1. Executive Summary:
“A country image is defined as the total of all descriptive, inferential and
informational beliefs one has about a particular country. Bangladesh is a developing
country which is suffering from image problem. A negative impression has been
created as a “bottomless basket”. But we can improve our country image by focusing
on a unique, favorable and strong brand positioning this negative perception of
Bangladesh as a country, or the negative country image of Bangladesh has been put
forwarded by many local and national think tanks and country branding has been
termed as the way out of the problem. Country branding is relatively new concept.
Country branding is nothing but what countrymen believe & perceive about the
image of country and express to others. Hence we have chosen pohela boishakh as a
tool of branding Bangladesh. To build a positive impression about Bangladesh
through branding Bangladesh we are focusing the “universatality” of the people with
our slogan POHELA BOISHAKH OF BANGLADESH: A UNIQUE NEW YEAR
FESTIVAL, BEYOUND ALL BOUNDARIES”
We can rebrand Bangladesh by branding pohela boishakh. We follow the strategic
brand management procedure along with the customer based brand equity model
(CBBE) to brand pohela boishakh in this report.

2. Background:
Bangladesh is bestowed with the gifts of nature and culture. It has nurtured some of
the most ancient civilizations of this continent. But yet the country in present day’s
context has not been able to grow and capitalize to its full potential. The young
country came into existence after a blood spattered liberation war in 1971. But the
pace of growth and development has been impeded by many factors. Experts
say Bangladesh has the potential to achieve higher growth and to become a promising
economy of the world. The sluggish pace has been attributed to many diverse factors,
but recently theorists have put the negative country image of Bangladesh as principal
driving factor behind it. This negative perception of Bangladesh as a country, or the
negative country image of Bangladesh has been put forwarded by many local and
national think tanks and country branding has been termed as the way out of the
problem. The concept of “branding” may be effectively utilized to address both the
reality and perception challenges which Bangladesh is currently confronting. In the
modern days the world is constantly becoming a smaller place. For every country to
grow and prosper to its full potential, it needs support and contribution from other
countries around the globe. How the country and its countrymen are perveived,
valued and appraised to outer world, is controlled by how the country is perceived
and valued by countrymen. In that case countrymen as well as the world citizen have
to know of the uniqueness of the country. That

3. Objective:
An image of a place is defined as the ‘sum of all those emotional and aesthetic
qualities such as experience, beliefs, ideas, recollections and impression that a
person has of a place. In this definition it is relevant that individuals from an image
based on their personal frame of reference.“A country image is defined as the total
of all descriptive, inferential and informational beliefs one has about a particular
country. Country branding is relatively new concept. Country branding is nothing
but what countrymen believe & perceive about the image of country and express to
others. Having a powerful brand is much an innovation for consumers to complain,
as it is their guarantee of quality; as much a requirement for companies to behave
correctly, as it is a license for them to make more money; as much a commitment to
continuous innovation, as an opportunity to enjoy customer loyalty .it is in short as
much a responsibility as a privilege, Having a brand means living in the limelight,
with all the benefits and obligations that this confers. These implicit negotiations
are a kind of natural law, and bring benefits to both sides; they mean that brands
tend, ultimately, to be benevolent forces in society. It is within the power and the
nature of brands to bring transparency, honesty and fairness to all transaction.
Brand promises something unique and also delivers accordingly. Country branding
is being followed by many countries around the world. We often hear countries
being called in a positive attribute or a promise such as “Malaysia: Truly Asia”,”
Dubai: The Jewel in the Desert”, “China: The factory of the World”, Sri Lanka: The
Pearl of The Indian Ocean, etc. The objective of this report is nothing but to identify
the most unique, distinctive factor, attribute of Bangladesh and judge the
acceptability or validity of that topic as a tool for branding Bangladesh.

