EFFECTIVE communication of a company can build up a sustainable brand and create a bridge between manufacturers and consumers, experts said yesterday.

They said relationship between companies and the final consumers had never been considered so important, but now it has emerged essential to create trust and awareness about products.

"In the age of technology and social media, creativity will remain as the key driver for the communication industry and brand building,” said Shariftil Islam, managing director of Bangladesh Brand Forum.

Addressing the 8th Communication Summit at Le Meridien Dhaka, he said creativity and knowledge are highly important for the communication industry to help Bangladesh become a developed country by 2041.

Around 300 professionals attended the daylong summit, which is a flagship initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum bringing together creative professionals from diverse sectors to share knowledge.

This year's summit was presented

by the Meghna Group of Industries and powered by The Daily Star and organised in association with Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The summit saw exclusive showcasing of Cannes Lions winners and champions of previous Commwards as well.

The summit was followed by Commward 2018, the largest recognition platform for Bangladesh's advertising industry.

A total of 487 entries were submitted by 50 creative agencies for this year's Commward. Across 23 categories, the awards were given in three ranks - Grand Prix, Gold and Silver.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed between Bangladesh Brand Forum and a2i (Access to Information) with a vision to ensure growth and value addition of youth countrywide. Sustainable brands can emerge through creative advertisement and communication to build up trust of consumers, said Islam.

"Advertisement is not only for marketing of products but also for creating awareness about right things," he said.

Jayen Mehta, managing director of Amul Dairy of India, said good advertisement of a company helps develop

a really good culture among the consumer community.

"In Bangladesh this sector has a good potentiality as the sector is competing with multinational companies... We know how difficult it is to compete with multinational companies but the Bangladeshi advertising sector is able to do it," he said.

Mehta said as per his understanding, the sector has been booming along with the country's economic development.

Among others, Tay Guan Hin, founder and chief creative officer, TGH Collective and former creative director, Global Executive, South East Asia JWT; Ali Shabaz, chief creative officer, Grey MENA (Middle East and North Africa); and Samuel Diaz Fernandez, founder and programme director, School of Slow Media, spoke at different sessions of the event.

Besides, the panel discussions were participated by Asif Iqbal, executive director (marketing), Meghna Group of Industries; Gousul Alam Shaon, managing director and country head, Grey Bangladesh; Ferdous Hasan Neville, managing director, Asiatic JWT/Asiatic 3Sixty, and Nafees Anwar, marketing director, Personal Care, Unilever Bangladesh, to name a few.