Categories: Businesses

Singapore’s Most Influential Brands Were Honored At This Grand Gala Event

The “Oscars” for Singapore’s best brands

Source: Influential Brands

2016 marked the momentous year Leo Dicaprio broke his winless streak at the Oscars, finally taking home the highest honor for actors – the coveted gold statuette. Actors put in years of hard work for their Oscars ovations, but few people know that entrepreneurs and brand leaders also have red-carpet awards they strive towards.

Influential Brand®’s 2016 Grand Gala event celebrated 2016’s best brands and dark horses, a celebration of Asia’s favorite brands like Din Tai Fung, POKKA and GrabCar.

2016’s most popular brands

Over the years, many of us gravitate towards popular brands of bottled drinks, toothpastes and even transport-booking apps. It’s only when friends start asking us for recommendations do we realize we’ve got the names of many big brand committed to memory.

Let’s play a little game to test your brand awareness. Just think of a bakery off the top of your head… chances are you thought of Breadtalk. Now, when we try that with a supermarket, odds are you’ll think of NTUC Fairprice first.

You’ve definitely had or least heard of Breadtalk’s delicious branded buns

Old Chang Kee’s signature curry puffs are Singaporeans favorite shade of gold

These brands are just some of the winners of the Influential Brand’s “Top Brand” award, amongst others like Gong Cha, Watsons, Skylight, Citigems, Old Chang Kee, and even household food staples like Sunshine bread and SCS Butter! From the responses of 6000 millennials over 5 countries, collected through face-to-face and online surveys, the top 5 brands from over 50 categories like Online Marketplace, F&B, Electronics to Beauty & Wellness were chosen.

Brands that remain at the top include longstanding brands F&B giants like Breadtalk, Swensens and KFC, while the up-and-coming ones include top digital brands like Grab, Lazada and PropertyGuru.

Here are the other winners of the title of “Top Brand” in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and China:

Source: Influential Brands

Regional CEOs to look up to

A company’s brand can never be seen separate from its CEO. Tesla – Elon Musk, Alibaba – Jack Ma and Apple – the late Steve Jobs. 49% of a brand’s reputation can be attributed to its CEO, so CEOs really are the chief brand ambassadors of their companies!

If you’re looking closer to home for what it takes to be a great CEO a.k.a. leader of a brand, you can look to the winners of Influential Brand®’s 2016 CEO Brand Leader of the Year – Mr Richard Eu (Eu Yan Sang), Mr George Quek (BreadTalk Group) to Mr Anthony Tan (GrabTaxi) – to teach you a thing or two.

Source: Influential Brands

1st row – Mr Anthony Tan (GrabTaxi Holdings),Mr Alain Ong (POKKA International), Mr Richard Eu (Eu Yan Sang International)
2nd row – Mr David Chiem (MindChamps Holdings), Mr George Quek (BreadTalk Group), Dr Michael Tan (Fullerton Healthcare Corporation)

These CEOs not only lead prominent brands esteemed highly by consumers, they build strong business partnerships, take calculated risks and drive the development of their company’s business.

The CEO panel sharing their perspectives on regional markets at the Influential Brands Gala. Source: Influential Brands

Pushing frontiers in research and development, they’ve been bold to implement the use of new technology, yet sticking by their longstanding values, garnering the respect from staff and even competitors. For those of you aspiring CEOs, these are the qualities you should be striving for!

Beer sponsor: DRAFT Denmark Source: Influential Brands

Giving back to society

The Influential Brand® Gala is not just a yearly celebration of CEOs and the successes of commercial companies, but also acknowledges organizations making impactful social contributions.

One of them is an NGO actively assisting the marginalized Hmong people break out of the cycle of oppression and poverty – the relief and development agency Radion International.

Giving youths a chance to attend schools, meeting the needs of poverty‐stricken families, destitute elderly and disabled individuals through microenterprises, anti‐drug programmes and other community education and development activities, Radion’s most significant contribution includes reducing drug use amongst Hmong youths-at-risk to 10%!

For his proactive contributions to society, Mr Eugene Wee, the Founder and Executive Director of Radion International was presented the Outstanding Brand award for a “Not‐For‐Profit” organisation.

About Influential Brands®

Think of Influential Brands® as the “cool club” brand leaders aspire to be part of. Helmed by the Brand Alliance, it identifies, engages and recognizes not just global and regional brands, but even non-profit organizations and all these companies under the Influential Brands® umbrella have a collective annual revenue of more than USD $20 billion.

Through consumer and market research, branding qualities, their influence on consumers are accessed, so brand excellence can be identified and celebrated. Best practices are highlighted so other companies can similarly produce meaningful brands that not only influence and impact societies, but also improve living standards and lifestyles.

With more than 18 years of branding expertise in Asia, Influential Brands® provides a valuable pool of knowledge, raising awareness of desirable brands and continuous to celebrate the unique attributes of Asian‐based businesses and Asia’s rich brand heritage.