Reader’s Digest PH Trusted Brands and Personalities Awards celebrates 25th anniversary
While anyone can look up for reviews of products and services on their mobile devices as the Internet has become more accessible nowadays, one that bears the Trusted Brand logo of Reader’s Digest continues to affect the buying decisions of consumers.
The Trusted Brands and Personalities Awards of Reader’s Digest Philippines is now on its 25th year this 2023 and is still going strong thanks to how the magazine adapted to the changes brought about by time and technology. Starting from a handful of products, the awards programs covers over 50 categories of consumer products, services, and personalities all chosen by thousands of people across Asia.
“Because consumers know it was voted by the people of the country,” said Reader’s Digest Group Advertising and Media Sales Director for the Asia Pacific Region Sheron White. “The thing about Trusted Brands is we’re not a pay-to-play policy. You have to be voted by the people of that country and that population in order to be one.”
White explained further that they’ve kept the same methodology of choosing the products and services getting a Trusted Brand mark. Originally, it started out as a pull-out questionnaire from the magazine that only the readers answered. It has become a lot more sophisticated now that it is done all online through the help of Catalyst Research that surveys some 8,000 consumers in Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
“Now, it’s much more of a reflection of the footprint of the country rather than just readers of Reader’s Digest,” said White. “We’ve kept the same methodology for several years now and that keeps the credibility and the trust of Trusted Brands.”
She added that they’ve been conducting an independent retail survey every three years to see the impact of emblems in consumer’s buying decisions. For the third time, it showed that 92% of the consumers who were surveyed said they’re more likely to buy a product or service that has a winning emblem.
“In the last survey, 83% of the respondents said that the Reader’s Digest winning Trusted Brand emblem made a positive impact on their buying decisions,” White said.
Trusted Personalities and Brands
Other than consumer brands, products, and services, television personalities were the highlight during the Trusted Brand Awards night. Atom Araullo earned his first recognition as the Most Trusted TV Host for News & Current Affairs. Debuting also is professional volleyball player Alyssa Valdez who was cited with the Most Trusted Sportsperson award.
Meanwhile, veteran broadcaster Mike Enriquez has retained the Most Trusted Radio Presenter award. Vice Ganda also retains the Most Trusted Entertainment and Variety Presenter award for the fifth straight year.
Changes in the categories, White said, are based on the relevance of the product and service, and is decided based on the management teams in each country.
The Platinum Trusted Brand award is stamped on a brand that topped their category by garnering an overwhelming higher score than their nearest competitor. On the other hand, the Gold Trusted Brand award goes to brands that scored significantly higher than their rivals.
Food delivery services Food Panda and Grab Food received the Platinum and Gold awards respectively as trusted brands that made a huge impact on consumers since the pandemic began. The same goes for PLDT’s Home Fiber service, facemask brand Indoplas, as well as Xiaomi and Samsung air purifiers.
White believes that most of the brands and services that were chosen by consumers this year are still based on their buying decisions that were impacted by the pandemic.
“Even if some of the brands decide not to participate or use the Trusted Brand logo they’re still announced as winners and they are still posted on our website (https://www.trustedbrands.asia/philippines/),” White added.