CONSIDER IT THE DRIVER OF growth for Philippine business and economy.

The Agora Awards, an annual project of Philippine Marketing Association, deserves a big hand for pushing the socioeconomic development of our country.

The beacon of Filipino marketing excellence marks its 30th year of casting the spotlight on versatility, innovation and ingenuity?virtues that have propelled Filipinos as world-class marketers.

The Agora is a prestige-laden marketing award that has started out in the Philippines and been adopted by the Asia Pacific Marketing Federation.

Since 1979, the Agora awards have honored distinguished individuals and companies who have made significant contributions to the marketing profession.

The winners

Alliance Tuna International is one of the leading canned tuna manufacturers in the Philippines. Its high-quality tuna and salmon products are currently exported to over 40 countries. Even though it is not exactly a household name in the country, the global clamor for its products is too loud not to hear.

?We don?t have aggressive TV and radio campaigns. Our biggest marketing strategy, through the leadership of our president and CEO Jonathan Dee, is to ensure that we have first-rate quality products,? says Teresita Ladanga, SVP and COO of Alliance Tuna.

Despite the lack of larger-than-life ad campaigns, it remains one of the most profitable corporations and is the 2009 Agora awardee for Export Marketing.

Noteworthy

Procter and Gamble is one of the most globally recognized corporations in the world. So it is definitely a noteworthy achievement for Fama Francisco to become the highest ranking and only Asian female general manager in P&G?s global Cincinnati headquarters.

Francisco leads upstream innovation for Pampers?P&G?s biggest brand that touches the lives of 35 million babies in over 100 countries every day.

?We are very analytical, very creative and very resilient. Filipinos are also known to be one of the most collaborative people in the world, which is very effective when you work in a multinational corporation,? Francisco emphasizes.

Her outstanding leadership has won her Agora?s Overseas Marketing Excellence.

Sari Yap, founder, president and CEO of Mega Publishing Group is 2009 Agora Award winner for Medium Scale Entrepreneurship.

Her company has revolutionized fashion and photography in printing and color separation, producing high-quality, world-class fashion and lifestyle publications.

ABS-CBN Foundation received the Agora Award for Advocacy Marketing for tightly embracing the ?Save La Mesa Watershed? project and for pushing e-Media Education Television and the Bayan Foundation.

?Winning in the Agora Awards is an indicator that we are reaching our target market,? says Ana Junio of BantayKalikasan ABS-CBN Foundation. ?For our message to be sent and for it to be received by the people, we need certain measurements?we need to know if our messages are effective, if it is successfully distributed to the desired audience.?

Alaska Milk Corp. is one of two major players in the Philippine milk industry. Competing with an international company but consistently maintaining brand leadership in the liquid canned milk category, it has also gained ground in powdered milk.

Proper nutrition

?What we are actually achieving is selling proper nutrition to many. With this, Alaska fulfills its role as an aid to nation building,? says Ma. Belen Fernando, VP for marketing for Alaska Milk, winner of Agora Award for Marketing Management.

Lot?s A Pizza is Agora Awardee for Small Scale Entrepreneurship. The company has proven that it can satisfy the cravings of the Filipino palate while offering more value and savings.

Testament to this is its 84 franchised and 45 company-owned outlets, growing at a rate that cannot be matched by any other pizza company in the same market segment.

The factors behind the success of Lot?s A Pizza, according to Tess Ngan Tian, president and co-founder of the popular Filipino pizza chain, ?are entrepreneurial spirit, hands-on commitment in building the brand and incorporating innovations, financial stability, and most of all, an established credibility and integrity in the business.?

Mang Inasal is another brand that has captured the Filipino palate with a recipe that is uniquely our own. The fastest growing barbecue fastfood chain in the Philippines is headed by Ilonggo businessman Edgar Sia II.

Sia started with the desire to open a business that can grow nationwide. And it was in the Iloilo street food, particularly its version of grilled chicken known as inasal, that he staked his claim. After some research and experiments on the barbecue marinade blend, he was able to come up with a taste that he thought would surely catch the real Pinoy taste of barbecue.

Learned curve

Sun Cellular is 2009 Marketing Company of the Year, which took the country by storm when it came out with Call and Text Unlimited. The 6-year old company has done remarkable feats, with 10 million loyal subscribers and top-of-the-charts figures in profit.

With this, the network continues to significantly increase its coverage by investing more than $300 million every year for additional network infrastructure, but still maintaining the best value offerings to consumers.

?We learned the curve of our competitors,? says Ricky Pena, Sun Cellular?s VP for postpaid marketing and new business. ?We learned that we have to offer the most cost-effective price. The power of unlimited is really big for Pinoys. And the bigger the community, the stronger the pull.?

According to PMA President Mylene Abiva, the association ?has brought another fresh batch of corporate and individual winners who have made a difference and a huge contribution to the country?s economic machine through excellent marketing strategies. Despite threats of financial instability, global recession, along with natural disasters that took a huge toll, these entities have shown remarkable resilience.?

This year?s chair of the Board of Judges was Menardo Jimenez Jr.