than 100 countries.
Combining superior news reporting with unmatched analytical strength provided by the most respected social and political commentators in Pakistan accounts for in depth and precise Current Affairs programs. On the Entertainment front, industry veterans are heading the teams and using one of the best and most well equipped production facilities in the country to create ground breaking programs starring the best known faces in television.
ARY DIGITAL:
ARY Digital was launched the United Kingdom to cater to the rising demand of value-based family entertainment for the Sub-continental viewers residing in the European world. ARY Digital has provided viewers programming for every member of the household; cartoons for children, music, fashion and new-age shows for teenagers, game shows, dramas, sitcoms and live shows on issues regarding women, news and current affairs programs, and pulsating ICC cricket tournaments and other sporting events, now captivating over a quarter of a million viewers across Europe.
INDUS TV:
The Indus Media Group owns and operates the Indus TV Network, Pakistan's first independent satellite channel. The network was inaugurated at the turn of the century with the launch of Indus Vision. The overwhelming response from our audience brought about Indus Music in quick succession. The third launch was Indus News, the premier 24-hour independent Pakistani News channel. The recently launched Indus Plus is the fourth channel showcasing the role of women in our society.
GEO TV:
The channel which began its test transmission on August 14, 2002 gave its audience the first whiff of independence. It arrived on the scene at a time of transition. GEO became a catalyst and the barren and overbearing landscape of yesteryear was transformed beyond recognition, its extraordinary news coverage, and current affairs programs, made it a hit amongst the masses, and its innovative talk shows gave it a further boost.
HUM TV:
HUM TV is the first brand of Eye Television Network Limited. It is an exclusive entertainment channel. The content covers the entire family with special focus on females. Being a pure entertainment channels excludes news and current affairs from the programming mix. The cornerstones of the programming are Soaps, Dramas and Game Shows.
OTHER SATELLITE CHANNELS:
Star plus remains the favourite channel for women around the country owing to its several famous soaps and channels like HBO, CNBC, and CARTOON NETWORK have also started their operations in Pakistan. Other than these APNA, KTN, Sindh TV and AVT Khyber are new channels on the block to capture the masses offering new and innovative programs and glamorous dramas and soaps.
Newspapers or Print media still has strong influence over the common man. The reason may be because it carries more news in a smaller space and the convenience of reading it at a time and place of one's own choice. Another reason of its influence is the lack of state control over the print media content in Pakistan.
Print media is considered more worthy and credible source of information in Pakistan as compared to TV which until recently had been in tight government control.
As compared to last year, there has hardly been an arrival of a significant publication in this industry, however, its importance remains the same. Despite the fact that the country has a low literacy rate as compared to other countries, the advertising spend in the print media remains at par with international standards. This shows the importance advertisers accord to the print media and how it helps in selling new ideas and creating awareness and hence generating demand for the products.
With over 173 registered publications nation-wide it is growing constantly and becoming more specialised in the kind of news it offers. The industry is getting more specific, liberal and flexible in terms of printing innovative and un-conventional advertisements and editorial content.
However two major threats lie for the newspapers; the threat of flourishing outdoor industry and BTL activities. The latter, however, can be controlled and poses no major threat to the newspaper industry. The major threat that has surfaced is the mushroom growth of satellite channels, particularly the specialised news channels that are quicker in terms of providing breaking news and live coverage of important events.
There has been a tremendous improvement in the quality of advertisements being placed in the print media which has necessitated and encouraged the industry to improve its technology level and produce quality output.
Cinema has traditionally existed as a very undervalued medium in Pakistan. During the 1950's and 1960's it was considered as a source of entertainment by middle-class and low-income households. The medium lost its attractiveness once television consolidated its position in the market during the late 1960s and early 1970s. the arrival of VCRs also proved to be a major disincentive to cinema-goers.
Inadequate investment in infrastructure, equipment, talent creation as well as production values compromised the quality of cinema. On the other hand, the fear of the censorship code and its inconsistent application left little encouragement for new and more enterprising individuals or groups to venture into the world of cinema.
As time passed, conditions deteriorated inside the theatres as well as outside, which in turn discouraged families from going to cinema-houses. Hence only the lowest socio-economic classes continued to patronize cinemas. Consequently, investors were discouraged and high-rise apartments, office blocks or wedding halls replaced many cinemas.
The charm of viewing firms shot on 35mm, on a large screen with stereo sound is however quite unique. Perhaps that is why, Cinema is staging a comeback, albeit in a very limited manner in the metros.
