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WHAT ROLE DOES BRANDING AND BRAND
AMBASSADORS PLAY IN PROMOTING
LAWN?
By
YUSRA AZIZ
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
2014
WHAT ROLE DOES BRANDING AND BRAND AMBASSADORS
PLAY IN PROMOTING LAWN?
By
YUSRA AZIZ
This thesis submitted is partial fulfilment of requirements for the
degree of BACHELOR OF TEXTILE DESIGN, from Indus Valley
School of Art and Architecture.
Supervisor(s):
Humaira Tareen
Internal Advisors: Arshad Faruqi
Gemma Sharpe
Department of Textile Design
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
Karachi, Pakistan
2014
Aziz | i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to express my thoughtful appreciation and profound esteems to my
supervisors Mrs. Humera Tareen and Ms. Gemma Sharpe for their exemplary guidance,
monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of this dissertation. The help and
guidance given by them time to time shall carry me a long way in the professional journey on
which I am about to get on.
I also take this opportunity to say thank you, warm-heartedly, to My Parents, for their pleasant
support and guidance, which helped me in completing this task.
I am thankful to Mr. Masood Arif, Manager Marketing at Gul Ahmed Textiles, Mr. Haseeb
Hashmi, Manager Business Development at Junaid Jamshed Private Limited, Mr. Aqleem Raza,
Sr. Manager Marketing, Al-Karam Textiles and Mr. Mohsin Afridi, Manager Marketing, AlKaram Textiles to take out time from their busy schedules for my research questions.
Aziz | ii
ABSTRACT
As per the topic of my dissertation, I had initiated the research and gathered the views from
every walk of life. Women are always keen about their wearing, from jewellery to cosmetics to
footwear and especially the dressing. When we focus and talk about dressing sense and trends,
fashion couture, etc. it’s a never ending story and is all about innovations and ideas and above all
looking different and giving an out of the ordinary feel of presence.
Getting narrower, in Pakistan, by the grace of Almighty we witness all four seasons. So, the most
relevant fabric we witness is lawn as compare to cotton (however lawn is the lightest and finest
form of cotton), georgette, chiffon, silk, etc. From party and occasional wear to daily and casual
wear, we have lots of competitive designs, prints and brands available in the market today.
So, the subject/topic of my dissertation is ‘what role does branding and brand ambassadors play
in promoting lawn.’ This dissertation challenges the arguments that whether a normal lawn going
towards branded lawn has given fashion a totally new dimension and/or has provided people
with the employment opportunities or it has created a class difference. Simultaneously it has also
develop the discussion that coming up with this innovative idea of hiring foreign celebrities to
promote local brand is a positive and favorable step towards sales and marketing to cultural
harmony or is it iniquitous for the local talent of our country.
To support this two major research strategies have been used; a quantitative analysis and a
qualitative analysis. Data have been collected from different books, newspaper articles, academic
journals, blogs, surveys and interviews with wide-range of people involved directly or in-directly
with the lawn business.
Aziz | iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. i
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................... 1
LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................................... 5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 14
FINDING AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................. 17
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 25
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 27
GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................. 30
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................... 31
Interview 01............................................................................................................................... 31
Interview 02............................................................................................................................... 33
Interview 03............................................................................................................................... 35
Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................ 38
Survey Analysis......................................................................................................................... 40
Price List ................................................................................................................................... 43
Aziz | 1
INTRODUCTION
“Products are made in the factory; brands are created in the mind.”1
-Walter Landor
In the present era of universal struggle every business has to accomplish the extraordinary
assignment of getting the products and brands into customers’ thoughts and thus has to evolve
innovative customs and behaviours by throttling ideas over ideas. Later, the processes and stages
of branding has to suffered positive complications by showcasing new landscapes and qualitative
characteristics of the products to stand out from the multitude. Organizations work hard to create
a brand that distinguishes them from the competition. Whether the brand is ‘quality’ (e.g., Holt
Renfrew), ‘exceptional individual service’, (e.g., Four Seasons Hotels), ‘consistency and
convenience’ (e.g., McDonalds) or ‘innovation’ (e.g., Microsoft), the brand promise creates an
expectation in customers' minds that is difficult to replicate by other organizations.2 Hence the
brand name is a profound concept. It is a promise of unique value. And this promise has to be
fulfilled with an experience that is gratifying to the body and/or mind of the consumers, as stated
by Pepe Martinez.3 Brand is the most treasured strength of an organization, endorsing and
sponsoring the product through a brand ambassador can augment brand worthiness or fairness
1
Waltor Landor, ‘The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the implications for Marketers’, quoted in Pepe
Martinez, The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the implications for Marketers, (Great Britain & USA, Kogan
Page Publishers, 2012), p115.
2
Tony Kerekes and Sue Nador, ‘The People Side of the Brand,’ Strategic Human Resources Compensation News,
(Nov-Dec 2002).
http://glasgrp.com/downloads/People_Side_Of_Brand.pdf [Last accessed: 14th January, 2014].
3
Pepe Martinez, The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the implications for Marketers (Great Britain & USA:
Kogan Page Publishers, 2012), p115.
Aziz | 2
which in turn can be influenced through brand addition.
Brands often use celebrities to
encourage and influence customer perception of their brand, as stated by Millward Brown.4
A good brand ambassador is the one whose personality matches with the brand for it creates an
association between that person and the brand. World Watch Report, a leading international
marketing research company in the luxury watch industry, has released a list of the most popular
celebrity brand ambassadors in the world. The survey result shows some of the famous names
from entertainment and sports, including Tiger Woods, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan, British actress Kate Winslet, Hollywood's Leonardo Di Caprio and so on.5
This research paper will access towards the role of branding and the impact of brand
ambassadors on the promotion of lawn. Lawn has never been considered as a formal wear fabric
in the past years but with the passage of time this typical three piece shalwar, kameez, and
dupatta has revolutionized into trendy, fashionable formal apparel with the addition of modern
cuts, chiffon dupatta, printed and embroidered necklines and laces. Nowadays lawn and
specifically branded and designer lawn is the most discussed topic and every other woman is
concerned about the upcoming and seasonal collections of the well-known brands of Pakistan.
As the lawn phobia is getting intense, the lawn industry is booming and more and more textile
mills, designers and campaigners are coming up with new and innovative ideas for the promotion
4
Millward Brown, ‘Spotlight: Exploring the use of Celebrities to increase brand apparel’, Firefly (January 9, 2012):
2.
http://www.fireflymb.com/Libraries/Papers_and_Presentations/Firefly_Network_Viewpoints_Celebrities.sflb.ashx
[Last accessed: 20th February, 2014]
5
Sanskrity Sinha, ‘Top 10 Most Popular Celeb Brand Ambassadors in the World (PHOTOS)’, International
Business Times, (March 08th 2012)
http://www.ibtimes.com/top-10-most-popular-celeb-brand-ambassadors-world-photos-554575 [Last accessed: 12th
January, 2014]
Aziz | 3
of their brands. Hence they are spending millions of rupees on the marketing of their brand.
