Awards mark the brands of people’s choice

THE Daily News yesterday held its annual Daily News Your Choice Awards at the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. The winners were chosen by Daily News readers who voted for their favourite brand in the different retail categories. Pictured are some of the winners, from left, Ayesha Sewbaran, Michelle Shelly, Carrick Janse van Rensburg, Sean Komlosy, Shaun Boodhram and Samantha Naicker. |

MALL’S Tiles made it a hat-trick of wins in the Daily News Your Choice Awards, scooping the Best Tile Store award for the third year running.

Mall’s general manager, Shaun Boodhram, said the occasion was made sweeter by the store also taking the Best in Flooring award.

He said, as a brand, their aim was to stay focused and keep it simple.

Also returning to the podium were TOPS at SPAR, who won Best Liquor Store.

“We’re absolutely ecstatic with the fact that we’ve won again,” said TOPS at SPAR purchasing manager Sean Komlosy.

“It’s not the first time and certainly not the last, but we are phenomenally proud of TOPS as a brand.”

He said they had great plans for TOPS, a brand which was the recipient of a number of awards.

One Stop Travel & Tours PRO and customer care manager, Shiksha Maharajh, was ecstatic at winning the Best Travel Agency award for the second successive year.

“It is overwhelming to know that we’ve won it again,” Maharajh said.

This was the 15th edition of the Your Choice Awards, which saw 88 awards being handed out over a range of business categories.

Congratulating the winners, Daily News acting editor Zoubair Ayoob said the Your Choice Awards were a powerful element in building and maintaining a business’s brand, and could be used in conjunction with regular advertising.

“It is great to be recognised and honoured by one’s peers, but an even bigger feather in your cap to be recognised by your customers, for they are the true barometers of your performance, and it is they who will determine your success as a business,” he told the winners.

Ayoob said while it was tempting to cut back on advertising as part of cost-cutting in a depressed economy, research indicated that companies which cut back on advertising during an economic downturn became less visible to the public.

“Conversely, the evidence shows that companies which continue advertising during an economic downturn expand their market share and maintain their solid image,” Ayoob said.

“Neglecting marketing efforts during these periods results in weakening the brand, making it less profitable in the long run.”