Dhaka Bangladesh was the venue for an event organised by Bangladesh Brand Forum which explored the possible contradictions between creativity and effectiveness. Two hundred and fifty guests including high level Government officials, bank heads and media leaders spent a day at the Westin Dhaka listening to speakers from the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong as well as local advertising heads present and discuss how to reconcile the two.

Austrian-born Manfred Abraham who now works for Interbrand showed some great examples of branding which had proved successful in the market place. Charu Aggarwal Harish from Grey demonstrated how creative advertising for her agency had worked well in terms of sales. Our editor Allein Moore was also a speaker. He spoke of a shyness on the part of creatives to admit to being salesman. He said creativity was stronger when the team worked within the box rather than out of it and showed some strong examples from the EFFIES. The questions from audience proved that marketers in Dhaka were as clued in as those in developed countries. The roads may be jammed in this city, but the minds are running fast.