According to CEO of lawn links, Farrukh Mian,
“The lawn industry is worth of rupees fifty Billion and seven hundred million meters of lawn
fabric is purchased annually in Pakistan.6
On the way to my institution, like many other people I also came across these huge billboards
that show this upcoming culture of Indian actresses as Pakistani brand ambassadors. These actors
take great pride and pleasure in modelling for Pakistan while Pakistan is spending a very high
budget on Indian advertisements. This gesture is important as it is important for the sake of
cultural harmony as well as it is supportive for any brand to promote their name and product on
an international level. Advertisements in Pakistan have always been followed by the trends and
innovations adopted globally. From 1998-2008, after the formation of PEMRA there was a huge
flood of channels which brought about the culture of Indian actresses as Pakistani brand
ambassadors.7
This paper will look into the point that promotion of brand is really important and do we need
foreign ambassadors to help promote our brand internationally? Are there any better marketing
strategies that can be used to market a brand? Is having a pretty lady modelling for promoting the
brand is important? Is this stunt raising more and more criticism in Pakistan’s fashion industry?
What does all this lead towards?
The objective of this research paper is to find out the factors that influence Pakistani women to
incline towards branded lawn. It will provide a better understanding as to why having a
6
7
Hur Abbas, ‘Launching a new brand in Pakistan: Mix & Match, (UMT research associates 2013), p8-9.
Moomal Hassan, ‘Indian celebrities as Pakistani brand ambassadors, Reviewit.pk, (Posted: December 17, 2013).
http://reviewit.pk/indian-celebrities-as-pakistani-brands-ambassadors/ [Last accessed: 20th February, 2014]
Aziz | 4
renowned brand ambassador so important for the marketing of the brand? Who are the targeted
audience and why are they being targeted in this way. I intend to also clear my own perception as
to what does an Indian actress has to do with branding Pakistan’s apparel and what can be a
better alternative to market the brands. I aim on reaching to a conclusion that helps answer all the
questions that the fashion critics have raised in time.
Aziz | 5
LITERATURE REVIEW
“A brand is a name, term, sign symbol, design or a combination of these which is used to
identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from
those of the competitors.”8 –Kotler et al.
Branding nowadays has become an important part of our daily lives and the craze of brand
consciousness has boosted in our society from the past five to ten years. In this modern age, we
are surrounded by a large number of brands and it is almost a prodigious task to create a brand
image that is recognizable and distinguishes them from the competitors. According to Aldisert:
‘Branding is not about getting your prospect to choose you over the competition; it’s about
getting your prospects to see you as the only solution’.9
With the passage of time, the term ‘brand’ has taken a primary meaning into our lives and over
50 years, this word now has a commercial application. Almost irrespective of how the word is
used today, it has always meant in its passive form, the object by which an impression is formed,
and in its active form the process of forming this impression.10 As branding has become essential
for promoting the product and marketers are coming up with more and more creative ideas of
branding, the textile and clothing industry has also marked its presence in the world of brands
8
Kotler et al., ‘Marketing the e-business’, quoted in Charles Dennis and Lisa Harris, Marketing the e-business,
(London, USA and Canada, Routledge, 2002), p131.
9
Aldisert, ‘Marketing the e-business’, quoted in Charles Dennis and Lisa Harris, Marketing the e-business,
(London, USA and Canada, Routledge, 2002), p131.
10
Rita Clifton, Brands and Branding, (London, Profile Books Ltd, 2009).
Aziz | 6
and in the last 20 years there has been a major increase in branding in textile and clothing sector.
As Jessica Penman has described in her article:
In the textiles and clothing sector branding can be applied at various levels, most typically at the
clothing level. However, in the last 20 years there has also been an increase in component
branding in textiles and clothing, which identifies only part of the final product such as the fibre,
finish or fabric.11
With this changing trend in the textile sector, the lawn industry in Pakistan is flourishing and
nowadays it has become the most discussed topic among woman especially with the upcoming
trend of designer lawn brands and lawn exhibitions. Before this trend, lawn fabric was not
considered as exclusive as it is in the present times. It has reborn as the most stylish option for
clothing, with the addition of formal and heavy embellishments, embroidered value additions and
by making a trendy combination of lawn and other fabrics like silk and chiffon. Lawn was
considered as the casual wear and it was the most comfortable options for clothing few years
ago. But now with approximately 60+ lawn brands in Pakistan, the lawn industry is worth of Rs.
50 billion and its growth rate is 25% which is increasing gradually. Also lawn constitutes about
60% of the country’s total foreign exchange earnings and according to CEO of lawn Links,
Farrukh Mian, seven hundred million meters of lawn fabric is purchased annually in Pakistan.12
11
Jessica Penman and David Rigby, ‘Textile Branding’, Special Focus 014. (October 1, 2002):
p1.http://www.davidrigbyassociates.co.uk/DRA%20WEBSITE%2003/assets/Textile%20branding.pdf
[Last
accessed: 30th March, 2014].
12
Hur Abbas, ‘Launching a new brand in Pakistan: Mix & Match, (UMT research associates 2013), p8-9.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/147132982/launching-a-new-LAWN-brand-in-Pakistan
Aziz | 7
We Pakistanis, like all other blessings of nature are also blessed with all the four seasons of the
year. Despite being summer as the hottest season with the highest temperature reaching to 40 and
50 degree Celsius, it is also considered as the most colourful and most awaited season in
Pakistan. As summer draws near, all one can see are colourful advertisements and larger than life
billboards of lawn brands dominating city skylines with the most renowned and popular celebrity
smiling and promising each and every women that they will also look elegant and stylish in that
particular brand of lawn. Now it has become an exclusive and formal wear and women would
likely to wear lawn at parties or formal lunch and dinner.
As these value additions are playing major role in enhancing the overall look of lawn fabric and
making it exclusive, the upcoming trend of amalgamation of textile mills with the well-known
fashion designers of Pakistan is also a key factor in promoting the lawn. As it is discussed in one
of the articles of Newsline titled ‘Bring on the lawn’ by Zara Farooqui.
‘The concept of “designer lawn” has been brewing in Pakistan for a few years now. In 1997, AlKaram launched Sana Safinaz’s first line of lawn prints. Ever since then, Al-Karam has dabbled
with the idea of designer lawn throughout the years.’13
Branding and collaboration of textile mills with the designers create a positive impact both the
ways. When Al-Karam came up with lawn collection under the name of Umar Sayeed, they had a
better sale which increased their marketing and production as well as a lot of people who could
not afford Umar Sayeed’s formal wear, got access to his designed lawn prints.
13
Zara
Farooqui,
‘Bring
on
the
Lawn’,
Newsline,
(April
28th
http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2011/04/bring-on-the-lawn/. [Last accessed: 12th March, 2014].
2011).
Aziz | 8
“So whereas not everyone can afford his evening wear, everyone has access to these outfits
that are also designed by him,” says director of Al-Karam textiles, Abid Umer.14
Like Al-Karam, many other leading textile mills of Pakistan came up with lawn collections under
the name of well-known fashion designers. Orient Textiles, a brand new textile company has
signed Deepak Perwani as their long term brand designer. As the author in her article ‘Bring on
the lawn’ stated that not only Deepak Perwani has designed their summer collection but he will
also be designing their forthcoming collections including the winter and men’s lines. 15 Iqbal
Ibrahim, an experienced person from Orient textile was satisfied and confident about working
with Deepak Perwani for their lawn collection.
“We will continue working with him [Deepak] because the chemistry has really worked.
People loved his designs and they loved our fabric. I understand his passion and he respects
my vision and this is just the beginning for us’.16
In one of The Express Tribune’s article, The Lawn Brigade, the author Hina Taha acknowledged,
