Seminar at Bahria College on "The Impact of Consumer behaviour on marketing development"

By Faraz Siddiqui
May 22 - 28, 2000

The dawn of new millennium has pushed the world into the age of an unprecedented velocity where loads of information travel at supersonic speeds over great distances which has left no sphere of human activity untouched. The cyberspace has also changed the way of doing business where consumer reigns supreme. Today no business, irrespective of its size, can remain indifferent to changing consumer demands. It was in this backdrop a seminar tiltled 'the impact of consumer behaviour and marketing development' was organised by Baharia Institute of Management and Computer Sciences on April 29.

Mr. Raza H. Syed, Chairman Datamation Management Consultancy, shared his views about different aspects regarding marketing and consumer . He said that as an imperfect science social behaviour towards marketing activities was very negative in yesteryears, people took this as social evil which is born for the exploitation of society and was perceived as unproductive. Previously the marketing was simply an act of buying and selling but in today's world it has become a big deal for the welfare and well being of general consumer.Now the numbers of marketing activities like transportation, storage, stocking and standardization are working besides other marketing activities to provide value added products and services to the society. He further said that world experienced supreme changes in the field of business and commerce after second world war, unlike those days now the consumer is considered to be the uncrowned king of market. He further said, another forward step towards globalization is the progressive emergence of regional markets like NAFTA, ASEAN, ECO, SAARC and the major one EU which is striving for the progress of consumers by providing them with value added products globally.

He said that despite having a strong market which offers sizeable oopurtunities Pakistan is lagging far behind in marketing and business activities than the rest of the world. The existing ill directed and unplanned structure is the main detriment to fluorishing business activities. He also attributed lack of latest marketing practises, slow pace of e-commerce, price variations for same products and lack of awareness about quality as some of the other major reasons for slowing down the marketing and business activities in Pakistan. 'We donít follow the sophisticated research techniques to explore and analyse the market for the inherent opportunities, weaknesses, threats and strengths,' he added.

Masood Hashmi, the deputy managing director of Orient McCann Erickson, said that there's change all around us, so the survival depends largely only if the inside rate of change is higher than the pace of change in the outside world. Focusing mainly on the importance of brand equity for the long term success in the market, he said that it is brand equity which sells the product in the market rather than the price. Proper consumer evaluation, he said, is the prerequisite to launch the product in the market which if not done properly would render a product a failure in the market.

Being the head of a prestigious advertising agency Mr. Hashmi observed that most of the advertisements could not effectively get the response because they tend to highlight the product rather than consumer. Developing a brand equity is only possible by establishing a dialogue between a producer and its consumers about their preferences and choices. Running advertisements is not alone good for the success of a products. We should also 'think globally and prove locally' meaning that advertisements should be tailor made to the consumers needs of a concerned region, he added.

Qashif Effendi, Brand Manager Lever Brothers Ltd, traced the trends of consumer tastes and preferences over the years. The corporate world, he said, is moving towards simple lifestyles which has resulted in a new market for easy to handle products. On the other hand, the all pervasive exposure of e-commerce worldwide during last two years and the concept of cyber space has put marketing on globalization highway. Pakistan is also experiencing an escape mentality to move to other countries in search of better jobs and future resulting in ncreased business opportunities in immigration consultancy and services.

Answering the questions, Hashmi highlighted the importance of e-commerce as a business development tool and its adoptation on top priority basis. The advertisement only creates awareness but dialogue with consumers creates brand equity, he added. Answering a question Raza emphasized the need for rapid progress in social development process and also the importance of educating the students and professionals about the latest developments in the international trade and marketing.

Captain Ahmed Zaheer, Director Bahria College, stressed the need to realize the consumer role in today's era of change.