Commward 2018 honored 85 advertising works through a grand award gala on 8th September, Saturday. Commward is the largest celebration of creative communication in Bangladesh which started its journey in 2009. An initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum, Commward 2018 was presented by Meghna Group of Industries, powered by The Daily Star, and organized in association with Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
In Commward, campaigns are awarded in three ranks – Grand Prix, Gold and Silver. This year, there were 21 Grand Prix, 40 Gold and 24 Silver awards across 23 categories. Commward 2018 had received 487 nominations from 50 creative agencies. Four extensive jury sessions were held to select the winners, where eminent creative professionals of the country evaluated the entries. The award ceremony was attended by around 500 professionals from the business organizations, marketing and creative agencies. Also, special recognition was given to Bitopi Advertising for completing 50 years in the creative industry and inspiring others.
Speaking on the occasion, Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Visual Artist, Director of Bangladesh Brand Forum commented, “Creativity can fundamentally transform any area. As the world evolves significantly, brands and businesses need to embrace creativity at its core. Only then can they touch people’s lives and hearts.”
In the Best Campaign by New Agency category, Robi Bijoy Itihash by X won Grand Prix. In the Integrated Campaign category, Coca-Cola Nikhoj Shobder Khoje by Grey Bangladesh won Grand Prix award. The said campaign has also won 8 awards in multiple categories, the highest for any single campaign.
Commward was preceded by 8th Communication Summit, where renowned global and local experts participated and shared knowledge. The theme for the summit was ‘Creativity Matters’.
This year, the summit comprised of 4 keynote sessions, 2 panel discussions, 4 case study presentations, and 3 breakout sessions. The keynote speakers of the summit were Tay Guan Hin, Founder and Chief Creative Officer, TGH Collective, Former Creative Director – Global Executive, South East Asia JWT; Ali Shabaz, Chief Creative Officer, Grey MENA (Middle East & North Africa); Jayen Mehta, Managing Director (in-charge), Amul Dairy, Anand; and Samuel Diaz Fernandez, Founder and Program Director, School of Slow Media.
The panel discussions were participated by renowned experts of the industry, such as Asif Iqbal, Executive Director – Marketing, Meghna Group of Industries; Gousul Alam Shaon, Managing Director & Country Head, Grey Bangladesh; Ferdous Hasan Neville, Managing Director, Asiatic JWT/Asiatic 3Sixty; Nafees Anwar, Marketing Director, Personal Care, Unilever Bangladesh to name a few.
Three intensive breakout sessions took place, on the topics – Leading Innovation in Media by Bangladesh Media Forum; Learning how to listen is the key to Creativity by School of Slow Media; and Decoding Advertising.
Communication Summit and Commward are initiatives of Bangladesh Brand Forum. The events also had Event Partner Le Méridien Dhaka, Strategic Partner Bangladesh Creative Forum and Roaring Lions, Knowledge Partner MSB, Lifestyle Partner Advanced Development Technologies, Technology Partner Symbl, PR Partner Masthead PR, Radio Partner Radio Today, Visual Partner Aatosh, and Digital Partner Melonades.
