2 July 2010, Singapore Press Holdings Auditorium - ASME and Lianhe Zaobao announced the official launch of the Singapore Prestige Brand Award (SPBA) 2010.

Since its inception in 2002, SPBA has honoured and recognised businesses that successfully excelled in planning and execution of branding strategies. Achieving this prestigious branding Award not only serves as a yardstick for SMEs to benchmark their brand equity against their competitors, but also is an excellent springboard for brands pursuing expansion plans both locally and abroad.

At the launch, Mr Chan Chong Beng, Chairman of SPBA 2010 Organising Committee, ASME Vice-President for Awards & Projects, said: “For many SMEs, they may perceive that branding costs a lot of money, is too long and laborious a process and they doubt the investment return of embarking on branding.  Yes, it is a long term commitment and we need to put resources behind the brand effort.  However, the alternative of not creating and constantly innovating on your own brand is commodisation of your products and services leading to erosion of long term competiveness.

“Just like there is ice cream and there is Ben & Jerry’s. Having a good brand does command a premium pricing and profits,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Goh Sin Teck, Executive Deputy Editor of Lianhe Zaobao, mentioned that the Award highlights to enterprises the importance of building brand equity. He said: “In order for an SME to stand out amongst its competitors and to carve a niche in the market place, effective brand building is the key to its success. Past winners of the Singapore Prestige Brand Award all agreed that winning the Award has helped them to gain greater recognition in both the local and global markets.”

The 5 Award Categories this year are:

(1) SPBA - Promising Brands
(The Brand must be established between 3 and 8 years)

(2) SPBA - Established Brands
(The Brand must be established between 6 and 30 years)

(3) SPBA - Heritage Brands
(The Brand must be established for more than 30 years)

(4) SPBA - Regional Brands
(The Brand must be established for at least 3 years and have presence in at least 5 foreign markets)

(5) SPBA - Special Merit
(For government agencies and not-for-profit organisations that have been established for at least 3 years)

Similar to previous years, brands that are 6 to 8 years old may opt to participate in either SPBA - Promising Brands or SPBA - Established Brands.

With the exception of SPBA – Special Merit, there will be an Overall Winner in each Category. A SPBA - Most Popular Brand Winner will also be selected via public voting among the Winners of the 5 Categories.

Launched in 2008, the SPBA - Hall of Fame recognises and honours brands that have consistently excelled in their branding efforts. To qualify for induction into this prestigious and elite circle, brands must win the SPBA accolade at least 5 times, or 3 times including the title of Overall Winner in any of the Categories at least once. Criterion is dependent on achievement since SPBA 2007.

The SPBA 2010 Winners will be unveiled at the Award Presentation Ceremony in December 2010.

Submission of entries for the Award is now officially opened. Brand owners who wish to participate may contact the Award Secretariat at 6513 0375 / 349 / 371.

The deadline for submission is 12 noon, Thursday, 12 August 2010.