Four member companies of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, La Caixa, Mango, Natura Bissé and Fermax, have had their brand management skills acknowledged in the 5th ESADE Brand Centre Awards, whose prize-giving ceremony took place on 7 October at the business school's headquarters in Madrid. Thus, La Caixa received two prizes, on being recognised both in the most important category, corresponding to the ‘Grand Prize’, and in the ‘Long-term Track Record’.
In this way the Judges recognise the long track record of excellence in brand management of the financial company throughout its entire history. For the Judges of the contest, it is an organisation that understands the potential of the brand in a visionary way as being key for its expansion. During its history, it has positioned itself as the leading financial brand, holding the top slot for the 7th consecutive year in the ranking compiled by MercoMarcas Financieras as the organisation with the best corporate reputation, with its sense of social responsibility being particularly singled out amongst other capabilities. Ángel Pes, the deputy managing director responsible for the Department of Corporate Brand and Responsibility, and Jaume Giró, as managing director of the company, were entrusted with picking up the ‘Long-term Track Record’ award and the ‘ESADE Brand Centre Grand Prize’ respectively.
Enric Casi, managing director of Mango, received the prize for the category of ‘Corporate Brand’, while Ricardo Fisas, chairman of Natura Bissé, collected the one for ‘Brand Internationalisation’, and Fernando Maestre, chairman of Fermax, received the prize from the hands of José María de la Villa, manager for Institutional Relations at ESADE, in the category ‘Company to Company Brand’, thereby acknowledging the work of the Valencia-based company with its ‘Fermax Formula’.
The aim of these awards, organised by ESADE together with Accenture, is to recognise best practices in brand strategy in Spain. The panel of Judges this year was presided over by Alejandro Echevarría, chairman of UTECA and Telecinco, together with Josep M. Oroval, director of ESADE Brand Centre, who acted as secretary. Miguel Otero, managing director of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, also took part again for yet another year as a member of the Panel.
José María Oroval, manager of the Brand Centre, presented the winning companies as a valuable source of knowledge, which his academic research group will incorporate in their studies.
Apart from the companies mentioned, the 5th ESADE Brand Centre Awards also recognised the Consorci Sanitari Integral in the category of ‘Non-Profit Brand’ and Mutua Madrileña in the category of ‘Repositioning of a Brand’, while the category of ‘Creation of a new brand’ was declared void for the second year running.
