At A Glance
“Brand of the Year” award for second year in a row
M-150, a leading Thai-owned energy drink brand, was once again honoured with a “Brand of the Year” award at the World Branding Award 2018 event, recently held in London, England. This important recognition further strengthens M-150’s achievement in brand communications strategies, which include idol marketing, sports marketing, and music marketing.
Sutipa Panyamahasap, chief marketing officer of Osotspa Public Company Limited, said that receiving the “Brand of the Year” award for the second year in a row at the World Branding Forum’s “World Branding Award 2018” presentation ceremony, once again brings a sense of pride and accomplishment to Osotspa through its M-150 brand. M-150 was the only brand from Thailand’s energy beverage category to have won this prestigious award. Award winners are selected based on an evaluation that involves online public voting, brand valuation, and consumer market research.
“Receiving the ‘Brand of the Year’ award for the second consecutive year is a major endorsement of M-150’s marketing practices, which uses idol, sports , and music, along with integrated communications via online and offline channels.
Together, they broaden and empower M-150’s brand recognition and loyalty among consumers. M-150 also conducts a continuous market penetration strategy for the energy beverage segment through high-quality product development to support the needs of consumers and ensure customer satisfaction,” said Sutipa.
New eforea spa for wellness travellers
To meet the needs of today’s wellness-minded guests, Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Myanmar has added to its legendary offerings with the opening of the eforea spa at the Hilton Nay Pyi Taw.
The eforea spa at Hilton Nay Pyi Taw followed the 31 other eforea spa locations globally, adding new treatment enhancements that embrace ancient healing methods and incorporating a refreshed treatment menu that complements the changes to the concept’s identity worldwide.
The eforea spa at Hilton Nay Pyi Taw’s treatment menu includes unique, carefully-crafted journey enhancements – treatments packed with ancient healing methods plucked from the world’s most fabled spa and health cultures.
East-West Seed excels in helping small farmers
Thailand-based East-West Seed outperformed global giants Bayer and Syngenta in the first-ever Access to Seeds Index for South and Southeast Asia, which evaluated the efforts of 24 leading seed companies in the region to support growth in the productivity of smallholder farmers, one of the main targets of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In South and Southeast Asia, about 350 million people are undernourished, a number that has barely changed in the past two years, according to a recent United Nations report. Around 30 per cent of the children in the region are malnourished. Smallholders provide up to 80 per cent of the food supply, so helping the 170 million smallholder farmers of South and Southeast Asia to grow more and more nutritious food is key to achieving food and nutrition security.
The Access to Seeds Index found that leading seed companies have seed sales activities in all countries in South and Southeast Asia. However, investments in seed production or breeding tend to be concentrated in a select number of countries, most notably India and Thailand.
As a result, the development of local seed industries in Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia run the risk of lagging further behind as few leading seed companies invest in these countries.
Ultimately, 80 per cent of smallholder farmers in South and Southeast Asia have yet to be reached.
“Increasing yields, tackling climate change challenges and reducing the environmental impact of agriculture, it all starts with the seed farmers use,” says Ido Verhagen, executive director of the Access to Seeds Index. “The seed industry plays a key role in improving the accessibility and affordability of quality seeds for smallholder farmers.”
New MD named for group manufacturing
BMW Group Thailand is pleased to announce the appointment of Uwe Quaas as managing director of BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand.
Uwe replaces Jeffrey D Gaudiano who has completed his tenure in Thailand and is taking up a new position as the Head of Steering Production, Production System, and Logistics at BMW Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina, the USA.
Uwe has been with the BMW Group since 2003, working first at Plant Regensburg then moving to Plant Leipzig, Plant Rosslyn and Plant Munich where he held high-level positions in the logistics, quality management and bodyshop departments.
Prior to taking up his new position as managing director at BMW Manufacturing Group Thailand, Uwe headed up the department for overseas material supply in Plant Wackersdorf, which is responsible for supplying parts to various BMW production networks including BMW Motorrad worldwide.
Uwe said: “I love and live for our international BMW network. I firmly believe that we become bulletproof when we come together to work for the success of the BMW Group. This also includes our work at Plant Rayong in Thailand, a country which I admire both for its people and the welcome it offers to all who go there.”
In his new position, Uwe will be responsible for the overall BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand business activities, which assembles BMW automobiles and BMW motorcycles to supply to BMW Group Thailand for domestic sales, as well as exports to other BMW subsidiaries in the region.