In smaller towns and in suburban areas, cinema still is a popular medium particularly among lower income males looking for low-cost entertainment. Local as well as regional language movies generate attention to this "category of customers". Cigarette companies that are faced with restrictions on TV advertising, consequently have a significant presence in Cinema advertising. For a few other widely distributed FMCGs as well, such as soaps or tea, cinema remains a viable medium.
Gallup/BRB 1998, media habits survey estimates cinema viewership at 12%.
In the last few years, Outdoor media has made its presence felt in two divergent ways. While on the one hand some visible improvement is seen in the quality, variety and image value of these signs, on the other, some problems of the past have continued to nag the advertisers as well as members who constitute the industry.
Innovation and technology has made this medium reach another level in the past couple of years. Substantially heavy spending is done on the outdoor advertising and new ideas and creativity is coming up with every new billboard. Transit advertising has seen a tremendous growth which has turned out to be a really good support medium. New locations are being discovered and because of the development in road network and construction of flyovers the advertisers have found newer sites and opportunities to promote their message in a more effective manner.
There is growing awareness among advertisers about the role of Outdoor in the overall media mix, and the introduction of innovative technology is clearly helping the process. The better Outdoor companies now back their sales presentations with basic research data and a fair amount of detail in terms of location, traffic count, competitive placements and visibility. Consequently, there has been a healthy growth in the market, particularly in value terms, and a more professional basis for competition has been created. It is estimated that the total spend on this medium leaves it with an 11 - 12% share of the pie. New and more innovative ideas are becoming increasingly conspicuous. Large Formats (LFs) continue to remain in vogue and are placed in strategic locations in major cities. There has also been a spurt in the growth of new Small Format signs (SFs).
New vertical signs or Pylons are appearing at traffic signals and in selected commercial and business districts. The new technology covering material and design features has added to richness, quality and visibility of these signs.
Despite such positive developments there is still a need to resolve the taxation issues as well as provide clear guidelines with regard to locations, sizes and placement standards for Outdoor. The interest of the advertisers and the industry has to be protected. Haphazard sprouting of billboards that block each other from view and mar the environment must be disallowed.
The city of Karachi has been divided in to 5 zones. Guidelines with regard to the kind and size of billboards that may be erected have been clearly specified, and the zones where either greater restrictions apply or billboards just cannot be installed are specified.
Substantial investments are being made by a number of local companies and JVs to elevate industry standards in terms of materials and organisational skills. By its very nature, this industry calls for upfront investment which is forthcoming. Care should be taken at the level of the investors and the government that fledgling industry is strengthened on solid lines.
Until very recently, for most advertisers in Pakistan, media planning had been but a leap of faith. These advertisers spent millions of rupees on advertising simply on the basis of their ad agency's recommendations or "educated" guesses on the part of brand management.
That kind of Media Planning perhaps worked for some. It is only of late however, that questions have been raised seriously about the need to measure media effectiveness and apply measurement tools in earnest. Outside of Pakistan, in the developed markets, advertising and media agencies had been using such tools rather routinely.
The arrival of Media Houses such as Mindshare, Pak Mediacom or Matrix in the last eight to nine years has made quite a bit of a difference. Research has assumed greater significance in media planning, and more and more research companies now offer services in media monitoring and effectiveness measurements, at least for the electronic media. Normal ad testing for validation of copy or concepts has been practised in the larger agencies for many years now.
Companies like Gallup / BRB and Aftab Associates soon made a name in the market for Media related research. Other better-known research companies like Oasis International and MRL also turned their attention to Media research.
Tele-Track an "ad-monitoring" company which was established by Tele Biz fulfilled the market need for up-to-date information about the productivity of advertisements in the Print and Electronic media and continued as a credible source of information providing competitor-tracking studies, SOV estimates, transmission profiles, top advertisers ratings, TV advertising audit service, press monitoring, ad-analysis and various customised AD-EX reports.
However, Gallup software remains the software of choice for program ratings on TV, which is an essential input in GRP (Gross Rating Points) calculations, the first indicator of value used by professional media schedulers.
Media houses use Gallup ratings and other forms of qualitative and quantitative research, some proprietary, to supplement Gallup. Agencies like Orient McCann-Erickson, on the other hand, use Pulse, which is a McCann proprietary tool for consumer insights, and also have access to other more sophisticated, media specific researches and planning tools.
It was in 1998 that the Pakistan Advertisers' Society (PAS), a body representing advertisers across Pakistan, commissioned two syndicated "baseline" studies - an Establishment Survey covering 20,000 urban households which provided the first credible basis for standardised socio-economic Classification, developed in the private sector. The Media Habits Study that tagged along with it covered 40,000 urban respondents and provided a detailed overview of media habits. Since then however, the Media Study has not been updated.
