D’Podium Int’l Event Centre, Ikeja, came alive recently with sparks of delight and memorable entertainment as deserving Brands such as Nigerian Breweries Plc, Unilever, Access Bank, Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC), and Reckitt Benckiser were recognized for their outstanding performance at the just-concluded Brandcom Awards.

The Award ceremony which was conceived with the notion of celebrating the exploits and achievements of brands, agencies, and notable players that have gone the extra mile in making an impact in the industry, also recognized 20 Top Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in Nigeria, and 35 under 35 Top marketing professionals.

A day before the Awards night, Brandcomfest hosted stakeholders in the brand and marketing communications landscape to discuss Sustainability and Brand Building in the face of Disruption as Digital Marketing aficionado, Nicholas Kuhne and Marketing Scholar, Abiodun Ajiborode provided ground-breaking perspectives to the thematic pre-occupation of the day.

Welcoming guests the following day at the Award ceremony, convener of Brandcom Awards and publisher of Brand Communicator, Joshua Ajayi, applauded brands and marketing practitioners for impacting the industry positively. “We are celebrating the giant stride at our award this year based on our mantra of Prestige, Integrity, and Credibility. The awardees were painstakingly assessed by a panel of assessors who judged based on those key touch points. To date, industry players have adjudged Brandcom Awards as a credible award platform amidst the falling integrity of some awards in recent times. We boldly say our awards remain credible and we won’t rest on our oars”

For the brands and corporate awards category, Unilever performed laudably at the event. Knorr received the Award for the Most Outstanding Seasoning Brand in Consumer Engagement while Sunlight emerged as the Most Outstanding Detergent Brand in Consumer Engagement. Premium toothpaste brand, ‘Close Up’ won the Award for the Most Outstanding Oral Care Brand in Consumer Engagement.

Access Bank won three separate awards as it emerged as the Most Outstanding Retail Bank Brand, the Most Outstanding Brand in Sustainability, and the Most Outstanding Bank in Strategic Communication of the Year respectively.

Brands from the stable of Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) also won big with PEPSI emerging as the Best Carbonated Soft Drinks Brand in Consumer Engagement. For its ‘Padi of Life’ ideation, Aquafina emerged as the Most Outstanding Brand Campaign of the Year; while ‘Supa Komando Energy Drink’ won the Fastest Growing Energy Drink Brand of the Year.

Reckitt brands also won big as Mortein emerged as the Most Outstanding Insecticide Brand of the Year, while Dettol won the Most Outstanding Disinfectant Brand of the Year. Harpic got the Award for the Most Outstanding Toilet Cleaning Brand of the Year.

Others that were recognized include Peak Milk for the award for the Most Outstanding Dairy Brand in Consumer Engagement Award while Standard Chattered won the Most Outstanding Financial Product Launch of the Year award. Also, the Award for the Most Outstanding Biscuit/Cookie Brand of the Year went to Mcvities; while Mamador smiled home with the award for the Most Outstanding Cooking Oil Brand in Consumer Engagement.

Some industry players and top brand handlers were also honored for their tremendous input in the industry. Some of the awards are Marketing Professional of the Year Beverages which was won by Segun Ogunleye. The award for Media Manager of the Year within the Brewery segment went to Sandra Amachree of Nigerian Breweries while Chief Diana Chen won the award for the Automobile Personality of the Year among other awardees.

In a similar vein, former Marketing Services Director of Nestle Foods Nigeria, Mrs. Iquo Ukoh, and the chairman of STB McCann, Sir Steve Omojafor were inducted into Brandcom Hall of Fame for their immense contributions to the growth of the brands and marketing communications industry.

Marketing amazon, Iquo Ukoh is currently the CEO, of Entod Marketing Ltd. She is also the founder of 1qfoodplatter, an instafamous food account that effectively uses colours, and lighting styling to get her followers to spend minutes with her in her creative food world.

Steve Omojafor, an accomplished marketing communication guru, holds the national award of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). He is the chairman of STB McCann and chairman, of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN).