The first online free classified ads website in Bangladesh, Cellbazaar.com, has officially re-identified itself as “Ekhanei.com”. This announcement was made at a press conference in Dhaka on June 04, 2014 by Arild Klokkerhaug, director of Ekhanei.com.

Cellbazaar.com started eight years ago in 2006, and is now known as Ekhanei.com, it continues with the most experienced team and trusted service for classified ads. Arild Klokkerhaug stated: “We just crossed the impressive number of 10 lac likes on our facebook page. As Internet spreads to the most remote corners of Bangladesh, we decided to change our name to a truly local, Bangla name which is more relevant. It is completely free to post an ad on Ekhanei.com, and we want to tell people that wherever you are in Bangladesh, we are right here – Ekhanei!”

Telenor and Schibsted Media Group from Norway formed a joint venture – SnT Classifieds (SnT C), each company effectively owning 50% equity in cell bazaar which is now rebranded as Ekhanei.com. As part of the deal, Schibsted Media Group invested Tk 250 million as equity partner.

Ekhanei allows anyone in Bangladesh to buy and sell through online classifieds and it’s main competition are bikroy.com and olx.com.bd.

  

The new kite logo is one of the several improvements to the outlook of this online platform. The first change customers will see is a cleaner looking homepage that encourages them to select their home location. This is done because buying and selling goods between consumers is very dependent on nearness. The new homepage also includes the seven most popular categories of the site, allowing customers to more conveniently access the most wanted types of items.

While earlier, mainly cars, properties and electronics were bought and sold through this online classified website, mainly by men. However, the recent trends show that more women also use the site to buy and sell furniture, home appliances, sport gears and lifestyle products.

All features and services on Ekhanei.com are now available in both Bangla and English over web and mobile, with an easy tab option to switch between the two languages. Users can avail the services of this online classified website throughout the country. Every ad and every user profile is just how it was on Cellbazaar.com, so the change will only positively affect all users.

To ensure that fraud and trade of stolen goods does not happen on our site, Ekhanei.com uses advanced software to auto-detect potential fraud. More importantly, it has the most experienced team of specially trained moderators, who check every submitted ad very carefully against many criteria and reject every ad that seems suspicious.

Re-branding is more than just changing a company name or logo. It means you are adopting a new way of doing business. Re-branding is a very risky process. Not only does it burn time, effort and money but also poses possibilities of backfiring. What if your customers don’t take it well?

There are numerous reasons why companies re-brand. Re-branding happens in virtually every firm each decade, whether subtly or in plain sight. Some of the major Telecom companies in our country has re-branded, for exam, Sheba to Banglalink, Aktel to Robi, and Warid to Airtel. Their re-branding has shown that the model works in Bangladesh.

Here are some of reasons why Cellbazaar.com needs to re-brand to a new name, Ekhanei.com:

Changing Markets: Oftentimes Re-branding is necessary when a business expands into newer markets. Ekhanei.com is the most recent example. Formerly known as cellbazaar.com, with their services having been expanded with increased internet penetration and a greater number of users.

To update an outdated image: With time, societies change, cultures change, people’s perceptions change. And a company needs its image to keep in pace with the change. Re-branding may also be carried out to modify the image to fit a market. The same was done recently by Cellbazaar.com when they re-branded as Ekhanei.com, to create a more ‘local’ image for the company.

Change in Strategy: In today’s competitive environment, re-branding can be an important tool in helping a firm to stay ahead of the curve. When Cellbazaar.com re-launch again in the market, it didn’t get enough response from the market because the competitors like Bikroy.com and Olx.com.bd already established good image with more competitive advantages than Cellbazaar.com. So that’s why Cellbazaar.com re-brands to Ekhanei.com and established a brand new image in the market.

Change of Ownership: It is common for business to tweak their branding as their ownership changes hands. Telenor and Schibsted Media Group from Norway formed a joint venture – SnT Classifieds (SnT C), each company effectively owning 50% equity in Cellbazaar.com which is now re-branded as Ekhanei.com. As part of the deal, Schibsted Media Group invested Tk 250 million as equity partner.

Re-branding actually brings more energy and a fresh look to your business. It all gives a very distinguished look from the older one. If the changes of time and tradition require your name to be changed, re-branding is a good thing to go for. Your customers feel this thing that their cherished brand is not static and indifferent of the needs of the time. Rather your marketing and advertising strategy is strengthened in the initial phase of re-branding. Ekhanei.com is a very meaningful service that allows anyone in Bangladesh to post classified ads for things they want to sell in a very simple manner without registration and complicated procedures, and absolutely free. A special offer from Ekhanei.com not even Internet charges will apply for Grameenphone mobile Internet users. “Grameenphone internet users can browse ekhanei.com without paying any data fees. It is 100 per cent free, one can spend all day on our website without being charged for Internet usage,” the head of Ekhanei.com said.

With their unique Brand Mantra- “EKHANEI, meaning not just Here but also Right Here”, Ekhanei.com is growing too fast in Bangladeshi classified market compare to its competitors like Bikroy.com or Olx.com.bd. Their launching campaign and TVC was a big hit. The company already crossed the impressive number of one million Likes on our Facebook page just night before the launching, earlier in this month. The new kite logo is one of the several improvements to the outlook of the website, symbolizing freedom and aspirations to rise up and above, and core values in Bangladesh. Both the Cellbazaar.com and Ekhanei.com domains lead to a sleek new homepage that first of all asks users to select their home location. “The kite and new name symbolizes nearness to your neighborhood, which is the most important factor for success when buying and selling,” the company head said. But still Bangladeshi classified market is little bit different than the others. Still this industry is urban areas oriented and mainly focused on solvent class people. But there are so many low solvent classes using internet in their smart phones due to the massive use of Chinese smart phones. So if Ekhanei.com wants to be the market leader of this industry, they should come up with more ideas and strategies and focus on that low solvent class people for capturing the maximum market share.  

References:

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3. Cellbazaar rebranded as Ekhanei. (2014, June 3). Retrieved October 17, 2014, from http://bdnews24.com/business/2014/06/03/cellbazaar-rebranded-as-ekhanei

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6. Manash, A. (2014, June 28). Ekhanei.com reaches deep into the country. Retrieved October 17, 2014, from http://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=220720:ekhaneicom-reaches-deep-into-the-country&catid=110:business-others&Itemid=156

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