Influential Brands Recognises Leading Asian Businesses That Demonstrates Outstanding Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

SINGAPORE -�Media OutReach - 11 January 2021 - In a year where the shock
of pandemic has caused small enterprises and prominent businesses alike to put
up the shutters, Influential Brands®
conferred recognition on brands that stood strong in their commitment to
excellence.

 

Backed
by an extensive survey conducted in July 2020 with the participation of 1,500
consumers, 15 companies are named the “2020 Asia’s Top Influential Brands”. The study showed that during a crisis
like the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers gravitated towards brands that are
available across multiple digital channels and are perceived as value for
money. In categories with intense competition, brands with cross-generational
appeal, for instance NTUC FairPrice,
ultimately topped their categories.

 

The
15 companies among others cited by consumers as their preferred choices are AIA
(Asia), Adidas (Singapore), Angliss Singapore (Singapore), AOX (Singapore),
Beijing Tong Ren Tang (Asia), Chow Tai Fook (Asia), Decathlon Singapore
(Singapore), EB Frozen Food (Malaysia), Everbest Soya Bean (Malaysia),
Häagen-Dazs (Singapore), IG Group (Singapore), NTUC FairPrice (Singapore), NTUC
LearningHub
(Singapore), POKKA (Singapore), PropertyGuru Group (Asia).

 

At
a time where the labour market is faced with great uncertainty and employee
morale is at an all-time low,  Lazada
(Asia), KFC (Singapore), Pizza Hut (Singapore) and PKF (Singapore) are crowned
“2020 Asia’s Top Employers” based on an anonymous survey of more than 10,000
employees. The awardees surpassed industry standards in having meaningful
employee engagement, strong alignment between employee and company culture and
relevant HR practices in this digital age. The company culture and employee
engagement audit was conducted in collaboration with aAdvantage Consulting
firm, Influential Brand’s research partner.

BUSINESS LEADERS WINNING
STRATEGIES AND ADAPTATION TO THE NEW NORM

“For FairPrice,
we embrace technologies that are transformative, progressive and
forward-looking, which are essential for us to remain relevant to those we
serve. FairPrice will continue to invest on both online as well as
physical stores as we improve the customer journey and also make it as seamless
as possible for the customers regardless of the platform they choose.” said Mr
Seah Kian Peng, Group CEO, FairPrice Group.

 

“The
physical presence is still very essential for customers. As human beings, we
want to connect with others, and our experience store is meant for that. Our
store advisors have no objectives to sell more or promote the expensive items,
but our approach is really about authenticity and sincerity, to be friends and
family members to our customers.” said Mr Nils Swolkien, Managing Director of
Decathlon Singapore.

 

On
catering to different market needs, Ms Rieko Shofu, Group Chief Executive
Officer of Pokka Singapore said, “Recognising the trend that consumers are
now more health conscious, we have expedited our innovation to develop
healthier drinks. As a brand that exports to more than 60 countries worldwide,
it is critical for us to understand and adapt to the differences in consumer
preferences, lifestyle and market conditions”.

 

Ms Angel Ding, Managing Director of
Angliss Singapore said, “The pandemic has caused a sharp decline of 30% of
our business.  Angliss Singapore pivoted
towards expanding a new business model (B2C). Angliss Singapore transformed
from a leading distributor of premium gourmet brands to also include serving
the end consumers directly, by supplying them with quality and fresh
ingredients to prepare meals. “Our company’s vision of serving those who
serve great food continues to be a driver for Angliss Singapore, to be a
gamer-changer and a trusted brand in the industry.”

 

Mr
Magnus Ekbom, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Lazada said, “In these
times, we need to rely on our experience and capabilities that we have built
overtime. In addition, we recognise that our people have
phenomenal capabilities and will do things that you wouldn’t believe was
possible if you just empower them, let them take ownership, responsibility, and
see things through.”

 

On the note of
the future’s plans and outlook, Mr. Hari V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer
and Managing Director of PropertyGuru said, “We have been really tested this
year, but our team has been found to have a tremendous amount of resilience and
unity.  Besides our team, our customers
and investors are stakeholders that we focus on and we are glad that all three
have really shown a lot of trust in us. If they are going to show that kind of
faith in us in a year like this, I have confidence for the future.”

About INFLUENTIAL BRANDS®

Influential Brands® is a think-tank,
research and business recognition platform to celebrate “Champion of
Excellence”.

 

Deeply embedded in our beliefs, is the need to foster
a culture that honours the exemplary practices of leading brands in Asia, as
well as their commitment to distinction. 
We delight in rejoicing with organisations over their successful brand
efforts that have added value and left significant impression in their
respective industries. Through this, we hope to contribute to the knowledge pool
of best practices so that companies can produce quality and meaningful brands
that influence and impact our environment, living standard, lifestyles and
future.

 

The Influential Brands family of brands comprises global and regional
brands from more than 15 countries worldwide.

 

Website: www.influentialbrands.com  
Facebook page: Influential Brands Facebook.