Tag: Bangladesh

Social media marketing campaigns have become a powerhouse for connecting brands with their audiences in fun and creative ways. They’re not just about selling a product or service—they’re about building relationships, telling stories, and creating moments that resonate with people. 

And what better way to connect than by highlighting one of the most universal bonds we share—our love for animals? Whether it’s a goofy dog meme or a heartwarming rescue story, animals have a magical way of bringing us together and making our online experiences brighter. 

That’s why using social media to celebrate our friendship with animals doesn’t just make for great content—it reminds us of the joy and compassion these furry (or feathery) friends bring to our lives every day.

This is what exactly Grameenphone, a Bangladesh-based telecommunications brand, tackled for its ‘Bondhu Bojhe Amake’ campaign, whose campaign–rooted in our innate relationship and loyalty with our animal companions–resulted in a campaign that encouraged everyone to be more mindful and respectful of our animal companions, as well as highlighting greater brand reach for Grameenphone in the country.

The Background

In Bangladesh, animals have shown loyalty, affection, and friendship toward humans over generations, so much so, that aminal here are loved like family members in any cases; yet animal-human bond remains overlooked. As “friendship” lies at the heart of this beautiful bond, Grameenphone saw an opportunity to redefine it—encouraging society to recognise, understand, and appreciate the signals animals give as acts of friendship. Bondhu Bojhe Amake was born from this vision: to translate animal gestures into a language people could relate to, fostering a deeper bond with our four-legged friends.

The Objective

Grameenphone aimed to redefine friendship through communication between animal and human, and decided to focus on their unique bond – which is often overlooked. By partnering with animal welfare organisations like Paw Foundation, Pranicool, and Animal Coalition BD, the campaign sought not only to create awareness but also to empower people to understand animals in a more empathetic way. The approach was to use relatable content, digital lingo, and user-generated content (UGC) to make the concept accessible and engaging for Digital Bangladesh, encouraging everyone to “accept the friend request” animals send us.

The Solution

For this campaign, Grameenphone embarked on the following initiatives:

Official Video Campaign: The campaign featured an OVC with an animal lover demonstrating friendly gestures animals use to communicate affection and trust. This video served as an educational tool, highlighting that understanding animals is not only possible but simple with a little effort.

Collaborations with Animal Welfare Organisations: Partnering with leading animal welfare organisations, Grameenphone strengthened the message that animal gestures are friendly and approachable. Testimonials from animal experts helped demystify animal behaviour and build trust in the authenticity of the campaign.

Digital Tool – ‘Accepting Friend Request’: This innovative feature enabled users to engage with animals’ “friend requests” through simplified digital lingo. The tool provided an interactive element to celebrate and decode animal communication in a playful, social media-friendly way.

User-Generated Content on Friendship Day: The #BondhuBojheAmake hashtag invited people to share their friendship moments with animals, creating a movement where individuals shared their personal bonds with animals. On TikTok, a CTA encouraged users to create videos with pets using the “Bondhu” song, which inspired widespread participation from both casual users and influencers, amplifying the campaign’s message across social media.

The Results

Rooted in a shared love for animals and strengthened through collaborations with animal welfare organisations, the initiative struck a deep emotional chord. With over 3 million engagements and nearly half a million interactions, it quickly became one of Grameenphone’s most loved and shared campaigns. By pairing heartfelt storytelling with a meaningful cause, the campaign not only showcased the joy animals bring to our lives but also underscored the power of connection and collaboration in driving success.

Bangladesh – Germany-based financial service provider Deutsche Bank will be expanding its global network with the launch of its first representative office in Dhaka, Bangladesh. With this new market entry, Deutsche Bank’s regional footprint in the Asia Pacific will now span 15 diverse markets.

The representative office will be focusing on supporting multinational corporate clients, predominantly exporters to Bangladesh. The bank has hired Syed Naushad Zaman, formerly deputy head of the Commerzbank Representative Office, to be the new chief representative officer at Deutsche Bank in Bangladesh.