Nishat Linen is another well-known entity that has hired Pakistan’s renowned designer Maheen
Khan as their consultant designer. “We launched two days ago and are already sold out,” said
Ms. Khan. Surprisingly enough, one of Pakistan’s leading textile mill Gul Ahmed has sought no
designer alliances, yet its director, Ziad Bashir encourages the trend, “Designer collaborations
lend legitimacy to lawn since they are transporting the fabric into the realm of high fashion.”17
14
Farooqui, ‘Bring on the Lawn’, Newsline.
Farooqui, ‘Bring on the Lawn’, Newsline.
16
Farooqui, ‘Bring on the Lawn’, Newsline.
17
Hani
Taha,
‘The
Lawn
brigade’,
The
Expess
Tribune,
(February
th
http://tribune.com.pk/story/116965/the-lawn-brigade/ [Last accessed: 28 May, 2014].
15
10,
2011).
Aziz | 9
Similarly in one of The Express Tribune’s article, the author Imran Rana also acknowledged the
same aspect of branding, ‘the surging demand for lawn and stiffer competition as more and more
businesses enters the market, textile mills, designers, and campaigners are seeking new and
innovative ways to promote their brands. Lawn brands are spending millions of rupees on
marketing their products.’18
It is also discussed in an article ‘Lawn Revolution’ by Amnah Haider Isani that since last three to
four years, the textile mills are contracting fashion designers to lend their names and expertise
and inversely designers hiring mills to print their fabric. Textile mills have been known to
commission fashion designers anything between two million and 20 million rupees per collection
(depending on the designer’s ranking).19
While we came across such huge billboards showing the advertisements of the exhibitions of the
renowned lawn brands of Pakistan, we are also introduced to the upcoming culture of Bollywood
Celebrities as brand ambassadors. Pakistani brands are spending a high budget for these foreign
celebrities as it will help their brand to get recognized internationally. Other than the aspect of
getting the brand internationally recognized, one of an idea is to fascinate people having fans out
of our national boundaries i.e. to capture international fan-club. Fortunately, the Indo-Pak (also
known as subcontinent) region shares more or less the same cultural and ethnic values giving our
18
Imran Rana, ‘Celebrity brand ambassadors become new marketing norm for lawn’, The Express Tribune, (April
14th 2013).
http://tribune.com.pk/story/535316/celebrity-brand-ambassadors-become-new-marketing-norm-forlawn/. [Last accessed: 2nd February, 2014].
19
Aamna Haider Isani,
‘Lawn Revolution’,
Herald beta (Dawn),
(March
http://herald.dawn.com/2013/03/18/lawn-revolution-2.html [Last accessed: 12th March, 2014].
18,
2013)
Aziz | 10
textile/fashion manufacturers/designers to span their product and achieve access to the countries
and customers beyond the national scope.
Brand personality nourishes brands to gain market share, command premium price and insulates
from discounting brands. A brand ambassador is usually an icon or a celebrity who promotes the
brand through his popularity. Every brand owner wants to hire such a brand ambassador who is
popular and famous among the audience for it creates a positive impact on the sale of their brand.
According to Martin Roll, consumers would like to see some well-known personalities who use
those products that they want to purchase. Using celebrity endorsement as a communication
strategy has been an effective way to influence consumer attitudes and generate positive
purchase behaviour.20 A brand ambassador is a well-connected person or celebrity who promotes
the product on behalf of the brand or company. A brand ambassador should be renowned and
famous for they are responsible for the promotion and advertising of the brand. These global
celebrities are recognized to be the encapsulation of universal values, be it glamour, style,
performance, strength, masculinity/ femininity etc., which the brand wants to convey and as such
they are useful symbols for advertising global brands across borders.21
In general it has been found that customers show a higher level of understanding and trust with
things that they are familiar with and to which they can easily relate that’s why popularity is a
20
21
Martin Roll, Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia builds strong Brands, (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), p80.
Millward Brown, ‘Spotlight: Exploring the use of Celebrities to increase brand apparel’, Firefly (January 9, 2012):
2.
http://www.fireflymb.com/Libraries/Papers_and_Presentations/Firefly_Network_Viewpoints_Celebrities.sflb.ashx
[Last accessed: 20th February, 2014]
Aziz | 11
key reason to use Asian celebrities for marketing the brand as they are well known by Asian
countries, but also they are similar to the target audience, as stated by Martin Roll.22
Among all the leading lawn brands of Pakistan, Firdous lawn is considered as the trend setters of
this upcoming trend of hiring brand ambassadors from across the country. As the author has
acknowledged in her article ‘Bring on the lawn’ last year Firdous created much buzz by getting
Bollywood’ actresses Kareena Kapoor, Riya Sen and Diya Mirza to model their collection.23
They also hired Deepika Padukone and now they have gone for Sonam Kapoor. This trend is
also followed by Crescent Lawn who hired Sushmita Sen as their brand ambassador. This year
Crescent Lawn’s brand celebrity is Kareena Kapoor.
It is also acknowledged in tribune’s article where the author stated that Ittehad Textile Industries
hired bollywood star Priyanka Chopra for marketing their women’s range and former Pakistani
cricketer Waseem Akram for their menswear brand, i-man.24
In one of The Express Tribune’s article, ‘Bollywood celebrities as faces of Pakistani designer
lawn’ by Saadia Qmar, Firdous Lawn’s Director Omer Saleem explains why the brand had
relied on Indian faces in the past. “In the past, we have worked with Bollywood faces, but since
the last two years we have not. Our team had made that choice [in the past] after thorough
research to make sure that we get the desired results.”25
22
23
24
25
Roll, Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia builds strong Brands, p82-83.
Farooqui, ‘Bring on the Lawn’, Newsline.
Rana, ‘Celebrity brand ambassadors become new marketing norm for lawn’, The Express Tribune.
Saadia Qamar, ‘Bollywood celebrities as faces of Paksitani designer lawn’, The Express Tribune, (April 6, 2014):
http://tribune.com.pk/story/692079/bollywood-celebrities-as-faces-of-pakistani-designer-lawn/ [Last accessed: 27th
May, 2014].
Aziz | 12
On the question of whether Pakistani models are better or not for lawn endorsements, Faraz
Manan from Crescent lawn says, “Pakistani models are definitely worthy options, but far less
known as compared to Bollywood’s Kareena Kapoor Khan and Karisma Kapoor.” He also adds,
“Kareena Kapoor Khan is the Begum of one of the most illustrious Muslim dynasties of the
subcontinent and now understands [the concept of] shalwar kameez more than before.” Whereas
Safinaz Muneer of the brand SanaSafinaz believes that “It’s not the model who sells the clothes.
It is designs and their quality that do. We have never needed a Bollywood face to sell our
product.”26
The renowned lawn brands of Pakistan are spending millions of rupees on these foreign brand
ambassadors for they think that this is the most successful marketing strategy. They also spend a
huge amount of money on these lawn exhibitions that are being exhibited at really expensive and
exclusive places of Karachi with some really lavish arrangements. Reading Farooqui’s article
from the Newsline helped me to know that a survey of the various advertising methods and
launch events gives a fair idea of how much money and labour must be involved in each launch.
With each billboard easily costing between Rs 12-15 million rupees, fancy invitations, exorbitant
set-ups, fresh juices, and models, given their own unique creation to wear to the event.27
Like these leading brands who hired faces from across the border for their promotion, there are
other labels also who goes for local top models for their collection. And there are some really big
names of Pakistan who do not need any familiar face to showcase their collection. Among them
these are the two top models, Vaneeza Ahmed and Nadia Hussain who are brand ambassadors
26
Qamar, ‘Bollywood celebrities as faces of Paksitani designer lawn’, The Express Tribune.
27
Farooqui, ‘Bring on the Lawn’, Newsline.
Aziz | 13
themselves. There are also Gul Ahmed, Khaadi, Al-Karam and other leading lawn brands of
Pakistan who do not need a celebrity face from across the border for the promotion of their
brand.
Aziz | 14
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
As a textile student, we need to learn about which design is working with what print and colour,
which element is going well with what pattern and how to place and match two contrasting
