MTN has scooped the Sunday Times Top Brands Award in the Business to Consumer (B2C) category, further reaffirming its growing status as the preferred brand in the telecommunications sector.
“We are delighted to be recognized by the Sunday Times Top Brand Award. This accolade is especially important to us, as it is a reaffirmation from our customers of the great effort that our team has made to ensure that MTN is a preferred choice,” says Serame Taukobong, MTN South Africa Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
Despite being 17 years old, MTN has grown to become a global brand, says Taukobong.
The company has received a number of accolades for its brand affinity, corporate social responsibility programmes, sustainability initiatives, leadership and financial performance.
Earlier this year, MTN was ranked as the only African brand in the BrandFinance Global 500 list.
During the 2nd quarter of this year, MTN was recognised as the most socially responsible brand in the country.
In the first half of 2011, the MTN brand has been rated as the country’s most valuable brand, according to a league table of both African and South African brands compiled by Brandirectory.
At the time of the survey, MTN was valued at an astounding US$4.7 billion, almost double that of its nearest rivals on the continent.
The Ayoba campaign received a number of accolades, including the 2010 AfricaCom Best Marketing Campaign and the Loerie Awards for the most integrated campaign.
MTN South Africa Managing Director Karel Pienaar scooped the SAIEE (SA Institute of Electrical Engineers) President’s Award, while Taukobong walked away with the Sunday Times Marketing Personality of the Year last year during 2010.
“MTN will undoubtedly continue to remain relevant and hold its own by virtue of its positioning as the ‘cooler’, ‘trendier’ and more up-to-date supplier of cellular telephony services and products,” says Sibusiso Manqele, Switch Group Business Director.
Referring to the Ayoba campaign, Sean McCoy, CEO of brand and communication consultancy HKLM, says MTN continues to gain mileage from its amazing success story during the FIFA World Cup with the Ayoba campaign.
“Obviously it has built a tremendous property around that, which has endeared it to a considerable number of established and new consumers across the spectrum,” says McCoy.
“As with the 2011 Sunday Times Generation Next Award earlier in the year, this award is further recognition to the MTN team for raising the bar every year,” concludes Taukobong.
Staff Writer