4. History of Pohela boishakh:
The Bengali calendar is closely tied with the Hindu Solar Calendar, based on
the Surya siddhanto. As with many other variants of the Hindu solar
calendar, the Bengali calendar commences in mid-April of the Gregorian
year. The first day of the Bengali year therefore coincides with the mid-
April New Year in Assam, Burma, Cambodia, Kerala, Manipur, Nepal,
Orissa, Punjab, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Thailand. Under the Mughals,
agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However,
as the Hijri calendar is a purely lunar calendar, it does not coincide with the
harvest. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In
order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a
reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar
and astronomer, formulated the Bengali year on the basis of the Hijri lunar
and Hindu solar calendars. The new Fasli San (agricultural year) was
introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar’s ascension to
the throne in 1556. The New Year subsequently became known
as Bônggabdo or Bengali year. Celebrations of Pohela Boishakh started
from Akbar’s reign. It was customary to clear up all dues on the last day of
Choitro .On the next day, or the first day of the New Year, landlords would
entertain their tenants with sweets. On this occasion there used to be fairs
and other festivities. In due course the occasion became part of domestic and
social life, and turned into a day of merriment. The main event of the day
was to open ahalkhata or new book of accounts.

5. How the day is observed:
Pohela boishakhh puts vivacious colors on the face of the Bangalees. They observe the
day in a festive mood. Though some of the old rituals of Pohela boishakhh are not in
practice now, Bangalees observe the day in their own cultural way. In Dhaka, people
gets up early in the morning and gathers at Ramna Batomul where singers of Sayanot
welcomes the first of the Bangla Year by singing the song ‘Esho he boishakh, esho,
esho…(come Boishakh come)’ of Rabindra Nath Tagore on stage. People eat Panta
Bhaat (soaked rice) with Hilsha fish and chilly which is a traditional Bangalee food. A
colorful rally comes out from the Fine Arts faculty of DhakaUniversity where
thousands of people take part. Musical programs, Jatra etc are staged at different places
of the country. The womanwear white Sari with red border, tips on forehead, colorful
churis (kind of bracelet). Boishakhi fair is organized all over the country. The people
ride on Nagordola (merry-go-round), enjoy different type of traditional pitha (kind of
cake), and hover around different places. Many of the old festivals have disappeared
now days. The cock fight, bull fight, wrestling, boat racing etc can hardly be seen to be
observed now
Justification of Branding pohela boishakh as a tool of branding
Bangladesh:
Bangladesh is very flourishing culture enriched with different custom and rituals.
Each religion has different festivals. Muslims celebrate their Eid days. Hindu
celebrates the Puja and other rituals, Christians have their religious festivals like X-
Mas day and other religious and ethnic groups have their own rituals. Besides many
local group celebrate different festivals .Now a days the people of Bangladesh
celebrate many international days like new year, valentine day etc But most of the
festivals are religious, local or international. Therefore we have two widely celebrated
national events. These are –pohela boishakh and pohela Falgun. Pohela boishakh is
celebrated nationally from the ancient times .But pohela Falgun is celebrated mostly in
rural areas and recently in Dhaka city. That’s why we have chosen pohela boishakh as
a unique and distinctive tool to brand Bangladesh internationally.

6. Strategic brand management process of pohela boishakh:
There are many ways of brand management. Here for branding pohela boishakh we
will use the following process. This is called Strategic brand management process. It
contains four major steps and a number of sub steps.
Identify and establish Brand positioning and value:
For branding Pohelaboishakh we have to start with a clear understanding of “What the
brand is to represent and how it should be positioned with respect to competitors.”
For achieving this goal we have to draw the MENTAL MAP, INDENTIFY THE
COMPETITIVE FREAM OF REFERENCE, and POINT OF PARITY AND POINTS
OF DIFERRENCE. We also have to consider identify the core brand association and
Brand mantra.
Target Market:
Pohela boishakh, Banglali New Year’s Day is now celebrated at the national level. In
this case it is already branded among the resident of Bangladesh. But we are trying to
expand our culture and secularity worldwide through the essence of Pohelaboishakh.
Thus our target market falls into two categories.
People Living in Bangladesh People living outside Bangladesh
Local Foreigner Non Resident
Bangladeshi
Foreigners

7. Competitive frame of reference:
The co Competitive frame of reference for pohela boishakh is all the New Year’s
celebrating festivals though the world. Although most of the countries follow
Gregorian calendar but most of them have their own new year. They are
Name of the new
year festival
Country Date Time duration
Gregorian New Year Although the world 1st January 1 day
Jour des Etienne’s. France 1st – 6th January 5 days
The Tamil Nadu
Tamil New Year
Tamil Nadu 1st day of Thai 1 day
Chinese New Year China Any time between 21
January –
21st February
Old New year Georgia, Russia,
Serbia, Jerusalem.
14 the January 1day
Old New year Georgia, Russia,
Serbia, Jerusalem.
14 th January 1day
Tết Nguyên Đán Vietnam Same day as Chinese
Losar Tibetan January through march 3 months
Nava barsha India and
Bangladesh
14th April 1 day
New year day in the
Shikh nanshai
India 14th Mrch 1day
Nowruz Iran 20 or 21 march 1day
Bisu Kerela 15 April
Shogatsu Japan January 1st – 3rd 3 days
Divali India among
marwari
Northan Fall 1 day

