We all know the story of Aladdin. The guy who was just a lovable street urchin who ended up becoming a prince and got married to princess Jasmine. Truly a fairy tale. What if I tell you that such a fairy tale exists in real life as well? In this story, the Aladdin is “Imamul Islam Suprio” who’s currently the Chief Marketing Officer of Go Zayaan.
Unlike Aladdin, Suprio didn’t have any Genie who can fulfill his wishes. When I first met him in January 2013, Analyzen was still struggling to educate the market about ‘Digital marketing’. We had a shared office and invited a bunch of students to join us urgently as part-timers. The plan was to shortlist 4 people and have them join immediately. The irony is, only 4 people showed up and Suprio was one of them. His hair was long and messy; buttons open, eyes clearly very hazy - pretty much everything that you don’t want in a candidate.
I asked him “What can you do?” His reply was blunt saying only 1 word “Nothing”. It caught me off-guard and I asked him “What will you do?”. He replied in a similar tone “Anything you want me to”. The interview lasted only for 5 minutes and I realized he actually can’t do anything. His English was weak; he couldn’t write 1 sentence without a spelling/syntax error. He used to write ‘Vai’ instead of ‘Bhai’. But at least he was honest and somewhat hungry for work.
Within a short time, he learned photoshop and became a visualizer. Even sooner than that, he became a content manager. Started working on major brands like Samsung, Closeup, etc. as a client servicing manager. Learnt PowerPoint by himself, excelled in Excel and started working on videos. In fact, the majority of Analyzen’s video was planned and executed by Suprio and his team.
Since we didn’t have any options, we had to hire him and that’s how Suprio’s work-journey started as a ‘Community Manager’ (read: query manager). While studying EEE in AUST, he couldn’t come to the office every day; but he worked from home day in and day out. He was not a people’s person. Other team members were slightly hostile towards him. I remember clearly that almost everyone wanted him gone. I called him in and gave him a warning. That was probably the last time, I had to warn him. He never looked back.
Within a short time, he learned photoshop and became a visualizer. Even sooner than that, he became a content manager. Started working on major brands like Samsung, Closeup, etc. as a client servicing manager. Learnt PowerPoint by himself, excelled in Excel and started working on videos. In fact, the majority of Analyzen’s video was planned and executed by Suprio and his team. He was never told to step up, but he never stopped shining. When he presented a plan, he made sure the whole spotlight is on him. We were not stupid enough not to assign him as a planner.
We were not strong about media buying; so, he was asked to learn. He didn’t only learn; he became an expert on Facebook, Google or other Ad Platforms. He led accounts like Grameenphone & bKash and created hundreds of successful case studies. He was by far the most valuable asset Analyzen ever had.
Unlike Aladdin, Suprio didn’t have any Genie who can fulfill his wishes. When I first met him in January 2013, Analyzen was still struggling to educate the market about ‘Digital marketing’. We had a shared office and invited a bunch of students to join us urgently as part-timers. The plan was to shortlist 4 people and have them join immediately. The irony is, only 4 people showed up and Suprio was one of them. His hair was long and messy; buttons open, eyes clearly very hazy - pretty much everything that you don’t want in a candidate. I asked him “What can you do?” His reply was blunt saying only 1 word “Nothing”. It caught me off-guard and I asked him “What will you do?”. He replied in a similar tone “Anything you want me to”.
Then comes the next chapter in his life. Suprio is someone who never backed down from a challenge. You see a problem, you call him 3 AM in the morning. He will figure out a solution before 4 AM. So, I asked him to take a much bigger challenge. It was relatively easy to work with other brands than creating a brand. So, I requested him to join Go Zayaan as the Chief Marketing Officer. To be honest, after closely seeing him for 5 years; I couldn’t picture anyone for the role but him.
He joined and things started moving fast. He used to manage the digital plan for brands, now he started managing the whole business. Previously he had to spend a lot of money on marketing; now he spends only as much and when necessary. He made sure that every dollar he spent; he achieved 20X sales. When a guy like Suprio is building your brand; you can rest assured that Go Zayaan will go a long way.
In 6 years; Suprio became CMO from a query manager. He’s a proud husband and a proud father of a beautiful daughter Zephira Nirvana. Yes, he didn’t wait for a genie to show up and change his life. Rather he worked hard every single day and turned his life into a fairy tale story. He's not only an inspiration to his team members but also an outstanding example of how you can become what you want to be despite studying in a different field- all you need is the right place to start your career and the thirst to learn.
Then comes the next chapter in his life. Suprio is someone who never backed down from a challenge. You see a problem, you call him 3 AM in the morning. He will figure out a solution before 4 AM. So, I asked him to take a much bigger challenge. It was relatively easy to work with other brands than creating a brand. So, I requested him to join Go Zayaan as the Chief Marketing Officer. To be honest, after closely seeing him for 5 years; I couldn’t picture anyone for the role but him. He joined and things started moving fast. He used to manage the digital plan for brands, now he started managing the whole business.
