“Often taken for granted due to their commoditised nature, stationery and office products play a fundamental role in every office, classroom and household. In fact, you could say that these products grow businesses. The very fact that these products are simple commodities, often leaving consumers at a loss as to differentiate between the benefits of different brands, is one of the reasons for the awards programme.
“Marketing a brilliant new invention or exciting product with loads of features is easy, but establishing market-leading brands and driving sales volumes in such a competitive marketplace dominated by product parity requires brilliant marketing prowess, outstanding customer service and consistent operational excellence,” commented Davy Ivins, executive director of shop-sa (www.shop-sa.co.za).
Regional winners were announced in Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal and Inland regions at three separate awards ceremonies, with the Premier award winners announced on Thursday, 6 November 2008, at a gala awards ceremony held at the Theatre on the Track, Kyalami, Johannesburg.
The Premier Award winners are as follows:
Entries underwent a stringent evaluation by industry judges, as well as an online electronic vote by the industry. Short-listed entries were submitted to an external judging panel which selected the final winners.
