Rohim Chacha Calling

What started out as a US Army recruitment poster for the two World Wars, ended up being "the most famous poster in the world." Yes, I am talking about none else but the venerable Uncle Sam.

The poster went on to stamp an identity which personified the US Government whole-heartedly. The obvious nature of dictating terms, the relentless pursuit of self-serving objectives and the frequent yet unnecessary agression in world politics... all can be drawn up from this one-the-face visual.
When they want it, they would leave no stone unturned to get it! They are, and will be America!!!

But as always, the beginning of my stories are hardly in relation to the body. Its sole purpose of existence is to get you to the body :p

With the growing number of GPA-5 achievers and declining number of Science students, the dynamics of the talent pool in Bangladesh is changing fast. The traditional employment behemoths are facing the heat and their efforts to recover lost ground is quite apparent.

Take the military service for example. In a country like ours, throughout history (after Pakistani occupation) a career in the military has always been perceived an excellent choice. From giving their daughters hand in in marriage to buying their used cars, army men are just respected, trusted and admired unquestionably. I've experienced it first-hand. After all my dad served in the Army :p

Money turned out to be the root of this evil, too. As exposure to capitalism and materialism increased, students leaned more towards a business degree than the traditionally respected science. Back in Class 9, a friend of mine (after being disallowed in the science section) had said, "Study science and become and engineer, only to come and work for the company I run/own". It didn't matter back then, but fifteen years down the line... I thank the Almighty, my parents and myself for taking the timely decision to switch over to business studies in grad school. I did try to follow my father's footsteps into the armed forces, but thankfully that wasn't to be.

Traditionally a military career drew interest from the middle-class of Bangladesh. The social status, the modest pay, the countless facilities and overall a stable life was all they sought. And a career with the armed forces, more than made up for it. Although rising inflation and exposure to a better lifestyle was covered for by UN Missions/Appointments; by the mid 90's the mindset was in a downward spiral nonetheless. From an esteemed employer, Bangladesh Armed Forces had become the destination for the less-privileged talents.

As the number of applicants kept falling, there was the obvious dip in quality of officers the academies were producing. Garbage going in, wasn't producing anything but garbage itself.

The brand Bangladesh Army was going down...

Fortunately some "Smart Alec" General came up with the idea of mass communication aka. brand building (another child of capitalism). An order is an order, and in the military the best thing people do is echoing the words "Yes, Sir. Alright Sir".

Their idea of attracting the Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Commando and Rambo fans into the army came to life with the "Join Bangladesh Army" campaign. The first of its kind. A brilliant work by the amazing Amitabh Reza and his crew at Half Stop Down.

The Army went on to complete the full circle with the launch of its own flashy website.

I guess, Army wasn't the only force feeling the heat as the Navy soon followed suit in launching their version of the brand awareness campaign. "Join Bangladesh Navy" was directed and produced by Gazi Shubhro and his team at Red Dot.

Theirs too had a website to ensure proper web presence. As I browsed along for more on Bangladesh Armed Forces, I cam across a rather interesting one. Interesting because of the recent history of the force. The site belonged to Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB).

After the Pilkhana Carnage and public knowledge of their heinous acts during the mutiny, I wonder what can they do to earn back the trust of fellow countrymen; let alone being the place you send your kid to get enlisted.

Perhaps a deshi version of Uncle Sam can be the solution.
Perhaps a platform we can all connect to...

Perhaps our very own Rohim Chacha!

I will vouch and ideate for one for sure.
Who else?

I am the prophet of Underground Meerkating

My name is Hitler, Prophet Hitler 420. No it is not like Bond, James Bond 007. My numbers 420 are module codes taught in Left-Right University, a prominent and first ever private university of Bangladesh. Today in this sermon, I want to tell you about a pilgrimage called Underground Meerkating Summit which is the best thing that I have done in recent times and which is the best thing you will ever attend in your meerkating career. Read on.

An MBA - More 'Bout Attitude - than anything else

I took part recently in the MBA Advisory Group of my previous university where we discussed with alumni and staff on how to reposition the MBA to new students and potential employers.  There I again realised a belief I always hold in relation to MBA is that this degree is more of an attitude than a piece of paper. 

I think there are three variables working in a triangular relation that make a good MBA holder stand out from an extra ordinary one. They are - institution/environment, your own talent and external perceptions. 

