Sunday, 17 July 2011

Thinking after Writing?...!

Once I read somewhere while surfing the internet. There was a guy who gave his book to his colleague who belongs to a religious party. The guy told him that the author has changed his opinion related to some issues. His colleague immediately asked, “Does this author write without thinking?”. When I read all this I said, “The author is one of those people who continue to think after writing.” This mentality is a rare commodity in our society. It was an amazing fact for that religious person that a scholar can leave his previous opinion for a better one. 


It is a fact that intellect and wisdom is the greatest blessing of Allah. A person can differentiate between right and wrong paths by using his / her intellect. Quran invites human beings to think again and again. It is possible that a person may conclude something wrong due to lack of information or a mistake in his / her thinking process. In that case, if that person stops thinking further, then what will happen? 


Only the messengers and prophets of the Almighty know the absolute truth. Religious scholars are supposed to understand the message of God and His prophets. If they know that their previous understanding is not correct, they must change their opinion. It is an obligation imposed by their Lord. 

Trust is Golden..!

With just a few hundred rupees capital, a man from Delhi started a business. He used to buy scraps of cloth which he would sell from door to door. When his business had grown somewhat, he obtained permission to sit on the pavement in front of a shop and sell his merchandise there. 


This freelance cloth-merchant built up a good deal of trust with his wholesaler, whom he impressed with his honesty and fair-dealing. The wholesaler began to grant cloth on credit to the vendor, who always made an effort to settle his debt before the due date. This habit made him even more trustworthy in the eyes of the wholesaler, who granted him more and more cloth on credit. After just a few years, the wholesaler was giving this street vendor Rs. 150,000 (approximately US$ 5000 at that time) worth of cloth on loan, an amount which he would not have given anybody else except on the basis of a considerable cash down-payment. 


Clearly, such a large amount of cloth could not be accommodated on the street. The cloth vendor now required a shop. He bought one, and continued to spiral, and before long he was among the leading cloth-merchants of the old city. It is a mistake to think of money as the greatest asset in life. The greatest asset is trust. On the basis of trust one can buy anything. What one lacks in other departments he can make up for in trust. Trust is an invaluable asset which can buy even more than money....!

Are you killing your family?..!

I got to know that Non-smokers who are exposed to passive smoking in the home have 25 percent increased risk of heart disease and lung cancer. Passive smoking in the home causes 10,700 deaths a year in the UK alone... Parents who have infants at home must refrain from smoking inside the home. More than 17,000 children below the age of 5 years are admitted in the hospital every year for bronchitis and pneumonia, the two major diseases, children suffer due to passive smoking. 


It would be ideal if all the countries become signatories to the WHO’s FCTC (Framework on Convention on Tobacco Control). It ensures that smoking in public is banned. There is a total ban on tobacco advertising and steep increase in taxes of tobacco products. 


We must avoid all these evil practices in order to protect our younger generation. It is strange that in West, there is a great campaign against smoking but they have totally ignored the use of alcohol, which is more harmful for physical, intellectual and moral health of a person than smoking.

The Lesson of Arnold Schwarzenegger..!

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most popular stars ofHollywood. He hails fromAustria. He started his career as a body builder and won several awards. In 1968, he came to theUnited States. In addition to body building, he wanted to get a chance to work in movies as an actor. In 1970, he worked in a movie “Hercules inNew York”. He became famous due to his movie “The Terminator” released in 1984.
After his extra-ordinary achievements in the film industry, he started his career as a politician. He was also successful in this area. A film hero became a political hero. In 2003, he became the Governor of California.
AboutArnold, it was published in newspapers that he wanted driving license for a motor bike. He was successful in getting that license but he had to pass various practical and written exams to get it.
This is amazing news for the people of the third world. Our governors do not need any license. Even if they do require one, the head of the respective department will bring that license to him. The matter is not limited to the driving license; there is no law in our countries for the ruling class.
No nation in this world can progress without the rule of law. Rule of law means that all government decisions will be made on the basis of certain principles and procedures, not on the basis of the status of concerned person. Rule of law means that a weak person will enjoy the status of a powerful person. It is the rule of law which protects a society from all forms of anarchy and disorder. Powerful people are responsible for the disorder. The rule of law limits their powers.
Live nations promote the value of “Rule of Law” from the beginning. If we want to get rid of offense, anarchy and disorder in our societies, we must have to promote the value of “Rule of Law”. It is not possible to attain peace and justice without it....!

