BMAP recognizes trailblazers in 1st Bank Marketing Awards

MANILA, Philippines - To recognize outstanding marketing practices and encourage practitioners attain higher levels of excellence, the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines, Inc. (BMAP) recognized several trailblazers during the first Bank Marketing Awards (BMA) held last Aug. 28 at the JYD Hall of the Security Bank Bldg., Ayala Ave., Makati City.

The awards highlighted some of the best practices in the banking industry in six selected categories, namely; Best Program in Social Media, Best Financial Inclusion Program, Best Kiddie Savings Program, Best Product Program, Best Brand Program and Best Electronic Delivery Channel.

“This is the first-ever bank marketing awards in the Philippines. We compete in a friendly manner here. This is here where we learn, to a certain degree from each other, some good practices. At the end of the day, we compete on everything and this gave us the venue for good programs to be recognized and awarded. We really set out the criteria and we got judges that we know are impartial, objective and really know their area of expertise,” BMAP industry relations director and EastWest Bank VP for bank marketing and corporate communications head Allan John Tumbaga said.

The entries were judged based on the following criteria: strategy (35 percent), execution (20 percent), creativity (20 percent) and results (25 percent). Leading the panel of judges are marketing guru Dr. Ned Roberto, advertising maven Emily Abrera, past BMAP president and current BSP consultant Max Edralin and Asian Banker associate director Chris Kapfer.

The award entries were submitted in sealed envelopes, and can only be opened by the judges. The judges rated each entry based on the criteria. Entries are again sealed and sent to the official tabulator, SGV & Co., which tabulated the judges’ scores and the entry with the highest average score per category was declared the winner. To complete the BMA experience, BMAP has commissioned sculptor Ronald Castrillo to design a trophy for the awards.

After the tabulations, six entries were declared winners. Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) went home with The Best Program in Social Media award for their BPI on Facebook: Talk to Us campaign, as well as Best Electronic Delivery Program for their entry BPI Express Mobile App. The Best Financial Inclusion Program award went to Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) for the Metrogold Financial Education and Microfinance Program. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Savings Bank’s WISE Kiddie Savings Account was hailed the Best Kiddie Savings Program while its US Dollar Time Deposit Holiday Promo was named Best Product Program. Security Bank Corporation received the Best Brand Program award with the entry Better Banking.

“BMAP’s mission has always been to champion bank marketing as a profession and to develop its members as bank marketing experts through relevant programs. Bank marketing has become much more complicated today, with the diversification of bank products and services by the many channels that are growing as we speak. With the bank marketing awards, we locked on four criteria, strategy, creativity, execution, and results. As bank marketers ourselves, we felt that the combination of these four criteria will help ascertain great marketing programs,” said BMAP president and Philippine Veterans Bank VP for corporate communications and marketing services Miguel Angelo ‘Mike’ Villa-Real.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. expressed his confidence in the programs and initiatives of the winners and BMAP in general. “We must recognize the efforts of the best in bank marketing programs. This initiative underscores the goals of the BMAP and the industry which is to enable Filipinos to avail of banking services. We continue to reap the benefits of a strong banking industry. Not only are we expanding, the banking industry has remained a pillar of strength in our economy in the face of volatilities in the global financial landscape,” he said.