designs and fabrics together. Today the textile market is all about prints and designs, colours and
cuts especially everyone is interested in getting updated about the upcoming collections of lawn.
And since lawn has changed from a casual wear three piece suit into a branded and formal
apparel, every other textile mills and designers are collaborating and coming up with new and
innovative designs and prints of lawn. This motivates me to research about this very fine and
light fabric called ‘lawn’, how since recent years, it has become branded and designer wear and
why designers and textile mills are spending a huge amount of money in promoting and
marketing their lawn brands by hiring foreign celebrities as brand ambassadors.?
For my secondary research, I started off by looking different newspaper articles and journal
articles online. I got some interesting research on The Express Tribune, which was related to my
topic and I got to know a lot about what are the perceptions of people from the textile industry
and what they thought about this upcoming trend. I also found some really good blogs and
fashion critiques about how the leading textile mills and designers of Pakistan are doing a good
job by selling their product under one brand and how they are spending millions of rupees on
hiring foreign brand ambassadors for the promotion of their brands. Then I started looking at
different books related to branding and marketing strategies and what is the role of brand
ambassadors in upholding the brands and products successfully. The Consumer Mind: Brand
Perception and the implications for Marketers, Marketing the e-business, Brands and Branding
and Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia builds strong Brands, these are some of the books which
Aziz | 15
helped me out in my research. By reading texts from these articles and books, I got some strong
and interesting points which helped me out in going further with my research and topic.
For the primary research, I conducted a questionnaire based survey to access people from
different age groups, occupation and class to gather data for my research. I took the survey at
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVSAA) and other universities like University of
Karachi, Karachi Medical and Dental College (KMDC), Institute of Business Administration
(IBA) and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) among the students and professionals
working there with the age group of 18 to 30 and above. I also conducted this survey among the
housewives and working women with the age group of 30 and above to get an overview of
people from comparatively mature mind sets, which belong to different walks of life. So at the
end I got merely hundred responses.
The biggest challenge faced during this survey was that, at the institutions where we confronted
with the very large number of student, everyone was eager to convey their view point to us. And
to filter out our required and presentable info was a job to do. People were also hesitant in filling
out the survey and they did not have time to fill it with a complete concentration.
I also went to visit the outlets of the top designer lawn brands (IDEAS by Gul Ahmed, Al-Karam
Studio by Al-Karam, Khaadi, Junaid Jamshed and Nishat Linen) and in addition also visited nonbranded outlets (at non-branded outlets you can find variety of lawns of various brands under
one roof) like Chase/Chase-Up/Chase-Up Value Centre and Portia/Royal Fabrics to interview
the sales persons of that particular store to find out the average ratio of sale of different lawn
brands and what are the preferences of the customers? The challenges faced from the sales
person at different outlets were, it was very difficult for them to provide meaningful answers to
Aziz | 16
the questions in a very short time as they have to deal the customers as well. And many of the
customers were feeling uncomfortable as their sales person was occupied by me. But still they
helped me out in giving detailed information about my research.
The most difficult part of my primary research was to conduct the interviews with the concerned
people from the leading textile mills of Pakistan. I could not be able to approach as many people
from the industry as I thought I would for the interviews. This was mainly because these people
have really busy schedules. But luckily I managed to interview people from three of the top most
textile mills that are Gul Ahmed, Al-Karam and Junaid Jamshed. I interviewed Mr. Masood Arif
who is the Manager Marketing at Gul Ahmed Textile Mills, Mr. Haseeb Hashmi, Manager
Business Development at Junaid Jamshed Private Limited and Mr. Aqleem Raza & Mr. Mohsin
Afridi, Sr. Manager Marketing and Manager Marketing (respectively) at Al-Karam Textile Mills
and they provided me a good amount of information regarding the annual collections and sales of
lawn and what is the impact of foreign celebrities on the promotion and marketing of the lawn
brands?
Aziz | 17
FINDING AND ANALYSIS
As I was doing my research, I lead towards different types of perceptions that raised many
diverse questions and I got to the point that promotion of brand is really important and do we
need foreign brand ambassadors to help promote our brand internationally? Or are there any
better market strategies that can be used to market the brand?
For my primary research I conducted a questionnaire based survey. I also went to visit the outlets
of the top designer lawn brands (IDEAS by Gul Ahmed, Al-Karam Studio by Al-Karam, Khaadi,
Junaid Jamshed and Nishat Linen) and in addition also visited non-branded outlets (at nonbranded outlets you can find variety of lawns of various brands under one roof) like
Chase/Chase-Up/Chase-Up Value Centre and Portia/Royal Fabrics to interview the sales
persons and customers present at that time of that particular store and also interviewed few of
the concerned people from the leading textile mills.
I started my research with the questionnaire based survey which would help me having a better
understanding of this debate and also to access people from different age groups and classes to
gather data for my research. This survey was conducted at Indus Valley School of Art and
Architecture (IVSAA) and other universities like University of Karachi, Karachi Medical and
Dental College (KMDC), Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and Dow University of
Health Sciences (DUHS) among the students and professionals working there with the age group
of 18 to 30 and above. I also conducted this survey among the housewives and working women
with the age group of 30 and above to get an overview of people from comparatively mature
mind sets, which belong to different walks of life, for e.g., medical students, dentists,
lecturers, IT professionals/software engineers, librarians, accounting and finance professionals,
Aziz | 18
management students and professionals, etc. So at the end I got merely 100 responses based on
which I am going to present my analysis.
The first question of survey was how often you shop for lawn annually; people were feeling
difficulty answering this question, when there is a launch of lawn particularly, people do not buy
their required at once, but it is a continuous process which goes along throughout the year and if
we group it by collection or volume launch 29% purchases twice, 25% purchases with every new
collection, 24% purchases thrice and 21% purchases once. The second question was which lawn
brand you prefer shopping; this was an interesting question people turn out enthusiastic enough
to show their brand loyalty, and in this race Khaadi tops the position with 43%, Gul Ahmed
running up with 23%, others with 19% and Sana Safinaz with 15%. The third question was how
people stay informed with the new and upcoming launches of lawn collection, so not astonishing
50% stay tuned with Social Media, then 40% with Print Media and the rest 10% with Electronic
Media. The fourth question was what factors people keep in mind while purchasing lawn suits,
the answer turned creative and literate with 40% focus on Design, then 38% assess Quality and
lastly the Price and Brand goes in competition with 11% and 10% respectively. The fifth
question was how people get influenced by a celebrity associated with the brand and especially
when the celebrity is international, and it was a very cold response where 86% states that nothing
to do with international faces and ambassadors, we want to buy what looks good to us and on us,
whereas, 14% still admire celebrities and ambassadors and get influenced. When asked about, if
a brand hires an international celebrity as ambassador as sixth question, people showed up with
nationalism and 75% termed it as suppressing local talent while 25% showed up that its good for
cultural promotion. And the last question was, what does this evolving race of brands launching
lawn suits gives us, the answers were astonishing and somehow reality as 42% responded that it