According to the Embassy of Bangladesh, Germany is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh in Europe and the second largest globally. German exports to Bangladesh have tripled in the past 25 years.

“We continue to grow and invest in our business in the Asia Pacific. We are proud that in our 150th anniversary in the Asia Pacific, we are welcoming the 15th market to our strong regional network. With its fast-growing economy, we enter this market to support its increasing participation in regional and global trade,” said Alexander von zur Muehlen, Deutsche Bank’s CEO for APAC and member of the Management Board.

Meanwhile, Atul Jain, Deutsche Bank’s global co-head for trade finance and lending, noted, “Bangladesh is an increasingly strategic market for both our global multinational and German corporate clients. This representative office reflects our firm commitment to support our clients’ evolving risk management and financing needs in this dynamic growth market.”

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Fintech DreamStart Labs and commercial bank BRAC Bank in Bangladesh have announced a partnership to provide digital financial services to unbanked women in Bangladesh. This partnership will see BRAC Bank using technology from DreamStart Labs to help women in rural communities access affordable small business loans.

Through this partnership, unbanked women in Bangladesh will be using the DreamSave app from DreamStart Labs to create informal community savings groups. As members use DreamSave, the technology will generate data-driven credit scores that make it easy for BRAC Bank and its microfinance institution (MFI) partners to offer digital financial services with greater security, transparency, and efficiency. The use of the DreamSave app will facilitate BRAC Bank’s expansion of its MFI business portfolio in Bangladesh.

Moreover, BRAC Bank and DreamStart Labs will be expanding the use of the DreamSave app with savings groups under the USAID-funded Nobo Jatra project, implemented by World Vision in southwest Bangladesh.

Syed Abdul Momen, deputy managing director and head of SME banking at BRAC Bank, said, “DreamStart Labs offers market-leading innovation from Silicon Valley to help unbanked women break the cycle of poverty. BRAC Bank is pleased to partner with DreamStart Labs for this important initiative.”

Meanwhile, Wes Wasson, CEO of DreamStart Labs, commented, “BRAC Bank is the market leader in banking solutions for underserved entrepreneurs. DreamStart Labs is delighted to work with BRAC Bank to bring our innovative technology to unbanked women in Bangladesh.”

In March 2022, BRAC Bank has also partnered with Singapore’s consumer bank DBS, aimed at allowing Bangladeshi migrants working in Singapore to easily transfer their hard-earned income to their families back home, with minimal fees and in real-time by using DBS Remit, a remittance service integrated within the digital banking platform, DBS digibank.

Dhaka, Bangladesh — The Bangladesh-based financial institution, AB Bank Limited, has announced the elevations of Syed Mizanur Rahman and K.M Mohiuddin Ahmed as deputy managing directors.

Rahman holds an extensive understanding of the banking industry as he has over 25 years of banking experience. Under his leadership Retail Banking Division, Agent Banking Division and Business Development Unit were established in AB Bank.

Before joining AB Bank, he worked for Dhaka Bank, IPDC, Bank Al Falah and United Commercial Bank. Over the years Rahman acquired extensive knowledge in different segments of the banking industry with a distinct focus on branch banking, retail, process transformation, business development and corporate communication.

On the other hand, Ahmed joined AB Bank in 2003. Having more than 19 years of experience in the bank, Ahmed worked in different positions at the Department of Accounts and Finance.

He has extensive experience in the arena of financial management, financial control, capital management, taxation, budgetary management etc. Ahmed has also worked as a core team member and track lead of the core business software up-gradation project of the bank.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Bangladesh’s digital entertainment platform Binge has expanded its reach to the global audience. From now on, viewers from more than 120 countries around the world will be able to enjoy endless content of Binge including live TV, web series, movies, dramas, exclusive originals and so on.

Binge has come up with two subscription plans for global audience. They can avail the service both in monthly and yearly subscription plan only for $3 and $12 respectively. Smartphone users with android or IOS operating systems both can enjoy the service.

