Banglalink (Public Relation & Communication)

Internship report
Spring -2006
AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE “PUBLIC

RELATION, AND COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT” OF
BANGLALINK™
Submitted by
Zahir Ahmed (ID # 0110127)
Submitted to
Mr. Mohammed Sohel Islam
Lecturer, School of Business
Independent University, Bangladesh

April 30, 2006
April 30, 2006
Mr. Mohammed Sohel Islam
Lecturer, School of Business
Independent University, Bangladesh
Sub: Submission of Internship Report on Banglalink™.
Dear Sir,
It is a great pleasure for me to submit the report on “An exploratory research on the
activities of the “Public relation, and communication department of Banglalink™”. I am
submitting this report as the part of my internship (BBA-499A) in Banglalink™. This report
will help the organization to find out related factors of PR & communication department.
This is an exploratory study in a complete form and I have tried my best to complete the
study in proper format given by IUB authority. It is true that it could have been done in better
way if there would not be any limitations.
I appreciate you will asses my report considering the limitations of the study. Your kind
advice will encourage me to do further research in future.
Sincerely yours,
___________________
Zahir Ahmed
ID # 0110127
Acknowledgement
In the preparation and finish this internship report, I acknowledge the
encouragement and assistance given by a number of people and institution. I am most
grateful to the Banglalink™ PR & communication department to give me the opportunity
to complete my internship in their organization.
I would like to express my gratitude to my Supervisor at IUB Mr. Mohammed
Sohel Islam for providing me detailed feedback and advice on this report. He always
gave me his suggestions in making this study as flawless as possible.
I also want to render my special thanks to Mr. Shahed Zubair, Sr. Manager, and
others from PR & comm. Banglalink™ for providing all the supports in the organization.
Special thanks go to the respondents, who spared their time generously, and took the
trouble of answering a detail Questionnaire and helped me to complete my study.
I also like to thank my family and friend for giving me continues support and
suggestions. And never the less above all my heartiest thanks goes to all mighty Allah
without his help I would not be here.

Table of Contents
Subject Page
Executive Summary ............................................................................................... i – ii
Introduction............................................................................................................ 01
Research Problem .................................................................................................. 02
Research Objectives............................................................................................... 02
COMPANY BACKGROUND............................................................................... 03
Orascom Telecom Holdings................................................................................... 03
Mission Statement.................................................................................................. 04
Banglalink™ .......................................................................................................... 05
Marketing Department of Banglalink™................................................................. 06
PR & Communication Department ........................................................................ 08
Why you need PR .................................................................................................. 08
Activities of PR & Comm.. dept. .......................................................................... 09
LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 15

Public Relation....................................................................................................... 15
Advertising............................................................................................................. 16
Press Conference.................................................................................................... 17
Press Release.......................................................................................................... 18
Spin ................................................................................................................. 18
TV Commercials .................................................................................................... 18
Publicity ................................................................................................................. 18
Marketing Communication .................................................................................... 19
Billboard ................................................................................................................ 20
Advertising Campaign ........................................................................................... 20
METHODOLOGY 20
Statement of the Problem ....................................................................................... 20
Purpose of the Study .............................................................................................. 21
Research Design..................................................................................................... 21
Research Timeline.................................................................................................. 21
Instruments............................................................................................................. 22
Sampling Technique .............................................................................................. 22
Data Collection ...................................................................................................... 23
Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 23
Significance of the study........................................................................................ 24
LIMITITIONS OF THE STUDY .......................................................................... 24
RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 24
Overview of Findings............................................................................................. 24
Findings of question no.1 ...................................................................................... 24
Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Subject Page

Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Discussion
Analysis
Findings of question no.10 .................................................................................... 31
Discussion
Analysis
RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................... 32
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 33
APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... 34
References (Article, and books) .............................................................. 34
References (websites) ............................................................................. 36
Questionnaire........................................................................................... 37
Summary statistics of each question, tables, and detailed calculations.... 40

List of acronyms....................................................................................... 50
i
Executive Summery
This research intends to explore the public relation and communication
department under marketing department of Banglalink™. It is an exploratory research
which gives an over all idea about the activities of the department, in addition this
research will find out what the different types (working class, student, housewives,
employees) think about the PR activities of Banglalink™.
This research is based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was
given from the Banglalink™ authority which was a pre-tested questionnaire having 10
questions. The sample technique was stratified random sample. Total 85 respondents
from Dhaka city where taken for this research. Based on their answers the analysis has
been made. The sample size is divided in to five (5) sub-categories namely student,
housewives, working class, agency personnel, and lastly the Banglalink™ employees.
Microsoft excel 2003 software was used for all sorts of calculation and graphical
representation for the research. Based on the calculation all sorts interpretation and
recommendation was given at the end. Each of the questions has its own calculation and
diagram in this research paper.
The literature review part was full of secondary information about the research.
The terminological definition, explanations of the terms and detail of the departments are
clearly described in this part of the research. In addition, company background part is
added just for the readers to know more about the company and also the detail of the
department of PR & communication.
There are mainly nine activities that are taken care by the PR & communication
department. Each of the categories are explained and ranked based on their importance
ii
after analyzing the questionnaire. Activities like TV, outdoor, press & publications are
the most talked about in this research.
Least but not the last, based on the analysis recommendations are suggested for
the PR and communication department. These recommendations will definitely improve
the overall company image if implemented efficiently.
Finally, this research will encourage further study and useful guidelines for these
types of researches.
An exploratory research on the activities of the “Public relation, and communication department” of Banglalink™ Page 1 of 50
“Bangladesh is well suited for OTH’s [Orascom Telecom

Holding] ongoing expansion into emerging markets, and our
preparation for the challenges of providing top quality
services nationwide is solid. We are confident that
Banglalink™ will repeat the success story of Mobilink in
Pakistan.”1
– Mr. Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and CEO, OTH
It was with these statements that Orascom launched its first package in Bangladesh that they
had hoped would rock the telecom industry. However, neither their competitors nor the public
had needed these words to convince them that Banglalink™ would be bringing them a great
offering. Ever since Orascom bought off Sheba (Pvt.) Telecom last September, people have been
expecting something big, given their record of accomplishment in other countries.
INTRODUCTION
Banglalink™ (BL) is the 3rd largest mobile company in Bangladesh. Out of five mobile
companies (Grameen Phone, Aktel, Banglalink™, Citycell, and Teletalk) Banglalink™ managed
to secure this position only in a year. Banglalink™ has completed its 1st year successfully in
Bangladesh. The growth rate of the company is tremendous (currently 1.5 million subscribers).
During its birth year BL has concentrated on heavy advertisement. Now BL is a known brand to
every Bangladeshi. It has been possible because of the strong public relation (PR) &
communication department of the company.
The research will concentrate on the PR & Communication department’s activities of the
company. The activities of the department with the different media agencies are to be discussed
here along with the problems.
1 Press Release on the occasion of Banglalink™’s launch on February 10, 2005

