Speaking at the distribution ceremony of Brand Awards 2008 in Karachi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called businessmen the real drivers of the country's economy, hence exhorting them to produce quality products and services so as to help the government achieve its export targets.
At the same time, seizing the opportunity provided by the occasion, he deemed it appropriate also to dwell upon the significance of effective branding in the context of the ongoing global marketing trends and practices with a marked focus on innovation and competitiveness.
In Pakistan, the worth and value of branding in all its dimensions, which remained neglected during the long decades of haphazard process of industrialisation, appears to have been recognised as a sequel to the swelling glut of imported goods in the marketplace all over the country, courtesy smuggling driven Bara bonanza.
However, while successive governments unsuccessfully battled against that trend, smuggled goods in an ever widening range kept making their way all over the markets in cities and towns in mini "baras", notably in Karachi, the nerve centre of the country's trade and commerce. Small wonder, gradually coming out of the shady locations discriminating shoppers started arraying these goods in the upcoming supermarkets.
It was the widespread lure of widely known and other varieties of neat looking and, evidently well-packed foreign branded goods that has resulted in what looks like a revolution in the marketplace. Needless to point out, more and more local manufacturers are falling in line, promoting their branded products too, some of them posing a challenge to their foreign competitors.
It will thus be seen that, belated though it may be, there certainly has been an awakening to the importance of branding. This must be why Premier Gilani noted that in today's world, the economic survival of a nation very much depends on the staying power of its brands, averring that branded products not only ensure a healthy society but also play an important role in ensuring constant progress of the country's economy.
His assertion that stable economies of the developed nations are based on their internationally reputed brands should appeal to reason, beckoning local entrepreneurs to the advanced countries' example. However, there is a great deal more to the success of branded products than meets the eye in their striking appearance in the supermarkets and cash-and-carry chains, as also in the lately developing walk-in stores in various neighbourhoods in Karachi and other cities across the country.
In so far as outer appearance of branded goods goes, by virtue of stupefying technological advancement in printing and packaging, many of small and big stores can be seen stuffed with look-alikes of genuine products. The Prime Minister rightly observed that successful brands not only provide a healthy competition in market, but also export brand equity value internationally.
And in so far as brand equity is concerned, it is largely built on the basis of deep relationships with consumers. These relationships, to say the least, are formed when brands effectively address consumers' functional and emotional needs.
Moreover, the actual strength of a brand's relationship is basically owed to its confidence-inspiring promise. Significantly, the process of developing brand equity enables the entire team to set the long-term direction for the brand, thereby calling for a brand vision. All in all, it will be noted that, as it is, Pakistan remaining deficient in many and varied requirements of competitive manufacturing, needs a multi-dimensional effort to qualify for conceiving a brand vision, for which it should start bracing without any loss of time.