The FINANCIAL — On March 9 the Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel hosted the 5th Golden Brand Annual Award Ceremony held by Global Idea, the marketing research company and The FINANCIAL.
During the ceremony 34 Golden Brands were revealed and one Platinum Brand. During the ceremony Mamuka Akhvlediani, Tbilisi Vice-Mayor announced the new initiative of Tbilisi Rebranding planned for 2010.
The awards ceremony was held with the support of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and American Chamber of Commerce. The radio partners of the ceremony were Fortuna and Fortuna Plus. CEOs and top management of leading Georgian companies attended the evening at the Radisson. The ceremony was accompanied by Nato Metonidze and Jazz band.
Except for the traditional nominees this year eight new nominations were added for Golden Brand, nominations in Linen and Accessories, Mayonnaise, Confectionary, Egg production, Debut of the year, Energetic drinks, Oil production and Tin production.
“Me momtsons oqros brendi,” David Lee, President of the American Chamber of Commerce addressed distinguished guests of the ceremony in Georgian.
“I have always been a big fan of this ceremony, this is an important day on the calendar and right now particularly with the economical situation branding is very important both for Georgian and international companies,” says David Lee.
“The awarding ceremony is a good tradition for companies as well as for consumers. It is good that such a type of tradition is already well established. Regardless of which companies win, it means that business in Georgia is developing and we are seeing results in the face of the Golden Brand awards,” says Jemal Inaishvili, President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Tbilisi has become a centre of business development, and this type of ceremony is of vital importance. We are happy that the organizers have supported the initiative of Tbilisi City Hall – Rebranding of Tbilisi and have rewarded this project,” says Mamuka Akhvlediani, Vice Mayor of Tbilisi.
“During the ceremony Jemal Inaishvili, President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry named the Golden Brand Award a brand itself, and I completely agree with this.
This is the fifth time the ceremony has been held and interest in this award is rising from year to year. Despite the economic crisis many companies have participated in the project and this is important, as it is an indicator that the economic crisis is being overcome.
I hope that the stimulus that is called Golden Brand will motivate companies for their brand’s popularization,” says Natia Jincharadze, General Director of Global Idea.
“Traditionally I am a participant of the Golden Brand Award ceremony, and I am fairly certain that all the candidates who will be rewarded will be worthy. This award ceremony stimulates and encourages Georgian companies as it has become quite prestigious to be nominated in this ceremony,” says Zurab Gvasalia, President of the Association of Banks of Georgia.
“Golden brand having a 5 year tradition is itself a selected brand. For us it is a great honour to be the 4th awarded. This is thanks to our clients who praise our product and moreover, this is a great responsibility for us towards our clients. We will always be happy to bring in innovations for our customers,” says Mako Jaoshvili, Head of the PR Department at JSC Nikora.
“Such types of ceremonies are important for Georgian business development. Eco Food is for the 4th time winner in the production of milk products, also a first time nominee for mayonnaise, which we were happy to receive. We think that Georgian consumers should be more open to Georgian produced products. Moreover, it is important to sustain the high quality of the products,” says Shalva Alavidze.
“Being awarded this prize increases our responsibility towards those people who have trusted us, who chose us and made us a priority. We are recipients of Golden and Platinum Brands and would like to thank everyone for their participation and support,” says Irma Tskitishvili, Head of the PR Department at Geocell.
“We are happy to be winners of this award as one of the leading industries in the country. Since we are number one exporter in the country, have about 10% of total exports, are the largest employer with 2,000 employees in our factories and offices, we are glad to be nominated and acknowledged for this.
For 2010 the challenges will be to move forward with new technologies and invest in them,” says Tamuna Liluashvili, Deputy Director of Madneuli.
“It is a great honour for us to be nominated for this award, I am happy that this reflects consumers’ attitude and perception of our brand. We are proud to have many loyal customers.
For 2010 we are planning to introduce new brands in the production of beer. Moreover, we have introduced a 0 calorie lemonade,” says Tornike Nikolaishvili, Marketing Manager of Natakhtari.
The FINANCIAL interviewed the Directors of AMCHAM, GCCI and AGB about the year 2009’s performance and forecast of the year 2010.