RESEARCH PROBLEM
The job of PR & communication department of Banglalink™ is to bridge the relationship
between the consumer with the company. Another duty of this department is to communicate
information to the target customers. The activities of this department during the initial years are
very important. So the effectiveness of the activities of the department needs an evaluation.
What the company wants to address to the consumer, and the information dissemination are
the vital job for this department.
On the other hand, what are the opinions of the consumers about the compnay’s PR activities
also needed to know in order to improve the performance of PR & Communication department.
In this exploratory research the researcher will try to find out about the various activities of
the PR & Comm. department, and also try to find out is there any laggings in their present work,
and if there is any chance resolved the problem.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
As mentioned earlier in the research problem this exploratory research will find out different
activities of PR & Communication department of Banglalink™.
The purpose of the study is to provide a specific and accurate synopsis of the overall PR &
communication department of Banglalink™. As a new company how they are managing the
public relations. What sorts of communication form strategy is been using are to be discussed
here.
To explore public relation activities in the market. In addition, how much impact is been
created with the PR and communication department, how this impact is helping the company
in doing business.
To explore the effectiveness of Banglalink™ print & TV advertisement and competitor’s
print & TV advertisement.
To explore the effectiveness of Bangla Link’s Outdoor activities.
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Orascom Telecom Holding
Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (“Orascom
Telecom”) is a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in nine emerging markets
in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
Established in 1998, the company has acquired nine operating licenses in this region.
With nearly 520 million people and an average mobile telephony penetration of only 5% falling
under these licenses, Orascom Telecom has positioned itself as a leading telecommunications
conglomerate in the emerging markets of this region. The organization has managed to build an
amazing subscriber base of around 15 million in just a short span of six years by the end of 2004.
The majority stakeholder (56.9%) of the OTH group is the Sawiris family of Egypt, of
whom Naguib Sawiris is the present Chairman and CEO. The rest of the shares are traded in the
Cairo, Alexandria & London Stock Exchanges. OTH's IPO raised US$320 million during the year
2000, and was the largest offering on the Egyptian Stock Market at the time.
The capital of Orascom Telecom is estimated at 1.1 billion Egyptian Pound represented in 110
million shares.
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission statement of the OTH is “to be the primary telecom operator in the Middle
East, Africa, and South Asia, providing the best quality services to our customers, value to our
shareholders, and a dynamic working environment for our employees.2”
With this mission in mind, OTH had recently divested its investment in various locations,
including Jordan, Yemen & the Ivory Coast, to concentrate on its core function of providing the
primary GSM network in the regions it operates.
Most of its remaining subsidiaries concentrate on adding value added services to its
operation than in introducing new packages from time to time, in an effort to provide its
customers with a complete mobile solution and in turn add value to its shareholders.
Banglalink™
“We have kept our promise of bringing real competion to the

market.”3
– Mr. Lars P. Reichelt, CEO, Banglalink™
2 www.otelecom.com/about/
3 Press Release on the occasion of Banglalink™ 1 million customer celebration on November 15, 2005
Banglalink™ is the latest addition to the GSM family of OTH. Naguib Sawiris, Chairman
and CEO of OTH, announced the acquisition of Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited with a cost of
US$60m in September of 2004.
The company aims to make a difference in the lives of the people. Its vision is to
“understand people's needs best and will create and deliver appropriate communication services
to improve people's life and make it easier”. Their mission is, therefore, to reduce the total cost of
ownership of buying and using a mobile phone. Moreover, to achieve this vision, the company
has established some values that it tries to instill in its employees. They want their employees,
and the company as a result, to be straight forward, reliable, innovative and, above all, passionate.
As Sheba Telecom, the worst performing network operator in the industry, the company
had only 30,000 subscribers. To dispel this image, OTH had re-branded Sheba as Banglalink™ in
an attempt to give it a completely new image.
With that kind of a reputation at its disposition, the Banglalink™ management has placed
one of the highest priorities on improving its network. In this respect, they have installed state-of-
the-art equipment from Siemens and Huawei and brought in over 1,000 people, including experts,
from 15 countries around the world to set up the required infrastructure. The system took a record
of four months (less than half the normal time) to build. In 2005 alone, Orascom plans to invest
$120 million, earmarking close to another $300 million for future investments.
While Banglalink™ started out quite small, it has increased its coverage from 9 to 23
districts in just over three months. The company plans to provide mobile communication
coverage to all the 61 districts of the country and its major highways by the end of the year.
Moreover, in less than only four months, it now has more than 400,000 subscribers from a mere
30,000 in February before the launch. Now the current customer including postpaid (upper-class),
& pre-paid are more then 1.5 million. Other new news for Banglalink™ is recently changed its
logo, this is not a major change only the color and font pattern of is changed.
MARKETING DEPARTMENT OF BANGLALINK™
The Marketing team also consists of several teams, which includes PR & Communications,
VAS, Loyalty & Retention and International Roaming (IR). The teams all report to Omer Rashid,
the Marketing Director.
Marketing Director
(Omer Rashid)
PR & VAS Loyalty & Retention International

Communications (Shihab Ahmed) Shirif Amin Taha Roaming
(Shahed Zubair) Manager Sr. Manager (Ashraf Haiba)
Sr. Manager Manager
Fig 01: Organization chart of marketing department with names of Banglalink™
The Loyalty & Retention team is responsible for the designing of the special offers
launched from time to time in an attempt either to increase customer base or to increase ARPU.
The VAS division is responsible for the continuously adding valuable services to provide a
complete solution to existing customers, for example, for making conference calling & ring
tone/logo downloads possible. These two teams together are in charge of making the customers
experience with our network more satisfying.
PR & Communication is responsible for designing and developing all promotional
materials for the marketing of any new product/package and any other activities. They coordinate
and work directly with the advertising agency and other vendors. While other companies have an
entire department for promotions and branding, at Banglalink™ this division, consisting of only a
handful of people is responsible for this task.
Although Banglalink™ does not have any International Roaming facility now, this team
is working on developing the service soon for post-paid subscribers.
PR & COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
The PR & Communication Department of Banglalink™ plays the key roll of
advertisement, public communication, promotion, event management, sponsorship, visibility &
others. The department is consists of total 13 members leaded by one senior manager Mr. Shahed
Zubair, who has vast experience in PR & Comm. activities.
WHY YOU NEED PR
While the public part implies inclusion of things like public affairs, community relations,
investor relations, public press conferences, media events, internal communications and crisis
communications, it also involves a lot of behind-the-scenes, non-public activity. It could involve
simply the writing of a press release, but it could also involve coordinating media contacts for an
event or conference, securing credentials, lobbying for article placement and the like.
Sometimes public relation is an effort to influence the public. This is especially true for
political action groups, associations and other groups. Sometimes public relation is community
relations. Just look around your own community to see how many companies and organizations
have a community affairs initiative or a person in charge with a related title. In larger, publicly
held firms, this person is sometimes the director of investor relations. Investors are a public
entity, so in this case public relation is appropriate.
What the public wants to hear is a good story. Good PR is the telling of a good story. The
better the story, the better the acceptance by the public and the better the public relations, of
course if the story is especially appealing to those that could be your clients, then you could have
a PR homerun. In this case, it is communication with your target market that may or may not be
very public.
PR's importance is changing, according to The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR
(HarperBusiness). American marketing strategists Al and Laura Ries argue that public relations
has become the most effective way to build a brand. Well-known brands like The Body Shop,
PlayStation and Harry Potter spend little on brand-name advertising. The same is true for many
entrepreneurial companies like yours. Business owners become known in their respective fields
of concentration many times through public relations and the associated media generated.
PR is communication in many ways with your target market. Maybe instead of public
relations we ought to call it target market relations or TMR. You may be communicating about a
new product, spreading news about your company or making a major announcement. You want to
communicate publicly, but the only people you care about are potential prospects, customers or
investors, in the case of a partnership or a public company. One exception may be communication
to a group that you are trying to influence for the best interest of your company and target market.
An example of this is lobbying government.
Define what your public or target is in your public relations effort. This is best done by
defining your target market and then any sub-segment. Lining up publications and broadcasts
with the market and the segments will define what the public is for your public relations.
The bottom line is to get word out about you, your company, your products and services
to those who could potentially buy from you. Public relation is just one part of marketing, as
marketing is made up of many things. The good news about PR is the cost and the effectiveness
when it's in front of your target market.
Activities of PR & Comm. department in Banglalink™
Different types of activities are been conducted in this department. For each of the
activity senior executives works along with his/her deputy. The overall control of the department
is with the departmental head Sr. Manager Mr. Shahed Zubair. And one PR & Comm. manager
Mr. Solaiman Alam is there to help him out. Mainly the work has been distributed between these
two managers. The TV, Press & publication, and POS materials are been dealt by Mr. Shahed
Zubair. On the other hand, Solaiman Alam, Manager PR & Comm. deals with visibility, and
Events & Sponsorship issues. The work distribution helps the department to work more
efficiently.
Head of Dept.
Shahed Zubair
Sr. Manager
Solaiman Alam
Manager
(Irum Iqbal) (Yasser H. Ch.) Shehzad S. Rahath Ahmed Shahriar Ahmed

