Best digital campaigns of 2020-21 awarded

Reveling into its 5th glorious year, the widely acclaimed Digital Marketing Award honoured 125 digital campaigns in grand award gala at The Grand ballroom of Le Méridien, Dhaka on 18 December.

Digital Marketing Award 2021, an initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum, was presented by Meghna Group of Industries in association with country's leading business daily The Business Standard.

The award ceremony was attended by more than 500 digital marketing enthusiasts.

The widely sought-after Digital Marketing Award is the only accolade for digital works in Bangladesh. This year, more than 1,000 nominations were submitted for the award. Among those, 474 campaigns got shortlisted by nine jury panels and 125 were selected as the ultimate winners by nine grand jury sessions of the accolade.

This year's Digital Marketing Award had 125 winners across 18 categories in four ranks.

There were 15 Gold, 46 Silver, 64 Bronze award recipients, this year there were no Grand Prix recipients in the accolade's 5th iteration. 

In her welcome speech Nazia Andaleeb Preema, director of Bangladesh Brand Forum said, "In the era of dual existence of digital and physical dimensions we need to activate our human emotions more, and to unlock the next era of innovation and possibilities our digital strategies should be aligned."

The 5th Digital Marketing Award 2020 was also preceded by the 8th Digital Summit. Initiated in 2014 by Bangladesh Brand Forum, the Digital Summit is the apex platform for the country's digital marketers. This year's summit was attended by more than 400 professionals. The theme for the summit was "Future Proofing Digital Strategy". The aim of the summit was to disseminate the knowledge of enhanced methods of acquisition and intelligent marketing and in the ever-evolving market how they can future proof their strategies in the ever-changing market.

The summit consisted of 6 Keynote Sessions, 4 Panel Discussions, 3 Insight Sessions, 2 Case Studies, and the speakers joined from different regions of the world and shared knowledge. Alongside, there were notable local experts who discussed multiple topics.

Shariful Islam, founder and director of Bangladesh Brand Forum presented the welcome note of the summit and stressed that a brand must look beyond mere numbers.

He urged all the companies who are coming up with digital strategies for their clients to bring the lens of people, community and Bangladesh as a whole on board.

If all of these elements are not growing together simultaneously, companies cannot grow sustainably, he added.

Digital Summit 2021 was graced by the presence of 6 dynamic and globally acclaimed keynote speakers- Jaspreet Bindra, Thought Leader, Advisor, Author on Digital Transformation, AI, Blockchain & Future of Work; Thilanka Abeywardena, resident, President, The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, CMO Lead – South East Asia Emerging Markets, Microsoft Sri Lanka; Yasir Azman, Chief Executive Officer, Grameenphone Limited; Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Telecom Expert, Chairman, DSFM Securities Ltd.; Tanvir Ahmed, Head of New Business Model (e-commerce/D2C/Digital), Abbott Nutrition UK and Europe, Chartered Marketer and Amazon Expert and Shahriar Amin, Head of Activation, Japan Tobacco International.

Other remarkable speakers of the summit were - Nazmul Karim Chowdhury Doctoral Candidate, IBA, University of Dhaka; Tajdin Hassan, CMO, Daraz Bangladesh; Tanzeen Ferdous, Marketing Director, Unilever Bangladesh Ltd.;Kazi Mohiuddin, Senior General Manager, Brands, Meghna Group of Industries; Ahsanur Rahman, VP, Head of Digital Marketing, bKash Ltd; Jessica Stephens, Chief Operating Officer, D·engage; Didarul Hasan, DGM, Marketing, MM Ispahani Ltd; Syeda Umme Salma Jhumur, Chief Strategy Officer, Melonades; Jane Alam Romel, Group CMO, IDLC Finance Ltd; Jaiyyanul Huq, Executive Creative Director, Grey Group AMEA- Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa; Drabir Alam, COO & Director, X; Farooq Shams, VP & Executive Planning Director, Asiatic Marketing Communications Ltd./ Asiatic 3Sixty; Saluddin Shahed, COO, FCP Bitopi;  Shamim Uz Zaman, Head of Brands & Marketing Communication, Robi Axiata Ltd.; Md. Sanjid Hossain, Director, Brand & Digital Marketing, Wing (Cambodia); Ariful Bashar, Group Account Director & Digital Business Lead, Grey Advertising Bangladesh Ltd.; Farzana Oshin Zulhash,  Director Marketing Technology, ADA; Joshua Adhikari, Regional Growth Manager, South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka), Eskimi; A B M Jabed Sultan Pias, Head of Business, Prothom Alo Digital; Lutfi Chowdhury, Co-founder & CEO, Adfinix.

An initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum, 5th Digital Marketing Award and 8th Digital Summit was presented by Meghna Group of Industries, in association with The Business Standard, Supported by – Daraz, Walton, Adfinix, Eskimi; Strategic Partner – Bangladesh Creative Forum; Knowledge Partner – Marketing Society of Bangladesh (MSB); Technology Partner – Aamra; Media Partner – Channel I Online; PR Partner – Backpage PR.

The full list of winners is available here<<