“I think that this year should be a very good one for consumers, companies will be fighting hard to improve products and keep prices low, and I think a lot of companies will also start very soon to really focus on the customer not just on making the product, on price, we should make sure that we understand what customers really want and consequently give them what they want.
We should understand that without the customer we do not have businesses, and that is something that is still a bit of a new concept in Georgia – that the customer is always right. And businesses have to understand that if you do not have the customer you do not have the business which is what marketing is all about,” says David Lee, President of AMCHAM.
“At the end of summer 2010 there will be significant progress in the banking sector. Credit activities are approaching those parameters that we were only dreaming about at the end of the year 2008.
Many products have cut on interest rate percentage, loan taking has become easier, however, there is high liquidity in the banking sector, and the demand is still not significant as people prefer to store money at home. The risks are high affecting the investment environment,” says Zurab Gvasalia, President of AGB.
“The expectations for 2010 are optimistic, we consider growth from summer.
If we acknowledge all the challenges our country was facing – economic crisis and August War 2008, considering all these negative aspects the Georgian economy is standing firm, however business still has some problems, says Jemal Inaishvili, President of GCCI.
“We think that we are still facing a challenging economic environment, mainly because the international environment is extremely difficult, so Georgia is like every other country worldwide, we have to work twice as hard to get the same results we had in 2008 before the August War.
But I am convinced that when you look around at all the citizens there is confidence, confidence that we have overcome the worst part. Obviously the market in Georgia should improve in terms of marketing to the level it is in France, Germany and Japan. We still have many things to learn, we still have to focus very strongly on marketing.
Many companies have good products, good engineering, they have good staff but there are still thing to learn, things to do in marketing, particularly in the Georgian context, they have a very rich culture with a very rich language which are things that actually matter,” says Lee.
“The financial crisis, Russian aggression and war resulted in loss in the Georgian Banking sector; however this was not as bad as in some other post Soviet Union countries and certain European countries too.
The main helping fact was that the trust from people re-established itself quickly. There was great support from the Government and international market.
At present, banks are requesting their former employees, new vacancies are being published every day, however this is happening in a smaller scale than before the war, as there are still some services that are not yet back in demand,” says Gvasalia.
See bellow the list of Golden Brand 2009 Winners:
1. Meat Products – Favourite Brand: Nikora
2. Auto Salon – Favourite Brand: Toyota Centre Tbilisi
3. Perfumery – Favourite Brand: ICI PARIS
4. Wine Production – Favourite Brand: Tbilvino
5. Pharmaceutical Company – Favourite Brand: PSP
6. Supermarket – Favourite Brand: Goodwill
7. Dairy Products – Favourite Brand: Eco-Food
8. Oil Company – Favourite Brand: Rompetrol
9. Restaurant – Favourite Brand: Tsiskvili
10. Clinic – Favourite Brand: Kuzanov Clinic
11. Marketing Surveys, Advertising, Consulting – Favourite Brand: ACT Research
12. Tourist Company – Favourite Brand: Intercontinental
13. Juridical Company – Favourite Brand: Kordzadze Law Office
14. Express Shipping and Logistic – Favourite Brand: DHL
15. Mineral Water – Favourite Brand: Nabeghlavi
16. Confectionary Products – Favourite Brand: Sweet Country
17. Mayonnaise – Favourite Georgian Brand: Eco-Food
18. Airlines – Favourite Georgian Brand: Airzena
19. Women’s and Men’s Linen and Accessories: Bruno Banani & Cervin
20. Hotel – Favourite Georgian Brand: Georgia Palace Hotel
21. Auto Spare Parts and Accessories – Favourite Brand: Tegeta Motors
22. The Brand with Highest Social Responsibility: Bank Republic
23. Egg Production – Favourite Brand: Koda
24. Sunflower Oil – Favourite Brand: Mziuri
25. Successful Debut of the Year : Kobuleturi “Sista Georgian Products”
26. Insurance Company – Favourite Brand: Irao
27. Soft Drink – Favourite Brand: Natakhtari
28. Beer – Favourite Brand: Natakhtari
29. Internet Provider – Favourite Brand: Caucasus Online
30. Energizing Drink – Favourite Brand: Red Bull
31. Mobile Communications – Favourite Brand: 877 by Geocell
32. Industry – Favourite Brand: Madneuli
33. Tinned products – Favourite Brand: Marneuli
34. Platinum Brand: Geocell
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