Aziz | 19
creates a class (economic-class) difference, 38% responded as that it gives fashion a new
dimension, according to 16% it gives more employment opportunities and 4% were without
and/or miscellaneous reasons.
Except the survey questions everyone was having their own point of views in general discussion
about the role/importance of branding and role/importance of brand ambassadors in promoting
the lawn, especially the lawn suits as products. I also figured out that this survey has also raised
new questions and perceptions.
Every person has its own definition of brand and they defined it in their own way. According to
the people a brand is a lifestyle, an identity and it is something that is unique and it has its own
style and trend. Some said that it only exists in the minds of people and it is something
psychological and emotional. People also came up with the concepts that brand is something
which is unique and anything which is not easily accessible to every other person. It has its own
quality of standards and values which should be maintained. As Pepe Martinez has also stated,
“Products are made in the factory; brands are created in the mind.”28
Leading towards the importance of branding and a healthy competition, which yields in the
better quality, service and product provided to consumers/customers; majority said that
nowadays branding has become an important element and with the passage of time people have
become brand conscious in our country, in other words a criteria for having and maintaining
‘Status Symbol’. Before, it was only in the affluent socio-economic class, but now many people
from different economic classes have become aware of the brands and designer goods and people
are spending more and more on these branded products.
28
Waltor Landor, ‘The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the implications for Marketers’, quoted in Pepe
Martinez, The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the implications for Marketers, (Great Britain & USA, Kogan
Page Publishers, 2012), p115.
Aziz | 20
Just like lawn which has become popular among woman with the upcoming trend of designer
lawns and lawns’ exhibitions. Before this trend, lawn fabric was not considered as exclusive as it
is in the present times. It has reborn as the most stylish option for clothing, with the addition of
formal and heavy embellishments, embroidered value additions and by making a trendy
combination of lawn and other fabrics like silk and chiffon. Lawn was considered as the casual
wear and it was the most comfortable options for clothing few years ago. Now it has become an
exclusive and formal wear and women would likely to wear lawn at parties or formal events and
gatherings. The competition among the brands is also like Deal versus Brand. For example, in a
mere budget of ten thousand rupees (Rs. 10,000) either you can go for couple of suits or buy only
one, the expensive one. This leads to the point that branding does create a positive impact on the
sales of the lawn prints and through this a lot of textile mills are doing successful lawn business.
Like when Al-Karam came up with lawn collection under the name of the designer, Omar Saeed,
they had a better sale which increased their marketing and production as well as a lot of people
who could not afford Omar Saeed’s formal wear, got access to his designed lawn prints.
“So whereas not everyone can afford his evening wear, everyone has access to these outfits
that are also designed by him,”29 says director of Al-Karam textiles, Abid Umer.
Similarly the Director of Gul Ahmed, Ziad Bashir also encourages this trend,
“Designer collaborations lend legitimacy to lawn since they are transporting the fabric into the
realm of high fashion.”30
29
Zara
Farooqui,
‘Bring
on
the
Lawn’,
Newsline,
(April
28th
http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2011/04/bring-on-the-lawn/. [Last accessed: 12th March, 2014].
2011).
Aziz | 21
Other than the point of deserving, one thing what I learn is the difference between the national
(and/or local) celebrities and the international celebrities. The celebrities who have access to a
higher number of markets and audiences across the national border are of more professional
repute, demand and influence. One of the salesperson at a leading shop Portia, explains, the
difference between Sunita Marshal/Reema/Nadiya Hussain (Pakistani/Lollywood celebrities) as
compare to Kareena Kapor/Karishma Kapoor/Sushmita Sen (Indian/Bollywood celebrities) as
compare to Angelina Jolie/Julia Roberts/Cameron Diaz (Hollywood celebrities).
Whereas Faraz Manan from Crescent Textile Mills says in one of The Express Tribune’s article,
“Pakistani models are definitely worthy options, but far less known as compared to Bollywood’s
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Karishma Kapoor.”
Firdous Lawn’s Director Omer Saleem also admits, “Pakistani faces are not very familiar [to
everyone],”31
The survey also raised the point that there are many lawn brands in Pakistan which does not have
any foreign brand ambassador; though they are doing really good business. They do not need
renowned faces to market their name and product; in fact their label is their trade mark and their
identity. As Mr. Masood Arif, Manager Marketing at Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited said, ‘Our
history spans more than 15 years, we are not part of the recent five to ten years evolution, and
30
Hani
Taha,
‘The
Lawn
brigade’,
The
Expess
Tribune,
(February
http://tribune.com.pk/story/116965/the-lawn-brigade/ [Last accessed: 28th May, 2014].
31
10,
2011).
Saadia Qamar, ‘Bollywood celebrities as faces of Paksitani designer lawn’, The Express Tribune, (April 6, 2014):
http://tribune.com.pk/story/692079/bollywood-celebrities-as-faces-of-pakistani-designer-lawn/ [Last accessed: 27th
May, 2014].
Aziz | 22
still we stand in the first row and head the completion and caters broader market class and
segment.’32
During an interview with Mr. Arif, when asked about branding and brand ambassadors, his
response was, Gul Ahmed is the leading brand in market, and our signature is not only limited to
domestic markets with lawn prints, we have crossed international boundaries and lawn is one of
our excellent and profitable business sections. We believe in quality and outstanding designs are
our ambassador and to get in loyal relation with our customers to make them a brand loyal one.
During an interview with Mr. Haseeb Hashmi, Manager Business Development at Junaid
Jamshed Private Limited, when asked about branding and brand ambassadors, his belief was, ‘To
create our own signature’;33 they don’t want to rely on and don’t want someone’s presence to be
their ambassador, yes but as the name depicts, the name itself is an ambassador. As the virtue of
the character with which we are associated, we express the same in our products as what we sell
is exactly what we say, no compromise in quality and true delivery of true products.
I also got the opportunity to interview Mr. Aqleem Raza & Mr. Mohsin Afridi, Sr. Manager
Marketing and Manager Marketing (respectively) at Al-Karam Textile Mills, they were
previously from Yunus Textile Mills, a big international name and a large industrial group, when
asked about branding and brand ambassadors, they accept the factor of multiplying two strengths
i.e. in Al-Karam’s case, which is already a known quality name and does not require any
introduction, they have create a bond with another maestro in the industry Mr. Omar Saeed,
again a very well-known, intelligent and creative personality needs no hints. They express, ‘We
talk about innovations in working methodology, and don’t believe in just portraying a
32
33
Online Interview with Masood Arif, Manager Marketing at Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited.
Online Interview with Mr. Haseeb Hashmi, Manager Business Development at Junaid Jamshed Private Limited.
Aziz | 23
personality wearing their product, and we want to step ahead with more than traditional
methodology and partnered our product with an extra-ordinary brain.’ He further said that, we
are proud that we lead this trend, others are following us. Moving forward, they feel satisfied that
we don’t just develop something and then ask someone to mould it into a good and creative one.
Instead, we work together from the very beginning till it gets your attention and buys it and feel
special and loved wearing it. They conclude with the statement that, ‘They want their customers
to be the Al-Karam family and relations do not build on fake or immature ideas.’34
Reaching towards the end of my primary research document, and recalling my topic “What role
does branding and brand ambassadors play in promoting the lawn?” The answers/feedback
from the survey and interviews were not balanced; there were almost every sort of comment
present, in favour and most of them were against the favour. One prominent thing is mostly the
