The Canvas

A few month back, the changing trends in the Pakistani Advertising industry was reported. We talked about how a cultural and image change is taking place all over the market, advertising wise. Similarly, these days too, one can see a lot going on in terms of marketing brands and getting the company image across. In a twist towards maturer advertising, both the companies have come up with decent advertisements this time round.

One example of this Brand War is the one going on Telenor and UFone. Telenor, about 2 weeks ago, revealed a fresher Djuice brand. While they only revamped the look of one of their products, UFone went on to revamp their entire company image. This activity goes along way to show that companies in the booming Telecom market are competing for every single subscriber out there. The recent acquisition of Warid Telecom by SingTel brings in another potential player that might have something to say about how they will sell their products. Coming back to the war between UFone and Telenor, UFone sadly played catchup this time too. Last time it was TalkShawk that came before Baat ban Jaiye. And now this. But the extent to which one player will try to out play the other knows no ends.

UFone on the other hand has been doing some good homework and providing services like UShare and UTopUp. Both of which have been possible after Hauwei came to the rescue. Telenor being a Norwiegian company has a lot of international business experience and expertise. UFone is backed up by Etisalat, and their sugar daddies. Telenor, sadly, came up with a not so potent service in providing Television services to it’s users. How that works, is beyond me. On a small screen, low bandwidth, and high rates, one can hardly ’see the fun.’

Telenor sells itself as a ‘European company’, targeting the snob customer. UFone is the local hero targeting the low income users, partnered with PTCL and some really good decision making. Mobilink is the monopolist amongst the three and relies on it’s years of invaluable market dominance and experience.

Job opportunities and growth seem greener in the Telecom market in Pakistan. This however is not the case in the Aviation industry. One can say that international companies do operate in Pakistan but their business and profits are not benefiting the local market. The way these companies operate in Pakistan is nothing related to Aviation or Aircrafts.

The maximum one company does is setup a small management section, and a sales section, with an even smaller marketing section. No investment in the hardware and equipment as such. With Karachi and Lahore being the only proper international airports, its hardly tough to imagine their interest. Moreover, the services at ground like engineering expertise are only good enough to abet local carriers like PIA, Shaheen, and AirBlue. Some say they are not even worth that, and I agree.

However, both Qatar Airways and Etihad are not slow to pounce upon the summer travel market and announced new fares and travel packages for hot destinations like New York, London, Paris, Geneva, etc. You’ve heard the promos, right?

Both of these companies are fairly determined to take a stake in the local market. The local aviation industry however is dwindling and there seems no interest from Pakistan to acquire other such companies that might help revive the competition. Because there practically is none.

The windfall of foreign investment in Pakistan Telecommunications industry is nothing like we have seen in the past. If only CAA mends it’s ways, and a massive stake in PIA is sold off to some bigger companies and a lot more is done, there might be some slight favorable reshuffling in the Aviation Industry.

For now, all we get to see is high ticket prices, delayed flights, and low quality of service.