A look at the Pakistani Stars who have ventured outside their celebrity comfort zones to start their businesses – What & Why?
Celebrities like actors and actresses’ venturing into entrepreneurial ventures is nothing new worldwide. Be it Hollywood celebs or superstars from our neighboring Bollywood – we have seen examples by the dozen where individuals have sought to secure their future earnings.
Forbes recently put together a list of business savvy celebrities in the West and even the Bollywood celebrities from our neighboring India have been investing in various fields like e-commerce! Frankly I am impressed by their acumen, foresight and creativity.
So why should a celeb in Pakistan be any different …? A celebrity is a “brand” in its own right, which is why they are branching out into these other domains.
And honestly speaking there is nothing wrong with the entire concept of securing one’s future while all the pomp and glory is surrounding them. We have just recently seen cases of our ghazal maestro the Late Mehdi Hasan and the 80s pop-rock singer, Alamgir where there was money coming in during their glory days, but in the later stages of their lives they have had to actually seek charity to survive!
But what has completely left me in confusion is why do ALL celebrities in our dear Pakistan end up becoming a fashion designer*? Be it a singer, model, cricketer or actor … they all end up selling us clothes in one way or another. For God’s sake … in some cases they are not even the best dressed or the most stylish people around us!! (Just saying)
The latest to join this bandwagon in Pakistan is Humsafar fame – Fawad Khan … who has launched a clothing line called SILK … which Khan calls “… a humble attempt to branch away from the lawn focus and instead pioneer a new focus on premium fabric” (double duh!!)
However the reality of Pakistan is clothing is BIG business and easy money – so why not cash in on the bandwagon. Hire a few young (freshly graduated) designers; get a few mass retailers on board, produce the line and ‘Cha Ching’!! If the returns are good … move into retailing and even setup your own production house and you end up owning the entire production cycle …
Now the question is why do consumers go for these brands … and I sum it down to the following reasons:
- Product endorsement by an individual known (to the masses!) – so an instant PR win!
- People feel closer to the celebrity by purchasing them (there is always a possibility that the star actually had something to do with the product other than leading their name!)
- Fans get a sense of achievement as a trendsetter
- We just love to shop for clothes as a nation … and a celebrity brand launching is just another reason to go and buy more clothes
So how does this all evolve? Personally I am more excited about the future when our celebs will move away from the ‘designer’ bandwagon and start investing into some newer, more exciting and promising areas …!
In the same context, investors in Pakistan should also realize the PR worthiness of have a celebrity business partner (other than the ’over’ tried-and-tested clothing business) and look at looping them in as the ‘FACE’ of more exciting ventures, and not just in their advertising campaigns.
Would love to read whether you agree or disagree with my observations so don’t forget to leave your comments!
* I know there are some exceptions like Junaid Jamshed and the MeatOne chain, but those are really too few to be considered an exception to the mass phenomenon.
As FK said in a comment, Clothes and Food are the things everyone is investing in b/c of the good returns and the market.
Our celebs need some good investment advisers (actually our businessmen need some too!) … who can identify hot new e-commerce websites and other tech projects with potential. Ofcourse our e-commerce is still lacking so we need more focus from our techpreneurs to make such projects.
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Monkey see, monkey do!
I personally appreciate celebrities as an entrepreneur. Atleast they are doing some justice to the economy. People are having jobs (as you said,young grads). Unlike are so called politicians (some of them are celebrities due to these latest trend of talk shows).
Celeb(s) want to cash their names, just like they endorse products. In this form they just keep the full cut and not share with the vendor
I agree that it’s a great phenomenon and we should support it as much as possible! Only wish our celebs would invest is something other than clothes *sigh*
I think this phenomena exists aside from celebs as well. All the new investment in town is either into clothes or into food for the business community as well. Perhaps that is because those are two sectors that are making the most money. Everyone is a fashion designer from home..mostly through copying catalogs.
In the end its up to the consumer if they keep shopping with ppl who have no idea of fashion aside from using it as a cash cow they will keep entering this business.
The latest addition to the list is Abida Parveen with showcasing her signature Music, Jewellery and Art besides Designer clothing.
Also, Crickter Shahid Afridi tried his hands on number of things including a fast food chain .. but unfortunately it closed down in its first quarter.
I just know of Afridi selling those Kurta’s via billboards with headless men
… surprised to learn anything endorsed by Lala not working – what fast food brand was this btw?
He prolly didn’t do things the right way with the fast food joint. Should’ve have started Lala’s Chaat & Juice corner, then slowly added the Lala’s Special Biryani and then expanded it further with Lala’s BBQ & Roll Point. And finally topped it up with Lala’s Peshawari Icecream.
Interesting write and much necessary pointer towards modernization (read enterprising) of celebrity culture. Star power is the biggest driver in marketing and its a proof. Who knew Shahid Afridi could make a successful Kurta brand? Or who knew that Imran Khan would become a social entrepreneur and then political entrepreneur. Additionally, it is star power which can make their road paved towards parliament.
Thanks for pointing out that IK is also another celebrity who has taken a new route using the ‘Star Power’ … POLITICS! The business money making business of it all in Pakistan
I would disagree. Imran Khan did not have it easy on the road to parliament. Imagine any lesser soul in Pakistan trying politics then…
Salman – no new road is easy. You think these guys turning fashion designers from cricket or singing is easy? But bigger the risk – greater the reward!
I guess if something is working and these celebs can milk it, why wouldn’t they? It’s an interesting trend you’ve brought forward. And when I think about, it’s pretty sad. It’s another symptom of our creatively-challenged society. When was the last time some new innovation in any field came out of Pakistan?
We tend to be very ‘me-too’ driven – thats for sure.
But having said that … we do see trends coming in also … Imagine if Mausummary or Yahsir Waheed hadn’t started the Lawn exhibition craze like 10 years ago, life would be so different
Good article but it deviates from the main topic. For instance it focuses on the clothing brands launched by Pakistani celebrities. It would have been interesting if you had provided examples of foreign celebrities who have successfully diversified their income streams.
Rajab, there are two links in the article right in the beginning giving examples of both Hollywood celebrities and bollywood ones. Pakistani celebrities dont want to do anything else but invest in clothing – and that is exactly the point here. Cheers.