Assist. Manager Sr. Executive Hossain Sr. Executive Sr. Executive
(Press) (Media) Sr. Executive (E & S)
(Visibility)
(Musarrat Jahan (Ankan Nafizul Hamid Zahir Ahmed

Siddiqi) Siddiquee) Executive Intern.
Executive Executive
Fig 02: Brief organization chart of PR & Comm. department with names of Banglalink™
Currently there been nine (9) activities are done by the department of PR & Comm.
Activity Name
Outdoor/Visibility
TV
Press & Publications
Events & Sponsorship
Radio Ad
Pos Materials
Gift Items
Web Based Communications
Others
Fig 03: Name of the activities at PR & Comm. dept.
Press conference for corporate signing and press release of any activities are also part of PR and
Communication department job.
Outdoor/Visibility: All sorts of Billboard, posters, festoons, placard comes under this heading.
Banglalink™ billboard now can be found almost everywhere in Bangladesh. The brand name is
now so popular that only by seeing the tiger strips people understand it is Banglalink™. New
concepts like shop marker, shop sign are also been used for advertisement purpose. Almost 30%
(PR & Comm. data base, 2006) of the total PR & Comm. expenses are been spent on visibility.
Suppliers like Signage, Megna Art, & ARkey works for the outdoor activities.
TV: Television commercial is a very important means of communication in this electronic world.
Now people spent a good amount of his/her time watching TV. Many television commercials
feature catchy jingles (songs or melodies) or catch-phrases that generate sustained appeal, which
may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign,
e.g. Habib’s tune for Banglalink™commercials. Some of these ad jingles or catch-phrases may
take on lives of their own, spawning gags or "riffs" that may appear in other forms of media, such
as comedy movies or television variety shows, or in written media, such as magazine comics or
literature.
Animation is often used in commercials. Techniques can vary from hand-drawn
traditional animation to different forms of computer animation. By using animated characters, a
commercial may have a certain appeal that is difficult to achieve with actors or mere product
displays. For this reason, an animated commercial (or a series of such commercials) can be very
long-running, several decades in many instances. So in order to communicate people properly TV
commercial is a mast for a mobile company. Like the competitors Banglalink™ also has series of
TV ads for its different sorts of packages and VAS services. Currently TV commercials are been
shown in Channel I, ATN Bangla, NTV, RTV, & Channel 1. Among these channels ATN
Bangla, & Channel I work orders are done by agency Interspeed Advertising Ltd.
Apart from TV commercials program like Rock link in ATN Bangla been totally
sponsored by Banglalink™ team.
Press & Publications: Banglalink™ spent maximum amount in March 2006 among the other
mobile phone operators in Bangladesh (Market Intelligence Report of Banglalink, March 2006).
And the amount is about 10.17 million BDT. To be more specific on in the Independence Day the
Banglalink™ color ad went to 22 daily newspapers which cost the company 2.6 million for only
one day. Ad also goes to different types of magazines also. According to a internal research of
Banglalink™ the maximum attention of the customer is gained from the Press & publications.
Whole press work is done by the ad agency Interspeed Advertising Ltd. The press layout,
idea generation, & guidance all been taken care by the agency. For this service the agency gets
5% commission with every work order.

Radio Ad: very recently (from March, 2006) Banglalink™ start giving ads in the radio in order
to target the customers in the rural places. The concept of radio ad already been praised among
the different rural customer groups (Market intelligence report, April 17, 2006)
Events & Sponsorship: For the Pohela Boishak 1413 Banglalink™ had 10 events in all over the
country. Events like Dhaka University Branding (in front of Charukola road), Showrowardi
Uddan Branding, musical event at Sohid Minar, Fantasy kingdom concert, water kingdom concert
are few of the events of Pohela Boishak 1413. Events are run for publicity of the company.
During the event and sponsorship kiosk (A small open gazebo or pavilion.) is installed to
provide Pos materials to the customers. In addition, SIM cards are also been sold at the kiosk in
the event spots.
Banglalink™ Tiger Cup (Bangladesh vs. Kenya) is one of the successful sponsorship
ventures of banglalink™. Other then this AFC cup, IGP kabadi tournament, and Professional
School Football Championship at Sylhet are few of other recent sponsorship programs of the
company. Very month many school, colleges, university, organization’s events are been
sponsored by the company. This has been done to improve the PR and increment brand
awareness.
POS Materials: POS materials mean Point of Sale Materials. All sorts of leaflet, Tariff card,
printing materials comes under these criteria. Pos materials mainly help the customer to
understand the product & services offered by the parent company. These leaflets provide detail
explanation of the services offered by the operator.
Gift Items: different types of gift items are given to the clients and employees of Banglalink™.
Gift items like key ring, pen, CD, Show piece, calendar, Diary, watch, Mug, T-shirt, & Jacket
produced for the clients. All the gift items are marked with Banglalink™ logo. The gift item helps
the company in public relation and also helps in diffusing the brand name towards the customers.
Web Based Communications: Advertisement of Banglalink™ in the renowned web sites is also
been conducted. Web site like www.tigerscricket.com , and www.bangladeshinfo.com are few
examples of web base ad campaign of Banglalink™.
Others: Activities like donation, and charity are done by the sr. executive Mr. Abul Azim
Sulman. In February, 2006 amounted Tk. 1,056,720/= given to Ahsania Mision Cancer Hospital.
Source: “Daily Star” business page dated 17th February, 2006
Illustration: Charity activity by Banglalink™ 1
Working with different agencies: As earlier told, PR & comm. activities are very vast requiring
a lot of manpower. So most of the activities are run through different add agencies. Agencies do
the job for the company in return they get a commission amounted 5% to 15% depending on the
subject matter.
The main agencies of Banglalink™ are Interspeed Advertising Ltd., Market Access
Providers Ltd., and Asiatic MindShare Ltd.
Interspeed deals with the press & TV activities of the company. The agency provides a
complete solution from idea generation to final printing at the press. On the other hand, concept
development, making of TV ad, scheduling, broadcasting, bill submission, and support service
are provided by the agency.
Allsorts of big and small events (concert, mobile-fair, road show) are organizer by the
Market Access Providers Ltd. during the events company’s placard, posters, backdrops, leaflets
were installed.
Asiatic MindShare Ltd is engaged for ad making. But recently (March, 06) the agreement
between Asiatic Mind share Ltd. and Banglalink™ is over. And no renewal has been made so far.
This was the summary of the activities of PR & Comm. department. The senior manager
is accountable to the marketing director Mr. Omar Rashid for all his activities. He (Omer Rashid)
personally reviews the performance of the department along with the Chief Commercial Officer
Mr. Mehboob Chowdhury.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Public Relations News, "Public relation is the management function which
evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an
organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public
understanding and acceptance"
Public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea,
product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relation is devoted to serving
particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most favorable light (Phillips, 2001).
The goal of the public relations consultant is to create, through the organization of news and
advertising, an advantageous image for his client, be it a business corporation, cultural institution,
or private or public individual; toward this end—the making of favorable public opinion—many
research techniques and communications media are used (Lewis & Booms, 1983; Lehtinen &
Lehtinen, 1982; Gro¨nroos, 1984; Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988, 1994).
They also added that although many of the same methods are employed, public relations
differs from propaganda, systematic manipulation of public opinion, generally by the use of
symbols such as flags, monuments, oratory, and publications (Cutlip, 1994).
Public relations as a field can be traced to the early 20th cent., when American
businessmen found it necessary to respond to attacks by social reformers. A milestone in the
industry was the opening (1904) of Ivy Lee's publicity office in New York City. Soon there were
other firms in the field, and by World War I the concept of public relations had gained general
acceptance. Public relations techniques have been widely used in politics and political campaigns.
By the 1960s the public relations agency had become a fact in American life, numbering among
its clients branches of national, state, and local government, industry, labor, professional and
religious groups, and some foreign countries (Grunig, 1984).
ADVERTISING
After spending resources on naming a product, it is imperative to support it through
advertising and communication (Berry et al., 1988). For a product to succeed, the brand owner
must dedicate more resources to promoting it through advertising. O'Malley (1991) writes that
advertising is a key to sustaining appeal of brands. It is also a key to developing that appeal in the
first place. Belch (2004) says that the first job of advertising is to build brand awareness and
corporate brand approval. Through advertising, marketers expose the potential consumer to the
brand and give them the opportunity to accept it.