8. Point of parity:
 There are two important concept when comes to positioning. One is point of
parity. It is the basic features or associations that are offered commonly. As
Pohelaboishakh has some competitive frame of references so it has some point of
parity also.
 Each festival is based on the 1st day of its own calendar
 It is belonged to the country’s history and heritages
 It is a holiday for correspondent country
 People celebrate it with a great enjoinment
 Custom of each country is reflected
 Traditional dresses code are followed
 Traditional foods are eaten
 Show the image of the country
 Exclusive events
Point of Differences:
Fundamentally, Positioning convinces the target market of the advantages or the
uniqueness the subject has over its competitors. It is called point of differences.
The New Year celebration in different countries is way more different from our
Pohelaboishakh. In Argentina, Canada, Chaina, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Porto rica nanshai o, Scotland, Spain the celebration style is
different and unique.

9. Points of differences:
 Argentina: People go out onto the streets and make toasts and celebrate
with neighbors. At midnight, kids shoot off fireworks.
 British, Traditionally, the polar bear swim takes place on New Year’s Day,
where people of all ages dive into the icy water.
 China: The Chinese New Year, Yuan Tin, is celebrated between January 17
and February 19. They have fireworks, parades, and a Festival of Lanterns,
where thousands of lanterns light the way to the New Year.
 France: The French eat pancakes for breakfast on New Year’s Day.
 Germany: The last night of December is called St. Sylvester’s Eve.
Germans celebrate with friends, drink and “sit in” for the New Year. They
also have parties that include dancing and formal dress.
 Ireland: At midnight everyone goes in the front door and out the back door
for good luck.
 Italy: Children sometimes get money as gifts, and people give oranges on
New Year’s Day.
 Japan: a gong sounds 108 times for the 108 sins a person can commit. By
listening to the gongs you can cleanse your heart and get rid of sins
The point of Differences of Pohelaboishakh are:
 Halkhata is opened in these days for the upcoming year.
 People greet each other by saying “ Suva Naba barsha”
 People eat hilsa and soaked rice as their breakfast.
 People wear identical dress. Mainly in red and white.
 Fair and cultural programs are arranged all over the country
 Secularism is maintained in each and every aspect

10.  .
Mental map:
A mental map pot rates in detail all salient brand associations and responses for a
target market. In case of branding paohelaboishakh our mental map as well as
brand associations are found based on Customer Based brand Equity model. The
following questions are asked and the answers formed the map of the brand
associations.
 IDENTITY: Who are you? I am a festival
 MEANING: What are you? Point of parity: I am a New Year celebration
festival .Point of difference: Time, Way of observing, dress code,
food,Secularism
 RESPONSE: What about you? Unique (Quality), Enrich Custom, Focus
Culture, Fun and excitement, Entertainment
 RELATIONSHIP: What about you and me Historical importance, strong
attachment, Universality, Positive engagement.
 Core Brand Association: After evaluating the consumer based brand
equity model (CBBE) model, the following associations are found; that
create the mental map.
Contributions of Brand Association of pohela boishakh:
The category of the band association of Pohela boishakh can be summarized in
following:
Social features:
 People wear identical dresses for celebrating the sprit of the day
 People prepare special dishes at home on the day
 Pohela boishakh uphold the culture and heritage of Bangladesh
Pohela boishakh and economy:
 Halkhata exercises an unique control system in the economy
 Pohela boishakh is celebrated by many business man all over the
country
 Pohela boishakh promoted the Bengali music and literature
 Pohela Boishakh promote the food and apparel industry of Bangladesh
 Pohela boishakh promotes the local cottage and handicraft industry
 It Enhances export oriented business

