Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) has once again set a benchmark in excellence with the attraction of a record number of new brands for the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2015. This is a reiteration of the wide acceptance and sustainability of the program among local brands in the country. SLIM Brand Excellence remains the only awards ceremony in the country which rewards brands, and brand custodians for excellence in the brand marketing arena.
Commenting on this distinguished awards ceremony, SLIM President, Ruwan Liyanagamage said, “Year on year SLIM Brand Excellence has grown both in scale and quality. The criteria developed by SLIM Brand Excellence, is adopted by most organizations today as a step by step approach in the development of brand intent, content, process and performance. Thus, we encourage marketers to participate in this awards celebration by adhering to this well-crafted, proven and successful process, where your brands are pushed to the forefront.  Furthermore I take this opportunity to call to mind the invaluable contribution of late Professor Uditha Liyanage who was instrumental in designing the Brand Excellence criteria. His service to the marketing fraternity was unsurpassed and his presence is sorely missed”.   
According to SLIM, new brands showcasing an increase of 40 percent are on board this year, which is in addition to the brands that are regular, annual participants. This is a clear indication of the growing acceptance of this awards programme at a national level. 
The local Brand of the Year category has become the most competitive, with a record number of entries, whilst SME (Small & Medium Enterprise) category poses serious competition to the many regional and entrepreneurial brands vying for place. SLIM attributes this positive response, to workshops conducted by the project team in the Sinhalese language. On the whole, it is an encouraging sign that SLIM’s vision to uplift and enrich best practices in marketing, is effective across all organizations, from multinationals and locals, to SMEs.
This year SLIM Brand Excellence introduced yet another awards category – Online Brand of the Year – that aims to address the growing dynamics of today’s online population. Per se, brands use the internet and its related platforms to market goods and services through online advertising, web development and social media. The introduction of the new category is solely to capture this sector.
The Project-Chair, Brand Excellence 2015, Thilanka Abeywardena added “With the growing internet & device penetration, many brands and organizations are born within the online space. Hence we identified the importance of appreciating brand excellence in this area as well, and introduced the new category of ‘Online Brand of the year’ category to capture this segment. The new category will reward brands which harness the internet or internet related mediums to generate 80% or more of its revenue. This year we saw a few brands testing their excellence and in time to come this will be a significant category in the awards portfolio.
The thirteen categories which in totality includes the newly introduced ‘Online Brand of the Year also encompasses Product Brand of the Year, Service Brand of the Year, Innovative Brand of the Year, Turnaround Brand of the Year, Local Brand of the Year, Best New Entrant of the Year, International Brand of the Year, SME Brand of the Year, CSR Brand of the Year, Export Brand of the Year, B2B Brand of the Year and Regional Brand Recognition Award.