Zaraif Ayaat Hossain is the Head of Strategy and Transformation at Transcom Ltd, one of Bangladesh’s largest and most diversified business conglomerates. Transcom’s businesses span across pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, logistics, electronics and media. He is also the president and head of strategy for Chorki, the leading Bangladeshi OTT platform and subsidiary of Transcom.
Zaraif is the 3rd generation of Transcom’s legacy started by Founder Chairman Mr. Latifur Rhaman, now led by Group CEO Ms. Simeen Rahman. Zaraif was formerly the Founder and CEO of a venture-backed AI startup, before leading transformation and strategy at Transcom. He received his double major undergraduate degree from Emory University, USA.
Recently, Zaraif spoke with Bangladesh Brand Forum about Chorki’s journey of becoming Bangladesh’s top OTT platform, business strategies and Transcom and his involvement in Chorki’s operations.
BBF: Chorki was one of the pioneers who introduced OTT-based digital entertainment in Bangladesh in 2021, during the difficult times of Covid. What inspired the Chorki team to launch it initially?
Zaraif Ayaat Hossain: I wouldn’t claim that Chorki was the absolute first in OTT in Bangladesh, but yes, I will go as far as to say that Chorki pioneered the concept of an OTT producing top-quality Bangla content. I guess that’s what worked!
Redoan Rony, the CEO, had the vision to launch a Bangla content OTT platform for years and had even attempted to do so before. Around 2020, he started discussing his idea on how to go about building it with Jabed Sultan Pias, Chief Digital Business Officer of Prothom Alo.
Chorki, still at the idea stage, came to my notice towards the end of 2020. When formulating the Chorki idea at the Transcom office, the initial intention was to start small and build gradually over time. Seeing the passion and vision, I was immediately hooked, but I wanted to change the trajectory completely. I believed Chorki was not meant to have a humble beginning but rather needed to enter with a bang and revive the Bangladeshi content space.
So it was the combination of a void of quality Bangla content online and Transcom’s synergies that gave us confidence.
The opportunity was ripe, with the approximately 300 million Bangla speakers in the world wanting great content in their mother tongue. During COVID, of course, the scope for an online entertainment business was even greater.
BBF: Down the line for 2 years, Chorki has become the industry leader. What leadership strategies and innovative approaches ushered the company to experience such upward growth?
First and foremost, The focus was on producing quality content the way the audience wanted. That was our make-or-break point. That’s where the void was: quality, even potentially award-winning, Bangladeshi content online. Chorki, on purpose, has not gone into making content with an eye on gaining temporary subscription numbers, nor have we streamed sporting events such as the football or cricket world cups.
The business model was also something we were sharp on. We started with 3 business models: AVOD (content for free, with ads), TVOD (pay to watch a specific content) and SVOD (subscription). We pivoted the business model to focus almost entirely on SVOD, which the users became comfortable with and also allowed us to build a strong business. I would add that Chorki’s entry with the Transcom ecosystem’s muscle power is our strength. Chorki’s structure is very lean and nimble. Its horizontal management approach allows Chorki to move as fast as any startup would with its young and talented team. All while the backing of Transcom gives this startup the systems, processes and capabilities of a large business as well. Apart from my direct involvement in Chorki, I can bring in resources from the Transcom system for support. Overall, the combination of Transcom and Chorki makes a perfect balance to operate a visionary startup like Chorki.
BBF: Chorki is not a Venture Capital funded company. While the model of a traditional business house starting a new tech-based venture is uncommon and the success rate is low, what ingredients make this venture successful?
Let me put it this way. Chorki is Tony Stark and Transcom is its Ironman suit. Chorki functions with the attitude, agility and nimbleness of a startup with full freedom, and as an extension of Transcom, it is also able to have the strength of a large business conglomerate. Being the strategy lead for both Transcom and Chorki allows me to bring together the best of both worlds.
This structure has allowed minimal stakeholder management, an empowered Chorki team and easy access to the right support.
Unlike venture-backed startups, Chorki’s sole investor is Transcom. This means that aligning with Transcom is all that is required for Chorki to make big decisions. We are able to take a long-term approach to building a strong business without external pressure.
A young and very energetic group comprises Chorki’s team. The management can navigate making quick decisions in its own beautiful office space.
Transcom’s culture is to provide autonomy and strengthen companies with systems and processes. My role in leading strategy at both Transcom and Chorki enables such capabilities to flow into Chorki as well. So, while functioning with full freedom, Chorki has the ability to tap into Transcom’s strength in finance, technology, HR practices and more. It’s the mix of Transcom’s culture and capabilities that has allowed Chorki to succeed in its ecosystem.
BBF: Tell us about the process that has enabled Chorki to set up an OTT-based ecosystem that includes production houses, agencies, artists, and creative minds striving together to generate new content on a regular basis.