Advertising should be thought of as an investment in the brand it is promoting. Just as a
company would invest in technology and innovation, it must also invest in advertising and
promotion if it is to succeed (Wentz, 1993).
According to The Economist (1989) Generally speaking, advertising is the promotion of
goods, services, companies and ideas, usually by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising
as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include
publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.
The magazine also mentioned (1989) advertising is the promotion of goods, services,
companies and ideas, usually by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an
overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public
relations, personal selling and sales promotion.
PRESS CONFERENCES
According to Philip Kotler (1999); Bitner, M. J., and Zeithaml, V. A. (2003) A press
conference consists of someone speaking to the media at a predetermined time and place. Press
conferences usually take place in a public or quasi-public place. Press conferences provide an
opportunity for speakers to control information and who gets it; depending on the circumstances,
speakers may hand-pick the journalists they invite to the conference instead of making
themselves available to any journalist who wishes to attend.
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers (or people
claiming to be newsmakers) invite multiple journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask
questions (Dick, 1994).
There are two major reasons for holding a news conference. One is so that a newsmaker
who gets many questions from reporters can answer them all at once rather than answering
dozens of phone calls. Another is so someone can try to attract news coverage for something that
was not of interest to journalists before.
In a news conference, one or more speakers may make a statement, which may be
followed by questions from reporters. Sometimes only questioning occurs; sometimes there is a
statement with no questions permitted.
PRESS RELEASES
Press release format the typical press release announces that the statement is "FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE" across the top (some may instead be embargoed until a certain date),
and lists the issuing organization's media contacts directly below (Castaldo, 1995; Blois, 1999).
The also added the media contacts are the people that the release's issuer wants to make available
to the media; for example, a press release about new scientific study will typically list the study's
lead scientist as its media contact. The bottom of each release is usually marked with ### or -30-
to signify the end of the text.
SPIN
Public relation is used to present information in a favorable manner. When a presentation
uses deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics, it is referred to as spin (Ewen, 1996).
TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
A television commercial (often called an advert in the United Kingdom) is a form of
advertising in which goods, services, organizations, ideas, etc. are promoted via the medium of
television. Most commercials are produced by an outside ad agency and, and airtime is purchased
from a channel or network in exchange for sponsorship of its programming (Norris, 1992).
PUBLICITY
Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a product or
organization. The product could include anything from traditional goods and services, to
celebrities, or works of entertainment (Gilbert, 1999).
From a marketing perspective, publicity is one of the variables that comprise the
promotional mix. The other components of promotions are advertising, sales promotion, and
personal selling. Promotion is one of the variables that comprise the marketing mix (Kotler,
1999).
According to Bitner in 1999 Publicity is the means of using an external entity
(celebrities, people from the media, etc) to increase the awareness levels of the product,
company, goods etc amongst the public and/or buying segment.
A media event at which no statements are made, and no questions allowed, is
called a photo opportunity (Belch, 2004).
Lawrence (2004) told in one of his article that Television stations and networks
especially value news conferences: because today's TV news programs air for hours at a
time, or even continuously, assignment editors have a steady appetite for ever-larger
quantities of footage .
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Gregory (1993) told Marketing communications (or marcom) consists of the messages
and related media used to communicate with a market. Those who practice advertising, branding,
direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, public relations,
sales, and sales promotion are termed marketing communicators, marketing communications
managers, or more briefly as marcom managers.
A corporate image refers to how a corporation is perceived. It is a generally
accepted image of what a company "stands for". The creation of a corporate image is an
exercise in perception management. It is created primarily by marketing experts who use
public relations and other forms of promotion to suggest a mental picture to the public.
Typically, a corporate image is designed to be appealing to the public, so that the
company can spark an interest among consumers, create share of mind, generate brand
equity, and thus facilitate product sales (Grunig, 1984).
Grunig (1984) also added corporations are not the only form of organization that
creates these types of images. Governments, charitable organizations, criminal
organizations, religious organizations, political organizations, and educational
organizations all tend to have a unique image, an image that is partially deliberate and
partially accidental, partially self-created and partially exogenous.
BILLBOARD (ADVERTISING)
A billboard or hoarding is a large outdoor signboard, usually wooden, found in
places with high traffic such as cities, roads, motorways and highways. Billboards show
large advertisements aimed at passing pedestrians and drivers. The vast majority of
billboards are rented to advertisers rather than owned by them (Wernick, 1991).
Typically showing large, witty slogans splashed with distinctive color pictures,
billboards line the highways and are placed on the sides of buildings, peddling products
and getting out messages. Billboards originally existed alongside and later largely
replaced advertisements painted directly onto the sides of buildings or designed into roofs
in shingle patterns (Stoykov, 2005).
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea
and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). Advertising campaigns
appear in different media across a specific time frame (Wernick, 1991).
Methodology
Statement of the Problem
The job of PR & communication department of banglalink™ is to bridge the
relationship between the consumer and the company. Another duty of this department is
to communicate information to the target customers. The activities of this department
during the initial years are very important. So the effectiveness of the activities needs an
evaluation.
On the other hand, what are the opinions of the consumers about the compnay’s
activity also needed to know in order to improve the performance of PR &
Communication department.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to provide a specific and accurate synopsis of the overall
PR & communication department of Banglalink™. As a new company how they are
managing the public relations. What sorts of communication form strategy is been using
are to be discussed here.

