Published on The Daily Star, Fri Jul 5, 2019 12:00 AM
24 year old Mir Rasel from Bagha Upazila, Rajshahi is currently completing his final year at Jahangirnagar University (JU), in Urban and Regional Planning. He did not have access to early education and credits his uncle for playing a major role in shaping his life. Nominated as Rajshahi’s Genius twice, he was always enthusiastic about information and technology alongside institutional education.
In 2013, Mir Rasel established the website rajshahiexpress.com, the first internet media of the division where he had compiled all information related to Rajshahi in one portal. “With increasing access to the internet, people can visit our online newspaper for all headlines revolving around Rajshahi,” expresses Rasel.
As a digital specialist at Alibaba Group, one of the largest e-commerce platforms worldwide, Rasel remotely worked with product operations, branding and the marketing team, and was responsible for social media management, including Facebook content planning. He organised numerous online campaigns for Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam, to attract visitors
“Alibaba helped me foster my marketing skills, as I did in-depth research on target groups and devised ways to integrate local and international cultures,” explains Rasel. He is also the Brand Ambassador for UC Browser, and has built users’ communities in various universities as a community leader. He also helped UC Browser launch their first TVC in Bangladesh, which is recognized as one of the most successful campaigns in the country.
Furthermore, the young digital marketing expert played a major role in the execution of Jobike, the country’s first bicycle sharing startup at the JU campus. While working as the campus lead, he monitored the operations and sales for the company. Rasel has also written a number of technical blogs on a variety of subjects which were self-taught with help from the internet. His other ventures include Dokandars, an e-commerce platform which aims to provide quality products at lowered prices and BD Places, a travel vlog based website.
In order to pursue his dreams, Rasel wishes to go to China with a scholarship for further studies in the field of digital business. After that, he intends to come back to Bangladesh and work in the agricultural development sector.
Read another article from Prothom Alo, published in 2023.