Warid's launch of LTE

Warid now has a place with the pack. A week ago the telecom operator, which has seen a decrease in customers, advertised the business dispatch of its own image of cutting edge information administrations, called Long Term Evolution (LTE). Be that as it may hold up, isn't LTE a 4g variation? That being said, we should not become mixed up in the names here, for LTE and 4g could mean distinctive things in diverse markets. How about we simply say that Warid's LTE will rival Zong's 4g administrations. 

In the event that the LTE administration, apparently on offer now in six big cities, gives a client encounter that is equivalent to or better than Zong's 4g, clearly numerous among Warid's customers  in major Punjab urban communities will be more than happy. A large portion of them have some way or another stayed with the last-positioned telco business, for most recent information demonstrate pretty much 5 percent of the 13 million June-end customers left warid as of November-end. 

Review that Warid did not participate in the 3g/4g closeout held in the middle of 2014. Warid folks would have individuals accept that their no-play was a key play. Yet it appeared that tight funds were a main consideration in those days, for simply a year prior the Abu Dhabi Group (ADG), Warid's supporter, had unsuccessfully set up the disturbed company available to be purchased. It remains a secret with reference to what changed in the middle of then and now that the backer has apparently chosen to confer substantial value into the Lahore-based telco. 

Beside that puzzle, inquiries are waiting as to Warid's lawful standing, operational limit, and money related quality to ideally serve its potential LTE supporters and its current 2g clients in the meantime. 

In the first place up is whether Warid got the gifts of the telecom guard dog, the PTA, before showcasing LTE. PTA has been noiseless on this of late. An organization source, who would not like to be named, told BR Research that Warid Telecom had met all the PTA's guidelines/Qos benchmarks for LTE and had fulfilled the controller on quality affirmation. An authority administration beginning letter was issued just weeks back. 

It is not promptly clear whether Warid has approved the same 4g/LTE KPI's and QoS prerequisites as Zong, the sole 4g administrator, did in May on permit honor given by PTA. PTA must make open the basic execution prerequisites, for example, association setup achievement rate, information throughput (information rate or speed), and sign quality, other than conventional voice and SMS execution parameters. 

Shouldn't we think about the current administration? Some telecom masters keep up that running an alternate, new administration (LTE) on the current range may bargain Warid's current administration (2g/Voice). Has Warid readied for such an outcome? The source said that Warid would not bargain on its voice quality and that Ericsson, a top worldwide ICT merchant, will be actualizing "re-cultivating", the strategy utilized for the arrangement. 

In any case utilization of re-cultivating infers that Warid is probably going to need similarly more cell destinations in an offered region to have the capacity to give ideal LTE encounter alongside essential network benefits on the current system. That will duplicate venture needs by a request of greatness. Ostensibly, Warid's $500 million, five-year plan for LTE rollout and existing system change sounds goal-oriented for an organization which, in the later past, was on the rack yet had no takers at home or abroad. 

At last, in what capacity will rest of the business members react? How sound is Warid's legitimate position at this time versus its LTE dispatch? Four administrators have procured devoted and lavish licenses to dispatch 3g/4g administrations and are as of now genuinely contributed. They may not prefer a cleaned up administrator all of a sudden rise as a contender, and that, as well, through bypassing the standard process and using precisely zero rupee on getting another permit. Warid is unyielding that since it has an engineering nonpartisan permit gained in 2004, that is everything it needs to be legitimately sound for its LTE dispatch. The administrator sounds sure – when its all said and done, none of the four administrators has opened up to the world or lawful about his dissatisfaction in this way. Case is to be sure conceivable yet appears unlikely at this time. Thus, for the time being, Warid is back in the ring. Whether it will survive this round is an alternate inquiry!

How to be an informed consumer?

Being an informed consumer means that you have enough knowledge about every product that you use. An informed consumer makes informed decisions about buying products/services. Mostly we gather information and research a lot while spending our money on expensive things like Car, Mobile Phone, House but we don't even have time to think about the advantages and disadvantages of the food products we daily buy and use. Similarly many other cheap products are not that much researched. Unfortunately, many businesses try to use the lack of consumer awareness as an opportunity and they sell us the products/services that have negative effect on individual and society.
Being an informed consumer is not a rocket science. In the age of internet and information technology anyone can gather insights about every product. For example if you drink beverages (Coke, Pepsi etc) just be aware of the positive and negative effects of such products.

Advertisers will always try to attract you towards their product but your information can beat the unethical business practitioners.