To explore public relation activities in the market. In addition, how much impact is
been created with the PR and communication department, how this impact is helping
the company in doing business.
To explore the effectiveness of Banglalink™ print & TV advertisement and
competitor’s print & TV advertisement.
To explore the effectiveness of Bangla Link’s Outdoor activities.
Research Design – Methods and Procedures
Exploratory Research
Less chances of error as the sample size is limited here.
Exploratory research is more flexible and versatile in nature.
It can be conducted by a single researcher with a minimum no. of sample size.
This kind of research gives more insights for developing an approach to the
problem.
Research timeline
Table01: Research timeline

2006 February Research proposal writing and literature review
2006 March Data collection procedure
2006 April 1 Data analysis and interpretation of findings
2006 April 24 Final redraft of complete manuscript.
2006 April 30 Submission of research paper

Instruments
The source of measurement will be questionnaire. The questionnaire is a semi-structured.
The questionnaire has been made very carefully so that the accurate information came out
from the respondents. There are total ten (10) questions where the respondents will have
the option to choose their answers or they can also put their own answers in question no.
10. Pilot testing was made on this questionnaire earlier by the Banglalink™ research and
development department. This questionnaire is developed by the Banglalink™ personnel. Mr.
MD. Mahboob Hossain (Marketing Executive) works under R & D department of the company.
Banglalink™ wants to know the research result for their further development. While asking about
the Alpha value of the questionnaire Mr. Hossain replied, they pilot tested this questionnaire and
the result was positive. Out of 15 samples in the pilot test 14 understood the questionnaire. This is
why they have further preceded this research.
Sampling Technique
Stratified random sampling
This is the price effective and quick method of collecting sample.
In order to find out a proper answer regarding PR & Communication department
activity it is very much essential to take the viewpoint of population who are aware of
the activity of the department. This is why 5 categories have been chosen to fill up the
questionnaire for this exploratory research.

Table 02: Sample category & size
Category Sample Size (In No.) Sample Size (%)
Consumer category 1 (Students) 15 17.65%
Consumer category 2 (Housewife) 15 17.65%
Consumer category 3 (Working people) 15 17.65%
Ad agency personnel 20 23.53%
Employees of Banglalink™ 20 23.53%
Total 85 100.00 %
Data Collection
The first step in the data collection was the pilot test of the questionnaire. The
questionnaire was pre-tested on 15 people. And the result was positive. All sorts of
primary data source will be the questionnaire. But depending on the situation and
information some in-depth interview might be conducted during the research.
In case of secondary data the company website, brochure, leaflet, Ad, personal
working experience, and observation will be under consideration.
Data Analysis
Data analysis will be made based on the respondents answers. Every single question
will be analyzed with different calculations (e.g. mean value), for the optimum results.
Different sorts of pie diagram, bar charts and other related graphs will be provided in this
section.
Significance of the Study
This research will help the PR & Comm. Department of Banglalink™ to
understand their problem areas. In addition based on the recommendations the
department will be able to revise their work for better and efficient performance.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
¾ Problems of Quota Sampling: Banglalink™ employee & the agency personnel
might give biased information.
¾ Small Sample Size: Only 85 questionnaires have been conducted. The research
topic is so vast that this tiny amount of sample will not reflect the actual picture.
¾ Centralized study: All the samples were the inhabitants of Dhaka City
¾ Lack of concentration in filling up the questionnaire: Not enough time was
there to fill up the questionnaire properly. Also the levels of knowledge of the
samples were not adequate for every question.
¾ Time as a constrain: Time was a constrain all the time it was quite difficult to
continue the internship and continue the research work together. Literature review
could have been better.
RESULTS
OVERVIEW OF FINDINGS
Findings of question no 1
65% said yes they watch Banglalink™ Television commercials. 22% replied with
sometimes and the rest (13%) said no.