Twitter Registers Over 200 Million Accounts And Scores 200 Million Tweets Per Day..!

Today, Twitter has reached over 200 million registered accounts, who posts 200 million tweets per day. Amazed? No? How about if you read that Twitter now delivers 350 billion tweets each day? *Whistles*. Well, an infographic shared after the break gives you some more mind-boggling details of the Twitter platform from the beginning (2006) up til now (2011). 


The story of twitter is given in a form of picture. I got it from somewhere and want to share it with you all. Have a look..!


                                          

Democracy in Pakistan...!

Pakistan was created with the power of peoples vote. It will survive on that basis. We have witnessed that many military dictators tried to grab and hold to power but they had to leave after people’s pressure.

It is tragic that elements required in a healthy and flourishing democracy are not present in Pakistan. Among other education, freedom of press, tolerance, freedom of expression and organized political culture based on democratic Party structure are few unavoidable needs.

Unfortunately no political party in Pakistan has a political program to legitimate its being. All of them base their political strategy either on slogans or upon old feudal structure...



Pakistan is marred with dynastic political culture. PPP and PML (N) are run by family dynasties. It is too early to say same about MQM. 


Poverty, feudal system, tribal influence, powerful establishment are other factors that have contained positive democratic culture in Pakistan. Apart from these facts it is beyond any doubt that Pakistani people are democratic minded. They have always struggled against military rulers and got rid of them for democracy to take over. It is still to be seen if Pakistani political leaders can also show such unwavering faith in democratic process. Question is if they will seize to look towards other forces than peoples vote? Will they acknowledge that criticism is legitimate of a democratic process but so is right of a winning party to rule for a certain period of time? Will they stop call for fresh elections soon after opposing political party or alliance comes to power? Can they stop blaming each others as traitors once they are not in alliance and as brothers when political benefit is attained? 


Young democracies need painful time and energy to get on track. There is no democratic nation in the world that has not been through this journey. It is vital that all political forces understand this and help people of Pakistan get through these challenging times. In Pakistan democracy is a dream but also a need. Democracy can get this country stronger and prosperous. People of Pakistan genuinely expect their leaders to acknowledge that truth.



Waseem Akhtar and Zulfikar Mirza are Two Sides of Same Coin..!


Waseem Akhtar of MQM said that mujra happens every night in every home of Punjab.
Zulfikar Mirza of PPP said that the mohajirs were hungry and clothless when they arrived in Karachi.
Both MQM and PPP thrive on the ethnic divisions. For PPP, the power-base is the Sindh and they always play the Sindh card to blackmail the establishment to give them the rule. For MQM, the Karachi is the trump card and that is why they start killings when anybody even remotely threaten their supremacy in that city.
Now just because PPP is the in the government and its relations are not good with media, the media gurus are raising hell over the statement of Zulfikar Mirza, which is indeed despicable, but why they are not saying anything uttered  by the Waseem Akhtar against the people of Punjab?
The reason is that media is terrified of the MQM and they want to carry on their business in lucrative city of Karachi and secondly they have animosity towards the PPP. But the truth is that nobody can fool the people of Pakistan. They know the real face of everyone here....!

Karachi issue.. Not gonna settle soon..!

Since the day MQM joined opposition, not even a single day passed having no news related to killings in Karachi. Its an obvious fact that whatever happens in Karachi, MQM has something to do with it. After leaving the government seats in Federal and provincial assemblies, MQM is continuously exerting pressure on PPP by disturbing the situation of city. They want to set an image that without MQM, no other party or government can control Karachi. MQM is been reflected as the necessity of this city. But doing in so hundreds of lifes are wasted. Even those who have nothing to do with any political party or group. The life of an Karachi'ite is not safe. Everyone leaves home on their own risk. This issue is not going to settle until and unless MQM is not brought in confidence by government. Karachi is economic hub of Pakistan. Government has to do with it alot. We all have seen PPP bending infront of MQM many times. And I think you all understand why is that.  

