Abrar Ur Rahim
Head of Brand
Miniso Bangladesh
Mr. Abrar Ur Rahim was a student of Bachelor of Business Administration. He used to like public functions, public gatherings, and highlighting subject matters like in Events & Activations. While he started as a part-timer, he was involved with so many brands. He started his permanent career at an Advertising Agency.
Let’s learn about his glorious journey:
Mr. Abrar Ur Rahim, please share your professional and academic peregrination with our readers.
As a student of Bachelor of Business Administration, we all know we started dreaming from our student life to be a successful person in our own field. So it is essential to find out what that OWN FIELD is for us, and I am a lucky person because I found that at a very early stage of my career.
From the starting of my career, I used to like public functions, public gatherings, and highlighting subject matters like in Events & Activations. While I started as a part-timer, I was involved with so many brands. I started my permanent career at an Advertising Agency. From the beginning of my journey, I got to know that improvisation and adaptation are significant for a successful person.
After working for more than nine (9) years in different advertising agencies, I got an opportunity from a multinational company to explore marketing opportunities throughout the country in a global standard. So the most important thing is to find out your OWN FILED to drive yourself towards your goal.
What is your most significant achievement as of now? To what extent does your motivation help you to thrive in your career?
There are lots of achievements I got from my entire career, but the most recent achievement is a full-fledged campaign named ‘Miniso Theke Ki Niso’.
When I joined Miniso, very few people knew about Miniso, but as we have ten thousand plus SQU, we have every range of products. I thought we should go massively, as Miniso is a brand for all. Then we came up with this campaign which actually penetrated into the Bangladeshis’ minds as their own brand.
When we started, I really didn’t know where the campaign would take us. Here I like to say marketing/branding ideas should be out of the box. In marketing or branding, we should always take challenges and explore opportunities for our own brand. After the campaign, when we got 13 awards from Bangladesh Brand Forum, it gave me more motivation to do more successful campaigns. For a brand like Miniso, I measure this success in terms of getting customers’ love, happiness, and acceptance. This actually motivates me to thrive in my career and take the brand even further.
What traits do you cherish, and why do you think these are perfect for success in your fields?
I always believe in “Do what you love”. When we love something, we can do it from our hearts. And whatever comes from your heart, it will be done with passion & enthusiasm. Not only in my career but from my student life, I focused on those things that made me feel happy. This is the only way to keep myself motivated in a competitive, fast-paced environment.
When you love what you do, there is always a push from the inside that gives you extra energy to do things in a different way. My trait is to accept challenges and give my best to turn the challenges into success. Giving that extra effort to do things in a different way has been a key trait behind my success.
Although we know we cannot make everyone happy, a considerable volume of unhappy customers complains most about the products. How does Miniso Bangladesh manage this?
It’s impossible to make 100% of people happy all the time. We have a range of products with which we always want to make people happy. Miniso has impulse buying products which actually help our customers to be happy.
But definitely, it is not always possible. Miniso always tries to give customers the best experience, not just in terms of products but also in the entire experience and ambiance that we create. We always prioritize our customers’ feedback, talk one to one and solve immediately whatever the issues are. We are very serious about our customer’s happiness.
Mr. Abrar, do you have any new branding plans for Miniso Bangladesh?
As a Brand person, I always would like to do something different from the previous work. We are working on new ideas which will be a surprise for all of you. Soon our customers will again find that Miniso is truly a brand that is close to their hearts.
What has been your biggest challenge to date as a Head of Brand? How did you work to overcome this?
As a Brand Head, I always have to be up to date with the trends. And as MINISO is a vibrant brand, we have to be trendy and outstanding in our communications and brand promotions.
To localize this vibrant global brand to connect with the people of Bangladesh is the biggest challenge.
You have to explain to global headquarters things like why we need to change a tagline for a particular campaign. Whatever the challenges we face, we always have to remember if you have a good understanding of what you want, you have a better chance of selling the idea or vision. It might take time, so I always believe that we have to keep trying until we overcome the challenge.
How do you measure professional success? Do you consider yourself successful as a Head of Brand?
To measure success, we all need to set goals, but not all goals are created equal. Taking the time to outline Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals will provide you with the foundation that is needed to measure the effectiveness of any project.
As a Head of Brand, yes I feel I am successful when people take me in a positive way due to my work and results. People know & love MINISO. When people talk about MINISO, that makes me feel like I am successful!
Tell us about how you maintain your work-life balance and what you do in your leisure time.
Workaholic is the best word if I would like to express myself. As I started my career in Advertising Agency, I trained myself like an army, but I never forgot about work-life balance. One thing that really helps is the fact that I love what I do, so I don’t get bored or frustrated with work.
Apart from that, Adda is one of my favorite things, which I usually do in my free time. From these ‘Addas’ I always get motivated and learn new things from my friends who all belong to similar industries. I always feel blessed that I have a friend circle that supports me and is also a source of joy and knowledge.
We noticed that some alumnus (including you) of your alma mater, North South University (NSU), are taking some initiatives to promote professional qualifications amongst the students; tell us something regarding such initiatives.
A lot of work is to be done in this field. Suppose Alumni who are successful and are working in top companies come forward. In that case, we can work towards breaking some misconceptions and also train the young professionals properly so that they are more aware of the opportunities, what goals they need to set, what mindset they will have to have, and how to have a successful lasting professional career. I am always open to such initiatives and would always be glad to participate.
Mr. Abrar, please say something to the readers.
It is very important for us to realize our passion, interests and find out what we love to do. When you discover your passion, you can have a long-term goal; that long-term goal will always inspire you and fuel you to overcome challenges. If a person has a set goal in mind and is persistent, then success is only a matter of time.
Highlights of Achievements, Merits, and Honor
– Got an award from Bangladesh Brand Forum “ Best Retail Award 2021 (Most Admired Retailer New Market Penetration)”
– Got 5 awards from Bangladesh Brand Forum as in “Best Campaign Award 2022 (MINISO THEKE KI NISO)”
– Got 4 Awards from Bangladesh Brand Forum “Digital Marketing Award 2022 (Best Integrated Digital Campaign)”
Hard Skills:
– Analytical skills and attention to detail.
– An understanding of trends and an ability to respond to customers’ wishes.
– Creativity and an ability to produce innovative and original ideas.
– Team working skills.
– The ability to manage and allocate budgets.
– Written and verbal communication skills.
Soft Skills:
Teamwork, Leadership, Retail understanding, Understanding Customers’ Insight, Communication, Positive attitude, Proactive.
Prayer For The Human Civilization:
From Bottom of my heart, I do believe “Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the only way to calm ourselves. Allah thirsts that we may thirst for him.” We all are busy, but please try to get in touch with our own believes. If we want to sustain ourselves in this world, we all have to believe in something which can help us to drive ourselves.
The InCAP: Thank you, Mr. Abrar! It’s a glittering conversation with you!
Abrar Ur Rahim: Such a pleasure! Thanks to the entire team of The InCAP.
