The 9th edition of Communication Summit held today in the capital under the theme ‘Creative Leap in the Age of Disruption’. The summit was followed by Commward, the only accolade for the country’s advertising industry.
Around 350 professionals attended the daylong summit which took place in Le Méridien Dhaka. Being the flagship initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum, both the summit & the award were organized in association with Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, powered by The Daily Star. Communication Summit is a flagship initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum that brings together renowned global and local experts including creative professionals from diverse sectors to share knowledge.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Shariful Islam, Founder & Managing Director of Bangladesh Brand Forum said, “Bangladesh has come a long way in the communication sector. But in recent time we are stuck in the same space. There is an urgent need to reinvent our approach and orientation towards communication solution which needs a collective effort by the industry.”
Commenced in 2009, Communication Summit has been playing a vital role in Bangladeshi creative communication and advertising industry by bringing local and global creative communication experts under one roof. This year, the summit comprised of three keynote sessions, three panel discussions, one interaction/intervention, three local insights, and three global insights. Exclusive showcasing of Cannes Lions winners and winners of previous Commward was also there at the summit premises.
The three keynote speakers of the summit were – Tay Guan Hin, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of TGH Collective & Creative Change Catalyst of APAC Global Advisory; Surjo Dutt, National Creative Director of FCB ULKA; and David McCaughan, Co-founder of Marketing Futures & Storyteller at bibliosexual.
The panel discussions were participated by renowned experts of the industry. The discussants were – Ashraf Bin Taj, President, MSB; Moutushi Kabir, Director, Communications & Outreach, BRAC & BRAC International; Asif Iqbal, DMD, Meghna Group of Industries; Salahuddin Shahed, COO, FCB Bitopi; Shah Masud Imam, COO, Dhaka Icecream Limited (Polar); Syed Gousul Alam Shaon, Managing Partner & Country Head, Grey Advertising Bangladesh Limited; Nazim Farhan Choudhury, Managing Director, Adcomm Limited; Iresh Zaker, Managing Director, Asiatic Experiential Marketing Limited & Deputy Managing Director, Asiatic 3Sixty; David McCaughan, Co-founder of Marketing Futures & Storyteller@bibliosexual; Sharmin Rahman, Head of Retail, Operations Division, Grameenphone Limited; Tanzeen Ferdous, Marketing Director (Homecare, Foods & Refreshments), Unilever Bangladesh Limited; Kaniska Chakraborti, Brand & Communication Professional, Food Enthusiastic, #That; Urfi Ahmad, Brand & Communications Director, Banglalink; Drabir Alam, COO & Director, X, and Ferdous Hasan Neville, Managing Director, Asiatic Marketing Communications Limited.
A spellbinding interaction/intervention was held by Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Visual Artist & Performer, Director of Bangladesh Brand Forum and President of Women In Leadership (WIL).
The summit was followed by Commward 2019, the largest recognition platform for Bangladeshi advertising industry. Commward: Excellence in Creative Communication is the flagship initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum. A total of 659 entries were submitted for this year’s Commward. Across 23 categories, the awards were given in four ranks – Grand Prix, Gold, Silver & Bronze. A total 3 Grand Prix, 15 Gold, 27 Silver & 36 Bronze Awards were given to the best creative works of Bangladesh. Also, special recognition was given to Grey Bangladesh for winning three Cannes Lions for Bangladesh in the 66th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The 9th edition of this year’s Commward was set to be a precedent for a more rigorous and demanding form of Commward. For initiating a creative momentum across the nation, the 9th Commward, along with introducing newer and more challenging categories, has also introduced a more rigorous jury system and selection process. Commward this year had Tay Guan Hin, Founder/Chief Creative Officer, TGH Collective and Creative Change Catalyst, APAC Global Advisory, as the first-ever Jury President. This ensured that Commward entries were evaluated to the most meticulous global standards possible.
This year, Grey Bangladesh won three Grand Prix for their campaigns Project AgroBanking and UBER Project Unhonk in the Rural Marketing, Social Marketing and Innova category. They have also won in total of 17 awards in different categories, the highest for any single agency.
Commward and Communication Summit are initiatives of Bangladesh Brand Forum. Organized in association with Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the event was powered by The Daily Star. Strategic Partners were Bangladesh Creative Forum and Roaring Lions; Knowledge Partner – MSB; Technology Partner – Aamra, Radio Partner – Radio Foorti; Digital Partner – Applied Business Initiatives, and PR Partner – Backpage PR.
