MANILA, Philippines - Ayala Malls, the premier lifestyle and shopping destination of the country, aims to provide only the best and unique experiences for their patrons. Constant innovation and delivering exceptional customer experiences are values shared with its merchant partners. Over the years, the Ayala Malls gives recognition for outstanding achievements of merchant partners who have shown excellence in store operations, marketing, and visual merchandising.
Now in its 13th year, the Ayala Malls Merchant Rewards was celebrated by holding the 7th Merchant Forum for their esteemed partners with the theme “Managing the NOW Generation,” followed by the prestigious awards night held at the Greenbelt 5 Fashion Walk.
Experts from various fields of marketing, retail, fashion, media, food, and the arts shared new trends, innovative concepts, effective strategies, and valuable insights to help meet the demands of the “NOW” Generation. This generation refers to the psyche of consumers and shoppers espouse, “NOW-ism,” and clamor for the most up-to-date information, quick service, instant gratification, curated choices and experiential living.
Some of the notable speakers included BPI senior vice president and cards marketing head Maria Cristina Go, Pond’s Philippines senior brand manager Jacqueline Yuengtian, Pakyaw COO Jeff Tinio, Ci8 managing director Mark Mackenzie, design strategist Brian Tenorio, The Nielsen managing director for media Jay Bautista, Singapore Airlines marketing and services communication manager Rita Dy, TBWA/Santiago Mangada Puno digital consultant Tonyo Cruz, and Backroom Inc. general manager Boy Abunda.
Panel discussions on blogging and the latest trends in technology, fashion, lifestyle, food, the arts, and advertising were also conducted featuring Cecile Van Straten of Chuvaness, Lori Baltazar of Dessert Comes First, Abe Olandres of Yugatech, JV Rufino of Inquirer Mobile, Isha Andaya of Stylebible, food expert Lorraine Timbol, Mon Punzalan and Jowee Alviar of Team Manila, and Manuel Villafania of TBWA/Santiago Mangada Puno.
The highlight of the first day of the forum was the awarding of the special awards in Visual Merchandising, Marketing, and Values. For Visual Merchandising Excellence this year’s winners were: Artwork, GAP, VMV, and Bench for Glorietta; Firma, Hermes, Prizmic/Brill, and Adora for Greenbelt; Kamiseta, Gap, Fruits & Passion, and Mango for Alabang Town Center; Penshoppe, Adidas, Healthy Options, and Fully Booked for Ayala Center Cebu; Artwork, Wrangler, Grassroots, and Superbench for Market! Market!; Team Manila, Celio, VMV, and Zara for TriNoma; All Flip Flops, Von Dutch, Alessi, and R.O.X. for Bonifacio High Street and Serendra; and All Flip Flops, New Balance, Simple Joys, and Fully Booked for Marquee.
The Marketing Excellence Award was given to Lush for Glorietta, Fully Booked for Greenbelt, Collezione C2 for Alabang Town Center, All Flip Flops for Ayala Center Cebu, Get Laud for Market! Market!, Res Toe Run for TriNoma, R.O.X. for Bonifacio High Street and Serendra, and Red Kimono for Marquee. The Marketing Excellence Values award was given to Rustan’s for Glorietta and Alabang Town Center and The Travel Club for TriNoma. The Overall Marketing Excellence award went to Seattle’s Best and the Overall Values Special Award was given to Lush, which was given during the awards night the following day.
Winners of the Marketing Partners award were Bear Huggs, The Body Shop, The Row, TGIFriday’s, Cabalen and Bacolod Chicken Inasal for Glorietta; Tender Bob’s, Louis Vuitton, and Swatch for Greenbelt; Red Kimono, Toby’s and Rustan’s for Alabang Town Center; The Gustavian, What a Girl Wants, Kaboosh, Red Kimono, Rustan’s and TGIFriday’s for Ayala Center Cebu; Picture City, Shakey’s, Pizza Hut, National Bookstore, and Tater’s for Market! Market!; David’s Hot Pot & Tea Bar, Bench, and Sony for TriNoma; Cacao, TGIFriday’s, Blow up Babies, and iStudio for Bonifacio High Street and Serendra; Marks & Spencer and Mc Donald’s for Marquee.