Ecosystem is the perfect word here! Chorki is nothing without the support of the entertainment industry in Bangladesh, from actors, directors, producers, writers, studios and more. The bet we took in launching Chorki was not simply to have an OTT platform, but to provide the Bangladeshi entertainment industry with never-before-seen reach.
The entertainment industry continues to work with Chorki as we have proven that we are here to celebrate Bangladeshi content.
Chorki’s focus on quality content also drove a resurgence in Bangladesh’s entertainment industry. Content is the core that we never intend to compromise on, thereby setting high standards. As a result of this, the industry itself continues to upgrade itself while working with us. Chorki has a very robust pitching and screening process for any content on the platform to ensure best-in-class quality.
For example, Chorki’s requirements for studios are high; this encouraged production studios to raise their standards as well. And now, I can proudly say that multiple new studios have recently emerged in Bangladesh, maintaining the high-quality practices Chorki has set, to be able to work with us.
It’s the Chorki business model flywheel that has now started to turn:
Quality content => consumer love => entertainment industry stalwarts and studios attracted to Chorki => more and even better quality content => more consumer love => better standards for the entertainment industry attracted to Chorki, and so on.
BBF: Considering the global spectrum, the streaming industry is an open market where any platform with proper planning and strategy can penetrate. How does Chorki prepare to take up the challenges and embrace the trends to compete in the global market?
That’s absolutely true, the streaming industry is an open market. Just think: the Bangladesh population is around 170 million, but the Bangla-speaking population spread across the world in both West Bengal and non-resident communities is closer to 300 million globally. The opportunity is massive and our strategic direction is ready to capture it.
In terms of product, Chorki just needs to keep doing what it’s good at, producing quality content. Quality content has always been the focus, and as long as the standards keep increasing, Bangladeshi content will be there for everyone around the world to enjoy and will, in turn, make the audience trust the platform. Our entertainment industry is filled with amazing talent. In the near future, content will also focus on Bangladeshi or Bangla-speaking communities who don’t live in the country. For example, with the India launch, a clear goal is to create content focusing on West Bengalis. For a future launch in the US, there’s an opportunity to make content about non-resident Bangladeshis as well. The possibilities are endless!
Where business strategy is concerned, Chorki is focused on a subscription business model, which has worked well. After analysing traction data in the first year, we came to this conclusion and took a call to focus on the subscription model. Viewers across the world are used to it. Now for distribution, on the other hand, Chorki is ready to both launch its own operations abroad and partner with existing OTTs in other countries. I can confidently say that we are flexible on the distribution modality of our content as long as it is loved and watched.
BBF: Chorki’s marketing strategies have always had a profound influence on the audience (ex: Myself Allen Swapan meme contest on Rantages). Tell us how the team prepares and strategises successful campaigns, maintaining the unique value proposition of the platform.
This is a result of Chorki’s culture. It’s a combination of the marketing team having the freedom to experiment while making data-backed decisions.
New marketing forms, whether experimenting with memes or putting up short-form clips on social media, were all different experiments the marketing team has done over time. The freedom Chorki gives has enabled the marketing team to try different avenues and then double down on whatever is working. Whatever proves a successful strategy can consistently be replicated in the future.
It’s also about being totally data-backed, and of course, this capability becomes stronger over time as Chorki collects more and more consumption data. For example, Allen Swapan speaks in a Chittagong dialect, which is relevant to the viewers there even more so than Dhaka viewers. Chorki had also under-communicated in Chittagong, so the viewer base was comparatively lower. Therefore, the team decided to launch short-form clips targeting Chittagong, and almost overnight, there was a massive spike in users in Chittagong. Again, being data-driven helps a ton.
BBF: Most of the target audience on the streaming platforms are Gen Z and late millennials with a diverse and realistic preference for shows. How has Chorki successfully understood the audience preferences and executed projects with excellent word of mouth?
Honestly, the credit here goes to those who are working with Chorki from the entertainment industry. Chorki has a very open approach to working with every talented individual out there. So, the ideas brought to the table by both experienced artists and up-and-coming talent have led to Chorki’s content being relevant. Chorki’s credit may be in having developed a trusted platform for creators to work with and in distributing it to millions, but it’s those who partner with us from the industry who come up with brilliant ideas.
Of course, Chorki has a meticulous process of working hand in hand with directors and writers to produce quality. The ideas come from the industry, and Chorki plays a role in helping their ideas come to fruition in their best form.
Sure, Chorki is responsible for providing a great reach to Bangladeshi creators. Still, it’s more important that the trust the industry continues to have in Chorki enables those artists to come in with relevant ideas.
Interviewd by Mohammad Sifat
