Velvet crowned ‘Brand of the Year’ at SLIM Excellence Awards 2014

Friday, 14 November 2014 01:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Velvet, Sri Lanka’s No.1 beauty soap brand clinched three Gold awards including the highest accolade of the night; Brand of the Year 2014, at the recently concluded Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) Brand Excellence Awards 2014. Velvet triumphed winning Gold awards for both the Local Brand of the Year and Product Brand of the Year categories. Velvet is Sri Lanka’s No.1 beauty soap brand having risen to the top of a very fiercely competitive beauty soap segment despite being a comparative young nine years old beating long established local and multinational brands. “We are delighted to be recognised for our hard work and passion in marketing a truly local product and are honored to be acknowledged by an esteemed panel of judges,” said Hemas Senior Brand Manager Anushka Sabanayagam. “Receiving these coveted awards is a result of Velvet’s close connection with local consumers, who are at the heart of everything we do. We hope to use the momentum of winning this award and continue building stronger relationships,” she added. As a 100% locally manufactured soap bar, the Velvet range offers consumers – winning fragrances and is enriched with natural, ‘do good’ skin care ingredients and moisturising vitamin complex to deliver soft, fragrant, healthy skin. The Velvet product range is available in variants catering to individual preferences. Velvet’s range includes; Rose & Pomegranate for youthful skin, Milk & Almond for nourished skin, Sandalwood & Venivel for radiant skin, Kohomba & Aloe for clear skin and Purple Lotus & Lavender for glowing skin. “Through the brand’s strong marketing innovation, strategic planning and creative development we have been able to overtake competition. While multinational brands have big advantages in terms of their brand heritage and marketing investment, our continuous innovation in terms of product development, marketing communications and true consumer understanding has helped to create brand empathy with our target consumers as seen in the exponential growth in consumer confidence and market share,” said Anushka. While the 2007 SLIM Awards was a milestone in the history of Hemas when iconic brand Baby Cheramy clinched awards for the Local Brand, Product Brand and highest honour of Brand of the Year for the very first time, with this win, Velvet, another brand belonging to Hemas Manufacturing’s impressive portfolio, has become the second brand to achieve this prestigious accolade. Held for the 13th consecutive year, the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards continues to recognise the best performing local brands including rewarding the brand custodians. SLIM in its role is distinguished as Sri Lanka’s premier institute promoting marketing excellence and uplifting the profiles of marketing professionals in the country. These awards have also become the industry benchmark to recognise and celebrate brands that have reached their ultimate potential.