Rebranding the biggest online market in Bangladesh

Why did you go after this particular new name?
When you go to buy and sell in a classified ads site, location is the most important thing. Nearness is a must for any business transaction. When you enter our site you see a map of Bangladesh. From there, you select your location and then go in to the product listings. It basically asks you where you live so that you can find the best deal nearest to you. Hence the name: EKHANEI. Meaning not just 'Here' but also 'Right Here'
How did you come up with the tag line and the new logo?
To be honest, we want to take this brand to all the corners of Bangladesh and offer people the freedom of choice like never before. We provide them access to items and goods that they were previously out of their reach – that too at a reasonable price. Thus the tagline: “Becha kena hordom, Ekhanei.com”.  We wanted to symbolize that freedom with the logo as well. The Ghuri (kite) is in a way the ultimate symbol of freedom in Bangladesh. Openness, passion and joy – all these qualities are reflected in our logo.
So far what response are you getting from the users of the former site?
So far the response has been great. All our users have accepted the revamp gladly. Our TVC is also doing great on social media, blogs and other online platforms. The word on the street is that not seeing our TVC is a 'CHOROM MISS!' We used a different way of telling our story and it was an instant hit.
Functionality-wise, how different is Ekhanei.com than Cellbazaar?
Feature-wise there is no particular change here. But when we were making the change from Cellbazaar to Ekhanei, we altered the entire platform in January. Almost every week we are making small releases and new features. However, these changes are not noticed that easily.
Do you intend to add more locations in the platform?
As the site grows, so does our content and user base. In order to cater to more users conveniently we intend to add more locations. So far we have added the locations according to thanas.
When does Ekhanei.com plan to charge for the ads?
I believe that classified ads in its basic form will always be free in all the platforms. It does not make any sense to charge money from regular people to put up ads on the site. But as the content on the site and the customer base grows, advertisers who want more visibility are going to spend on ads; this goes for both commercial and regular users.  But we are long term investors, our revenue plans are in the future, not the present.
What are the most visited categories on Ekhanei.com?
Since the majority of internet users in Bangladesh right now are male, our visitors are mainly interested in phones, cars, motorcycles, electronic gadgets, etc. But we are also seeing a rising number of users in the household sections as well.
Many are being confused with the new name because it bears some resemblance with that of another site. What is your comment on that?
Bangla is one of the most richest and colorful languages on the world. Here, simply adding a vowel to a word can it give such a beautiful meaning. Even to me as a foreigner, the word ekhanei sounds really intriguing as well as meaningful, especially in context to the work we are doing here. Where you can buy and sell things? EKHANEI!