Robi’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Shihab Ahmad, said, “We are extremely delighted and proud to be able to bring our national entertainment platform Binge to our audience across the world. In this connection, we have recently received the recognition of ‘Silver Play Button’ from YouTube with the endless love of the audience. We firmly believe, with a large content library- Binge will get the attention of a global audience too.”

Ahmed Armaan Siddiqui, EVP for Digital VAS and New Business at Robi Axiata Limited commented, “Binge has brought a revolution in the entertainment industry of Bangladesh with the tagline ‘Entertainment Made Endless’.” 

“We have launched our operation in more than 120 countries after huge success in local market. Now our global audience gets the opportunity to enjoy more than 1,200 content including web series, movies, and dramas. In addition, our local entertainment industry will have the opportunity to bring their content to the world stage,” Siddiqui added.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – As Bangladesh has been hit by a dengue epidemic within a pandemic, Akash Digital TV, the country’s direct-to-home (DTH) service provider, has launched a new unique mosquito repellent curtain called ‘MosBlock’, aimed at providing uninterrupted entertainment in a safe and healthy environment.

Several reasons why the number of dengue victims is rising are that low-income people living in slum communities partake extensively in communal social practices, as well as many mosquito repellents are not approved by the health board, and their ingredients can pose a severe health threat. Therefore the only safe defence is a mosquito net which is often impractical as you need to stay indoors throughout the day. 

According to research done by the Aichi Agricultural Research Center, it has been found that in the animal planet, Zebras get less attacked by mosquitoes because of their black and white pattern. The pattern creates an illusion in the compound of the eyes of mosquitos, which derails their landing. Mosquitoes avoid journeying in the direction of this unique pattern.

With this insight, an initiative was started as a pilot project in Dhaka’s largest slum – korail slum. The program began with an awareness and activation campaign throughout the slums, followed by the distribution of MosBlock curtains amongst households- all free of cost. The curtains were put on the doors and windows of homes as well as on the boundary walls – thereby deterring mosquitoes from this area.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Jarafa, a reselling platform has announced the launch of its reseller and wholesaler marketplace in Bangladesh. It aims to link wholesalers and resellers via its website and app so that all they have to do is click to generate money.

Anyone in the country can sell and buy things from anywhere in the country. Both B2B and B2C business models are maintained by Jarafa. Jarafa also shared that it will  be offering a financing program in the near future that would involve bank loans. 

Jarafa’s chief mission is to develop an eCommerce environment that will allow digital businesses to grow and expand throughout the country. Ultimately, Jarafa aims to become a one-stop tool that helps businesses sell their products through Facebook and other social media platforms.

Md. Fahad, CEO of Jarafa, said that the Jarafa team will work tirelessly and sincerely to facilitate the creation of a social commerce ecosystem that is safe and secure. By using this strategy, digital commerce and entrepreneurship will both be boosted to a larger extent. 

“With the best technical and financial support available to our resellers and wholesalers, Jarafa hopes to reach a strong and stable position in the next 2-3 years,” the company said. 

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Telecommunications company Banglalink in Bangladesh has unveiled AppLink, a digital services marketplace aimed at connecting Banglalink customers with local developers. Along with providing the customers with convenient purchase facilities, it will open up earning opportunities for the developers.

Local developers can register and get all the necessary tools and Application Programming Interfaces such as SMS, USSD, and billing connectivity on AppLink’s platform to publish and monetize their digital services of different categories such as health, education, sports, among others. Banglalink customers will be able to purchase their desired services using Banglalink’s mobile airtime balance at the Applink website (applink.com.bd/).

Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, honourable state minister of the ICT Division, said, “Banglalink is known for taking exemplary digital initiatives for the country’s youth. This time, it has developed a digital platform that can encourage young developers to develop apps for our local market. This is an example of how large corporate organizations can contribute to the growth of our IT sector by empowering young professionals.”

