As soon as I resigned from Premier Tobacco Industries Ltd., I received an offer from United Distributors Ltd., the sole distributors of Pakistan Tobacco Company in Karachi for their newly introduced in-house tea brand Silverpot. I was to head their sales department. I declined the offer for I did not see much of a future for the brand. Ultimately, the brand was discontinued after some time.
After leaving PTI, I applied for a sales or marketing position in Plasticrafters Ltd., the No. 1 manufacturers of RAHBER water coolers and household plastic goods. It was an unsolicited application and I really did not know if any position existed in the company.
The chairman and managing director, Mr. Masood Alam, called me for an interview and asked me to work with him as his No.2. I chose the designation of Management Coordinator for myself. I was supposed to "keep things moving through the various departments and take decisions on behalf of Mr. Alam." I briefed him every day at 4:30pm on the issues and actions taken during the day and left the office at 5:30pm. All other departmental heads used to leave after Mr. Masood Alam left the office between 7:00-8:00pm.
Mr. Masood Alam, Mr. Muzaffar Alam, who was his youngest brother and director production, and all departmental heads used to have lunch together at company’s expense. It used to be more of a business lunch with three or more dishes at a time and hot 'chappatis' (bread) coming in regularly from the kitchen. The lunch usually lasted for an hour or an hour-and-a-half.
Plasticrafters Ltd. (PCL) was founded soon after Pakistan came into being. Mr. Masood Alam was the majority shareholder and worked as chairman and managing director. His younger brother Mr. Iqbal Alam was the minority shareholder and worked as Executive Director. Mr. Masood Alam used to sit at the factory and Mr. Iqbal Alam at the Head Office. During the initial years, Plasticrafters was engaged only in manufacturing plastic components for the armed forces.
In 1979, Mr. Masood Alam came up with the idea of introducing water cooler in plastic body under the name of 'Rahber' meaning "leader." There was only one major manufacturer of plastic water cooler in Pakistan at that time but the product was not promoted through mass media. So, most of the people just did not know about plastic water coolers and their utility. When Rahber was introduced, it was launched with a big bang through TV commercials. It met with instant success and became a household name within a year.
When I joined PCL in 1980, the company was expanding and growing its business at a fast pace. I became involved in everything from import of machinery and moulds to packaging, procurement of local materials, sales and marketing, media advertising, shipments for exports, export rebates, production planning, etc. I also became the Marketing Manager and head of the department overseeing sales and marketing functions of the company in addition to being Management Coordinator.
After I took over as head of sales and marketing dept., I organized a road trip by a hired wagon from Karachi to Peshawar at a distance of 2000km along with the sales manager and field officers. We visited distributors, wholesalers and retailers in almost every town that came our way. The entire journey lasted for 25 days, both ways. The purpose was to have first-hand knowledge of the market conditions, to meet the trade and to devise our sales and marketing policies.
Plasticrafters became the largest advertiser in the plastic industry and its advertising budget equaled that of many multi-national companies marketing consumer products. We were present everywhere, be it television, radio, press, outdoor displays. We were the sole sponsors of the most famous stage show of the time 'Neelam Ghar.'
On the other side, we were introducing one product after another and one design after another. We had plastic water coolers from 4-litre capacity to 30-litre capacity. We had a water cooler for every imaginable use. I recall we introduced 24 models/designs in one single year. We highlighted the various usages of water coolers such as office, home, travelling, picnics, hospitals and so on.
Side by side water coolers; we had a whole range of household plastic goods, vacuum flask with inside glass bottle, and vacuum flask with inner plastic body. Product innovation, quality assurance and customer service were the hallmarks of our success.Although we did not have research-based market share figures but it was estimated from the sale at the retail outlets that Rahber was undoubtedly No. 1 and its share in water coolers was 80%-90%. All sales were made on cash in advance. We offered a reasonable but lower margin to the distributors, wholesalers and retailers as compared to our competitors. However, the trade earned more on Rahber than on any other brand because of its high turnover.
PCL also became the largest exporter of water coolers and household plastic goods and received export awards and trophies from the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry.
In the early 80's, General M. Zia-ul-Haq was the president of Pakistan. It came to our knowledge that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had sent a note to the president to ban the use of Rahber's slogan which in Urdu said: 'Hamara Rahber sab say behtar water cooler.' The Ministry reportedly objected to the use of word 'rahber with water cooler.' How could a water cooler be rahber (leader)?