If for example you naturally have some business acumen, entrepreneurial, with superior presentation, analytical and people handling skills and you happen to get a degree from IBA or NSU, chances are high that employers may have a better perception towards your capabilities or potentials. So all your three variables in the MBA triangle are strong and in your favour. If however you turn out to be basically an airhead with a lot of intellectual glamour but little or no flesh underneath, your institute's perception in the eyes of external parties like employers, your parents, friends, girlfriend can still save the day. Infact a strong institution has the power to teach a donkey how to run faster than other donkeys. However it can't still turn donkeys to horses as pure donkeys will not be able to figure out which race is for horses and which ones are for them. Worst is when you are planning to do an MBA and if you lack the talent or attitude and at the same time don't have the degree from a prestigious institute. I believe that if you have the right attitude between your eyes then you can always compensate not studying in IBA with a degree from 'left-right university' (one of any directional universities in Bangladesh will do). However even an MBA from Top B-school cant guarantee your long lasting success if you lack the basic attitude of an MBA. 

An MBA is not a prerequisite to succeed as an entrepreneur or a business leader. An attitude to succeed, innovate, initiate definitely are. Cultivate these first, a degree can follow later. There are too many examples in Bangladesh and abroad where businesses have been established and succeeded by people who didn't have any formal business education but had some basic attitude naturally or gained over time - all of which are attempted to be taught in a typical MBA course. So having the right attitude is important, then turn that into action.

Medicine Matters

Lazz Pharma Ltd., a name so synonymous to the industry that while having a debate with a friend about the possibility of a pharmacy chain in Bangladesh, he thought Lazz Pharma was one. And I believe he was right, indeed!

After 40 years of existence, Lazz - the brand does get the credit of being the founding father of the industry. In a country where just about any compounder opens up a store and starts calling it a pharmacy, or where the existence of pharmacists is only in pharmaceuticals and hi-end hospitals... Lazz was the light bearer for sure.

With time, Mimi chocolate was replaced by Cadbury's; Peps Gel became Close-up but Lazz Pharma stayed at the top. As much of that credit goes to the wonderfully modest management of Lazz, the lack of vision from others to come forward is rather unfortunate. Don't get me wrong, Prescription Aid (in Banani) or Tamanna Pharmacy (in Gulshan) do have a considerable share of our mind (every time you think pharmacy, what other name hits you?). But when we think of universal presence, something in the league of DBBL ATM booths (bad example); there is really nothing to recall!

Yes, Lazz Pharma has four outlets in Dhaka city (did you know that?) and they are a name you can (more or less) blindly trust. But having four branches located in Dhaka, in a country of sixty four districts and one hundred and eighty million people is like Newton's "As children gathering pebbles on the shore." We have a long, long way to go...

Of course organized retail done in a successful manner (i.e. Rahimafrooz Superstores, Agora) is a concept that hardly a decade old and success in a specialized industry like medicine and pharmacy is based more on trust and goodwill than location and good looks. However echoing my dad's mantra on business in Bangladesh, "Anything that is associated with the growing population, will be a success". His line was meant for food, transport & real estate sectors and medicine, engineering & law practitioners. Its as simple as the "basic goods" market - the need for rice grain will never fade, neither will the need for medicines.

The question is, can you make the "customer experience" in this basic industry any better?

A few years back, when ACI followed "the Agora way" to open its branded chain of superstores i.e. Shwapno, I was really looking forward to at least a 7-Eleven lookalike. The idea behind Shwapno leaned more towards a utility joint as opposed to a major retail joint. It was a winning idea, till they wanted to make it a smaller Agora/Nandan and started preaching "fresh from the farmer". The original concept bombed and  the CEO got fired. Thankfully the financiers finally realized what was wrong by re-aligning themselves to a unique "fresh" proposition and cutting down on unprofitable locations. When a leading pharmaceutical company in the country with leading consumer health brands (Savlon, ACI Aerosol) come up with the idea of a retail chain, why is it so difficult to sketch up a "medicine corner" in the blueprint, I wonder!!!