The majority (65%) of the 5 category of respondents watches Banglalink™ Television
commercials. Among them employees of Banglalink™ watches the commercials most (14
individuals).
Discussion
Total 85 of 85 respondents participated for this question (Appendix Table 3.1). It was a
basic question just to start the questionnaire. Everybody positively responded for this question by
giving their opinions (100% response).
Analysis: People are watching Banglalink™ Television commercials more then they are
avoiding it. So there is a very good chance to communicate people through this media.
14 respondents (4%) are unsatisfied with the TV ads of Banglalink™. Most of the
housewives said very good (40%) about the TV ads. Working class judged their opinion by
putting average (14 respondents i.e. 23.33 %) mark for this question.
Discussion
This question is based on four factors - visual, sound, communication, & contents. Based
on the responses towards these factors judgment has been made. Each of the factor has been
analyzed individually (shown in the analysis_za.xls file in the soft version of the report i.e. CD).
The summary of the factors are in the Table 3.2. And to clear the idea more one pie diagram is
given (fig 05). As usual 5 categories of respondent contributed. Out of 339 responses came out of
340 (4 factors X 85 respondents = 340 responses).
Analysis: This analysis is made to find out which factors of preference in case of TV ads of
Banglalink™ by the respondents. The summary of the report (table 3.2) says there is no majority
for this question the highest vote went for the excellent (32%), and the second best is the 28%
vote for Very good by the respondents. By analyzing Q1 & Q2 we can see for both the questions
respondents gave positive answers. The respondents like the TV ads of Banglalink™.
Most preferred choice is the message contents (40% or 34 people said excellent) for all 5
category respondents. Another interesting finding is 36.5% respondents gave average marking to
the presentation standard. Other noticeable thing is total 29 people is unsatisfied with the visual.
Visual is a very important factor in case of TV ads, but 32.1% do not think it is an important
factors. In this case we can conclude that the few respondents (29) did not understand the
question properly, they might have evaluated the current Banglalink™ TV ad instead of giving
their opinion on which is the most important factor in TV ad.
Discussion
There are five factors were pre identified in the pilot testing for the TV ads rating in case
of Banglalink™. Those factors are “frequency of the ad”, “message”, “visual”, “offerings”, and
“presentation”. 100 % response rate came total 425 respondents (85 X 5) gave their opinions
here. Based on their ranking the table 3.3 was made. In order to give a visual description and easy
understanding one very useful bar diagram is used here (fig 06).
Analysis: This analysis was to find out the public opinion that which factor is the most
important for them in the TV ad. Out of 5 options the most preferred option was the message of
the ad., and the worst was the visual. On the other hand presentation got a average grading.
Banglalink™ should work on their visual presentation more. Offering is always a key factor
which has been seen in the fig 06 clearly. So the management always put importance in the
offerings.
60% of the samples read Banglalink™ newspaper advertisements. 28% sometimes and
the rest (12%) never read newspaper ads of Banglalink™.
Among the 5 categories of the sample working people read the news paper ads the most,
the number is 12 (80%). Agency personnel also read it vastly, their quantity is 13 but in
percentage it is only 65% of its total sample size. 45% (35% +10%) of the Banglalink™
employees sometimes or never read newspaper ad according to this research.
Discussion
basic question on newspaper readability. All the samples where from the Dhaka city and they
were all educated so the majority (60%) positively responded for this question by giving their
opinions.
Analysis: People are reads newspaper so do they read Banglalink™ newspaper ad. So
communication process should be more precise and target oriented in case of newspaper ad. For
example in the regional newspaper like “Uttor Jonopod” ad should be focus on the basic mobile
phone ad with direct Bangla communication. On the other hand, in “Daily Star” more option
based (Value Added service – SMS, VMS etc.) ad can be given.
6 respondents (13.3%) students are unsatisfied with the newspaper ads of Banglalink™.
The total unsatisfied ad reader number is 13 i.e. the 5.18% of entire 251 responses. The highest
preference is 32 (53.3%) of excellent given by Employees of Banglalink™. They are very much
happy about their newspaper ad works. All sorts of findings are given in the table 3.5.
Discussion
This question is based on three factors - visual, communication/ Message, & contents.
Based on the responses towards these factors judgment has been made. Each of the factor has
been analyzed individually (shown in the analysis_za.xls file in the soft version of the report i.e.
CD). The summary of the factors are in the Table 3.5 in addition one pie diagram fig 08 given to
clear the concept of this question. All five (5) categories of respondent took part in this question.
Out of 255 responses 251 responses came and 4 answers came out null (3 factors X 85
respondents = 255 responses).
Analysis: This analysis is made to find out which factors of preference in case of newspaper ads
of Banglalink™ by the survey samples. The summary of the report (table 3.5) says for this
question the highest vote went for the excellent (47%), and the second best is the 19% vote for
Very good by the respondents. By analyzing Q4 & Q5 we can see for both the questions
respondents gave positive answers. The preference rate for newspaper ad is also very just like TV
ads of Banglalink™.
“Frequency of the Ad”, “Page Location of the Ad”, and “Day selection” are most
positively voted in this question. The percentages of excellent and very good for these three
factors are respectively 60%, 61.18%, and 61.18%.
Discussion
There are six factors were pre identified in the pilot testing for the newspaper ads rating
in case of Banglalink™. Those factors are “frequency of the ad”, “message”, “Page Location of
the Ad”, “Day selection”, “offerings”, and “presentation”. 100 % response rate came total 510
respondents (85 X 6) gave their answers according to their viewpoint. Based on their ranking the
table 3.6 was made. In order to give a visual description and easy understanding one very useful
bar diagram is used here (fig 09).
Analysis: The analysis shows the ranking of importance to gain public attention in the
newspaper ad (print media). Out of six options the most preferred options “Frequency of the Ad”,
“Page Location of the Ad”, and “Day selection” positively voted (table 3.6). So while dealing
with any print media ad the department of PR & communication should emphasize on these
factors the most.
56% of the samples (including all five categories) observe Banglalink™ outdoor
activities. 31% sometimes and the rest (13%) never observe such activities of Banglalink™.
Among the 5 categories of the sample students observe outdoor ads the most, the number
is 11 (73.33%) out of 15. where as 40% of housewives do not observe the outdoor ads, may be
they do not go out that much.
Discussion
basic question on newspaper readability. The pie diagram fig 10 shows the clear idea of
observation of outdoor ads of Banglalink™ by the samples.
Analysis: Those people who go out more they observe the outdoor ads more like students,
working class, and employees. So the research question concludes that the outdoor ad should be
target oriented. Those who watch it they should be targeted not the entire population.
6 respondents (13.33%) housewives are unsatisfied with the outdoor ads of Banglalink™.
The total unsatisfied ad reader number is 9 i.e. the 3.53% of entire 255 responses. The highest
preference of outdoor ads is 14 (31.11%) of excellent given by the students. All sorts of findings
are given in the table 3.8.
Discussion
This question is based on three factors - visual, communication/ Message, & contents.
Based on the responses towards these factors judgment has been made. Each of the factor has
been analyzed individually (shown in the analysis_za.xls file in the soft version of the report i.e.
CD). The summary of the factors are in the Table 3.8 in addition one pie diagram fig 11 given to
clear the concept of this question. All five (5) categories of respondent took part in this question.
Out of 255 responses 251 responses came and 4 answers came out null (3 factors X 85
respondents = 255 responses).
Analysis: By analyzing Q7 & Q8 we can see for both the questions we co relate housewives are
lesser in observing outdoor activities. They should not be main target in the outdoor activities,
rather students and working class should be come under consideration.
72.94% responses give excellent and very good to the offerings at the billboard ads of
Banglalink™. On the flip side, 43 respondents think color and lighting at the billboard are not at
all important comparing with the other five factors in this case.
Discussion
There are seven factors were pre identified in the pilot testing for the Banglalink™
outdoor ads rating. Those factors are “frequency of the ad”, “message”, “color”, “lighting”,
“offerings”, “presentation”, and lastly “location/site”. 100 % response rate came total 595
respondents (85 X 7) gave their answers according to their viewpoint. Based on their ranking the
table 3.9 was made. In order to give a visual description and easy understanding one very useful
bar diagram is used here (fig 12).

Analysis: The analysis shows the ranking of importance to gain public attention in the
newspaper ad (print media). Out of seven options the most preferred option “offerings” that has
been voted excellent by 36 respondents (table 3.9). This research question will give answer and
will be a guideline while establishing any outdoor ads for Banglalink™ by PR & communication.
All the factors are ranked based on their importance in the table 3.9. On the flip side, fig 12 is a
quick window view of the ranking.
Outdoor and TV ads got maximum appraisal for this question. Out of 85, 52 responses
gave excellent and very good for outdoor advertisings. They think it is the most efficient way of
communicating mass audience. On the other hand, for TV ads came to be no.2 audience
preference by getting 45 votes having excellent and good marks. 28 people think there are good
chances of other factors (which is not shown in the question) to play a vital role in PR &
communication activities. Table 3.10 will give us all sorts of measurement and verity of findings.
Web base communication and radio are less popular activities here. Radio got 36.5% of average
rating which is the highest in its individual rating card. On the flip side, web base communication
got 34.12% vote as good way of communication.
Discussion
Total 765 (100%) responses came for this question. Total nine factors were talked about
here. Respondents were clearly briefed each of the activities before attempting this questions so
that they did not end up with a wrong preferences. The result shows a acceptable data sheet.
Analysis: The answers failed to indicate any particular activity which can be considered vital.
But TV and billboard got very good responses. People understand this sort of communication
better then any other one. So the guideline should go on favor of these two factors. But it is need
less to say all nine factors are important in total PR and communication programs. The table 3.10
can give us the actual measurement how much importance should be given to which activity.
RECOMENDATIONS
The mobile industry in Bangladesh is still facing an oligopoly competition. In
order to be competitive in this industry in future, the only option is to build up a strong
brand image is by creating unique product offerings and make a competitive market.
Banglalink™ has successfully managed to introduce perfect competitions among the
mobile operators. The competitions are so vast that that the connection price as well as
the airtime rate is falling down day by day.
In this changing environment based on this research on Banglalink™ the following
recommendations are suggested for the PR and communication departments. These
recommendations will definitely improve the overall company image if implemented
efficiently.
TV ads should provide clear message along with very attractive visual and sound.
Press ad should be communicated with proper message. The understandability of the
reader should be concentrated. If the target market does not understand the product ad
is for them then there is no use of it.
Outdoor ads should communicate the message along with visibility that can be
understandable even to those people who do not understand the message. E.g.
Bangladesh Banglalink™ ad having with Bangladesh Map.
CONCLUSION
In the context of service oriented organization activities of PR and communication
department has great importance in the service marketing to ensure the market share,
customer loyalty, and the service quality.
Therefore, from this study Banglalink™ can get the indications on which of the issues
they have to pay more attention to hold the market share, to raise it and to increase the public
relation.
Finally, this research will encourage further study and useful guidelines for these
types of researches.
APPENDICES
References
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dottorato non pubblicata, Milano, Università "L.Bocconi"
Cutlip, Scott (1994). The Unseen Power: Public Relations, A History, Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum
Associates.
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of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 22, 99-113.
E. W. Brody and G. C. Stone, Public Relations Research (1989).
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Websites from which Secondary Information were gathered
Alfred J. Lautenslager for PR, Visit his Web sites at http://www.market-for-
profits.com and http://www.1-800-inkwell.com, or e-mail him at al@market-for-
profits.com.
Billoard: Outdoor Advertising Association of America homepage www.oaaa.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_conference
www.banglalinkgsm.com
www.orascomtelecom.com
Questionnaire
Questionnaire
This questionnaire has been designed to conduct a research to fulfill the course requirement of
BBA 499: Internship, under the School of Business, Independent University Bangladesh
(IUB). Your cooperation and active participation will enable me to conduct the research work
successfully. One successful completion of the questionnaire will take about 6/7 minutes only.
Please be assured that the information you provide will be strictly confidential and will be used
only for academic purposes.
Section 1: This section is for Television Commercials of Banglalink™.
1. Do you watch Banglalink™ Television commercials?

