Sunday Nov 17, 2024
Sunday Nov 17, 2024
Wednesday, 31 July 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The briefing session saw an impressive participation of over 200 marketing professionals who were taken through a presentation on both the judging process and the criteria for entry by Advisor to the Organising Committee and the Judging Panel, Postgraduate Institute of Management Director Professor Uditha Liyanage.
Targeting an unprecedented 150 plus entries this year, the competition is now open for entries and will officially close on 30 August, followed by two rounds of judging, before the grand finale on 15 October at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The line-up of awards this year will include the main awards: ‘Product Brand of the Year’ which will look at entries from tangible product brands such as FMCGs, consumer durables, commercial and industrial products etc. and ‘Service Brand of the Year’ which will award intangible service brands such as banking, insurance, telecom and a host of other services.
The special award category will see 10 awards given away for ‘Innovative Brand of the Year’, ‘Turnaround Brand of the Year’, ‘Local Brand of the Year’, ‘Best New Entrant of the Year’, ‘Export Brand’ of the Year’, ‘International Brand of the Year’, ‘B2B Brand of the Year’, ‘Regional Brand Recognition Award’, ‘CSR Brand of the Year’ and ‘SME Brand of the Year’.
Both local and international brands are eligible for contention and the eligibility criteria and entry process have been optimised this year and will enable the judging panel to take a closer look at the “excellence of the basics” of each brand’s marketing strategy, as stated by SLIM Brand Excellence Head of Panel of Judges, Graham Marshal.
“Organisations like multinationals, which have the resources and know-how, have robust processes to monitor and report their KPIs regularly. By participating in this competition, even organisations with limited resources will benefit as we will guide them on how to get about the challenges of tracking and measuring their marketing success. I am glad to have teamed with a very dynamic and profound panel of judges at this year’s Brand Excellence, who will pay close attention to what defines the health of your brands.”
SLIM President Gamika De Silva in his address said: “Every category has been keenly
contested and I have seen the level of enthusiasm growing year-on-year. We have observed even small and medium organisations taking part in the awards which has been instrumental in the increase of entries.
“There are many success stories behind successful brands and more often than not, the custodians of the brands do not get the opportunity to showcase their success stories. I invite the brand management fraternity in Sri Lanka to take SLIM Brand Excellence as the opportunity to do so and walk off with pride and honour.” The panel of judges, headed by Akzo Nobel GM Automotive Paints Graham Marshal, includes Hayleys Consumer Products Director/CEO Bimal Silva, Uniwalkers CEO Nasser Majeed, Response Marketing CEO Alyna Haji Omar, Vanguard Media Holdings Chairman Lakshaman Bandaranayake, Nielsen Sri Lanka MD Shaheen Cader, Power House Group Director Marketing Thushara Perera, ICMA Sri Lanka Branch CEO Kapila Dodamgoda, Richlife Dairies COO Dinesh Nalliah, Orange Electric MD Kushan Kodituwakku, PCL Solutions Director Thushantha Karunanayake, Body Line Marketing Director Sahan Rajapaksha, Ceylinco Life Deputy GM Marketing Samitha Hemachandra, RCB CEO Ravi Bamunusinghe and Sri Lanka Telecom Chief Marketing Officer P. Roshan Kaluarachchi.
Prospective entrants can visit the official website www.slimBE.lk or call Lahiru on 0727735063 or Sachini on 0727463171 for further information.
Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe
