Point of View: The Ad War between Mobilink and Ufone

Editors note: In this new series, we present two opposing point of views about a topic. The first post in this series brings the views of two guest bloggers who sent us their contribution please make sure you go through both. Note that these views are those of the contributors and not necessarily of TelecomPk.net. 1. Mobilink Brings Cola War in the Telecom Sector! by Zareen Shafaq I saw the recent Jazz bemisaal ramazan offer ad and it made me laugh like crazy. Most of us werent expecting this sudden hilarious ad by Jazz on the table but almost everyone is completely amused by the new flavor brought in by Mobilink. This reminds me of the old Cola Wars, the all time Pepsi taking a hit on Coca Cola and Coke hitting back at Pepsi in their commercials. Everyone loved the cola war and now I foresee a new one of its kind brewing in the telecom pot. The one good thing with this humor-hit back advertising strategy is that the competition becomes stronger, the ideas get better, the monotony goes down the drain and most of all, customers love the ads. The main purpose of the commercials is to retain the message in the minds of customers while increasing the brand recall at the same time. With such ads as Mobilinks soft yet extremely funny hit at Ufone will hopefully lead to a very interesting advertising battle in which the customers will be most entertained. Loved the way Jazz made us all laugh by making such a funny hit at Ufones ad. Let the new cola version of telecom war begin! customers taking side, will you be the team Jazz or team Ufone? 2. Leaders Become Followers by Rabia Kamaal Face is the index of mind and advertisement of a brand is the index of the brand. It gave me a rude shock to see how so called leaders of Telecom industry, Mobilink has changed its strategy and now resorted to making funny ads little realizing though that this domain exclusively belongs to Ufone. Mobilink has recently launched a new offer through their ad which is exactly on the same pattern which Ufone is carrying for the last three years. This not only shows that Mobilink creative team is simply out of ideas for which they are exactly following the footprints of Ufone, but also unveils the desperation within the ranks of Mobilink and how their brand is failing by having a very shaky stance. Now Tom cannot do Harrys bidding and neither Dick can do Toms. Earlier, Mobilink also came under fire for using Indian models and making Indian ads which are obviously received with suspicion in Pakistan given the fragile cultural sensitivities of two countries. Ufone ads are made by Pakistanis with Pakistani actors as the brand is indigenous but since Mobilink is not indigenous its ads and themes are also borrowed. What is the point in calling oneself Industry Leader when block heads simply cannot float a new idea and resort to trespassing into indigenous domains little realizing that public in Pakistan doesnt like intrusion in domain of others and proudly associates itself with local brand saying Tum hi to Hu.

By: Arif M. Usman