President Zia-ul-Haq knew me personally. So, I dashed a letter to him informing him of the contribution of Plasticrafters in the domestic market as well as exports, without making a reference to what Ministry of Information thought. Nothing happened thereafter.
I enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Mr. Masood Alam throughout my stay at Plasticrafters. He never overturned any of my decisions nor expressed his dissatisfaction on a decision, directly or indirectly. Whenever he went outside Pakistan and he was quite a frequent flyer in search of new products and technologies, he would ask me to occupy his room, sit in his chair and use his desk. All drawers of his desk were unlocked. I was the only person allowed to open his personal mail during his absence.
Mr. Masood Alam was fond of having meetings on holidays at his residence. I did not have a car in the beginning. I got it later. So, he would drive down his Mercedes Benz car all the way from his residence to mine to pick me up, take me to his house, entertain me to several dishes of eatables and drop me back at home. He never asked me to come by cab.
Mr. Masood Alam was a great visionary in many ways. He was also a hard taskmaster for himself and others. He was dynamic and progressive in his outlook. His departmental heads earned more than those working in multi-national companies in Pakistan. He would pay salary plus commission or profit share to his departmental heads. That was quite a unique feature of his entreprenurial style in Pakistan.
While working at Plasticrafters, I received an offer from Chloride Pakistan Ltd., a subsidiary of Chloride England to work as Sales Manager. Chloride England was the largest manufacturer of automotive batteries in the world and Chloride Pakistan was the market leader in Pakistan. I just jumped at the offer and requested Mr. Alam to relieve me. He kept my resignation with him and did not announce my departure till the last day hoping that I might change my mind.
The only reason leaving Plasticrafters and joining Chloride was my ambition to work for a multi-national company. Chloride did not offer me a higher salary and perks. In fact, I joined it at a lower take-home pay and also lost the full-time transport facility that I had at Plasticrafters.
My stay at Plasticrafters was memorable for many reasons. First, it was a great opportunity to directly work with an extremely dynamic, progressive and disciplined chairman and managing director. He was a simple graduate but possessed tremendous business acumen and immense qualities of heart and mind. He was a hard taskmaster, too, but listened to reason. Second, I was there all through the expansion of the company and its business and received hands-on experience of entrepreneurship. Third, I was closely associated with the creation, development and implementation of mass media campaigns. That gave me an insight into the working of advertising agency and creative work that goes to the development of a promotional campaign. In fact, I also did copy writing for many of our press advertisements.
‘Rahber’ was a great name and enjoyed tremendous respect in the media. Every time we launched a new product, we would hold a press conference and every time participation was huge. When Mr. Masood Alam’s mother died late at night, he called me and asked me to prepare an announcement and get it published in the next-day editions of English daily “DAWN” and Urdu daily “Jang.” It was quite late at night and I did not have money on hand to pay for the announcement. However, I drove to the offices of ‘DAWN” and “Jang” and requested the editorial staff on duty to publish the announcement for which payment would be made later. To my utter surprise, they agreed. I stayed there till the first copies of the newspapers were printed and left for home around 3:00am.
In later half of the 80's, a dispute arose between Mr. Masood Alam and Mr. Iqbal Alam. The case went to the court. The option to have majority shareholding and management control was offered to both gentlemen. Mr. Masood Alam opted to leave the company. He was given his share of the company. Mr. Masood Alam ultimately shifted to the U.S. along with his wife. His only son and two daughters had already been married.
In 1991, I came to know that Mr. Masood Alam was in the city. I was lucky to reach him through one of his friends. I went to see him at his friend's office. He asked me what I was doing. I had just left Exide Pakistan. He asked me to go into trading of commodities for which he would give me Rs. 10 million. He also assured me that he would arrange more funds if required. He asked me to do the business on my own, as he will not be available to work with me. Besides, he said he was not interested in doing any business as he had played his innings well and wanted to lead a retired life. I could not take the risk of using his money for trading I never did before. So, I declined the offer with thanks. But his offer and the trust he reposed in me is something I still remember and greatly cherish. That was yet another example of his greatness as a human being.