The eGC Partners Awards were conferred to SM Makati and The Ramp for Glorietta; Adora and Healthy Options for Greenbelt; Makati Supermarket and Ansons for Alabang Town Center; Metro and Rose Pharmacy for Ayala Center Cebu; Metro and Abenson for Market! Market!; The Landmark and Ansons for TriNoma; Fully Booked and iStudio for Bonifacio High Street and Serendra; and Metro and Saizen for Marquee.
Lush, Sanuk, VMV, Fully Booked, and Rustan’s Supermarket were bestowed the Green Merchant Award for practicing sustainability in their operations and promoting earth–friendly practices to their customers.
The 13th Annual Merchant Rewards awards night was led by Ayala Corporation chairman emeritus Jaime Zobel de Ayala and Ayala Land president Tony Aquino. They were joined by Sherisa Nuesa, managing director of Ayala Corp., and Emilio Tumbocon, Ayala Land SVP and Vis-Min group head together with the commercial business group management team led by Rowena Tomeldan, VP and head of operations, and Cora Dizon, VP and head of business development and strategic planning; Ruby Chiong, AVP and Group CFO; Javi Hernandez, AVP ; Clavel Tongco, senior division manager; Charmaine Bauzon, senior division manager and Ayala Land Deputy head of marketing Cathy Bengzon.
The early evening cocktails hosted by Ayala Land Premier at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery gathered the finest merchants in the country. The awarding ceremony followed thereafter at Manila’s most vibrant venue, the Fashion Walk, also at Greenbelt 5.
Awards were given to Ayala Malls’ trailblazing merchants in the following categories: Overall Visual Merchandising Excellence, Overall Marketing Excellence, Special Award for Promoting Arts & Culture, Store Operations Excellence, Most Promising Retailer, Store of the Year and the Grand Store of the Year. The Store of the Year and Grand Store of the Year trophies were especially designed by Jaime Zobel de Ayala.
This year, the winners for the Promotion of Filipino Artistry and Ingenuity were Bench for Pinoy Lab for all Ayala Malls; Sanuk for Weewilldoodle and Folk Superlative for Glorietta and Marquee; and Myth for Greenbelt 5.
Awarded for Store Operations Excellence were Bench, Folded & Hung, National Bookstore, MAC, Geox and Florsheim for Glorietta; Power Mac, Tory Burch, Nanbantei of Tokyo, Pepper Lunch, and Collezione C2 for Greenbelt; Crocs, GAP, All Flip Flops, The Body Shop, and Lacoste for Alabang Town Center; Planet Sports, All Flip Flops, Island Souvenirs, Promod, and Res Toe Run for Ayala Center Cebu, Collezione C2, Jag, Skechers, Aparador by Greta, and Celine for Market! Market!; Healthy Options, Top Shop/Top Man, Kids Sports, The Travel Club, All Flip Flops and Collezione C2 for TriNoma; Runnr, R.O.X., Italianni’s, Chelsea, and Café Mary Grace for Bonifacio High Street and Serendra; and Marks & Spencer, All Flip Flops, The Travel Club, Geox, and Nautica for Marquee.
The Most Promising Retailer award was given to Bambu, A’postrophe, and Buddy’s Pancit Lucban for Glorietta; Caffé Ti Amo, Asics, and Mr. Jones for Greenbelt; LazerXtreme, Amici, and Accessorize for Alabang Town Center; Sunny Side Up, Maitre Chocolatier, and Tsim Sha Tsui Dimsum Bar for Ayala Center Cebu; Wrangler, Style Essentials by Adidas and Primadonna for Market! Market!; Geleia, Yakimix and Build City for TriNoma; Chuck’s Deli for Bonifacio High Street and Serendra; Nathaniel’s, Suzies, Kabigting’s Halo-Halo and Ikabud for Marquee.
Finally, the most awaited and most coveted Store of The Year was given to National Book Store for Glorietta, Power Mac for Greenbelt, GAP for Alabang Town Center, Promod for Ayala Center Cebu, Skechers for Market! Market!, The Travel Club for TriNoma, Runnr for Bonifacio High Street , and Marks & Spencer for Marquee.
The highest honor that night was the Grand Store of the Year awarded to All Flip Flops for their exemplary and consistent efforts in store operations and marketing through the years.
This annual celebration is hosted by Ayala Malls as a way of thanking and recognizing its valuable merchant partners for their commitment in providing only the best lifestyle and shopping experiences to their loyal customers.