Local bank, People's Bank, outperformed all expectations when it became Sri Lanka's ultimate brand for 2009 as indicated by results of the recent Brand Excellence awards, organized by the country's top marketing body, the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. Winning the highest achievement of the night, "Brand of the Year", was also doubly significant for People's Bank as this was the first time, out of all eight incarnations of these awards, that the bank had even been recognized in any form.
Meanwhile, People's Bank further distinguished itself by winning the only gold in the "Service Brand of the Year" category, while Ceylon Biscuits' Munchee and Diva detergent powder, by Hemas, each won Gold in the "Product Brand of the Year" category. Shared success for both Munchee and Diva, but particularly weighted in favor of Diva which came in second to Munchee the year before.
However, maybe most remarkable of all was the totality of the honors received by Munchee over the course of the ceremony. All in all, Munchee won five awards during the evening; two Gold awards in the 'Product' and "Local Brand of the Year" categories, two Silver awards in the "Best CSR Brand of the Year" and "Best Export Brand of the Year" categories; and one Bronze award in the "Best New Entrant of the Year" category. A situation made even more significant considering that this year's success proved to be just a postscript from last year when Munchee received "Brand of the Year" as well as three Gold awards, one Silver award and one Bronze award.
Other brands winning Gold this year included Panadol (for "Best International Brand of the Year"), Orange Electric (for "Best CSR Brand of the Year"), Dialog Telekom and Mobitel (both for "Best Innovative Brand of the Year") and Mobitel's Upahara (for "Bst New Entrant of the Year") while Brightex received a Certificate of Merit in the "Small Business Brand of the Year" category. |
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