Superbrands International awarded last September 27, 2005 the prestigious Superbrands Award to twenty of the country's best and strongest brands in a Certificate Presentation Ceremony held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. True to its tradition, the first batch of recipients of the 2005/2006 Superbrands Award status are diverse; infiltrating every level of our daily lives - from snack food to health products, from educational institutions to amusement centers, from beauty salons to department stores, among others. The awardees are ABS Bitter Herbs, Accel, Belo Medical Group, BluSkies, Bosch, Carter, Charantia, C-Lium Fibre, Columbia's, David's Salon, DHL, Ligo Sardines, Likas Papaya, Manila Bulletin, Mocha Blends, Nagaraya, Novellino Wines, R.A. Gapuz Review Center, Shoe Mart (SM), and Timezone.
Present during the ceremony was Garments and Textile Export Board (GTEB) Executive Director Seraphin Juliano who gave the welcoming address on behalf of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Peter B. Favila who wasn't able to attend (GTEB is the garment export arm of the DTI). Also present were 4 of the 6 members of this year's Superbrands Council including Mike O'Connor, Chairman - MS2, George Balagtas, Chairman - Scope, Anthonio Cumagun, Jr., President - PAC, and Harry Tambuatco, CEO - Blazin LA 105.9 & RJTV talk show host.
Superbrands International awards deserving brands that have achieved formidable success in their brand building efforts. Established in London in 1992 and now spanning 48 countries, with 11 offices in Asia, Superbrands has featured more than 5000 brands worldwide since its inception.
Being a worldwide independent arbiter of branding, the organization pays tribute to each country's strongest brands by telling their story in a captivating, refreshing, and attractive coffee table book. Venturing into Asia about 9 years ago, Superbrands initiated its first Asian project in the Philippines. The foray into the Asian market turned out to be a phenomenal success. From the modest inaugural edition of the first Philippines Superbrands Book in 1999, the project has received a tremendous response in Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand, Indonesia, China, India, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. The growing brand consciousness and the emerging affluent societies, in Asia coupled with the intense competitiveness of brands in the market and globalization trends only fuelled the success of the Superbrands Book in this region.
Superbrands in the Philippines has been promoting and publishing the success of many local homegrown and international brands since venturing into our country in 1996. The first edition of the coffee table book published in 1991 featured 42 brands; the second edition (2001) featured 50 brands; and the 2004 book showcased 56 brands. Synovate, a leading global research company, undertakes a nationwide consumer study as an important part in selecting the potential "superbrands" in this vast archipelago. Synovate samples a total of 500 respondents covering both genders in the age group of 15-64. The survey questions are focused on the consumer's most preferred brands in the pre-determined product or service categories. The exercise helps determine the Superbrands of the Philippines. This alliance of Superbrands-Synovate is an additional value-added undertaking by Superbrands Asia to recognize and reward brands that are achieving exceptional consumer recognition and their success.
Nominated brands are also submitted to the Superbrands Philippines Council. This panel of luminaries from the media and branding industry qualitatively assesses each brand according to set strict criteria that includes market dominance, customer loyalty, longevity, goodwill, and overall market acceptance.
The success of the past three Superbrands project in the Philippines (1999, 2001 and 2004) and the increasing awareness and importance of branding has initiated the next upcoming Superbrands Philippines Edition Volume 4 scheduled for mid-2006. All the brands listed in all the past editions has sen freat returns in terms of profit, a bigger customer share base as well as wider awareness of their brand since acquiring the prestigious Superbrands awards and its "Seal of Approval." Not only has this international award given their brand a great boost in their corporate identity but also reassured each brand's loyal customers of the brand's commitment to maintaining quality and excellence of their product or service.
Volume 4 will be another testimony to the Asian region and to the world of the Filipino's standard of excellence and qulaity in its products and services. Many Filipino brands have catapulted to the international platform and the Superbrands Book is designed to bring many more Filipino brands to acquire worldwide recognition.
Karl Mclean, Chairman of the Superbrands Marketing International (SMI), Inc. also announced the market research initiative for all brands called the Brand Barometer. This detailed market report will give each demographics of a particular market. It will provide clients with unique insights into the strength of their brands relative to their competitors as well as a deeper understanding of the market dynamics of their brands demographic profile, enabling them to enhance their strategic business planning.
"Business need to eliminate the guesswork in market and resource prioritization," said Karl. "And the Brand Barometer will help you do that. It will make you understand your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, track your brand performance over time, and help you fine tune your brand's consumer targeting and media planning," he added.
These research initiatives have transformed the Superbrands organization from a global brand recognition entity to also play a role as a brand monitoring custodian.
Another project in the works is the Superbrands "Info-mercial" Television Show, a one-hour show to be aired on RJTV. The show aims to feature on brand/company per segment highlighting the brand/company's history and success story and will be produced right at the company's business address including an interview with the owner, CEO, and key personnel.
"What we want is not only to be the #1 branding institution her in the Philippines. We want to do all kinds of things as well," said Karl. "We will do the Brand Barometer, the TV show, consulting, even events management. We are going to do lots of new and exciting things with the Superbrands label," he concluded.
To the twenty awardees of the first Superbrands Certificate Presentation for 2005/2006, we salute your achievement. Congratulations!
