Criticising overuse of billboards, they said many countries have strict guidelines in this regard and Bangladesh should take the same initiatives.

Even the roads of Singapore are not covered with such a big sized billboards, said Mushtaque Ahmed, managing director of Marks and Allys Ltd, in the first-ever 'Bangladesh Brand Forum' that ended in the city yesterday.

In the two-day forum, the participants highlighted different issues relating to creating, strengthening and protecting brand value and also emphasised brand based business culture.

In the concluding session of the forum styled 'Challenges and Opportunities of Brands in Bangladesh', discussants said Bangladeshi products, especially software, design, and jewellery can compete in the world market if we can market them under different brands.

Making a brand not only depends on advertising, but product quality also determines its image, they suggested.

"Google is the leading search engine in the world but it had never gone for advertising," said a discussant in the forum.

Speakers also said inter-personal communication and publicity can have strong impact in developing brand image.

The forum was organised by Brandzeal, a brand consultancy firm, in partnership with Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University and Global Brand Forum from Singapore.

Grameenphone was the sponsor of the forum.