I also remember he called me up at Chloride Pakistan one month in advance of the wedding date of his eldest daughter to ask me to be in Karachi to attend the function with my wife. It was a grand wedding party attended by a very large number of the city’s elite in G.O.R. of Pakistan Navy.
I joined Chloride Pakistan Ltd in end 1982 and continued till middle of 1991. You may view the next episode on http://livethylife6.blogspot.com/
Mr. Masood Alam was fond of having meetings on holidays at his residence. I did not have a car in the beginning. I got it later. So, he would drive down his Mercedes Benz car all the way from his residence to mine to pick me up, take me to his house, entertain me to several dishes of eatables and drop me back at home. He never asked me to come by cab.
Mr. Masood Alam was a great visionary in many ways. He was also a hard taskmaster for himself and others. He was dynamic and progressive in his outlook. His departmental heads earned more than those working in multi-national companies in Pakistan. He would pay salary plus commission or profit share to his departmental heads. That was quite a unique feature of his entreprenurial style in Pakistan.
While working at Plasticrafters, I received an offer from Chloride Pakistan Ltd., a subsidiary of Chloride England to work as Sales Manager. Chloride England was the largest manufacturer of automotive batteries in the world and Chloride Pakistan was the market leader in Pakistan. I just jumped at the offer and requested Mr. Alam to relieve me. He kept my resignation with him and did not announce my departure till the last day hoping that I might change my mind.
The only reason leaving Plasticrafters and joining Chloride was my ambition to work for a multi-national company. Chloride did not offer me a higher salary and perks. In fact, I joined it at a lower take-home pay and also lost the full-time transport facility that I had at Plasticrafters.
My stay at Plasticrafters was memorable for many reasons. First, it was a great opportunity to directly work with an extremely dynamic, progressive and disciplined chairman and managing director. He was a simple graduate but possessed tremendous business acumen and immense qualities of heart and mind. He was a hard taskmaster, too, but listened to reason. Second, I was there all through the expansion of the company and its business and received hands-on experience of entrepreneurship. Third, I was closely associated with the creation, development and implementation of mass media campaigns. That gave me an insight into the working of advertising agency and creative work that goes to the development of a promotional campaign. In fact, I also did copy writing for many of our press advertisements.
‘Rahber’ was a great name and enjoyed tremendous respect in the media. Every time we launched a new product, we would hold a press conference and every time participation was huge. When Mr. Masood Alam’s mother died late at night, he called me and asked me to prepare an announcement and get it published in the next-day editions of English daily “DAWN” and Urdu daily “Jang.” It was quite late at night and I did not have money on hand to pay for the announcement. However, I drove to the offices of ‘DAWN” and “Jang” and requested the editorial staff on duty to publish the announcement for which payment would be made later. To my utter surprise, they agreed. I stayed there till the first copies of the newspapers were printed and left for home around 3:00am.
In later half of the 80's, a dispute arose between Mr. Masood Alam and Mr. Iqbal Alam. The case went to the court. The option to have majority shareholding and management control was offered to both gentlemen. Mr. Masood Alam opted to leave the company. He was given his share of the company. Mr. Masood Alam ultimately shifted to the U.S. along with his wife. His only son and two daughters had already been married.
In 1991, I came to know that Mr. Masood Alam was in the city. I was lucky to reach him through one of his friends. I went to see him at his friend's office. He asked me what I was doing. I had just left Exide Pakistan. He asked me to go into trading of commodities for which he would give me Rs. 10 million. He also assured me that he would arrange more funds if required. He asked me to do the business on my own, as he will not be available to work with me. Besides, he said he was not interested in doing any business as he had played his innings well and wanted to lead a retired life. I could not take the risk of using his money for trading I never did before. So, I declined the offer with thanks. But his offer and the trust he reposed in me is something I still remember and greatly cherish. That was yet another example of his greatness as a human being.
I also remember he called me up at Chloride Pakistan one month in advance of the wedding date of his eldest daughter to ask me to be in Karachi to attend the function with my wife. It was a grand wedding party attended by a very large number of the city’s elite in G.O.R. of Pakistan Navy.
I joined Chloride Pakistan Ltd in end 1982 and continued till middle of 1991. You may view the next episode on http://livethylife6.blogspot.com/
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http://livethylife10.blogspot.com
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