audience/consumers are of the view that when a product is promoted and re-called as a brand and
on top of that represented by a top class brand ambassador the price automatically goes double
primarily while as quality remains secondary. In the four to five years of lawn branding battle,
customers are now bit learned and sensed in terms of quality fabric, good design and brand
repute. In comparison of those products which consumers feel and think that quality-wise a
product is next to a well know brand in terms of quality there is a substantial difference. In
addition, there is also a matter of socio-economic class and reach. The grey market is serving that
lower-middle and middle class, in terms of print, but not in terms of quality. Which impacts that
actual brand/product but not to an extended or substantial level. Referring to Deal versus Brand,
many are of the view that Sana Safinaz is a good and expensive name but fabric quality is not up
to the mark as what Gul-Ahmed and Khaadi is throwing in market, then why should we go for it,
34
Online Interview with Mr. Aqleem Raza, Al Karam Textile Mills.
Aziz | 24
instead we would get couple of quality suits of different brands in the same price which gets us
only one suit of Sana Safinaz.
This gives us a clear support as to how we can group brands, one group of brands like GulAhmed, Khaadi, Al-Karam, Lakhani, Crescent, etc. having their own industrial units and are old
and experienced enough in fabric manufacturing business; and other group of brands like
Vaneeza, Sana Safinaz, Amna Ismail, Asim Jofa, etc. these are conceptualizing their ideas on
outsourced procured fabric.
One other group in competition like Omar Saeed by/with Al-Karam Textiles, Faraz Mannan
by/with Crescent Textiles, Deepak Perwani by/with Orient Textiles, Aiesha Varsey by/with Sitara
Premium Textiles, Bashir Ahmed and Kiran Koman by/with Shabbir Textiles, Umaima's by/with
Pardesi Textiles, Farah Laghari by/with Gohar Textiles, Abrar-Ul-Haq by/with Portia Textiles,
Zara Shahjahan by/with Kamal Lawn, etc. is the one in which designers’ name is used by
manufacturer or association of designers and manufacturers.
Aziz | 25
CONCLUSION
After the thorough research and talking to several people about my research topic I came to a
conclusion that in today’s market the role of brand ambassador with regards to promoting a lawn
brand is extremely diminished. Focusing on foreign or domestic/national celebrities being chosen
by the brands is a not worthy experience till date. The designers’ names associated with brands
or brands themselves are their brand ambassadors. Yes, brands are there which create reputation
based on the quality of their offerings. It is a sharp and competitive market. Customers are
getting literate and learned, and usually remember the merits and de-merits of the previous
offering of a brand, which let them or make them decide about the current offering of a brand.
Yes, instead, there is also something existing in the market known as ‘Brand Loyalty’. Some of
the pioneers like Gul Ahmed, Al-Karam and other few more brands like Khaadi, JunaidJamshed
(commonly known as J.(dot)), Nishat, Mausummery, etc. are such brands possessing loyal
customers to the brands, based on the repute of their previous offerings. The reputation in market
about these brands is like honest offerings for loyal customers or we can re-phrase it like their
honest offerings make their customers loyal to themselves.
On another note, it is highly an investigating issue whether the foreign celebrities are actually
being hired or not; or they are simply in posters / print media through photo editing/image
processing soft wares without their consent. This doubt was created when I research about the
brands and the price range of their products (i.e. lawn suits). The trend of using a foreign
celebrity as a brand ambassador was being orchestrated by the brands which come in the quality
range of average or below average, and in the price range of nominal to economical, with their
customer base as not a remarkable one.
Aziz | 26
Other than the doubted issue, the brand ambassador element was not appealing to the customers,
yet not decreasing the significance of brand ambassadors. But when we talk to numerous
numbers of people rushing to purchase lawn suits, mostly talk about the quality of design and
print i.e. the design and print should be outstanding, which will make the person wearing it looks
good. People here are less worried about who the model or brand ambassador is. This is least of
their concern, or according to survey, I must boldly mention here that it is none of their concern.
To witness my acclamation, this year post winter seasons when the brands launch their lawn
suits, especially those brands that used to get supported by foreign celebrities did not get
supported in the recent spell of launches. If we talk about domestic or natural celebrities, then
also it is not appealing to the people. If this wouldn’t have been the situation then the brands
would be signing or contracting the celebrities/models for a longer period of time.
At the first instance people want to look and give an exotic feel to the eyes looking at him/her
(especially her). Some literate customers (people who understand fabric) are of the view that
both print and fabric should be outstanding, so that our body and we should also feel the comfort
and elegance besides showcasing the exoticness. Customers are more interested in the design and
print and the stitched design of that print portrayed in catalogues. That is why catalogues are the
hot cakes and are in demand. They really care less about the face.
Eventually, at first is the design which sells and next the fabric which makes a brand and
promotes it. Yes, customers do in-hand with brands classifies the brands’ offerings as casual
wear, party wear, etc. and in deciding this classification the price range and quality
simultaneously plays the role and holds the important factor.
Aziz | 27
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abbas, Hur, ‘Launching a new brand in Pakistan: Mix & Match, (UMT research associates
2013).
Aamna Haider Isani, ‘Lawn Revolution’, Herald beta (Dawn), (March 18, 2013)
http://herald.dawn.com/2013/03/18/lawn-revolution-2.html [Last accessed: 12th March, 2014].
Brown, Millward. ‘Spotlight: Exploring the use of Celebrities to increase brand apparel’,
Firefly. (January 9, 2012): 2.
www.fireflymb.com/Libraries/Papers_and_Presentations/Firefly_Network_Viewpoints_Cele
brities.sflb.ashx [Last accessed: 20th February, 2014].
Clifton, Rita, Brands and Branding, London, Profile Books Ltd, 2009.
Dennis, Charles and Lisa Harris, Marketing the e-business, London, USA and Canada,
Routledge, 2002.
Hani Taha, ‘The Lawn brigade’, The Expess Tribune, (February 10, 2011).
http://tribune.com.pk/story/116965/the-lawn-brigade/ [Last accessed: 28th May, 2014].
Aziz | 28
Imran Rana, ‘Celebrity brand ambassadors become new marketing norms for lawn, The
Express Tribune, (April, 14, 2013).
http://tribune.com.pk/story/535316/celebrity-brand-ambassadors-become-new-marketingnorm-for-lawn/ [Last accessed: 2nd February, 2014].
Kerekes, Tony and Sue Nador, ‘The People Side of the Brand,’ Strategic Human Resources
Compensation News, (Nov-Dec 2002):
http://glasgrp.com/downloads/People_Side_Of_Brand.pdf [Last accessed: 14th January,
2014].
Martinez, Pepe. The Consumer Mind: Brand Perception and the implications for Marketers.
Great Britain & USA: Kogan Page Publishers, 2012.
Moomal Hassan, ‘Indian celebrities as Pakistani brand ambassadors, Reviewit.pk, (Posted:
December 17, 2013).
Online Interview with Masood Arif, Manager Marketing at Gul Ahmed Textile Mills
Limited.
Online Interview with Mr. Haseeb Hashmi, Manager Business Development at Junaid
Jamshed Private Limited.
Online Interview with Mr. Aqleem Raza, Al Karam Textile Mills.
Aziz | 29
Penman Jessica and David Rigby, ‘Textile Branding’, Special Focus 014. (October 1, 2002):
http://www.davidrigbyassociates.co.uk/DRA%20WEBSITE%2003/assets/Textile%20brandi
ng.pdf [Last accessed: 30th March, 2014].
Roll, Martin, Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia builds strong Brands, New York, Palgrave
Macmillan, 2006.
Saadia Qamar, ‘Bollywood celebrities as faces of Paksitani designer lawn’, The Express
Tribune, (April 6, 2014):
http://tribune.com.pk/story/692079/bollywood-celebrities-as-faces-of-pakistani-design lawn/
[Last accessed: 27th May, 2014].
Sanskrity Sinha, ‘Top 10 Most Popular Celeb Brand Ambassadors in the World (PHOTOS)’,
International Business Times, (March 08th 2012).
http://www.ibtimes.com/top-10-most-popular-celeb-brand-ambassadors-world-photos-54575
[Last accessed: 12th January, 2014]
Zara Farooqui, ‘Bring on the Lawn’, Newsline, (April 28th 2011).
http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2011/04/bring-on-the-lawn/. [Last accessed: 12th March
2014].
Aziz | 30
GLOSSARY