□ Yes □ Sometimes □ NO
2. Please tick, how will you rate the quality of the TV advertisements of Banglalink™ based
on the visual, sound, communication, & contents?
[Scale: 1. Excellent; 2. Very Good; 3. Good; 4. Average; 5. Unsatisfactory]
A. Visual 1 2 3 4 5
B. Sound/ Music 1 2 3 4 5
C. Communication/Message 1 2 3 4 5
D. Contents 1 2 3 4 5
3. Please rank the factors you think is the most important in case of gaining public attention
in the TVC? (Please note, there can be multiple 1. excellent)
Rank Factors
Frequency of the Ad
Message
Visual
Sound/ Music/ Ambient
Offerings
Presentation
Section 2: This section is for newspaper advertisements of Banglalink™.

4. Do you read Banglalink™ newspaper advertisements?

5. How will you rate the quality of the newspaper advertisements of Banglalink™ based on
the visual, communication/ message, & contents?
A. Visual 1 2 3 4 5
B. Communication/Message 1 2 3 4 5
C. Contents 1 2 3 4 5
in the print media for Banglalink™? (Please note, there can be multiple 1. excellent)
Rank Factors
Frequency of the Ad
Message
Page Location of the Ad
Day selection (e.g. Holiday)
Offerings
Presentation
Section 3: This section is for Outdoor activities (Billboard, placard, festoons, & leaflets) of
Banglalink™.
7. Do you observe Banglalink™ Outdoor activities (Billboard, placard, festoons, & leaflets)?
8. How will you rate the quality of the Outdoor (Billboard, placard, festoons, & leaflets)
advertisements of Banglalink™ based on the visual, communication/ message, & contents?
A. Visual 1 2 3 4 5
B. Communication/Message 1 2 3 4 5
C. Contents 1 2 3 4 5
in case of outdoor activities of Banglalink™? (Please note, there can be multiple 1. excellent)
Rank Factors
Frequency of the Billboard
Message
Color
Lighting
Offerings
Presentation
Location / Site
Common Section
10. In order to be more brand loyal and market leader in the cell phone industry what sorts
of PR & Comm. activity should Banglalink™ conduct efficiently? (Rank your answer, i.e. most
important 5, least important 1)
Rank PR & Comm. Activities.
Outdoor/Visibility
TV
Press & Publications
Events & Sponsorship
Radio Ad
Pos Materials
Gift Items
Web Based Communications
Others
T H A N K Y O U V E R Y M U C H
Have a good day☺ !!!
Summary statistics of each question, tables, and detailed calculations
Q1. Do you watch Banglalink™ Television commercials?
Table: 3.1
Responses for Q. no 1:
Category Frequency Yes Sometimes No
Consumer category 1 (Students) 15 11 3 1
Consumer category 2 (Housewife) 15 10 2 3
Consumer category 3 (Working people) 15 7 4 4
Ad agency personnel 20 13 5 2
Employees of Banglalink™ 20 14 5 1
Total 85 55 19 11
No
13%
Sometimes
22%
Yes
65%
Q1. Do you watch BL TV commercials?
Fig 04
Q2. Please tick, how will you rate the quality of the TV advertisements of Banglalink™ based on the
visual, sound, communication, & contents?

Table: 3.2
Responses for Q. no 2: (Summary of TVC ad based on Visual, Sound,
Comm., & Contents)
Category Frequency Excellent V. Good Good Avg. Unsatisfactory
Consumer category 1 60
(Students) 11 14 20 9 6
(Housewife) 15 20 14 8 2
(Working people) 9 21 15 14 1
Ad agency personnel 80 36 20 15 8 1
Employees of Banglalink™ 80 37 19 10 10 4
Total 339 108 94 74 49 14
Unsatisfactory
4%
Average
14%
Excellent
32%
Good
22%
Very Good
28%
Q2. Summary of TVC ad of BL based on 4 consumer categories
Fig 05
Q3. Please rank the factors you think is the most important in case of gaining public attention in the
TVC? (Please note, there can be multiple answers)

Table: 3.3
Category Frequency Excellent Very Good Average Unsatisfactory
Good
Frequency of the Ad 85 27 17 13 24 4
Message 85 34 18 13 14 6
Visual 85 7 11 16 22 29
Offerings 85 33 24 18 8 2
Presentation 85 9 15 22 31 8
Total 425 110 85 82 99 49
35
30
25
20
Frequency
15
10
0
Unsatisfact
Excellent Very Good Good Average
ory
Frequency of the Ad 27 17 13 24 4
Message 34 18 13 14 6
Visual 7 11 16 22 29
Offerings 33 24 18 8 2
Presentation 9 15 22 31 8
Q3. People's preferance about TVC of BL
Fig 06
Q4. Do you read Banglalink™ newspaper advertisements?
Table: 3.4
Total 85 51 24 10
No
12%
Sometimes
28%
Yes
60%
Q4. Do you watch BL newspaper Ads?
Fig 07
Q5. How will you rate the quality of the newspaper advertisements of Banglalink™ based on the visual,
communication/ message, & contents?

Table: 3.5
Responses for Q. no 5: (Summary of newspaper ads based on
Visual, Comm. & Message, & Contents)
Very
Category Frequency Excellent Good Good Average Unsatisfactory
Consumer category 1 (Students) 45 15 9 8 7 6
Consumer category 2 (Housewife) 45 20 10 8 5 2
Consumer category 3 (Working people) 45 21 9 10 2 3
Total 251 117 48 48 25 13
Unsatisfactory
5%
Average
10%
Excellent
Good 47%
19%
Very Good
19%
Q5. Summary of newspaper ads of BL based on 4 consumer categories
Fig 08
Q6. Please rank the factors you think is the most important in case of gaining public attention in the print
media for Banglalink™? (Please note, there can be multiple answers)

Table: 3.6
Category Frequency Excellent V. Good Good Average Unsatisfactory
Frequency of the Ad 85 35 16 27 6 1
Message 85 21 21 17 22 4
Page Location of the Ad 85 29 23 16 14 3
Day selection 85
(e.g. Holiday) 28 24 19 11 3
Offerings 85 27 19 21 17 1
Total 510 155 116 145 78 16
45
40
35
30
25
Frequency
20
15
10
5
0
Unsatisfact
ory
Frequency of the Ad 35 16 27 6 1
Message 21 21 17 22 4
Page Location of the Ad 29 23 16 14 3
Day selection (e.g. Holiday) 28 24 19 11 3
Offerings 27 19 21 17 1
Q6. People's preferance about newspaper ads of BL
Fig 09
Q7. Do you observe Banglalink™ Outdoor activities (Billboard, placard, festoons, & leaflets)?
Table: 3.7
Total 95 54 29 12
No
13%
Sometimes Yes
31% 56%
Q7. Do you watch BL Outdoor Ads?
Fig 10
Q8. How will you rate the quality of the Outdoor (Billboard, placard, festoons, & leaflets) advertisements
of Banglalink™ based on the visual, communication/ message, & contents?

