ITC team analyzes the brand “Bangladesh”
While Bangladesh is recognized as a growth-oriented, high-potential economy, the image of the country abroad lacks positive foundation elements. Moreover, Bangladesh is only marginally associated with the booming global IT & ITES sourcing market.
David Faulks, a branding expert based in Sydney, Australia, and Jacky Charbonneau, who leads the Enterprise Competitiveness team at ITC, moderated a two-day brand discovery roundtable at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), during which representatives from the Chamber, the IT association BASIS, government and other stakeholders brainstormed about ways to address these perception issues.
“Creating a logo is not enough. To create impact in the market there needs to be a compelling brand story behind the logo, a comprehensive communications strategy and guidelines to manage the use of the identity. You need to invest in experiences to ensure people 'live the brand'. Dhaka's World Marketing Summit earlier this year is a good example of what needs to happen”, said Mr. Faulks.
BASIS has delivered a major industry branding effort around the “BangladeshNEXT” tagline since October 2010. Stakeholders agreed, however, that a significant growth in IT & ITES exports will require the development of a positive Bangladesh Brand beyond the sector level. The roundtable exposed participants to international best practice on ways to create a comprehensive brand blueprint. Furthermore, a gap analysis was undertaken, with roles and accountabilities of key stakeholders clarified to bridge the gap. The roundtable was concluded with the development of a branding roadmap outlining further strategic and creative development requirements.
“We must take our branding effort to the next level to support growth across all sectors” concluded Mr. Asif Ibrahim, President of the DCCI. A conference will be organized to that end in December 2012 by the Chamber, in partnership with BASIS and ITC.
Click here to go to the NTFII Bangladesh project page.