11. Brand Mantra:
To articulate the “Heart and Soul” of branding pohela boishak the brand mantra is
important. It represents the brand essence or core brand promise. Hence the brand
mantra of pohela boishakh is “secularism, social gathering and entertainment”
Brand Emotional modifier Descriptive modifier Brand function
Pohela boishakh secularism Social gathering entertainment
Secularism represents our emotional involvement because though pohela boishak
we represents ourselves as a united nation irrespective of all caste, color and creed.
To celebrate pohela boishakh people gather in a place and greet each other saying
“shuvo noboborsho”. It also represents ourselves as a hospitable nation.
Now a day’s pohela boishakh is observed as a day of entertainment, fun and
festivals.
Planning and implementing brand marketing program
To build brand equity of Pohela Boishakh requires creating a brand that consumers
are sufficiently aware of & with which they have sstrong favorable & unique brand
associations.
Brand Elements:
 Brand elements are trademark able device to identify & differentiate the
brand. Our Brand Identity combines of brand name, logo & slogan.
 Brand Name: Pohela Boishakh of Bangladesh is our brand name. We put
out this name because it captures the central theme of the festival
celebration.
 Slogan: Our slogan-“The unique new year festival, Beyond the Boundaries”
communicate descriptive information about pohela Boishakh. It delivers a
message that what our brand is about-new year festival & what makes it
special that_ our uniqueness & secularism to celebrate this festival.
 URLs: for expanding our slogan “Beyond of boundaries” we must reach out
all target customers. It is not possible if we do not have the reach of Internet
web site. Because.

12. Integrating brand marketing activities:
According to the customer based brand equity model marketing communication can
contribute to brand equity by creating awareness of the brand liking point of parity
and points of parity and points of difference associations to our brand pohela
boishakh in consumers memory that will helps us to receive a positive brand
judgment or feelings and to facilitate a stronger brand connection and brand
resonance. To form the desire the brand knowledge structure we have to integrate
marketing communication program.
The LAW of PUBLICITY states that a brand is achieved with publicity and
maintained with advertising. Strategy should be developed first from the publicity
point of view. We are creating publicity for our brand by promoting a new category.
ONLINE ADVERTISING
 Web sites
 Inter active ads and email
EVENT MARKETING AND
SPONSORSHIP
 Arts
 Entertainment
PLACE AVVERTISING
 Bill boards and posters
 Movies, airlines and
launche
DIRECT RESPONSE
 Mail
 Broadcast media
 Computer related
 Print media
TRADE PROMOTIONS
 Trade show
 Fair in different countries

 International conferences
 Seminars
MEDIA ADVERTISING
 Television
 Radio
 Newspaper
 Magazines

13. LEVERAGING SECONDARY ACCOSIACTION:
We can create secondary brand knowledge of Pohela Boishakh by linking the brand
with different associations.
 People- As Pohela Boishakh have been already branded nationally so we have
given attention on our secondary associations to make the brand global.
 Place- Pohela Boishakh is celebrated in Bangladesh in a wide scale. So we have
to focus on Bagladesh as a country of origin of pohela boishakh. Although the
new year day is celebrated in simultaneously in kolkata, asam, Punjab
 Things– Events, causes, third party endorsement like international celebrities of
our country, writers & fair & festival make secondary associations.
 Other Brands – Our transportation, accommodation facilities attractive tourism
industry, handicrafts make great contributions in branding our New Year festival
Grow & Sustain Brand Equity:
The objective was to improve country image by uplifting, strengthening & using the
unique features of New Year celebration.
 Is Pohela Boishakh is exclusive to Bangladesh?
 Do people participate in Pohela Boishakh?
 Does the Pohela Boishakh reflect culture & heritage of Banladesh?
Challenges & Recommendations:
 Financial control system like Halkhata is not likely creates interest in the mind of
world citizen as it is not in the core of Pohela Boishakh.
 Visiting the core elements & rituals of Pohela Boishakh in rural areas as well
as rural elements may create interest in the mind of people.
 The sense of simplicity & relief in the form of pohela Boishakh will keep Pohela
Boishakh interesting to people.
 Government & private level investment are necessary to leverage the branding
elements. The outside of the world e.g. foreign tourists will ensure the
sustainability of this celebration.
 Our challenge is to make sure that we can “deliver “the “Unique promise”.
 At the bottom line, we can say that Pohela Boishakh is already branded among
people of our country as a day for celebration.