Nigerian Companies Win at 2018 World Branding Awards

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Some top companies and organisations from Nigeria were outstanding at the recently concluded 2018 edition of the prestigious World Branding Awards.

The ultimate global brand recognition accolade saw 270 brands from 33 countries named Brand of the Year in a glittering ceremony held at the State Apartments of Kensington Palace, England.

Beijing Tong Ren Tang, BMW, Cartier, Club Med, JinkoSolar, Johnnie Walker, Lego, L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton, Nescafé, Rolex, Samsung, Schwarzkopf and Yakult were announced as global winners of this edition of the awards.

Regional winners included Ajinomoto, Uniqlo (Japan); Giordano, Optical 88, Sasa, Shangri–La (Hong Kong); Indomie (Indonesia); LuLu; RAK Ceramics (United Arab Emirates); MTN (South Africa); and Zara (Spain).

National tier winners from Nigeria were Babcock University (Education), Oando (Petrol Stations), SPAR Park ‘n’ Shop (Supermarkets), and Zenith Bank (Banking).

Winners were uniquely judged through three streams: brand valuation, consumer market research, and public online voting. Seventy percent of the scoring process comes from consumer votes. There can only be one winner in each category per country.

“The Awards celebrates the achievements of some of the greatest brands around the globe. With an average of just six winners per country, it is truly a great achievement to be a winner of these awards,” said Richard Rowles, Chairman of the World Branding Forum.

This year, the awards were split into two award ceremonies, with brands from the Americas and the Caribbean awarded in a separate New York event earlier in July. Over 230,000 consumers from around the world participated in the voting process.

“More than 4,500 brands from 57 countries were nominated this year, with 351 brands from 49 countries declared as winners – 81 brands from 16 countries were awarded in New York; and 270 winners from 33 countries awarded in London. Not every country was awarded, as a few did not receive enough votes to qualify,” said Peter Pek, Chief Executive of the Forum.

Now in its fifth year, the awards is organised by the World Branding Forum, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing branding standards. It organises and sponsors a range of educational programmes. The Forum also publishes branding news on its website that reaches a global audience of over 23.69 million.