MANILA— ABS-CBN and Kapamilya star Vice Ganda were once again honored at the Reader's Digest Trusted Brand Award Ceremony in Mandaluyong City, Friday night.
ABS-CBN was honored with the "Trusted Brand Gold" award in the TV network category, while Vice Ganda was named "most trusted entertainment/ variety presenter".
Both ABS-CBN and Vice Ganda also won the same awards last year.
Aine Reyes-Unson, head of ABS-CBN Trade Marketing and Partnership and who received the award for the network, thanked Filipinos for their trust in the network.
"Thank you once again for always trusting and supporting ABS-CBN. It's always been a challenging few years for us, but they were there. They never left us. They supported us even as we transform and innovate," Reyes-Unson said.
The Reader's Digest Trusted Brand award is given to brands that got the most votes from consumers. It was conducted by an independent leading market company Catalyst Research and the survey is being done in several countries in Asia.
Friday night's awarding ceremony was the first on-site ceremony for Reader's Digest in Asia since the start of the pandemic, and they will soon hold the awards night in other countries in the future.
Sheron White, group advertising and retail director for Reader's Digest in the Asia Pacific, said they're happy to go back to face-to-face ceremony. It has been a challenging 2 years, she said, and that also shaped the awards this year.
Twelve new categories were added this year, mostly in the health and personal care sector. These include the face mask category, hand sanitizer, tissue paper, adult supplement drinks, disinfectant spray and mobile e-wallet.
"Some of them have direct connection with the pandemic. For example, face masks, like what we're all wearing, disinfectant spray, hand sanitizers. There's a lot of new categories directly related to the pandemic that we put into the survey this year," White said.
She explained that it is very important for a brand to be trusted, especially now that the pandemic has affected every consumer's purchasing habits.
"Consumers spend differently. There are more cautious with parting either their money due to that trusted brands are even more important now. When all the shopping is being done online like so many people are," she said.
Other winners include Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who was named the most trusted sportsperson. More than a dozen other companies were also given the Platinum and Gold awards in this year's awards night.
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