Bangladesh Brand Summit 2020: The Role of Brands during COVID 19

Organised by Think Content, Northern University Bangladesh presents Bangladesh Brand Summit 2020, in association with the Daily Star, Samakal and Channel i Online, had an exclusive session consisting of local speakers who talked about the role of brands during the pandemic.

The panelists were – Monsurul Aziz, a marketer, Mahzabin Ferdous, the Executive Director at Concito PR, Faisal Mahmud, the Senior Marketing Manager at Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited, Jiban Ahmed, the Brand Manager at Refrigerator Division Walton Group, Shahriar Amin, the Head of Portfolio at JTI (Japan Tobacco International) and Azim Hossain, the GM of Digital Platform at Channel i.

Mahzabin Ferdous, the moderator, began the conversation by asking about different roles and responsibilities the brands of the panelists played during COVID 19. “The role of a brand isn’t to serve the customers solely. My organisation prioritised their employees during COVID-19, portraying the importance of the internal stakeholders and that is a set of responsibility every brand should try to enhance, alongside focusing on their customers,” said Azim Hossain.

Shahriar Amin talked about how we had misconceptions about the impact of Covid-19, at the beginning. “It’s important to consider the mindset of the consumers. From our side, we methodised our communication in a way so that customers can consume content in the most convenient manner,” added Monsurul Aziz to the conversation.

Jiban Ahmed said, “We focused the most on our e-commerce platform, to provide the most expedient experience for consumers.”

Faisal Mahmud stated how important it is to stay relevant, as a brand might play responsible roles, but it should not be peripheral.