Upanga Dutta, chief commercial officer of Banglalink, said that the company has launched AppLink with a two-fold objective; firstly, this new digital ecosystem is to empower local developers with a platform to showcase their talents with the opportunity to earn.

“Secondly, it enables our customers to easily purchase their desired services and apps with complete ease. We are happy to expand our digital service portfolio further through this initiative, and hope to enable young developers across the country through this platform,” Dutta said.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – IPDC, one of Bangladesh’s major non-banking financial institutions, and the Amal Foundation, an NGO that focuses on preventing child marriage, have launched the Child Marriage Prevention Loan by IPDC, powered by Amal Foundation. The initiative’s goal is to prevent child marriage by offering low-income parents a conditional microfinance loan with no interest or collateral.

When it comes to child marriage within its borders, Bangladesh has long been at the top of the world rankings. The main reason behind underage marriages is parents in the poorer rural communities of Bangladesh areas, where most if not all, believe girl children to be a burden on their Parents’ limited earnings. These findings were notably true for the daily wage earners known to flock to metropolitan areas for work. As a result of repeated covid-19 lockdowns that took away their sources of income, they were compelled to return to their villages, and once back, with even more dampened savings, many parents opted to marry off their young girl children to avoid further financial responsibility. This is where the loan aims to be of help.

The campaign for the loan offering was done by Grey Bangladesh. The 2-minute ad focused on the culture of child marriage in Bangladesh. It also features how girl children in Bangladesh need not be seen as a burden when families are able to practice proper financial handling and training.

The Child Marriage Prevention Loan (CMPL) is a conditional zero-interest microfinance loan that assists underprivileged parents in establishing long-term businesses if they match three criteria. The first condition being, only parents of a 12- to 18-year-old girl child can apply for a loan. Secondly, a girl child cannot be married before she reaches the legal age,and  finally, the girl child must be educated until high school.

This collective effort will result in the transformation of these girls from liabilities to assets and ensure education for them.

Bangladesh – Bangladesh-based private commercial bank BRAC Bank has partnered with Singapore’s consumer bank DBS, aimed at allowing Bangladeshi migrants working in Singapore to easily transfer their hard-earned income to their families back home, with minimal fees and in real-time using DBS Remit, a remittance service integrated within the digital banking platform, DBS digibank. 

The new partnership will enable DBS and POSB customers in Singapore to remit funds to any of BRAC Bank’s 187 branches and more than 700 agent banking outlets across Bangladesh. Furthermore, customers can credit their remittances via DBS Remit to any bank account in Bangladesh. By the end of 2022, customers will also be able to use DBS Remit to transfer funds to Bangladesh’s mobile wallet bKash, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank.

For remittances to Bangladesh, DBS Remit has no service fee charges, provides guaranteed exchange rates, as well as real-time automated deposits to any bank account there. BRAC Bank’s extensive network also allows recipients in Bangladesh to easily collect funds in cash if they prefer. For remittances deposited to a BRAC Bank account, BRAC Bank customers can use the bank’s app, Astha, to pay for utilities, insurance and loan installations, credit card and phone bills, as well as transfer funds to any bank account or mobile wallet in Bangladesh. They can also withdraw their cash at any ATM around the nation.

Rhidoi Krishnakumar, the regional head of DBS Remit, commented that they are very pleased to partner with BRAC Bank, one of the most innovative financial institutions in Bangladesh, to enhance their DBS Remit capabilities and provide more accessible, affordable and secure remittances for their customers. 

“We also look forward to enabling remittances to bKash wallet by the end of this year so customers can remit to even more touchpoints across Bangladesh,” said Krishnakumar.

Meanwhile, Selim R.F. Hussain, BRAC Bank’s managing director and CEO, shared that inward foreign remittance is one of the backbones of the economy, and they are always working hard to facilitate its continuous growth. 

“We joined hands with DBS Bank, the leading digital bank in the world because they, like us, offer their customers the best service experience, backed by the most advanced technologies,” said Hussain.