And the lady turns 27...!

She is dashing, she is attractive, she is bold, and she is 27. Well guys you know her very well. She owns us all. Katrina kaif. The actress turned 27 yesterday. How could i read this news today. Bad... i am late. But still.... Happy birthday katty... We all love you. Your career doesn't seems to be ending at your 30th birthday. You rock..! 

China.. Breaking the barriers..!

Its amazing for me to know that China has secured its first top-level post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in recognition of its growing power in the global economy. New IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde appointed Zhu Min to a newly created deputy managing director post. Mr Zhu is a former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China and has been a special adviser to the IMF for the past year. Now what I believe is that Pakistan should leave Americans at a side. Its not a good strategy to have weak relations or enemies at the borders. Our international needs can be fulfilled by China and other different countries with whom we have good relations. There should be uniformness. We are very important for China and we should realize that. Without us China can never be a super power. 

America trapped..!

I visited BBC news site this morning and came to know that war officials are worried about withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan. British Prime minister earlier this month announced the withdrawal of 500 troops. Now the first thing that comes to my mind after reading this news is that America is so worried about this cut down of British troops. They strongly believe that "it would dangerously weaken the remaining forces". Its very obvious that America lost the war here. What do you think? its true because American soldiers are there and due to this continuous withdrawal of International forces from Afghanistan, their lives are getting less secured day bay day. It may create a big problem in their withdrawal.

Olper's... Ramadan.

Ramadan is coming. A month with its own identity way different from others. A month in which I would say the total life routine of a person changes completely. Ramadan brings with it traditional foods, religious congregations, the spirit of unity and the enthusiasm to lend a helping hand. It is probably the most “Happening” month in the Muslim calendar. Hence Olpers has for the last three to four years been probably one of the most proactive brands in Pakistan and has always realized the importance of this month and has been on the forefront of communicating with its consumers, as they say “Out of sight is out of mind” (not always but in this case yes!). Ever since Olpers first Ramadan campaign, people have started expecting that Olpers would come up with a new Ramadan communication each year.  This Ramadan communication has helped Olpers gather some international praise as well. The New York Times published an article titled “Advertisers Seek to Speak to Muslim Consumers” in their August 11th 2010 issue which speaks volumes of the importance to look at Ramadan as an opportunity of getting close to your consumers. 


             Olpers strives to be closer to its consumers and there is no better way to do that then to be a part of their religious and cultural festivities. Each year Olpers looks at Ramadan as an opportunity to set itself apart from all the other brands in its category and last year’s communication can be considered as a job well done.

Saturday, 16 July 2011

Wall Chalking..! It happens only in Karachi.

So here I am, writing a piece on the wall advertisements that we are bound to see on every empty wall in Karachi; residential inclusive.  Is this an effective means of communicating your message, it sure is a cost efficient way with no ‘wall’ tax being imposed yet. I strongly believe that our walls can literally be used to beautify the city with advertisements not just scribbled but creatively written with coloured paints rather than plain black. Wall divisions clearly marked to avoid over-writing/scribbling and portions made for the advertisers based on the space they have occupied. It can’t be that difficult to strategize?


                                                           Top users of the wall for advertisements are our political parties. They don’t need newspapers to spend huge amounts for their events. All they need to do is, select a wall and paint in their invitation for any seminar, conference or jalsa! Moreover, they even announce important party event dates via their wall paintings. Second to these political parties in the effective users of the wall are the Palmists and the Aalims or those who provide social services of bridging the gap between people and their problems. These are extremely common. No matter where you are going, you are bound to come across an advert which talks about some highly spiritual guy who is available to solve your issues, whatever they may be, work related, family related (daughter not getting married, divorce related, child birth issues, to name just a few) or even related to your personal life. With problems come solutions and with solutions comes your peace of mind. What do you need to relax? A nice trip to some farm. Indeed, “farm resorts available for rent” advertisements are next in line. Perfume chowk is an example...



