Things-a-changing

Not every day do you come across events or incidents that make you change the way you think or do things. Such has been the case for me, a blissful change did come through some years ago, but unfortunately it was short-lived, and I still feel the pains of it today. Then there are some other changes, those that affect your career and whatever happens in the future. Such a change too has happened before that made a lot of difference, and yet again the moment has arrived.

I’ve been working for over a decade now on the services side of the IT industry in Pakistan. When I joined, the industry was just starting to take off, and I’m glad that over these years it has grown and flourished in front of my eyes, while actively being involved in it. I’d say my future also lies here, as it’s what has defined me and what I do in many ways, though what I do and how I do things have changed shape and approach.

At the same time I thought why not do something different yet again? I have purchased a domain yet again, and now moving my blog there. So most of the posts you’ll see now will be available at nawazz.com and not on my wordpress.com blog. Also, I intend to change a bit on the focus of the blog, make it a bit more creative as well too, and of course more information oriented. So let’s see how that comes along. The only challenge I do have though is I can’t figure out a good time and frame of mind to share, which is kind of what hinders the sharing part. So let’s see if I can change that a bit now.

More to come later as I go along; for the moment I’m interested in applying the right theme and styling it appropriately to match what I have in mind as the way forward. Time to start thinking and implementing.

Do your consumers speak for your brand?

With so much being said on consumer engagement and the use of social media to bring in the everyday consumers, making them interact, some brands are only actually doing something to make full use of it.

Recently, while going through brandchannel.com, I came across an article which mentioned about a video that was posted by a guy named Bill Costello on YouTube. In his video, which is a little over 3 minutes, through pictures, he communicates his story of a BMW bike his father bought way back in 50s. The couple had an accident and since then the bike was put in the garage till all the kids grew up. But sadly Bill’s father suffered a stroke at the age of 71 and he passed away, leaving behind his BMW bike.

For detailed story and the video, check the link below.

The great thing about this video is not that Bill is paying a tribute to his father through the video. But in fact, it is communicating the positive message about the brand and how his father saved it to pass on the legacy to the next generation.

Videos such as these, which are not made by the manufacturers and where the users of the brand make an to come up with something which not only achieves their personal objective (paying tribute to father in this case) but also endorses the brand in a way, that is not possible through a paid, contracted endorsement, go a long way. And needless to mention, the message seems more credible and moving when said though users, than through an advertisement.

Here, through this video, we also get to know that if the brand is powerful and if it does justice to its consumers, they will embrace it happily and will make it a part of their lives. And that is exactly what all brands should try to do: plan well, strive hard and make themselves an integral part of their consumer’s life.

This post has been contributed by Ismail Noor, whose working as an Account Executive with ORIENTm McCANN ERICKSON, in Karachi.

Contacts and calendar sync

Some apps help you sync contacts and their profiles quite efficiently, and then they also help multi-sync at least on the device you use. Case in point, Google Sync helps you sync your contacts and calendar events with your phonebook, regardless which device you’re on. A multi-sync scenario would be where contacts synced through Google Sync get further updated through a Facebook or LinkedIn app installed on your device, such as the BlackBerry, iPhone or Android handsets.

However, since the ridiculous ban by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on BlackBerry services for almost a year now, the multi-sync works only sometimes, and that too depends on the type of connection you’re using, ie either cellular data or wifi.

So when the ban wasn’t in place, my Google Contacts got synced with profile pictures, birthdays and events through the Facebook app on my BlackBerry. This was very convenient; I always got to know what my friends were up to, and stayed in constant touch with them. Add LinkedIn to the equation and you’re instantly synced with their professional status updates, change in jobs, messages etc, on the go. The way it should be, if you’re technically using a high end device, with a premium priced data service.

After the ban, firstly the syncing just wouldn’t work, not even with Google Sync. That was very annoying for me, as I preferred not to update my contacts manually at all places, especially not when I have to double check numbers or email addresses each time. Then I found out a way to manage the Google Sync for contacts and events, but then profile pictures etc wouldn’t get updated. LinkedIn would work through wifi only, till one of their recent versions started working through TCP/IP, but then that was also temporary (this still happens today). However, I think the use of other 3rd party apps such as face2face somewhat helped me here, though not sure if this is just a coincidence, but each time I had face2face running, profile pictures got updated without a problem, and sooner or later LinkedIn would start syncing with network updates and other requests / messages too, even though I’d uninstall face2face since it used to end up with some issue or the other.

Which app do you use to sync your contacts and calendar events across all platforms, such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and your phonebook?

 

Sami Yusuf – Mother (Arabic)

Sami Yusuf – Supplication

Maher Zain – The Chosen One | ماهر زين – المختار

Ovrlod projects wins ME award

One of the project Team Ovrlod worked on last year was the Doritos Collisions campaign, which ran successfully in the Middle East. This was in collaboration with OMD and ImpactBBDO in the UAE.

We’ve just got to know that it won the award in the FOOD PRODUCT / DRINK / MASS CONSUMPTION PRODUCT category.

