THIS IS MY STORY—42
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE ERA OF AYUB KHAN TO THE TIMES OF IMRAN KHAN.
GHULAM AKBAR
From Rise To Fall
Before I move into the subject of the fall of Kohistan, I will throw light on the strategy I had developed to promote the newspaper in the advertising market of Karachi.
Despite the fact that Kohistan was the biggest newspaper of the Northern West Pakistan, the people of Karachi were largely unaware of its position.
To make the newspaper better known in Karachi I started putting in small advertisements on the front pages of the eveningers— particular The Leader which was owned by Fakhar Matri.
I am recalling here the regular content of these advertisements.
“The combined circulation of Daily Kohistan yesterday stood at 92790 copies.”
Three days later the figures used to change.
“The combined circulation of Daily Kohistan yesterday stood at 94, 387 copies.”
The idea was to create a perception that here was a newspaper that was constantly on the rise.
I also acquired a hoarding site on the outer wall of the railway line just opposite to New Chali.
The message on the bill-board I remember was:
Daily Kohistan. The Newspaper that dares to be different.
Published simultaneously from Rawalpindi, Lahore and Multan the average daily circulation last month was: 91500 copies”.
This strategy of creating awareness worked in a big way. Soon Daily Kohistan started getting into every media plan of the advertisers and the advertising agencies.
A marketing tactic that I adopted became a great source of discomfort to Kohistan’s main competitor in the Punjab— Daily Nawai Waqt.
I seldom made a claim that Kohistan was number one in the Punjab. I always contended that Daily Imroze was number two. This contention of mine used to infuriate Nawai Waqt’s manager in Karachi.
“It is unfair Akbar Sahib,” he often used to phone me angrily.” You have every right to claim to be number one, but why are you telling the people that Nawai Waqt is behind even Imroze?”
“If I establish that Nawai Waqt is behind even Imroze, I am left with virtually no competitor,” I used to tell him.
My success as a marketing man can be gauged from the fact that when I had taken over as Karachi’s Resident Representative, the average monthly billing stood at barely Rs. 10,500; and in six months the billing rose to Rs. 1,40,000.
My performance largely contributed to substantial improvement in the financial health of the newspaper. When the company declared profit, the first difference of opinion occurred among the Board of Directors. Let me state here that on Enayatuallah Sahib’s proposal, I too had been made a Director of the company.