Table: 3.8
Responses for Q. no 8: (Summary of outdoor activities based on Visual, Comm. & Message, & Contents)
Category
Frequency Excellent Very Good Good Average Unsatisfactory
(Students) 14 15 8 4 4
(Housewife) 6 7 14 12 6
(Working people) 12 10 14 6 3
Total 255 78 78 64 26 9
Unsatisfactory
Average 4%
10%
Excellent
30%
Good
25%
Very Good
31%
Q8. Outdoor activities rating
Fig 11
Q9. Please rank the factors you think is the most important in case of gaining public attention in case of
outdoor activities of Banglalink™? (Please note, there can be multiple answers)

Table: 3.9
Category Very
Frequency Excellent Good Good Average Unsatisfactory
Frequency of the Billboard 85 18 24 21 13 9
Message 85 23 21 16 17 8
Color 85 13 11 21 19 21
Lighting 85 9 8 25 21 22
Offerings 85 36 26 14 7 2
Location / Site 85 31 29 12 8 5
Total 595 154 143 126 96 76
40
35
30
25
Frequency 20
15
10
0
Unsatisfactor
y
Frequency of the Billboard 18 24 21 13 9
Message 23 21 16 17 8
Color 13 11 21 19 21
Lighting 9 8 25 21 22
Offerings 36 26 14 7 2
Location / Site 31 29 12 8 5
Q9. Ranking of the factors in case of Billboard
Fig 12
Common Question
Q10. In order to be more brand loyal and market leader in the cell phone industry what sorts of
PR & Comm. activity should Banglalink conduct efficiently? (Rank your answer, i.e. most
important 5, least important 1)

Table: 3.10
Responses for Q. no 10
Very
Category Frequency Excellent Good Good Average Unsatisfactory
Outdoor/Visibility 85 21 31 18 12 3
TV 85 20 25 21 11 8
Press & Publications 85 14 18 21 23 9
Events & Sponsorship 85 19 23 22 16 5
Radio Ad 85 7 19 26 31 2
Pos Materials 85 18 26 24 17 0
Gift Items 85 11 13 27 27 7
Web Based Communications 85 13 22 29 11 10
Others 85 4 8 28 24 21
Total 765 127 185 216 172 65
35
30
25
20
Frequency
15
10
0
Excellent Very Good Good Average Unsatisfactory
Outdoor/Visibility 21 31 18 12 3
TV 20 25 21 11 8
Press & Publications 14 18 21 23 9
Events & Sponsorship 19 23 22 16 5
Radio Ad 7 19 26 31 2
Pos Materials 18 26 24 17 0
Gift Items 11 13 27 27 7
Web Based Communications 13 22 29 11 10
Others 4 8 28 24 21
Q10. Overall PR activity ranking
Fig 13
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AOA Articles of Association
ATOB Association of Telecom Operators in Bangladesh
BL Banglalink ™
BSC Base Station Center
BTL Bangladesh Telecom Limited
BTRC Bangladesh Telecom and Regulatory Commission
BTS Base Transceiver Station
BTTB Bangladesh Telephone & Telegraph Board
CCD Customer Care
Department
CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access
CLIP Caller Line Identification Presentation
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
DS Direct Sales
EDGE Enhanced Data GSM Environment
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
GSM Global System for Mobiles
GSMA Global System for Mobiles Association
IPO Initial Public Offering
ITU International Communication Union
IVR Interactive Voice Response
M2M Mobile-to-mobile
M2M+ Mobile-to-mobile plus
MMS Multimedia Messaging Services
MOA Memorandum of Association
O&M Operation & Maintenance
OTH Orascom Telecom Holdings Ltd.
PBTL Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd.
PCO Public Call Offices
POSM Point of Sales Materials
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
SAF Subscription Agreement Form
SD Security Deposit
SIM Subscriber Identification Module
SingTel Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.
SMS Short Messaging Service
VAS Value Added Services
WAP Wireless Application Protocol
………

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Internship report

AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE “PUBLIC

Zahir Ahmed (ID # 0110127)

Lecturer, School of Business

Independent University, Bangladesh

Mr. Mohammed Sohel Islam

Lecturer, School of Business

Independent University, Bangladesh

Sub: Submission of Internship Report on Banglalink™.

activities of the “Public relation, and communication department of Banglalink™”. I am

way if there would not be any limitations.

advice will encourage me to do further research in future.

In the preparation and finish this internship report, I acknowledge the

encouragement and assistance given by a number of people and institution. I am most

grateful to the Banglalink™ PR & communication department to give me the opportunity

to complete my internship in their organization.

I would like to express my gratitude to my Supervisor at IUB Mr. Mohammed

gave me his suggestions in making this study as flawless as possible.

trouble of answering a detail Questionnaire and helped me to complete my study.

without his help I would not be here.

Executive Summary ............................................................................................... i – ii

LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 15

LIMITITIONS OF THE STUDY .......................................................................... 24

Findings of question no.4 ...................................................................................... 27

References (websites) ............................................................................. 36

Summary statistics of each question, tables, and detailed calculations.... 40

This research intends to explore the public relation and communication

department under marketing department of Banglalink™. It is an exploratory research

employees) think about the PR activities of Banglalink™.

This research is based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was

diagram in this research paper.

department of PR & communication.

the most talked about in this research.

the PR and communication department. These recommendations will definitely improve

the overall company image if implemented efficiently.

“Bangladesh is well suited for OTH’s [Orascom Telecom

– Mr. Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and CEO, OTH

expecting something big, given their record of accomplishment in other countries.

communication department of the company.

here along with the problems.

1 Press Release on the occasion of Banglalink™’s launch on February 10, 2005

The job of PR & communication department of Banglalink™ is to bridge the relationship

the vital job for this department.

and if there is any chance resolved the problem.

activities of PR & Communication department of Banglalink™.

 To explore the effectiveness of Banglalink™ print & TV advertisement and competitor’s

print & TV advertisement.

 To explore the effectiveness of Bangla Link’s Outdoor activities.

Orascom Telecom Holding

Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (“Orascom

Telecom”) is a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in nine emerging markets

in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

shareholders, and a dynamic working environment for our employees.2”

primary GSM network in the regions it operates.

“We have kept our promise of bringing real competion to the

– Mr. Lars P. Reichelt, CEO, Banglalink™

US$60m in September of 2004.

an attempt to give it a completely new image.

MARKETING DEPARTMENT OF BANGLALINK™

the Marketing Director.

PR & VAS Loyalty & Retention International

Fig 01: Organization chart of marketing department with names of Banglalink™

experience with our network more satisfying.

To explore the effectiveness of Banglalink™ print & TV advertisement and competitor’s

To explore the effectiveness of Bangla Link’s Outdoor activities.