Villarica dominates 2023 marketing excellence awards, breaks record for most campaign wins

Pawnshop pioneer Villarica made history in this year’s Marketing Excellence Awards (MEA) when its campaign “Dapat SURE Ka. Dapat Villarica.” received seven trophies – besting the six-award record set for a single campaign by Doritos in 2021.

Villarica’s SURE campaign earned two Gold awards for Excellence in Consumer Insights and Media Strategy; three Silvers for Excellence in Brand Strategy, Customer Engagement, and Brand Awareness; and two Bronzes for Excellence in Advertising and Experiential Marketing. The company also won Silver for Marketing Leader of the Year for Hans Lerwyn Villarica.

Cheers to success: Team Villarica raises their eight metals at the 2023 Marketing Excellence Awards. Vice-President Hailey Villarica-Ong (center) stands proud with marketing partners Silver Machine Digital Communications and Dentsu X.

These eight MEA wins extend the awards haul for the SURE campaign. It previously won the top prize for Brand Effectiveness through Business Growth (Large Enterprise) at the recent PANAta Awards. 

MEA judge Rosebel Garcia of Hertz and Thrifty Philippines admired the creative minds behind Villarica for setting the bar high for hard-to-advertise brands, saying “Villarica Pawnshop has shown that the limit to creativity does not exist.”

The groundbreaking integrated marketing campaign pushed customers to ask, “Which pawnshop can I trust?” TV, radio and digital ads depicted dishonest vendors that preyed on working-class families and highlighted Villarica as the trustworthy choice. While an in-store innovation, the Free Appraisal Service, reassured customers by introducing unprecedented transparency in the pawning experience.

Villarica placed second overall at the Philippines edition of the MEA alongside SM Supermalls and Honor Philippines. Colgate-Palmolive was hailed “Marketer of the Year” as it secured three gold, five silver and two bronze awards. 

The SURE campaign is Villarica’s first foray into the prestigious Marketing-Interactive event. Leading to the October 13 ceremony at Shangri-La The Fort in Taguig City, it was a finalist in the 11 categories it joined with Silver Machine Digital Communications and Dentsu X. 

ADVT.