ComBank shines at Brand Excellence 2014 Awards
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon won the coveted ‘Service Brand of the Year’ and three other accolades at the 2014 SLIM Brand Excellence Awards to become the bank that won the most awards at this prestigious event conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.
Sri Lanka’s largest private bank took the Golds in the ‘Service Brand’ category and in the ‘Best New Entrant’ category for its ‘Anagi’ Savings Account for Women, as well as the Silver in the ‘Best Local Brand’ and the Bronze in the ‘CSR Brand of the Year’ categories in a dominant showing at this annual gala.
“There can be no better acknowledgement of the emphasis we place on service excellence than to be adjudged the best overall in the Services sector in Sri Lanka,” Commercial Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam said.
“This award reaffirms that we are committed to continuously update and improve our processes and product offering to give the best to our stakeholders. All the hard work put in at many levels to build our corporate image, as well as our holistic approach to marketing have clearly paid off. These awards for Brand Excellence are a tribute to the passion of the entire Commercial Bank team.”The ‘Service Brand of the Year’ is one of the six main categories (Product Brand of the Year, Service Brand of the Year, Innovative Brand of the Year, Turnaround Brand of the Year, Local Brand of the Year and Export Brand of the Year) awarded annually by SLIM. The scores achieved in these categories are evaluated by the judges to decide on the Brand of the Year award.
In the Special Awards categories, Commercial Bank’s Gold for ‘New Entrant of the Year’ recognises the success of the ‘Anagi’ Savings Account developed exclusively for women and launched in late 2012.
The new account offers an interest rate over the normal savings rate, one of the best rates in the savings account category for women, Gold Loans at a concessionary rate and a Commercial Bank Shopping Debit Card.
It was launched by Commercial Bank in recognition of the fact that women are shouldering an increasing number of responsibilities while heading more and more Sri Lankan households, resulting in the economically active female population undergoing rapid growth.
The Silver in the highly competitive ‘Local Brand of the Year’ category acknowledges the strength of the Commercial Bank as a wholly home-grown corporate brand not only in the Banking sector but across all sectors of business in both the ‘Products’ and ‘Services’ segments. “This award speaks to the extent to which Commercial Bank has won the hearts and minds of Sri Lankan consumers, competing against local brands across the entire spectrum of commercial activity,” the Bank’s Deputy General Manager – Marketing Hasrath Munasinghe said.
In the sphere of Corporate Social Responsibility, the Bronze awarded to Commercial Bank recognises the impact of the multi-faceted community initiatives undertaken by the Bank on its brand value.
Held for the 13th successive year, SLIM Brand Excellence Awards honour the brand building efforts of organisations. It is a keenly contested event and this year the entries reached an all time high of over 100 applications from more than 40 industries. Many leading brands vied for the 12 awards on offer at the awards ceremony held at the BMICH.