Sarocsh Ahmed is the CEO of Symmetry Group, the leading Digital Media Agency Group of the country. Prior to his elevation from being CFO of the Company to his current office he was associated with the Banking Industry working with some of the leading local and multinational institutions operating in Pakistan.
BR Research: Briefly tell us about Symmetry Group; the structure and scope of this business?
Sarocsh Ahmed: Symmetry Group is engaged in the business of digital media and advertising. The Group comprises three agencies; Symmetry Digital, Creative Jin and Iris Digital. All three firms are 360 degree full service digital media and marketing agencies.
We started off in 2003 with Symmetry Digital. The other two firms were added in later years to meet the growth requirements of the business and increasing needs of the industry. The companies are all separately staffed and maintain their own management, business operations and clientele.
At the moment the Group companies are providing services to various major advertisers of the country including corporates from various industry verticals including telecom, banking & finance, FMCG, food & beverage & oil & gas sectors.
BRR: Tell us about the evolution of the digital media industry
SA: The industry is still in a nascent stage. Our firm was the first company in Pakistan to take a marketing campaign online back in 2003 when we took a real estate firm to the website of a local English newspaper. The first major boost for the industry was witnessed around 2006 when Telenor Pakistan launched its first online marketing campaign with us. To date, the telcos have remained the major drivers for this industry.
Since 2010, the fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers (FMCGs) have been showing resolve to enter the foray and start spending on digital media in the right manner. But they are still in the process of establishing internal guidelines and procedures for this purpose.
In 2012, many companies like Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever Pakistan, Silk Bank and Burj Bank floated their RFQs and RFPs, after which they have proceeded to work with various digital media firms. We expect 2013 to be the year when FMCGs really come to the fore and roll out major digital marketing efforts with a reasonable inclination from the financial sector as well.
Lack of adequate knowledge and understanding of the power of digital media is a major limiting factor to the growth of digital media as a tool for advertising in the country. Typically companies refer the matter to firms that handle their traditional media marketing, but even those companies are not entirely familiar with the potential that digital media holds for their marketing pitch. To address this issue, we are now actively pursuing direct linkages with clients that we feel can gain from enhanced digital media presence.
BRR: What initiatives has Symmetry Group undertaken to raise awareness about the uses of digital media?
SA: Developing the requisite human resource is among the most immediate and pressing challenges for this industry. Our own staff is trained in-house or through partnerships that we have forged with prominent firms in the region.
In order to encourage young professionals to pursue a career in this industry, we launched a competition titled "Digital Minds" in 2010. In the contest, university students are invited to develop and submit their digital marketing strategies and plans for various brands. We bring in independent judges to critique the entries and decide the winners of the competition.
In the first Digital Minds Competition, a team from the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Technology (SZABIST) won the first prize, while second and third prizes were won by teams from the College of Business Management (CBM). This year's award went to a team from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). The winners are not only given cash prizes; we also offer them employment and we have recruited fresh graduates from the winning teams.
Another initiative we undertake regularly is focused on existing and potential clients. We conduct digital workshops where representatives and decision makers from different companies are familiarised with digital media. Our team goes to the premises of these companies for 1-3 days and interacts with their whole team so that there is a broad-based learning which adds to the collective wisdom of their team.
In addition to this, we have recently launched our "D-Joint" sessions which aim at bringing together advertising professionals and familiarising them with opportunities in digital media. A session organised towards the end of last year attracted a very hefty turnout and we intend to organise these sessions on a quarterly basis.
BRR: What is the quantum of spending by advertisers on digital media in the country?
SA: Total spending on advertising in the country stood about Rs38 billion in 2012. Of this amount, only about one percent was spent on digital media. We are hopeful that this year, total spending on digital media advertising will reach around 1.5 percent this year. This tally only includes the spending by companies in Pakistan, not the business being generated from international advertisers on Pakistan-based websites or from local spenders targeting international markets.
The telcos are the major spenders in the industry and FMCGs are expected to step up the ante in the ongoing year. Other than that we are expecting business to be generated by some smaller firms, start-ups and emerging companies. But there is still no mentionable shift towards digital media in the country.
The good news is that digital media is the most quantifiable medium. Our clients set key performance indicators for a host of deliverables including the target audience, age bracket, etc. We also run regular surveys to profile the users of different websites, so we can give a very accurate assessment of the people that are frequenting these. For these reasons, we are confident that in due time, the efficacy of digital media will don on marketers.
BRR: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) claims there are over 20 million internet users in the country. What proportion of these users do you consider to be a potential target market?
SA: In our view, the number of internet users claimed by the PTA is over stated. We monitor 10-20 of the most frequently used websites in the country including Facebook, Yahoo!, Cricinfo, etc. Even if we aggregate the number of users visiting each of these sites, without deducting for overlapping users the tally will not exceed 12-15 million users.
Consider the same assertion in a different way. The country's official literacy rate is under 40 percent. That represents the people who can simply read a few sentences, so the number of internet users is surely a fraction of this tally. Also consider that not many people can afford to have personal computers and internet connections.
In our view, reporting the number of internet connections is misleading because this will include those users that have multiple connections. Tracking visits to websites by local users presents a much more accurate view of the number of active internet users in the country.
BRR: Symmetry Group has received international commendations for its performance. Tell us about recent awards that the Group's firms have received.
SA: The UK-based Campaign Magazine showcases the world's most creative and innovative marketing and advertising firms. Campaign awards are among the most coveted prizes in the world of marketing. "Campaign Asia-Pacific South Asia Agency of the Year Awards 2012" is a pageant organised by the Magazine.
This prestigious award ceremony recognises inspired leadership, management excellence, outstanding business performance and overall achievements in the advertising and communications industries in various regions, such as, South Asia, Asia Pacific, Japan/Korea, Australia/New Zealand and more.
Over the past 19 years, they have acknowledged and accredited those who have played a significant role in establishing milestones in their respective fields for the marketing industry.
The latest ceremony was held in Singapore, in December 2012. All the agencies of Symmetry Group; Creative Jin, Iris Digital and Symmetry Digital, had been shortlisted in the category of "Pakistan Digital Agency of the Year 2012". Symmetry Group has done the country proud by returning home as winners and taking the region by storm.
The oldest group agency and the industry pioneer, Symmetry Digital won the "Gold Award". The technologically focused and emerging, Creative Jin won the "Silver Award". Last but not the least, the most innovative of the clan and the newest agency of the group and industry brought home the "Bronze Award".
Symmetry Digital also won the region's "South Asia Digital Media of the Year Award" competing against top agencies from the region.