The Zyman Institute of Brand Science (ZIBS), a network-based organization located at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, announced today the winners of its Brand Science Awards.  Designed to recognize excellence in branding, these awards are granted to organizations and people who have shown commendable achievement in the areas of brand management and theory.  The awards were presented at the Zyman Institute of Brand Science anniversary event on Friday, September 30, 2005. 

The winners of the 2005 ZIBS Distinguished Practice Award included Samsung, IBM, UPS, and Procter and Gamble. The winner of the 2005 ZIBS Distinguished Theory Award was Kevin Lane Keller, E.B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business.

“It was a pleasure and honor to host the representatives of the award winners at our event including Suk Woo Hong, Sr. Vice President of Samsung NAHQ Marketing, David Harkleroad, Vice President of Brand Strategy of IBM, and Jamie B. Kravitz, Director of Retail Brand Management of UPS,” remarked Rajendra Srivstava, Executive Director of ZIBS.

Underlying the significance of the awards, Sergio Zyman, founder of ZIBS and Chairman of the Zyman Group, noted that “ZIBS provides an independent academic setting that bridges the span between academia and commercial marketing to gain a fuller understanding of why branding is so critical to business growth.  The Brand Science Awards strive to recognize businesses and individuals that are executing successful brand management and theory within their organizations.”

The Brand Science Awards are presented in two categories. The ZIBS Distinguished Theory Award is presented to authors of articles who have made significant contributions to brand science. The ZIBS Distinguished Practice Award is presented to managers and organizations that embrace innovation in brand management.  The Distinguished Practice award is broken up into four categories and honors excellence in the business-to-business, services, consumer and technology markets.

The ZIBS Distinguished Theory Award recognizes scholarship, contributions and outcomes that both impact managerial practices and further academic theory.  This year’s award is presented to Professor Kevin Lane Keller. Professor Keller is an academic pioneer in the study of brands, branding and brand equity and has conducted a variety of studies that address marketing strategies and tactics to build, measure, and manage brand equity. Professor Keller is acknowledged as one of the international leaders in the study of brands, branding, and strategic brand management. 

Samsung, the recipient of the ZIBS Award for Technology Branding, has recently been named the leading global consumer electronics brand and ranked 20th overall, according to BusinessWeek’s Interbrand 2005 study. They are the world’s leading manufacturer of flat-panel screens and flash memory, which is pervasive in this digital age found in cameras, digital audio players, and computers.  It is Samsung’s relentless pursuit of customer-led and innovative technology development that has catapulted them to the top of the list in brand excellence.

IBM, the recipient of the ZIBS Award for B2B Branding, recognizes that if you aren’t proactive in paying attention to your brands, then that means others – your competitors, your clients, your former clients and your other stakeholders – are the ones defining you. IBM’s brand strategy is designed to demonstrate how IBM can “help clients succeed through business and technology innovation.” Its ability to deliver on that promise within the B2B space is what ZIBS recognizes as excellence in branding.

UPS, the recipient of the ZIBS Award for Services Brands, has grown from a small Seattle-based local delivery company to a $36.6 billion corporation that operates in all four corners of the world.  In 2002 the company began laying the groundwork for a rebranding initiative that strived to illustrate the company’s capabilities. After years of research, what emerged was the “Brown” campaign. UPS successfully transformed Brown into a ubiquitous symbol that is commonly identified with the company’s capabilities as well as the spirit of its brand.

Procter and Gamble (P&G) has more than 300 brands that are available in more than 160 countries. Its embracing of “open innovation” is why the company has been chosen to receive the ZIBS Award for Consumer Branding. Three years ago, only 20 percent of ideas, products and technologies came from outside P&G, now 35 percent do. The target is to generate 50 percent of the innovation as sourced from outside the company.

“All of these companies, and Professor Keller, showcase the power of marketing and branding within an organization.  We are honored to have these businesses and individuals as examples of true pioneers in the use of brand management in the business environment,” explained Srivastava.

The Zyman Institute of Brand Science (ZIBS) is a network-based organization based at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. ZIBS fosters rich collaborations between business managers and leading scholars across the globe. The institute supports advanced research in brand management for with the ultimate goal of developing positively useful knowledge that drives superior business performance.

For more information, please visit www.zibs.com