Bitopi: creating the advertising benchmark

It was the days of spontaneous waves of non-cooperation movement of March 1971. Freedom-seeking Bangalees brought out processions and took part in the liberation struggle against the then-Pakistani rulers. And Bitopi, which was just three years old, could not stay away.

On March 19, 1971, Reza Ali, the founder of the advertising firm, went to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to get a statement for publishing a supplementary supporting the demands to establish the rights of the nation.

Four days later on March 23, 1971, a supplementary,  “Bangladesh” came out in the Daily Observer containing Bangabandhu's statement that the struggle would continue until the rights of  Bangladeshis are established and they are emancipated.

“People of Bangladesh cannot be silenced by bullets and bayonets. They are united today,” reads the statement, signed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, sponsored and produced by Bitopi Advertisers.

Today, Bitopi is a 50-year-old tree. Established in 1968, the advertising firm has got many more stories as it spread out in the field of advertising and became an important part of the sector, which stands at about Tk 3,500 crore.

“In 1971, we were not concerned about business. At that time, our main motto was independence movement of Bangladesh,” said Reza Ali, founder of Bitopi, in his retrospect.

Bitopi is one of the oldest firms established in Bangladesh. When it started its journey, the advertisement sector was small and supplements published mainly by the government were one of the main areas of business.

“At that time, a well prepared announcement was enough. People used to show interest as the number of products was low,” he said, adding that the announcement was effective even until the end of 80s.

In its initial days, supplements published by firms were one of the main sources of revenue for Bitopi. In 1971, many companies used to publish advertisements to express their support to Bangladesh.

“Copywriting, using poetry and prose, was important at that time. And novelist and filmmaker Zahir Raihan used to be very supportive. Whenever I needed him, I called him and he would come to my office, sit down to write some verses related to freedom,” he said.

After the liberation, Bitopi, which Ali established ignoring expectations of his family, began to grow slowly. 

At that time, the company had all clients but Lever Brothers, now Unilever, one of the biggest fast-moving consumer goods companies in the world. 

During 70s and 80s, advertisements were mostly concentrated to Bangladesh television and radio.

“People would remember it if the product was advertised with music, dances in festive mood.”

As consciousness grew, quality parameters were also added to the language of advertisements to popularise a product, he said, while sharing stories of advertisements that became popular over the decades after independence.

One of the popular commercials was related to popularising birth control pill “Mayabori” to curb population growth in the country.

“Mayabori became popular and the jingle related to family planning got popular really fast,” he said.

In its journey, Bitopi has also become a part of a number of advertisements that played a role in making many products popular -- batteries, condoms, beverages and toilet cleaners.

One such advertisement was the one for Olympic dry cell battery.

“The demand for the battery was very low as small players were dominating the market,” he said, adding that Bitopi proposed to make an advert emphasising the quality of the battery.

The company accepted.

“The result was that Olympic battery became the largest selling battery in Bangladesh within a short time.”

According to Bitopi, the ad market growth had been slow during the 70s and the 80s.  It began to grow fast from the 1990s because of improvements of technical facilities. 

Ali said affiliation of local advertising firms with international advertising agencies gave further impetus to the sector.

Bitopi Advertising Limited started its affiliation with international advertising firm Foote Cone & Belding (FCB) early this year.

“But, Bitopi has not grown for international affiliation. It stands on its own feet,” he said.

From the 70s until the 90s, television was the main media that firms used to popularise their products.

TV still accounts for the highest share: about 45 percent of the ad market, followed by print media.

Of late, the share of print media is falling with digital media growing fast, according to Bitopi, which also entered in garment manufacturing in 1984.

“But I do not know any brand shining like Mayabori or Olympic battery today,” said the 78-year old Ali. 

The reason, he explains, is that there are too many ads and products now.

“This is good for consumers who now have options. Today, products have to have quality. Advertisers need to decide first the target consumers before making ads,” he said, adding that ad firms do research on consumers now before making ads for any product.

Ali also responded to questions on ethics in advertising for branding and popularising a product.

“There is no controlling authority on ethics in advertising. But clients themselves do not allow wrong claims. Agencies also do not,” he said.

On advertisement by a global company claiming consuming a product would make one healthier, taller and stronger, he said ingredients that ensure healthy growth of a person are in large quantities in the product.

“No false claim takes place today. Now, almost all are affiliated with international agencies, and affiliated agencies cannot make wrong claims,” he said.

Ali said any authority to oversee the contents of advertisement will not bring good result.   

He said agencies are conscious and they do not make any ad that goes to consumers with wrong claims.

“This is really a great feeling as Bitopi enters 50. I am really happy to see this,”

Ali, who established Bitopi after graduation from the University of Dhaka, said young talents are coming to the advertisement sector. “They are good and growing well,” he said.

Despite the growth of the sector, it is yet to reach a comparable level globally, particularly with India.

“Still, there is a long way to go. There is not so much business here. We do not have a growth -- it is too small to make international comparison.”

Asked why despite the economy clocking more than 6 percent growth in the past two decades, he said, “Even if the economy grows at 200 percent my products are not growing at the rate. The number of products has to grow. Product distribution has to grow. Then the market can grow.”