Alliance Finance honoured at CMO Asia Awards 2016
Alliance Finance Co. PLC (AFC) was honoured with the award of excellence for ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year 2016’ for its ‘AFC Bike show - The world of Biking under one roof’ at CMO Asia Awards 2016’ for excellence in branding and marketing held recently in the United Arab Emirates.
The award ceremony heralded various marketing efforts and was hosted by the World Brand Congress.
Asia Awards for Branding and Marketing Excellence are adjudged by the Global Research Cell of the CMO Council, which identifies brands that perform within their respective markets based on market dominance, brand longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty and market acceptance. Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is the only global network of executives specifically dedicated for high-level knowledge exchange, through leadership and personal relationships built amongst the senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. CMO Council Regional chapters and advisory boards are active in America, Europe, Asia-pacific, the Middle East, India and Africa.
Commenting on the awards, AFC Consultant and Director Marketing Dr. Ajith Medis said, “We are honoured and delighted to receive international recognition for our success in building widespread brand awareness amongst motorcycle enthusiasts across the country.”
The event facilitated motorbike dealers and associates to exhibit and display their array of products and services under one roof, as per international standards, resulting in greater effectiveness in reaching the target market than normal mass media promotion, in a lower marketing spend.
Commenting on the company’s achievement AFC Head of Marketing Dillon Thajudeen said, “‘AFC Bike show - The world of Biking under one roof’ is a market first. Our BTL marketing strategies had always been committed to creating superior brand building and enhancement initiatives aimed at reinforcing on the importance of financing in the mind of the consumer, whilst achieving a ‘cut through’ in the supersaturated advertising environment to establish one- to-one relationships with consumers.”
Luxury Brands secured both Gold and Silver awards under the Alcohol and Tobacco category at this year’s National Sales Congress, organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM).
This premier event is dedicated in recognising the efforts and performance of sales professionals.
In recognition of the tireless efforts and performance in trade marketing execution, the Gold in the category was awarded to Territory Manager Thilanka Samaradiwakara, whilst Territory Manager Francis Perera was awarded with the Silver. Samaradiwakara was also accoladed with the prestigious Coveted Silver in the overall Territory Manager of the Year category. Sharing his views on the achievement, Luxury Brands General Manager Madhushanka Ranatunga stated, “Operating in a complete dark market, for us, the significance of effective trade marketing practices cannot be overestimated. At Luxury Brands, our guiding milepost has always been getting the basics right – availability, visibility, assortment and merchandising. I believe having these ethos instilled within our sales team would have contributed in one way or other to the success of both Thilanka and Francis.”
Commenting on the significance of their achievement, Samaradiwakara and Perera of Luxury Brands said, “The two of us consider ourselves fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to work for Luxury Brands. With the backing of the corporate giant Lion Brewery as our parent company, the learning and development that we gather on a daily basis, is beyond our expectations.
The initiatives we executed, that won us these awards, were truly a cohesive effort by our team. From the inception we had specific pre-prescribed milestones to achieve in all areas, with very clear, precise data and tools in order for us to compete out there in the market. We have always strived to ensure that all our executions are ‘best in class’ and that they will continue to ‘elevate social moments’ of all our stakeholders.
Having started its operations in 2012, Luxury Brands, a fully-owned subsidiary of Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC (LBCL), has already been recognised as a key industry player in the imported alcohol-beverage segment. It is the sole importer, distributor and marketer in Sri Lanka for Diageo – world’s largest alcoholic beverages producer, Moet Hennessy – French multinational luxury goods conglomerate and AB Inbev Sabmiller, the world’s largest brewer.