CASE STUDIES

CONTENTS

CRISIS MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY

MEDIA ADVOCACY CASE STUDY

MEDIA COVERAGE CASE STUDY

INTERNATIONAL EVENT & MEDIA MANAGEMENT CASE

STUDY
PAKISTAN NATIONAL IMAGE CAMPAIGN CASE STUDY

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

COCA-COLA - BACKGROUND
Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd (CCBPL) decided to
outsource distribution and sell off its ageing fleet of delivery
trucks, resulting in laying off about 150 drivers and helpers.
CCBPL feared that when announcement was made, there would
be backlash from the union, especially as the president and vice
president of the union were also amongst those to be laid off.
Potentially the issue could have blown up into a full fledged
crisis, affecting all Coke plants throughout the country. Further
the issue could also go off on a tangent, away from the lay-off
into boycott calls for Coke products, with usual anti-American
sentiment being ignited and renewed allegations of Coke being
Jewish product. APR as the PR agency was called in to give
strategic advice.

COCA-COLA APRS ROLE

Conducted discussion sessions with all relevant management
executives top management, HR, legal, production, others to
determine all possible reactions strike, lock-out, plant closure,
union action at other plants throughout the country, physical
harassment, kidnapping of company executives, willful damage to
company property, etc
Developed, together with client, a response to each possible
scenario
Developed a holding statement

Developed Q&A
Developed a press release

Briefed company spokespersons

COCA-COLA APRS ROLE

Developed positive stories of Companys contribution to society and to the

economy, to be kept ready in case of need

Advised client to limit advertising during the crisis period
Proactively briefed contacts in law enforcement agencies in event of a law

and order situation taking place

Established contact with friends in media to advise us as far as possible

before publication of any negative stories or statements by the union

Got published positive stories about Coke in the interim period, not

connected at all with the labour issue

Stood by the client on a 24/7 basis for over two weeks until all issues

were resolved and the matter was closed

COCA-COLA - RESULT

As expected the union when told of the lay-off

protested very strongly and even violently, even
though the severance package was more than
generous. However since the entire issue had been
proactively handled, the company management was
prepared at every stage and the crisis was guided
through its course in a manner that substantially
limited negative fallout. In the end the laid off
employees accepted a final negotiated package and it
was back to business as usual

MEDIA ADVOCACY

Imposition of 20-paisa tax on SMS

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ISSUE

In the Federal budget 2009-2010, the government announced the

levy of a new tax of 20-paisa per SMS in addition to the rate

specified for the telecom sector
In pre-budget negotiations with the telecom stakeholders, the

Government had put forward a condition of reduction in taxes by

asking telecom operators to increase SMS rates
The finance ministry offered telecom industry the reduction of SIM

activation tax, on the condition that as a quid pro quo, the

operators will increase SMS rates
Reportedly, this move was being pushed by the largest mobile

phone operator

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ISSUE

Generally 40 billion SMS are sent in Pakistan every year by the

subscribers of cellular phones

With a tax of Rs 0.2 per SMS, the government was expecting to

earn Rs 8 billion per annum (US$100 million)

Since bulk SMS deals were to become very difficult to operate, the

telecom industry was expected to curtail them from the current

levels
This had the potential of absolutely discouraging the users to send

SMS freely thus resulting in lesser numbers of SMS exchanges

SUCCESSFUL CASE STUDY IN MEDIA

ADVOCACY TAX ON SMS
ZONG (CMPak Ltd) and its PR agency, Asiatic Public Relations

Network decided to plan and launch a media campaign for

withdrawal of the new sms tax, after it was announced in the new
Budget
The strategy was to build a lot of pressure on the government in a

short time frame, through the mass media

It was important that the tax was shown up to be highly unpopular

in the general public

WHAT ADVOCACY MEANS IN THIS

PRESENTATION?

Provoking concern about a problem, with

the aim of generating an appropriate
response

MEDIA STRATEGY
Building pressure - Breaking the news to media one

week before the budget announcement

Strategic favorable news placements in major

newspapers
News placement at blogs and discussion
Letters to the editors
Public survey

PRE-BUDGET NEWS STORIES

AFTER BUDGET GENERIC NEWS

No mention of
tax in headlines

AFTER BUDGET GENERIC NEWS

No mention of
tax in headlines

AFTER BUDGET NEWS PLACEMENT BY US

AFTER BUDGET NEWS PLACEMENT BY US

ELECTRONIC

LETTER TO THE EDITORS BY US

WEBSITES / BLOGS

GENERIC NEWS PLACEMENT

IN FAVOR OF TAX IMPOSITION

FOLLOW UP NEWS STORIES BY US

EVEN PUBLIC PROTESTS

WITHDRAWAL OF DECISION!

RESPONSES AFTER THE DECISION

MEDIA COVERAGE

INTERNATIONAL EVENT & MEDIA

MANAGEMENT

AKD SECURITIES

Client: AKD Securities

Venue: London
Event: Investment Forum
Date: March 08, 2006
Managed by: APR & H&K UK
Our Brief:
Complete event management for invitees and government
VIPs including keynote speaker, H.E. Mr. Shaukat Aziz,
Prime Minister of Pakistan

AKD SECURITIES
Issue

Dispel myth about the risk of investing in the Pakistani market

Raise awareness of investment opportunities in Pakistan

Services Rendered

Identifying and securing attendance of key fund managers and influencers

Media Management to generate widespread awareness

Additional third-party endorsement achieved through a partnership with the Financial Times

Identified 340 fund managers, with 125 attending the event

Arranged breakout sessions on specific sectors (banking; telecom; airlines/ insurance; oil & E&P;
cement/fertilizer; power)

More than 2 dozen 1:1 and 1:few meetings between investors and AKD arranged

Extensive media coverage secured

AKD SECURITIES

AKD SECURITIES

PAKISTAN NATIONAL IMAGE

CAMPAIGN

Nation Image Marketing Requires a Total

Approach, with no Empty Promises

Changing the perceived image of a nation is a form of nation

marketing. The uniqueness of nation marketing is that it requires
all parts of society and government to be dedicated to the cause.
To be truly effective it can not be a stand-alone campaign, but
must involve the support and participation of other ongoing
campaigns such as in the areas of tourism and investment. In this
way everyone participates and everyone is the winner when mindsets are changed.

Image Campaign: Global Press Office

Coordinated in major media centres
Pakistan Govt
Profile

Media visits
showcasing the true
Pakistan

Milestones
Programme
Announcements and
regular news sent out to
media internationally

Platforms

Media briefings

Reports
Speaking opportunities
Conferences
Trade shows

Proactive
briefings to key journalists to
get across
key messages

Forward Features
Placing articles on Pakistan
with identified surveys and
features among international
publications

PAKISTAN

Materials library,
media training,
contacts management,
online and local press
office

Rapid Response PR
Angles, stories for individual
media news agenda.
Readiness to answer
negative news

THANK YOU!