A look at any newspapers will give you this reading. The top half full of screaming headlines of flood, bombs and dengue and the bottom half full of advertisement asking for help from the public. It seems disaster sells. In a time where normal businesses are struggling to meet their obligations advertising has become a luxury few can afford. On the other hand government advertising is rocketing ahead. There is a competition between who occupies bigger space on the print. If President Zardari launches an appeal to the public, Prime Minister Gillani is seen sitting with flood victims and asking for donations. If the Sindh chief minister is asking for peace in Karachi, the Punjab CM is seen conducting fumigation drives to prevent dengue. Is the marketing for non-profit similar to the marketing of profit enterprises? No and yes. When a government or non government organisation advertises, it is more like a public announcement, an appeal or a call to action, while in a commercial organisation the sponsors are highlighting the attractive features of the product or service and inducing a preference of purchase for it. Despite these differences the marketing principles are the same. Both require a customer focus where they are trying to influence a certain behaviour in their favour. However, in case of a non-profit organisation the customers are of two types, the consumers and the donors, that is, those who use the product and those who may not use it but provide funds for it.
The strategy of the present government is to manufacture as many disasters as possible so that the aid eligibility criterion is fulfilled. It is strange that donor agencies’ business thrives when a country is struck with disasters. Since Pakistan has had one disaster or another for the last decade or so, it has become a donors darling. Starting with the war on terror, the earthquake and now two successive years of flood, these are the continuous reasons why UNDP, USAID and so many others find reasons to fulfill the rehabilitation and development needs of a country not capable of fulfilling its own requirements. In Musharraf’s time a lot of World Bank spending went on the “ParhaLikha Punjab” project where perhaps more was spent showing pictures of the two Chaudhry brothers in half page advertisements than any benefit in the schools. Literacy, enrollment, etc, in Punjab has hardly moved a dime.
The problem with most governments in Pakistan is that their inability to show performance leads to huge deficits in the economy. Since they have neither the capability nor the sincerity to tackle these issues they welcome disasters for two reasons. One is that they can blame the disasters for the economy not performing. For the last two years this government has blamed floods and international rises in prices as the reasons for dismal GDP, inflation, unemployment and you name it. The other reason is that they get a valid reason for justifying their dependence on aid.
Governments that know what governance is and have the determination to tackle disasters with their own resources do it with method and great planning. The recent example of Japan’s tsunami and earthquake are evidence to this statement. With such huge scale of disasters the Japanese government refused any major aid and devised a plan of self-help, where the whole Japanese nation contributed. This was despite the fact that the government changed a couple of times but the will and the system ensured durability of the efforts. In contrast the governments in Pakistan are so addicted to seeking foreign help that whenever there is a crisis the leaders go running around in the world yelling for help. The current US/Pakistan stand off is a typical example. China, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the “true” white knights the government calls upon on every instance of distress.
Thus, strangely it may be true that disaster marketing is a fashionable device of collecting other people’s money. Disasters, though unwelcome, test the true mettle of a nation. The Japanese nation withstood the test of resolve and self esteem. While the Paksitani nation also always puts forward its best face in crisis, it is the manipulative marketing mindset of our leaders that has now created donor fatigue and a lukewarm response to a government whose credibility locally and internationally is dubious to say the least.
The writer is ananalyst, consultant and CEO of FranklinCoveyPakistan and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com