Lawn- a light cotton or linen fabric of very fine weaves.

Cotton- a soft, white, downy substance consisting of the hairs or fibres attached to the
seeds of plants belonging to the genus Gossypium, of the mallow family, used in making
fabrics, thread, wadding, etc.

Georgette- Originally made from silk, Georgette is made with highly twisted yarns. Its
characteristic crinkly surface is created by twist yarns in both warp and weft.

Chiffon- is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric. The twist in the crepe yarns
puckers the fabric slightly in both directions after weaving, giving it some stretch and a
slightly rough feel

Silk-
a fine lustrous fibre composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain insect
larvae to form cocoons, especially the strong, elastic, fibrous secretion of silkworms used
to make thread and fabric.

Shalwar- a pair of light, loose, pleated trousers, usually tapering to a tight fit around the
ankles, worn by women from South Asia.

Kameez- a long tunic worn by many people from South Asia, typically with a salwar or
churidars.

Dupatta - a length of material worn arranged in two folds over the chest and thrown back
around the shoulders, typically with a salwar kameez, by women from South Asia.
Aziz | 31
APPENDICES
Interview 01
Interviewee: Mr. Masood Arif, Manager Marketing, Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited
Date: 26th May, 2014
How do you see evolution of lawn?
Gul Ahmed is the leading brand in market, our signature is not only limited to domestic
markets with lawn prints, we have crossed international boundaries and lawn is one of
our excellent and profitable business section, and feel proud to say that Gul Ahmed lawn
prints history spans more than 15 years, we are not part of the recent five to ten years
evolution, and still we stand in the first row and head the completion and caters broader
market class and segment.
According to your observation, which source of advertisement helps the most in
promoting your brand? (Electronic Media, Social Media, Print Media)
Major portion of our advertisement involves Social and Print Media. While very low
activity is seen on Electronic Media. As the trends are changing, we focus audience
where we can easily do that.
What is the strategy behind launching new collections and exhibitions and how are
dates important?
People want more and more, being in competition is a never ending process, so after
every two months market witnesses a volume launch. So to avoid getting overload
nothing is launched at once. If everyone will launch entire collection at once, then there
Aziz | 32
would be no competition and audience/customers would get confuse. To keep moving the
cycle and keep everyone motivated this trend is in practice.
What is the benefit and reason of casting foreign celebrities for brand promotion? Is
it a desperate attempt to stand out because of ever growing competition among lawn
brands? What would be its impact on local market?
We haven’t done that yet, and feel no interest in doing so. If you see our catalogue, the
first thing to showcase customers is our product range and variety of offerings. Many had
witnessed that we have taken many known, unknown, national and international faces to
portray our dresses. But have never relied on a single celebrity and/or personality as
brand ambassador.
Do you think your customers are brand loyal?
We believe in quality and outstanding designs which are our ambassadors and to get in
loyal relation with our customers we’ve to be loyal to the brand we are presenting. Yes,
most of our customers are brand loyal.
Aziz | 33
Interview 02
Interviewee: Mr. Haseeb Hashmi, Manager Business Development, Junaid Jamshed Pvt. Limited
Date: 31st May, 2014
How do you see evolution of lawn?
It is a very good business opportunity, and a favourable one. A very successful one in
carrying it as a long-term approach. As Pakistan’s weather is very favourable for this
business, we have a very long-term scope to prove ourselves and many times a year.
According to your observation, which source of advertisement helps the most in
promoting your brand? (Electronic Media, Social Media, Print Media)
We have to go with the trends, where everyone is easily reachable and accessible.
Presence with true and effective information is extremely essential nowadays on Social
Media. Print Media comes next in series, billboards, catalogues and magazines also cover
a very large number of audiences on the go. Electronic Media, in our case is spans a
diminished circle.
What is the strategy behind launching new collections and exhibitions and how are
dates important?
To be high on heels, to stay highly motivated, to keep the suspense alive, multiple
launches are part of business strategy, to keep moving the cycle throughout the year. As I
earlier said, in a twelve month span you can prove yourself as much times as you want.
There is an easy and always available opportunity to correct your mistakes and to
enhance you current capabilities.
Aziz | 34
What is the benefit and reason of casting foreign celebrities for brand promotion? Is
it a desperate attempt to stand out because of ever growing competition among lawn
brands? What would be its impact on local market?
I do not negate this idea, but in our case when the product is lawn suit, this didn’t work
out well. Some of our fellow brands did the experience and remain un-successful.
Practically, dressing is something which is customers’ something very personal. In our
case every good lawn suit doesn’t means that it’ll look good because it’s a good one. No,
customers should and they actually buy things which look good on them and they feel
relaxed and elegant wearing those.
Do you think your customers are brand loyal?
You have to make them loyal by being loyal in your business, they just walk-in and then
it’s your corporate-cum-customer service, atmosphere, ambience, presentation that make
them totally yours. It absolutely depends on me to make that customer a repeat one and
make them walk-in again and again. As the name depicts, the name itself is an
ambassador. As the virtue of the character with which we are associated, we express the
same in our products as what we sell is exactly what we say, no compromise in quality
and true delivery of true products.
Aziz | 35
Interview 03
Interviewee 1: Mr. Aqleem Raza, Sr. Manager Marketing, Al-Karam Textile Mills
Interviewee 2: Mr. Mohsin Afridi, Manager Marketing, Al-Karam Textile Mills
