One of the first local advertising agencies in the country, Mediacom Limited has just celebrated twenty-five years since its inception. Ajoy Kumar Kundu, CEO of Mediacom Limited reminisces about the agency’s beginnings and elaborates on the current situation of the country’s advertising sector.
CEO
Mediacom Limited
Mediacom started its journey more than twenty-five years back. What were its founding principles? How have the principles enabled the company to grow into one of the biggest names in Bangladesh’s advertising industry?
In the mid-nineties (1997), advertisement production was mired in complicacy. I remember Square Toiletries facing significant challenges while running advertisements for many of its brands. Back then, the industry was dominated by resources and support from abroad, which inevitably delayed the entire process. Bangladesh desperately needed an efficient and competent local advertising agency. The situation prompted our Managing Director, Anjan Chowdhury, to establish Mediacom Limited. With just four people on board, Mediacom started its journey to create advertisements facilitated by local talents. The desire to create an entity exclusively with local talents is deeply rooted in Square Group’s DNA. Our founder, Samson H Chowdhury, always wanted ‘Square Group’ to be run by the people of Bangladesh. After all these years, we have not diverted from that vision. Consequently, Mediacom is entirely a ‘Made in Bangladesh’ agency.
Advertising is all about communicating with the masses. How challenging is it to keep up with the rapidly evolving consumer motivation in an increasingly digitized world?
In the advertising sector, one cannot get stuck. To survive, one needs to evolve and create content that stands out from the rest. Since consumers are now more connected to businesses than before, there is an increasing number of opportunities to engage with them. The brand must have a robust social media and digital presence to take advantage of this behaviour change. That is why in 2016, Mediacom started its Digital Media Department and achieved the ‘Google Partner Certificate’ in the same year. Mediacom Ltd has also been a pioneer in buying international broadcast rights and distribution of major national and international sports events such as the football World Cup 2018 and almost every recent cricket World Cup and cricket series of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team.
WITH JUST FOUR PEOPLE ON BOARD, MEDIACOM STARTED ITS JOURNEY TO CREATE ADVERTISEMENTS FACILITATED BY LOCAL TALENTS. THE DESIRE TO CREATE AN ENTITY EXCLUSIVELY WITH LOCAL TALENTS IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN SQUARE GROUP’S DNA.
Could you please tell us about some of your favourite campaigns?
Throughout this glorious journey, some of the leading brands of Bangladesh came on board as clients of Mediacom. We have planned and executed some of the most popular and effective campaigns like ‘Ebar Hobe,’ ‘Jamdani,’ ‘Deshpremik,’ ‘Eid e Notun Jama’, for Robi in Above the Line (ATL), ‘Below The Line (BTL) and Digital Media. We also created many popular dialogues of advertisements or compelling payoff lines for several brands, such as ‘Amar Naam Mofiz, Bhara Hoiche Tirish’ of Magic Tooth Powder, ‘Fresh Mukhe Fresh Kotha’ of Magic Tooth Powder, ‘Ebar Shobai Hashuk Pran Khule’ of Meril Lip Care, ‘Shonkoj Noy, Shochetonota,’ ‘Choturtho Addhoy,’ and ‘Bhai-Bon’ of Senora, ‘Bhul Koro Na, Kool Koro’ of Kool Deodorant, ‘Rod ta ke Face koro, Life take Chase koro’ of Revive, ‘Packet e ki? Vitamin C’ of Meril Petroleum Jelly, among others.
The advertising industry is a lucrative sector for Bangladesh’s young creative workforce. How would you assess the quality of young professionals who seek employment in Mediacom?
Young people, especially business graduates, have a lot of opportunities to do well in this field. If someone wants to become the head of marketing of an organisation, they should start their career at an advertising agency. Hard work and perseverance in this industry can lead them to become accomplished professionals, such as brand managers, marketing managers, marketing directors, or heads of business in the future. In Mediacom, we look for a few qualities in young professionals, such as creativity, ability to work in a team, communication skills, social media skills, time management, and a genuine interest in learning and progress.