I just have a few open ended questions for all marketers and observers to answer.
  • Can there be any expectations from the wall advertisements?
  • Is there a possibility of a wall tax in the near future?
  • Is there a way to eradicate them completely?
  • Can we have a Karachi/Pakistan Graffiti Association that takes up responsibility of the entire city and paints all the walls with creative artwork?
  • Can we ban all political parties from posting their invites on the walls?

Copy Paste...!

There is not much to say as I always keep an eye on advertisements running on Pakistani media and those on world's media, a friend just revealed that the Jazz Jazba logo is a copied one. How can someone create a brand on a copied concept in the first place? Just highlights how agencies work in Pakistan. This is the Jazz Jazba logo talking about truth, passion and jazba:
And this is the logo for a company called Zagora which was created back in 2005:
I’m just amazed with so much truth, passion and jazba by Mobilink Jazz, its just drooling over everywhere! Such a shame when a brand talks about Jazba and crap on other people’s creativity? Sad! I don’t know if I can call this copyright infringement? Lol… Ok. Never mind.....!
        
                                                                            

Pakistan’s foreign reserves rise to all time high of $18.25B...!

There’s been a flurry of economy related news about Pakistan recently, and I’ve tried to hit the highlights at least. Another positive development is the substantial growth in Pakistan’s foreign reserve position which has now reached an all time historic high of $18.25B. This increase is due to many factors, the two most important being the increase in foreign exchange remittances being sent to the country by Pakistani workers abroad, and the improvement in the import/export gap. That this high has been achieved at a time when global oil prices are relatively steep, is even more expensive. One would imagine that as oil prices ease – which seems to be an almost universal expectation – the rate of growth of the national foreign exchange reserve would accelerate further. The implications of this rise are interesting. In the near-medium term, one would imagine this addresses any fears of weakness in the Pakistani Rs. So for near/medium term investments of foreign moneys into Pakistan, value loss due to a depreciation in the Pak Rs. presents a much reduced risk. Experts believe that the projections for Pakistan’s economy and investment potential in the country over a 5-year time horizon remain stellar. During this time, regional stability is expected to heighten with the announced withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan. The financial burden of the War on Terror is expected to thus diminish within Pakistan and a return to the country’s “natural” GDP growth rate of 6-8% can be counted upon. With the backdrop of rising exports, an officially declared if rather conservative goal of bridging the power gap over a 5-7 year time frame, and rising remittances, the prospects for Pakistan’s economy are sound. Now its very very shocking kind of info to me. Everyday every Pakistani is getting more and more stressed due to financial and economical situation of the country. See... there is a brighter side also. There should be a  good policy to lessen the effect of inflation. We still have good basis to develop...!

REAL Business: CR9 to CR7...!

It has to be said, football is a beautiful game. For a football enthusiast, nothing beats staying up till the early hours of the morning and watching a football game and dancing when your side scores and whining when your team loses. However there has been a lot of money being spent in the game over the past decade and football clubs have changed from just weekend entertainment providers to business hubs. 





Real Madrid completed the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 from Manchester United for a meager sum of $132 Million. Cristiano Ronaldo used to wear the much coveted number seven at Manchester United. When he moved across to Spain, he took the number nine for Real Madrid. The Real Madrid replica kits went on sale and CR9 shirts sold like hot cakes on Christmas. The replica jersey sale fetched Real Madrid millions. Every football fan wanted to have one and the brand CR9 was a hit unlike the club’s performance. According to a media report, 2000 CR9 replica jersies were sold within 2 minutes of the official announcement.

Just a year later, Cristiano Ronaldo took the number seven jersey for Real Madrid leaving the number nine which he wore the previous season. This move further made fans buy the Cristiano Ronaldo number seven replica jersey which would again boost the kit sales.

You never know, the Portuguese might shift to another jersey number in the coming season but for now the ARROGANT SNOB should focus on playing football rather than involving in controversies. Ronaldo is a world class player. He shouldn't be making wrong use of it and spoil his image. I love to see him playing. David Beckham also did the such mistakes and he suffered....!

