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Michael Tome

Business Reporter

THE Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ) will tomorrow host the 2022 edition of the Superbrand Awards, which celebrate and support the progress made by local products.

The Superbrand Awards ceremony is an annual event on the business calendar attended by marketers and other industry professionals.

It is an international concept that was adopted by MAZ over a decade ago and seeks to recognise and reward brand excellence.

The event will be held at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) under the theme, ‘Brand Relevance and Dominance in the Age of the New Customer’.

This year’s awards ceremony is focused on the need to align local production trends with the dynamic needs of contemporary customers.

The top 200 brands were unveiled earlier this year and they will battle for top honours on the awards dinner night where the top brands of the year will be crowned.

The shortlisting of brands is done through a nationwide ‘top of mind awareness’ survey.

A plethora of conditions have been set to determine brand prowess and these include perceived market dominance, resilience, goodwill, customer loyalty, product service experience, product services accessibility, product service pricing, loyalty, and product innovation.

MAZ executive secretary, Mr Gillian Rusike said the superbrand awards sought to encourage brands to do their best through being perpetually innovative and active in customer engagement.

“Our 2022 focus is on how brands can be relevant to the new customer as you are aware that customers are very dynamic these days because of different forces around them.

“These days’ customers have more power and more voice so we are trying to see how our brands can align to meet and satisfy the dynamic changes of this day’s customer,” said Mr Rusike.

He further pointed out how the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict had contributed to a shift in customer demand indicating the need for brands to excel so as to meet customer needs.

“A lot has changed because of Covid-19, purchasing power, consumption patterns, the Ukraine-Russia conflict has also affected fuel and wheat prices hence changing the views of the consumer, so it is about how the marketers and brand managers adjust their brands to meet the needs of the new age customers.”

Zambia Institute of Marketing president, Mwewa Besa will be the guest speaker at the event where he will speak to Zimbabwean marketers on the opportunities available in the fast-growing Zambian economy.

The Zambian market has lately been offering immense opportunities for local products and there in turn has been a growing presence of Zimbabwean products in the Zambian retail space.

Clothing and fashion, beverages, motor dealerships, construction, security, banking, cooking oil, fuel and energy, mining, telecoms, internet and data services, retail supermarkets, and hospitality sectors are some of the areas that companies will contend for honors.

By definition, a “Superbrand” is a brand that has established the finest reputation in its field and offers customers significant emotional or tangible advantages over its competitors.