Sun Cellular hailed as “Marketing Company of the Year” at the 2009 AGORA AWARDS
CEBU CITY, Philippines/ 19 November 2009—Five months after Sun Cellular was internationally recognized as Asia Pacific’s Most Promising Service Provider by Frost and Sullivan, another prestigious award-giving body – the Philippine Marketing Association through the AGORA Awards – hailed Sun as this year’s Marketing Company of the Year.
Now on its 30th year, the Agora Award is given to outstanding individuals and companies who embody marketing excellence. The nominees pass through a series of stringent judging process and the panel is composed of top-level executives from leading Filipino corporations and institutions. Every year, corporations, institutions and individuals get nominated for various Agora Awards, such as Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship, Marketing Education, Export Marketing, Marketing Management, Advocacy Marketing and Agora Awards for Overseas Marketing Excellence. Among these, the Marketing Company of the Year award is considered the most coveted and most prestigious.
“This is a testament to our enduring excellence as our unparalleled Call and Text Unlimited products and other services continue to stand out with a distinctly unique proposition in the industry today,” says Sun Cellular CEO Charles Lim.
The Marketing Company of the Year Award, which is known as the pinnacle of marketing achievement, is only being given by the Agora to an elite few who have displayed creativity, ingenuity, and innovativeness in making the Filipino brand world class.
In 2004, Sun Cellular pioneered the 24/7 Call and Text Unlimited in the country, which has been the flagship product of the network ever since.
One of the judges said that “Sun rocked the industry, and their strategies have ultimately benefited the consumers.”
“If I were to choose one word that would describe this year’s winners, it would be the word, Giant”, says Mr. Mernardo “Butch” Jimenez, Jr, 2009 Agora Awards Chairman of the Board of Judges. “Because this year’s winners are either giants in their field, or are competing against, and we might add, making headway against their field.”
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Lim pointed out their significant contribution in the telco arena. “We in Sun Cellular, are truly privileged and grateful to have played a pivotal role in revolutionizing the way Filipinos communicate through their cell phones,” he said. Their aggressive marketing and pricing strategies, he said, have benefited the growing 2G and 3G markets. He, together with JG Summit Chairman & CEO Mr. James L. Go and other Sun Executives, received the award during the ceremony held last November 10 at the Hotel Intercontinental, Makati.
Sun Cellular’s win gave further honor to the JG Summit Group of Companies, as it ensured a grand slam win for the conglomerate. In 2007, URC won the Marketing Company of the Year Award, which was then bagged by Cebu Pacific the following year; both companies under JG Summit. “No other conglomerate in the country has earned such recognition,” says Edith Dychiao, PMA’s Director in-charge for the Agora Awards.
To date, the network boasts of over 5,000 cell sites and still on roll-out for network expansion all over the country. With a growing prepaid and postpaid subscriber base, Sun is confident that its network is reliable and robust enough to cater to their consumers with unlimited yet affordable services.
“But our work is not yet over. We intend to keep the momentum going as we aim for market dominance. It is our strong commitment to provide the consumers the best products and services as we strive to pursue the unlimited possibilities of advanced mobile communications,” added Mr. Lim.
