"The unique thing about BOM is that, it not only challenges you with a seemingly unsolvable case but also makes you solve it in an office culture, which was totally foreign to us," said Ishmam Chowdhury, a participant of the competition, about Battle of Minds 2015, organised by British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB).

The grand finale of Battle of Minds (BOM) 2015 took place on December 7 in Dhaka. After a long, relentless journey starting from online applications, five teams – two from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University, and one each from Islamic University of Technology (IUT), North South University (NSU) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) – made it to the finals. The teams were instructed to propose a viable business model, including a user-friendly interface, for online food delivery service, HungryNaki. They were provided 15 minutes to present their ideas in front of a panel of judges for the chance to win this prestigious title.

Since its inception in 2004, BATB has recruited over 100 fresh graduates through this talent hunt programme. Many of the recruits currently work at BATB, and other BAT operations around the globe. Under the theme "Bring your difference," this year BOM received applications from 2687 final year students from 18 universities across Bangladesh. Only 170 applicants made it past the initial assessment of the online applications. Round 1 was a Focused Group Discussion, out of which 76 candidates proceeded to the semi-finals. Top 20 competitors qualified for the final round.

Chief guest of the event, Syed Nasim Manzur, President, MCCI

Rezaul Islam, Head of Marketing, BATB; Rumana Rahman, Head of Human Resources, BATB; and Iftekhar Ahmed Khan, Restaurant Consultant, were to judge the ideas presented by the teams on certain criteria – originality, sustainability, and whether their proposed business plans were applicable on a national scale. The content, convenience and feasibility of the ideas held the highest value with the judges as all businesses have to produce results at the end of the day. After the 15-minute presentations, the teams would receive two minutes to walk the judges through their designs of the HungryNaki interface and finally entertain questions from the judges.
Before the teams presented, short videos depicting the experience of working at BATB, and the journey of BOM 2015 were shown. This was followed by a few words from the winners of BOM 2014 and present members of the BATB family – Tasnia Afrin, Management Trainee, Marketing and Nahian Rahman Rochi, Management Trainee, Finance. They urged the finalists to make their presentations with enthusiasm and confidence.

The first team to present their idea was from IBA, Dhaka University. They branded HungryNaki as an online platform for foodies everywhere, under the tagline "Your foodie friend." They had a brilliant activation idea which included placing interactive billboards around Dhaka where unsuspecting people could have their 'ultimate food craving' delivered instantaneously. The team delivered well-analysed responses during their Q/A session and stood their ground.

Then Islamic University of Technology (IUT) team was second on stage. They planned to integrate small food kitchens into their business model and provide basic training to all employees. Unlike the other teams, this team presented their design of the HungryNaki interface in an impressive two-minute video. North South University team was next to go on stage, followed by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) team. NSU team carried out an eloquent presentation and proposed annual eating competitions as a marketing strategy. BUET took a different approach, creating a campaign that prioritised healthy home-cooked meals.

The IUT team, first runner up, at the Q&A session

The second team from IBA, proposed a concrete business plan that focused on increasing the value per purchase order for all consumers. They presented a number of ideas including a prototype for a hot box that can protect and preserve food for a longer period of time. Naziza Akhter, of the IBA team, said after their presentation, "We were unsure whether our plan was too ambitious, or whether it failed to raise the standards high enough. The stakes are high. We came up with a well-researched business model which identified and solved some key difficulties that HungryNaki currently faces."

The judges then had the difficult task of ranking all the teams. As the judges deliberated, Shehzad Munim, Managing Director of BATB, took the stage. "BAT has been on the journey of developing talent for the last 12 years. It's exciting to see students demonstrate their potential with such fearlessness." He commended the finalists for their outstanding performances, and wished them the best of luck. Following suit, chief guest of the evening, Syed Nasim Manzur, President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka and Director of Apex Investments Limited, imparted some wisdom, saying, "If you aren't passionate about what you do, then it isn't worth doing. Passion needs to become our purpose. Only then can it become our profession too." He proceeded to divulge the formula of success: "If you want to succeed, put in the hours, because I don't know any other way of getting to the top."

The jury panel

Syed Nasim Manzur ended his speech by urging aspiring entrepreneurs to heed the importance of learning through communication with others, saying, "I've learnt more from conversations with people than I could have through fancy PowerPoint presentations."
Before the winners were announced, Rumana Rahman, Head of Human Resources, BATB, said a few words about how BOM had grown from one case study in a room with 16 students to over 2600 applications from institutions all over the country. She went on to talk about the success BOM has granted its competitors in different professional sectors.

Anticipation reached its peak when the judges came on stage to announce the winners. Cheers and applause broke out when the 2nd team of IBA was declared the winner. IUT was the first runner-up, while, the 1st team of IBA bagged the second runner-up award.
BATB Managing Director, Shehzad Munim; BATB board representative, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries, Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ndc; Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Jalal Ahmed; chief guest of the evening, President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Syed Nasim Manzur; and special guest Zafar Sobhan, Editor of Dhaka Tribune, presented the crests to the winning teams.

Overwhelmed by the results, the 2nd team of IBA was in a celebratory spirit. Sanjir Ali, from the winning team, said, "The contest raised my self-confidence to make a place in the corporate world. We solved various business cases and challenges throughout the competition. This experience will help us prove ourselves as ready and qualified for the upcoming job market."

Managing Director of BATB, Shehzad Munim

PHOTOS: DARSHAN CHAKMA