Superbrands...!

The mid nineties witnessed the first step of Superbrands with the aim of promoting the concept of branding through the illustration of renowned brands and creating awareness about how they evolved and contributed to branding in general...





“A Superbrand has it’s own magic". The familiarity and trust felt by consumers is what makes the brand truly great. It doesn’t matter how big or small the brand is. What does matter, however, is it’s market dominance, longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty and overall market acceptance. Super brands gave birth to another phenomena that is "Brand Consciousness". Brand followers born due to this. It may be shocking for you all that there is super brand council comprising of independent and voluntary panels of experts, using their knowledge and expertise select brands which could be used as examples of best practices. I was amazed to know that....

Super brands in our country Pakistan are: Aquafina’, ‘ARY Digital’, ‘ARY Jewellery’, Nawa-e-Waqt’, ‘GEO’, ‘Gul Ahmed’, ‘Hang Ten’, ‘HBL’, ‘inbox’, ‘Mobilink Indigo’, ‘Jung’, ‘Jazz’, ‘Kolson’, ‘Lays’, ‘LU’, ‘Mountain Dew’, ‘Peek Freans’, ‘PEL’, ‘Pepsi, ‘Radio FM 91’, ‘Shell’, ‘Shield’, ‘Sony Ericsson’ , ‘Soya Supreme’, ‘Soya Supreme’, ‘Stile’, ‘TCS’, ‘Telenor’, ‘The News’,  and ‘TV One’.....! 
Well I am not a brand follower. But I do like the competition among them. And keep reading about the brand stories.

Pakistan’s Population Bomb..!

Amongst the tide of dismal economic data released ahead of thebudget presentation are building the currents of the next crisis that could inundate Pakistan.
While media attention remains fixated – rightly so – on shorter-term problems such as the ever-growing threat of militancy, the cresting polarization of society, a recurring power crisis and an inflation rate that only seems to rise, the greater demographic problem facing the country is too often relegated to the sidelines. While actions taken to address the population explosion in Pakistan may appear less urgent – and will yield results evident only in the long-term – action must be taken now lest the currents building around this crisis crest into a tsunami.
The statistics are sobering, according to a piece in The Express Tribune:
  • At 2.1 percent, Pakistan has the dubious honour of havingSouth Asia’s highest population growth rate.
  • On average, two people died and eight were born every minute in Pakistan in 2010, meaning the country’s population increased by six people every minute of the year, on average.
  • This translates into a growth in the Pakistani population of half a million people in the last year. This would be added to the estimated population of 177.1 million as of July 1st 2010.
The implications of these statistics are both enormous and alarming. While power shortages, inflation and unemployment may be the current fault lines upon which the country’s economy is stumbling, adding this many people to the population every year could stretch even the strongest and most vibrant economy to the max. This issue needs immediate attention. And this need is very strong..!

Cyber Weapons of mass destruction..!

I’m sure over the past year you may have accidentally stumbled across the word Stuxnet, it is technically a simple computer virus that has started infecting Microsoft Windows computers since July 2010, I too heard some reports of the virus, but as usual shrugged it aside as just another scare, little did I worry any any further until I heard Ralph Langner speak about it at TED 2011 Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon. Only recently after reading a blog post by Amit Agarwal who shared an animated documentary on the Stuxnet Virus prepared by ABC1 Australia on Jun 8th 2011, that made me realize the implications of this mere virus to have the devastation power of becoming a Cyber Weapon of Mass Destruction, im not talking sci-fi, this weapon is being used, carried around on hundreds, thousands and millions of USB’s with the potential force of causing a meltdown in any [or possibly a certain series] of nuclear power plant around the globe. Be prepared for this or secure yourselves(PC's)....!  

A global culture to fight extremism...!

I am very fond of watching TED talks. Recently i watched a video of Maajid Nawaz, talking on Extremism. He had a very difficult point to make. In my view his try to convince was good. In fact impressive...! Do have a look on the link below. He is focusing on our(Pakistan's) problems. Its a must watch for you all..!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZwxKPv1CwA