Here’s the source for this info: http://menacristal.com/submit-entries/results-awards/6th-edition/cyber-cristal.html

And here’s the site link: http://www.doritosarabia.me/ and check the current look below:

Doritos Arabia

Congratulations to Team Ovrlod for its award winning project

Ovrlod is growing and hiring

The word is out… Ovrlod is expanding, while taking on the big guns consistently for over 2 years now, and ready to take on more… Here’s the official announcement:

Ovrlod is a web & multimedia outsourcing agency based in Karachi. We’ve been in business for over two years now and we continue to expand. We work for international brands such as Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble and Vodafone designing & delivering enterprise websites, microsites, web banners, emails, bespoke applications, MOSS solutions, bespoke application and social media applications.

Our standards are high, our client list enviable, our people well looked after, opportunities for career growth and our salaries commensurate to experience and passion.

We currently have vacancies for

• Project managers
• .net developers
• php developers
• Flash developers
• Digital Art Directors

Submit your CVs to workwithus@ovrlod.com, or contact me for more information.

Karachi offers by telcos

It started with one of the telcos here in Pakistan, around 2-3 years ago when Warid Telecom announced a Sindh offer. Not sure if this was replicated across the country, but in my opinion this offer proved quite useful where all calls made to users on-net within the province were at a reduced rate. The SMS packages remained the same, call was more important.

I couldn’t find an image for this, must be lost in time

Today, we see 3 telcos replicating this with a “Karachi offer”. Again, not sure if this has been the case with other cities as well. And I won’t go into the details, but its interesting how everyone followed something or the other.

Zong started with their offer I think 2-3 months ago. Not sure about the exact time frame, this is the banner that’s been around the city since then.

Zong Karachi Unlimited

Then came Ufone with their Karachi offer.

Ufone's Karachi Offer

And now Mobilink with Jazz offering the same, can’t seem to find this offer on their website though (ain’t that interesting!).

The offerings on this package maybe different, but one thing is for sure. For Warid, when I gained maximum advantage of the offer, I didn’t have to sign up, nor pay a subscription fee for the offer.

Retaining customer loyalty

Here’s another of those articles I had written during 2001-04… there are some that I see are relevant for all time, and yes, I’m only including those that I actually wrote myself, based on my own experiences and thoughts

 

It has been mentioned several times by various business owners that “quality drives the customer to you”. Business is very much similar to life, a well-natured person always attracts the most attention. However, in order to keep the attraction alive, quality should be maintained and improved to suit the needs of people for the good.

A question arises here: How do I improve? Everyone believes that their company is the best, has the highest quality products and services and the best customer services model. The need for improvement may be evident when customers prefer going elsewhere. Here are few steps to ensure that you have the upper hand in quality and service.

Take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers. This is the most overlooked element in maintaining a healthy customer relationship. Relations with employees within the company are reflected with improved behaviour and attitude toward the customer. The reverse can be expected if they do feel mistreated.

Performance should be rewarded. A friendly gesture or a thank you every now and then makes the employee feel at home and makes him/her feel better. Make them feel important, an element without which the business wouldn’t be where it is.

Listen carefully to what your customer requires. The staff dealing with customers should have a thorough training in listening and understanding. A layman would obviously not comprehend the technicalities of certain products or services, instead would prefer to keep it short and simple and would like to be attended by someone who understands his/her needs.

Customer is the king. Know and understand that the customer is solely the boss, who can fire every single individual in the company right up to the director. If you want to retain your business, it is imperative that you attend to satisfying your customers at every possible level.

Train your people to handle all kinds of customers. Empower them with all the knowledge and details of all products, human interaction skills and rush control techniques. They should be capable and confident enough to deal with customers personally, and avoiding any misrepresentation at the same time.

Identify your service strategy. All employees should be briefed on how to deal with customers, the type of service that is being expected. Give them clear guidelines on how they will be expected to perform, and how they will be evaluated.

Remove all non-friendly policies. All rules and regulations should be framed keeping in mind customer satisfaction. Do not isolate or confuse your customer by using difficult language or harsh attitude or any other kind of barrier. This will never do, and will play a positive role in driving them away. Remove all the hurdles between you and your customers; identify where a compromise can be achieved and where it cannot.

The primary aim of the company must be “customer satisfaction”. The whole company’s resources should be focused and dedicated to provide the best possible service at the least possible price, a price which the customer would be happy to pay against value for money product and customer services.

Make excuses for being dissatisfied. Until you feel dissatisfied with the service provided you cannot expect yourself to get better at it. You should periodically observe the company’s performance with scrutiny, and develop any weakness found. Take suggestions from employees and get them to feel the responsibility that only they can help solve the problem.

Improving relations internally leads to external customer satisfaction. Each department within an organisation is a customer to the other, as long as they serve each other at any level. Encourage improved performance and relations within the company, and inter-departmental harmony should be highlighted to give each employee a sense of being a team member and give way to good governance.