Seventh Digital Summit 2020 themed ‘Bringing Digital at the Core’ held virtually

The seventh edition of Digital Summit took place virtually on December 11 and 12 consecutively. The summit was an initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum which was presented by Meghna Group of Industries, powered by httpool and in association with Evaly and The Daily Star.

Initiated in 2014 by Bangladesh Brand Forum, the Digital Summit is the apex platform for the digital marketers of the country. This year's summit was attended by more than 300 participants. The theme for the summit was 'Bringing Digital at the Core'.

The aim of the summit was to bring it forward why every company small and big need to bring digital at the core of their business from understanding their customer, creating solutions for them, and in delivering those solutions to them.

Shariful Islam, Founder and Managing Director of Bangladesh Brand Forum started the Digital Summit 2020 with a minute silence for the sad and untimely demise of two of the most amazing creative minds of Bangladesh Late Aly Zaker, Freedom Fighter, Ekushey Padak-winning stage and TV Actor, Director, Chairman of Asiatic 3Sixty and Late Aditya Kabir, known as the human encyclopedia.

A poet, a child at heart, a warrior at work. Bold, brilliant, a true legend.  Later on, in his welcome speech he said "In the Digital Summit we will be exploring how we are facing of this digital transformation, how we are looking into the new evolving marketing space."

The summit was opened by Asif Iqbal, Deputy Managing Director (FMCG), Meghna Group of Industries. In his speech he stressed "Very soon 5g is going to be launched and as a result the landscape will change. The customer data platforms will explode, cyber security will become a big issue, privacy and confidential computing will gain momentum. We have to look for the next possibilities for us"

The summit consisted of 6 Panel Discussions, 5 Keynote Sessions, 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. The eminent keynote speakers of the session were – Rishad Tobaccowala, Author, Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data; Former Chief Growth Officer, Member of Management Committee, Publicis Groupe; Former Chairman, Digitas LBi & Razorfish; Kazi Monirul Kabir, Country Director, Httpool; Francis Nicholas, Group Digital Director, Nomad Foods; Varun Bhandakar, Manager, Customer Success. Australia & New Zealand Hubspot & Vita Garlfulina, Business Development Director, Eskimi.

At the first panel of the day CEO Discussion: Digital Transformation-Learning During Pandemic; speakers stressed "This is a time where we, as leaders, need to think more holistically and communicate more transparently." The panel was adorned by Sunny Nagpal, Managing Director & CEO, APAC, Httpool; Shehzad Munim, Managing Director, British American Tobacco Bangladesh; Sabbir Hasan Nasir, Executive Director, ACI Logistics Ltd (Shwapno); Mominul Islam, Managing Director & CEO, IPDC Finance Limited and Mahbubul Matin, Chairman, Dotlines.

Other eminent speakers of the summit were Mirza Salman Hossain Beg, Vice President, Head of Innovation, dtac; A B M Jabed Sultan Pias, Head of Digital Business, Prothom Alo; Nazim Farhan Choudhury, Managing Director, Adcomm; Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Director & Creative Editor, Bangladesh Brand Forum, Founder, Bangladesh Creative Forum, President, Women In Leadership (WIL); Josiah Tay Guan Hin, Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Singapore; Lutfi Chowdhury, AdTech Expert; Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, Co-Founder & CEO, Sindabad.com; Adnan Imtiaz Halim, CEO, Sheba Platform Ltd.; Asikul Alam Khan, Founder, Managing Director & CEO, Priyoshop.com; Morin Talukder, Co-Founder & CEO, Pickaboo.com; Nazmul Karim Chowdhury, EVP, Head of Brand & Communication, Prime Bank Ltd.; Mir Nawbut Ali, CMO, Bkash Limited; Jane Alam Romel, Group CMO, IDLC Finance Ltd.; Moutushi Kabir, Director, Communications, Learning & Leadership Development, BRAC & BRAC International; Shourav Islam, Founder & CEO, Unifox Digital; Shadab Mahbub, CEO, ChatLeads, Co-Founder, Webable Digital; Risalat Siddique, Man of Steel, Analyzen; Shuvashish Roy, Digital Marketing Manager, The Daily Star; Arif Nezami, CEO, Preneurlab; Wasif Khan, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, UCB Fintech Company Ltd.; Risalat Siddique, The Man of Steel, Analyzen; Sumit Saha, Co-Founder, Analyzen; M M Sayeef Abdullah, Sr. Planning Manager, Analyzen; Munaf Mojib Chowdhury, Director, Business Development, ADA; Padmanabhan Ramaswamy (Paddy), Cofounder & Managing Director, InsightzClub; Ariful Bashar, Digital Lead, Grey Bangladesh; Azim Hossain, General Manager, Channel i Digital; Tanveer Faruq, Founder & CEO, Applied Business Initiatives; Raisa Tarannum Hashib, Lead, Data Intelligence & Business Strategy, ADA; Sadia Matin, General Manager, Marketing, Robi Axiata Limited; and Kazi Nowrid Amin, Head of Digital Marketing, Juwai - IQI.

7th Digital Marketing Award 2020 was an initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum and was presented by Meghna Group of Industries and was Powered by – Httpool  in association with Evaly & The Daily Star. The event was also Supported by – Akash, BEOL, Eskimi; Strategic Partner of the initiative was Bangladesh Creative Forum; Knowledge Partner – MSB; Technology Partner – Aamra; Visual Partner – Aatosh; Online Media Partner – Channel i; PR Partner – Backpage PR; Web Solution Partner – Exsentra Innovation Limited.