In Mid-2003, PAS achieved another landmark with the completion of Rural Establishment Survey / Media Habits study, based on "12,000 interviews in more than 6000 households in 500 selected villages across Pakistan". Technical support has been provided to the project by the LUMS faculty, ESOMAR and AC Nielsen's regional office in Cyprus. The report is now available at a price of Rs 300,000 for members and Rs 350,000 for non-members.
MEDIA PLANNING:
The objective of Media Planning is to ensure that every rupee that an advertiser spends on media carries the advertiser's message to the right consumers (or customers) in the most cost effective manner and brings about the desired behavioural change. A media planner's success consequently depends on his knowledge and understanding of consumers and markets, media consumption patterns, media options in terms of programming, timings and cost, as well as his ability to fit his media schedule within these parameters.
That is why an astute media planner is constantly in search of new and more efficient means of meeting customers' objectives. Whether that involves using radio to break out of the clutter on TV, getting on the billboard to generate "instant" awareness or recommending a series of tactical campaigns in the face of a recession is immaterial. It is the prudent media planner who knows to work with the available media resources to achieve results for the advertiser in terms of sales and market share.
To match media and markets, a clearer definition of the target market is key. Target market definition that is based on demographics alone can only be half as representative of the truth. That is why the more "on the ball" brand manager or researcher routinely incorporates psychographics in the definition of the target market.
By intelligently using syndicated or off-the-shelf research, as well as constantly updating information on program ratings and consumer trends a good media planning outfit can devise the optimum media plan to suit a client's needs and budget. Orient McCann-Erickson uses in-house proprietary research called Pulse to supplement the information generated by formal research, to get specific insights and fine-tune the planning process.
Media houses such as Mindshare or Pak Mediacom as well as integrated service agencies subscribe to Gallup Software for their media planning.
The dependence of Marketing on sound Media Planning needs little emphasis. As a matter of fact, media planning specialists are increasingly being considered a part of the brand marketing team and "co-custodian" of the brand, and partake in the collective exercise of delivering tangible benefits to clients and consumers of goods and services.
MEDIA HABITS:
The Establishment Survey conducted by Aftab Associates for the Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) in 1999, provides the first judicious basis for classifying the population from a commercial perspective. The Survey classifies Urban households (the Rural market was not covered in that study) not on the traditional basis of income, which was often wrongly assessed, but by taking into account the education of the head of household / housewife, and ownership of durables - factors which better reflect consumption behaviour and lifestyles.
THE SEVEN DISTINCT SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSES OUTLINED IN THE PAS STUDY ARE SUMMARIZED BELOW:
A1: This class is the most educated and affluent in Pakistan. Chief bread-winners in this class are professionals, businessmen and senior officials. This class is the heaviest consumer of packaged goods and media.
A2: Majority of the bread-winners in this class is employed. Penetration of all brown and white goods (appliances) is high. Bank account ownership of chief bread-winners and housewives is relatively higher than in the lower SECs.
B: This class exhibits some of the characteristics of an upper middle class. Majority of the chief bread-winners range from primary to post graduate in terms of education. Every 3 out of 10 housewives are illiterate.
C: In this class the chief bread-winners of 6 out of 10 households is a small shopkeeper. Education of the chief bread-winners ranges from primary to post graduate. Every 3 out of 10 housewives is illiterate.
D: This is the lower middle class of urban Pakistan where the consumption of packaged edibles and FMCGs is moderate.
E1: This class owns very basic durables such as black and white television set, bicycles, sewing machines, etc.
E2: This is the largest class of urban Pakistan where the bread-winners are mostly illiterate, unskilled or skilled workers with a maximum of five years of education. Three quarters of the housewives in this class are absolutely illiterate. On an overall basis television viewership is significantly higher in the upper and upper middle socio-economic strata. About 40% of the individuals in the class E2 do not watch television while about 30% of the individuals in E1 and 22% of the people in D do not watch TV.
PLACE OF WATCHING TV:
The place of watching TV is mostly at home. Viewership at relatives' friends' or neighbours' place or hotels and restaurants is prevalent largely in the lower socio economic classes.
FREQUENCY OF WATCHING TV:
Frequency of watching TV in terms of numbers of days is higher in the upper most socio economic stratum of A due to higher penetration of satellite TV, dish and decoders.
DURATION OF VIEWERSHIP:
The daily duration of watching TV in hours is directly proportional to the Socio economic class. Higher the SEC higher the duration of watching TV.
TIMING OF VIEWING:
Viewership of all channels starts increasing from 5 pm and peaks at 8-9 pm.