Date: 2nd June, 2014
How do you see evolution of lawn?
This is a very experimental market, and the best part is, whenever you try something you
get successful, if not, you are next to it. We tried the factor of multiplying two strengths
i.e. Al-Karam, which is already a known quality name and does not require any
introduction they have create a bond with another maestro in the industry Mr. Omar
Saeed, again a very well-known, intelligent and creative personality needs no hints.
They express, we talk about innovations in working methodology, and don’t believe in
just portraying a personality wearing their product, and we want to step ahead with more
than traditional methodology and partnered our product with an extra-ordinary brain. And
we are proud that we lead this trend, others are following us. We feel satisfied that we
don’t just develop something and then ask someone to mould it into a good and creative
one. Instead, we work together from the very beginning till it gets your attention and you
buy it and feel special and loved wearing it.
According to your observation, which source of advertisement helps the most in
promoting your brand? (Electronic Media, Social Media, Print Media)
Earlier it was Electronic Media which felt a major one and/or was the main source. This
is merely rule out by Social Media and Print Media. In today’s busy schedules how much
time one spends in front of TV or how much ones listen to Radio. For instance if we
Aziz | 36
think that I am watching TV or listening Radio to get relaxed, I would hate
advertisements. Yes, if I need to buy something the first place I’ll search will be
Facebook or Google, so if I do not have my corporate presence on Social Media, I’ve lost
that customer. Likely, I am on way to office or on way to back home, in the busy and
slow moving traffic billboards are sign of information about the events, products, their
launches, best deals in town, etc. etc. Ads while reading newspapers, magazines, etc. are
also an eye-catching stuff, and so if I am ignoring Print Media, I am loosing that numbers
of customers. Your details should be widely available as information n various highly
accessible mediums.
What is the strategy behind launching new collections and exhibitions and how are
dates important?
Pakistan’s cultural is a very rich culture; we have so many religious and social events and
occasions to celebrate. Like we have two Eids, Ramadan is full of colours, we have
wedding season followed by both Eids and before Ramadan as well. We have spring and
summer festivals, so one has a very open ground to play business and apply intelligence
to gain profits and to cherish the customer base with enchanting offerings accordingly.
Fortunately, out of twelve months we have eleven months of lawn wearing season. What
else we want.
What is the benefit and reason of casting foreign celebrities for brand promotion? Is
it a desperate attempt to stand out because of ever growing competition among lawn
brands? What would be its impact on local market?
Aziz | 37
In our local market and the target audience we deal with is a fabric literate one. This
might and will surely look gorgeous while designing the catalogues and portraying them
as models, this experience will be a worthy one. But we are rich and self-sufficient in the
modelling industry as well. We have enough industry resources and talent easily
available which is presentable and comparable to the international market.
Do you think your customers are brand loyal?
We want our customers to be the Al-Karam family and relations are not building on fake
or immature ideas. If we are loyal to our brand, then our customers are surely the loyal
ones.
Aziz | 38
Questionnaire
Age: ____
Occupation: _________
1. How often do you shop for lawn annually?

Once

Twice

Thrice

With every new collection
2. Which lawn brand do you prefer shopping from?

Gul Ahmed

Khaadi

Sana Safinaz

Other _________________________
3. How do you keep yourself informed regarding upcoming lawn collection?

Billboard

Newspaper

Social Media

T.V / Radio
Aziz | 39
4. Which factor do you keep in mind while shopping for lawn?

Brand Name

Design

Quality

Price
5. Does a certain celebrity as a brand ambassador influence you to buy lawn of that brand?

Yes

No
6. Casting foreign celebrities to promote lawn is:

Suppressing local talent

Good for cultural promotion
7. Evolution of lawn towards branded lawn has:

Given employment opportunities

Given fashion a new dimension

Created a class difference

Other
_____________________
Aziz | 40
Survey Analysis
1. How often do you shop for lawn annually?
Once
22
21%
Twice
30
29%
Thrice
25
24%
With every new collection
26
25%
2. Which lawn brand do you prefer shopping from?
Gul Ahmed
23
23%
Khaadi
43
43%
Sana Safinaz
15
15%
other
6
6%
Other
13
13%
Aziz | 41
3. How do you keep yourself informed regarding upcoming lawn collection?
Billboard
31
30%
Newspaper
11
11%
Social Media
51
50%
T.V / Radio
10
10%
4. Which factor do you keep in mind while shopping for lawn?
Brand Name
11
11%
Design
41
40%
Qaulity
39
38%
Price
12
12%
Aziz | 42
5. Does a certain celebrity as a brand ambassador influence you to buy lawn of that brand?
Yes
14
14%
No
89
86%
6. Casting foreign celebrities to promote lawn is:
Suppressing local talent
77
75%
Good for cultural promotion
25
25%
7. Evolution of lawn towards branded lawn has:
Given employment opportunities
16
16%
Given fashion a new dimension
39
38%
Created a class difference
43
42%
4
4%
Other
Aziz | 43
Price List
Following is the prompt fact sheet of price ranges of several brands gathered from Portia
Fabrics in Malir Cantonemnt:
Brand Name
Burj Classic
Classic 5 Star
Firdous
Gul Ahmed
Lala Classic
Vaneeza
Khaadi
Aiesha Varsey (Sitara Premium Tex)
Bashir Ahmed (Shabbir Tex)
Amna Ismail
Egyptian E9
Umaima's (Pardesi Tex)
Popular Lawn/Fahim Burney
Al-Karam (Omar Saeed)
Junaid Jamshed/J.
Orient (Deepak Perwani)
Flare (Zubaida Tex)
Farah Laghari (Gohar Tex)
Abrar-Ul-Haq/Portia Tex
Zunuj/Lakhani Tex
Malala's
Zara Shahjahan/Kamal Lawn
Mahnoush
Zeen/Cambridge
Crescent Lawn/Faraz Mannan
Sana Safinaz
Kiran Komal (Shabbir Tex)
Lo Price
950
1100
1500
1800
2000
2175
2200
2250
2400
2400
2500
2650
2650
2800
3000
3000
3000
3200
3350
4000
4000
4300
5000
5500
5750
6000
6500
Hi Price
950
7500
6000
5000
2000
5200
6000
6000
2400
2700
2500
3500
6000
6000
6600
6250
4000
6000
3350
6000
4000
5000
6250
6000
6150
6500
6900