I have always had tremendous respect for Samson H. Chowdhury's gift to Bangladesh, Square Group. A company that (by my judgement) has modestly but sure-footedly has moved from pharmaceuticals to consumer brands to hospitals to (now) entertainment. Their sustainable and linear growth model has contributed to stellar performance both in terms of finance and perceptions for all the Square concerns. When Square Hospitals had opened its doors, I was awaiting a revolution in the health industry of Bangladesh. While Apollo Hospitals (in India) and Labaid (In Bangladesh) had progressed from service providers to manufacturers in the health industry, Square did it the other way. After the hospitals, I had envisioned a Square Pharmacy chain, much like the Apollo Pharmacies in India (750 in number and growing). Instead Square (to-date) sufficed to having a 24 hour pharmacy at its hospital doorsteps.

May be the thought of walking into a pharmacy chain like Boots or Guardian in Dhaka is bordering daydreams, but its not impossible when a local chain like Gallerie Apex has 141 outlets around the country in less than a decade.

If people have no problem paying for the highest charging doctor, paying a visit to a store that sells authenticated life-saving drugs shouldn't be one either.

If you think otherwise, please tell me why?

the blur!

I always enjoyed writing something or the other. It never really had to be about something. At times they made sense, mostly didn't. But it really wasn't an issue, cause I thoroughly enjoyed the WRITING part!

Opposed to popular belief, productivity in terms of coming up with original content went up once I had started my career. Although a career in "servicing" in an advertising agency is not deemed creative, the company and its core services surely is. Even the well acclaimed and universally accepted creative ego is "creative" in nature, though it differs greatly from person to person with a greater scope!!!

Through the peaks and troughs of my career, I've kept my blog as something very cynical, delicate and mostly personal. If anything, over the years I've become so obsessed with "quality writing" that a thousand inspirations come and go, yet nothing ever gets posted. This pursuit of excellence has cost me no less than a dozen pieces in the past few years. And when you consider, I've barely managed to write forty odd pieces in last five years... that's just about two years hard work down the drain.

As the stressmeter intensifies... at work and at home, the crazier side of you starts taking a hit as well. As many peers and pundits of advertising keep pointing out (without a fail, every time), the fun of an industry where passion fuels productivity runs out as you mature to realize the value of money.

M O N E Y all of a sudden smells sweeter than honey. You regret how it ever was the root of all evil. And as for the so unique yet so sensitive, broad-minded creative side of you; all that matters is the Bangla saying "pete khele pithe shoy" (if your needs are fulfilled, the work never matters)!!!

Forget your family or the nagging wife, on a lazy weekend when you cannot afford the La-Z-Boy chair to enjoy The Godfather in high-definition, the blur between passion and reality is ever widening.

And I wonder, who will have the last laugh?

Soft talks about SoftExpo2012

Anderson: Rob how are you? What’s new?

Robertson: Busy times mate, I am travelling again, this time to Bangladesh next week.

Anderson: Bangla what? And why? What’s happening down there?

Robertson: Bangladesh. They’ve got a software expo coming up next week, supposedly their biggest and getting bigger every year…

Lionel Messi and scoring goals with your CV

Imagine if Lionel Messi will ever have the misfortune to apply for a job through bdjobs.com what would be key strength of this CV? If you and I are singing from the same hymn sheet then we are right to say that it will be number of goals that he has scored throughout his career as the world’s best footballer.

Same goes for your CV too. The more CVs I receive and get asked by people I know for a quick glance makes me want to reiterate the fact that what you have achieved in your previous work experiences is more important than what you have actually done, the processes you have followed to achieve those results. In other words, results in a CV stand out than mere blabbering about processes and description of your role.

Talent Haat

Where's my haat?

Thanks to my dad's overly hopping career (unlike the majority who's reading this) I've had the privilege to experience what the gram bangla'r haat is, first hand. From the Sunday haats in my village home to other weekly haats in various towns across Bangladesh, they have always been appealing in their own ways. Its a must visit for all who cherishes the famed picturesque Bangladesh. Since that day is not far when we might actually have to re-live the haat experience through word of mouth alone.

But I am not a policymaker nor am I the golden son of the soil who stands up to a "haat bachao" movement. If anything, I am the geek who resorts to a blogging platform and power of words to use haats to get reader's attention to my demeaning diary.

