In his recent visit to major cities of Pakistan, American marketing expert Dr Terence Jackson explains entrepreneurial marketing to students and entrepreneurs. It is more than advertising, it is a message, a constant communication about a lifestyle built around your product, he says
After finding comfort in a corner seat at the lobby of Karachi’s Pearl Continental Hotel, CEO and Managing Partner of Jackson Consulting Group Dr Terence Jackson speaks to this scribe about his Pakistan trip that ends with this meeting. A middle-aged pianist is busy entertaining the audience, but Dr Jackson attentively watches the TV screen, taking a sip from his freshly made Watermelon Juice as he does so.
“To market a male product like razors, they chose to promote a male sporting event with their brand name right on top. This is effective marketing,” Dr Jackson says drawing the author’s attention to the screen that plays a promo for a male soccer event that has Gillette as its title sponsor. Through product placement, the company is giving the impression it contributes to that event, he says. As a result, when people think of that event, they also think of the brand.
“A commercial is a marketing tool that tells you about a product but it also appeals to some emotion,” the American marketing expert says. “To put up the signage and make people aware of your product is a great thing but there is more to it,” he says of an effective marketing strategy that can help one sell their product – and that is what he has been telling Pakistani students and entrepreneurs he met or spoke to over the course of 10 days.
“Donald Trump became president because he said he is a great leader and a great businessman and that’s how he marketed himself – the Trump Brand,” Dr Jackson said of what he thinks is a great example of brand marketing.
Explaining, the expert said people thought he was a brand of excellence because of all the real estate he owns around the world. “He [Trump] said he could provide solutions to America’s problems, which he may not. He said he could get rid of all the fears for America. He has been constantly marketing himself as a great business person and a great thinker,” he said. “That is what marketing is all about,” he added — hopefully, with some truth attached to the message, he asserted.
Dr Jackson was in Pakistan on the US Embassy’s ongoing Entrepreneurship Speaker Series programme, which brings American entrepreneurship experts to give presentations in Pakistan throughout the course of 2017.
The JCG chief visited Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and spoke to startup founders and university students who aspire to be entrepreneurs, giving presentations about the importance of building an effective entrepreneurial marketing strategy that helps sell one’s products and services.
The expert says marketing is a message about a lifestyle around a product and needs to be communicated constantly.
“Nike is one big marketing machine. They are constantly communicating a message about a lifestyle around their product,” Dr Jackson said. “So, whether you are a jobber, basketball player, an American football player or any football player around the world, Nike makes that product. But, in order to get people to understand and use their product, they have to talk about the features and the benefits of that product.”
The JCG’s chief said most consumers know – and there is a research about it – that Nike may not make the best products, but marketing helps them sell.
Asked if Pakistan was catching up with these marketing trends, Dr Jackson said, “I think a lot of [marketing] components are missing here.” For example, understanding habits and emotions of consumers is important, he said. Referring to the engineers he met, the expert said the former work hard while developing their product. If they are not able to sell it, they are not going to make any money regardless of how great their product is.
It is Jackson’s vast background in sales that brings him to Pakistan as an expert. He has 25 years of experience in corporate America, mainly in sales and marketing working for the likes of Exxon Mobile and Bristol-Myers Squibb. His North Carolina-based company specialises in strategic planning process improvement in leadership development.
“The purpose of my visit is to show them [Pakistani entrepreneurs] the importance of a marketing system that helps sell their product,” says the expert who works with clients to develop a mindset around products and services.
Dr Jackson’s focus was on entrepreneurial marketing, which he distinguishes from marketing strategies of large businesses. “Entrepreneurial marketing is different because startups don’t have big capital set aside for marketing,” he said. This is where creativity and innovation come into play, he said giving an example of early days of Facebook, which relied on word of mouth using peer-to-peer communication and feedback model. Pakistani entrepreneurs can do that for their products by using feedback from their friends, family and community members, he said.
“Understand your purpose and what is the ‘why’ of your business; identify a problem and provide a solution for it; think about how to better the quality of life of your customers,” Dr Jackson says referring to the advice he gave to all the entrepreneurs he met with or spoke to during his visit.
There has been very little investment in marketing at the startup level in Pakistan, the expert said adding they need to understand the emotions, needs, habits and behaviour of their customers and then create a message that appeals to these aspects.
Giving an example of McDonald’s, Dr Jackson said their free toys are a great example of studying consumer behaviour. It reminds customers of their childhood days and they come back to them and buy Happy Meal even in their 30’s, he said.