 Here are few simple steps to follow to be an informed consumer:

1. Refrain from impulse buying. Think before you make any purchase, especially big ticket items. Stick to your budget whenever you shop to keep close track of your spending. Avoid situations where you feel pressured into veering away from rational purchase behaviors. It may even be necessary to avoid shopping trips with your credit card-happy friends.
2. Consider more than one factor when purchasing products. Don't let one great feature cloud your judgment. For example, while price is an important factor, low price alone shouldn't lure you into an inappropriate purchase decision. Important factors such as brand quality, and your individual usage intentions should be taken into account whenever making purchase decisions. Even a "cheap" item needs to have an established purpose before it's purchased.
3. Read the fine print on purchase agreements. Stay informed of current rates and restrictions by paying attention to the details. Failure to do so may leave you with limited warranties and skyrocketing interest rates. Never enter into any contract without a full understanding of all purchase implications. Some manufacturers have strict rules regarding returns time limits.
4. Pay attention to pricing patterns and trends. Since consumer demand often fuels higher prices, avoid buying when product demand is still high. Waiting a few months can save you money and give you time to decide if the purchase is a good deal for you. Take advantage of special incentives such as annual tax free savings weekends and end-of-season clearance sales.
5. Deal with responsible lenders and businesses. Making purchases from reputable establishments could save headaches in the long term. Many consumers are shocked to find the products/services to be fake. 

6. Always ensure that raw materials/ingredients of product has no hazard. This happens mostly in the food sector that we eat unhealthy things and we don't even know what we exactly ate. Your health is the most important thing you are blessed with so never eat/use any food/drink or a medicine without ensuring that it has no side effects. Food products and drinks appear to be very delicious and healthy but without proper knowledge you can destroy your health.

7. Never base your purchase decisions on the information provided by advertisements. The job of marketers is to sell and they can use any means to attract you, so always rely on the research. 

Analysis of Fruiten Junior TVC "Yeh Bachon ka Khel Hai"

Recently CitroPak launched its ad campaign for "Fruitien Junior". Young children are targeted by this brand and this ad beautifully covers them. The ad raises a voice towards a very important social issue of our society.

Before discussing it lets watch the TVC Video:

Fruitien Junior launch TVC from Ahmed Ali on Vimeo.

Career Planning in Our Society
This ad brilliantly covers the social aspect of career planning in our society. When children are young, their careers are decided by family(mostly by parents) instead of asking the child about his/her interests. In our society, being a Doctor/Engineer is thought to be respectable profession and other fields of arts and social sciences are not given their due respect/importance.

Theme: 
 In this ad, the music and colors shown are according to the taste of their target audience. The soundtrack is cheery and funny which gives the theme of happiness. It focuses on enhancing the mood of the audience.
This Juice is said to have no preservatives and flavours but be careful while consuming juices because who knows there might any health damaging ingredient.

P.S: Dont be fooled by any ad and be an informed consumer.

Root Cause of Unethical Business & Marketing Practices in Pakistan

Recently Govt. of Pakistan announced a big cut in the prices of petroleum products. Consumers felt a sense of relief but to their surprise, the petrol pumps remain closed in various parts of Punjab thus increasing the trouble of Pakistani consumers.
 So in this case whose responsibility was it to ensure the supply of petrol? Obviously everyone will say that Govt. is responsible but to be specific which department of the state is responsible for this? There's a regulatory authority called Ogra responsible for this matter. This department has the authority to regulate proper supply, pricing and other matters of the petroleum industry.
                           Similarly for the regulation of electronic media there's a regulatory called PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority). For the regulation of educational standard, HEC is responsible. For the regulation of corporations there is a regulatory called Competition Commission of Pakistan. Several other regulators are present which are playing very little role to eradicate unethical practices.
 Reasons behind unethical business practices

•  Inefficiency and corruption of regulatory authorities
•  Lack of Consumer Awareness
• Profit Maximization 
• Increased Competition
• Lack of moral values in the most of the individuals in the society

                   Another major factor is the lack of consumer awareness in Pakistan. Consumers are mostly unaware of the raw materials and ingredients used by the businesses especially in food sector. Businesses related to food use dangerous ingredients but consumers don't pay attention to it.

        Another factor behind such practices is that as a nation, most of us compromise our ethics, moral values for the sake of money. Due to increased competition in the corporate world and due to the uprise of information technology, consumers have a lot of choices before making a purchase decision. So corporations are using unethical practices to cut costs, to maximize their profits. Govt. authorities are full of corruption.
Everyone is so busy in maximizing individual profits that no one thinks of the whole society. I am not ignorant of the fact that without business our economy will not prosper but if we want to develop our country and bring change in the country we need to put ethics before money. We should give proper attention to the moral grooming of our young generation and we should inculcate a sense of responsibility and ethics in our social circle. Change starts from the individual level and it will take time.

Purpose of this blog

The aim and purpose of this blog is to discuss marketing and business environment in Pakistan. Marketing campaigns will be analyzed on the basis of ethical standards. It will present a critic on the ethical standards employed by the marketers.

Consumer awareness needs to be increased as there are a lot of companies indulged in unethical marketing standards in Pakistan.
So guys stay tuned to this blog