To us, the masses... the aspiration to go digital by 2021 was an ambitious dream by the Government. But a good dream, indeed. I mean at least through that our policymakers and citizens could at least go to sleep knowing in the dream world lies the next Matrix or Tron :p A place where anything and everything is possible and nobody takes NO for an answer. You can learn and unlearn everything... and you are truly the master of your own destiny (there goes my effort to not sound blasphemous). The fact that a skilled technician or a honed business manager is just a skill that needs to be downloaded into your system (aka. the brain) makes anyone and everyone a talent of choice. There would be no LinkedIn, no books like Winning Job Interviews or Boost Your Interview IQ, no suits with matching shoes and ties... in short, no showmanship at all! But as reality stands today... Digital Bangladesh is a mirage that's as dreamy as The Grid in Tron. And the case with talent pool in Bangladesh is not much different either.

The story goes like this... about a decade back every time my dad brought in "koi" fish, my mom cooked a delicacy. It wasn't a regular occurrence since "koi" was comparatively expensive a fish and if anything took considerable effort to cook and eat. Now-a-days "koi" is widely available, significantly cheaper (time value) and also better looking (whitish as opposed to darkish). Yet the whole family looks at "koi" as just another fish and looks for delicacies elsewhere. The bottom line is quite simple - the delicacy is now in abundance, but its no more a delicacy at all. The cost of making "koi" an affordable fish through farming bombed! Sure people can and will buy more and more "koi" fish every passing day, but not with half the admiration they had a few years back.

The talent haat in Bangladesh sings the same lullaby as well. Back in 20th century we admired and aspired to be a graduate, then if lucky a postgraduate. Today our aspiration (if any) is in the league of MPhil and PhD. While there was a dearth of talent back then, the talent were actually talented. If a job circular got 200 applicants, you could safely have a desired pool of 20 candidates amongst them. Whereas with better education system and higher literacy rates if there are 200 applicants today, chances are only 2 will fit the bill. The point remains quite straight forward, one that I have stood up for ages. With an increase in quantity, there has been a decrease in quality!!!

My father took me to haats because they had all the traditional delicacies that one couldn't find in city markets. From a 20 kg "bowal" fish to 20 kinds of "shaaks", they just had a different offering all together. We can make a million sites like monster.com or bdjobs.com, but the quality of people plying those are nothing better than the widely available "koi" fish of today. And that my friend, is where we stand!

Happy new year of customisation dear customers!

A very happy, prosperous, fruitful and personalised new year for you dear readers! Yes, did you notice that? It is all going to be about personalisation and customisation of your choices as a consumer, that is what I predict and sincerely hope for 2012. If the Times magazine can dedicate the cover page for the person of the year to the 'Protester', what holds us back from claiming business products and services exactly the way we want them to be? Remember technology is bringing down barriers and mobile phones are small devices with big powers in our hands, so don't be shy to consume a product or service from a business in Bangladesh the way it suits you, your family and your needs. 

Hell with economies of scale, if I am going to spend my money on your product and services, I very well demand it to be as per my name on it, to suit my moods and needs - on demand ! Otherwise, I am just a click away to tell the whole world what your business is truly is all about. Happy new year 2012!

How to Globalize your Market - Guest blog by Carolyn Knight

Carolyn Knight is based in Austin, Texas, USA and blogs for Blog Content Guild

As a growing nation, we should be constantly thinking about ways to innovate, progress, and evolve our economies, both personal and national. You can execute flawless inventory management, make revenue, and overall maintain a successful business, but without evolution, your company will eventually die out. That’s why it’s important to establish a global mindset and seek out global opportunities. We live in a global economy and to keep up with the rest of the world, we have to think globally. Here are some considerations you should take when thinking about going global:

-  Establish a strong online presence: Create a website that you believe in--one that is aesthetically pleasing, simple, accessible, and direct. When creating a website, you may want to refer to these considerations, as described in our post, “To have a website or a Facebook page?”

-  Make documents and websites accessible in major languages: This may be tough, but you have to make sure that your website is accessible in major languages, so that those of other cultures can reach out to you for business. You can also look into SEO, or search engine optimization, as a way to drive traffic to your website.

-  Keep in trend: Keep connections all over the world and maintain research of other companies, industries, and business trends. This could mean subscribing to foreign news, global news, or global business magazines.

Overall, if you begin to think about your industry as not just local, but global as well, you will stay ahead of the curve and, ultimately, maintain a successful business.