Malaysia Most Valuable Brands 2008

The brand value was derived through a valuation study commissioned by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) and The Edge. It was conducted by Interbrand, one of the largest brand consultancies internationally.

The total value of the top 30 brands stood at RM61.8bil, a 9% growth over the RM56.6bil achieved last year.

The study said 14 brands showed a growth in value this year.

Only brands that were public listed or owned by listed companies were considered for the study. Hence Maxis, which was ranked third in last year’s study, was not in the list as it was delisted.

Meanwhile, Mamee Double Decker and Bonia have dropped out of the list. Sin Chew, JobStreet.com and Ogawa are the new entries in the top 30.



Source: The Edge Daily

Extended Reading: The Star , MMVB 2007

ICCA Best Marketing Award 2008

Honoured: (From left) ICCA president Leigt Harry, director of sales Simone Sfeir, Henry and convention bid manager Amelia Roziman posing for a photo after the award presentation ceremony in Canada recently.

The ICCA Best Marketing Award, established in 1997, recognises the excellence and outstanding achievements of organisations in their effort to market their destination or product. Entries can range from full scale campaigns and branding exercises to individual promotions and events. The ICCA Best Marketing Award is open to all ICCA members, regardless of their sector. The business or organisation that wins the competition will receive the Award at the ICCA Congress Closing session in Victoria.

Winner 2008

Sarawak Convention Bureau - Malaysia

"Winning this award is the ultimate endorsement of our marketing creativity and shows that, as a relatively new bureau, we have come a very long way in a short time. The win is also important in reaffirming to our government and industry stakeholders that we are on track to succeed in delivering on our ambitious growth targets over the next few years."

Jill Henry, Chief Executive Officer
Sarawak Convention Bureau

Finalists 2008

The 3 finalists for the ICCA Best Marketing Award 2008 were:

1 Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool - U.K.
2 Salt Lake City Convention and Visitors Bureau - U.S.A. - Click here to see their marketing video
3 Sarawak Convention Bureau - Malaysia - Click here to download their presentation

Malaysian Entrepreneurship Platform -eBay

MALAYSIANS are using eBay as a platform for entrepreneurship and cross border trading according to a survey by eBay Southeast Asia.

The study revealed that 41% of eBay Malaysia members considered themselves serious sellers — either actively sourcing for products to sell on eBay or using eBay as the primary source of income.

Malaysians are also very active buyers, spending close to one third of their time online browsing for goods and services on the auction website. Also, 42% visit eBay once to three times a week.

Clothing, shoes and ­accessories were the most frequently purchased items on eBay Malaysia (38%), followed by books (36%) and computers and networking services (34%).

The visitors surveyed on the local website were generally affluent and well-educated with 64% having completed tertiary education and 75% earning at least RM20,000 per year.

On average, Malaysian shoppers spent approximately RM411 on eBay, out of the total RM542 spent online.

Credit cards were the most common payment method while PayPal came in second.

Other interesting findings on eBay Malaysia — 75% are adults in the age group of 25 to 49, more than 60% are male, 84% use broadband, and the majority spend an average of 29 hours per week online (of which seven hours are spent purchasing products or services on the Internet).

Source: The Star, by ZAM KARIM

Security about data encryption programs

Data on a computer is only worth encrypting if that data is actually secure. Unfortunately, some data encryption programs have significant security gaps, according to a study by the Hamburg-based magazine Computerbild. The magazine tested eight encryption programs, including some freeware releases, in co-operation with experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology.

Four programs received "inadequate" marks due to significant security problems. Those include Free CompuSec, Disc Enryptor, DriveCrypt and Desktop Home. Some of those programs store the password for accessing encrypted data in plain text, which would give thieves easy access.

The winner was Steganos Safe 2008. TrueCrypt won the prize for "most affordable software".

Source: The Earth Times

The Outstanding Young Malaysian Awards 2008

陳栩原（左5起）、拉查維南、陳蓮菁和覃永建期待，十大傑青能成為時下大馬青年的標桿。左起：陳慶祥、馬金泉、彼得和潘建成。右起：葉永興、莫哈末巴亞魯丁、阿德里安、李昭揚和曾文秀。
2008年大馬十大傑出青年獎候選人亮相。前排左起：曾文秀、馬金泉、陳蓮菁、陳栩原、吉隆坡文華青商會會長覃永建、前青商會國家總會長劉秀嬌及青商會顧問拿督陳金平；後排左起：黃恩德、陳慶祥、張書景、嚴文忠、李昭揚、諾阿馬里、葉永興、雷智雄及青商會國家副總會長陳俊輝。

2008年馬來西亞十大傑出青年(TOYM)名單

商業、經濟或企業成就：
潘建成（31歲）Phison、電子公司董事長
拿督曾文秀(36歲）、 RAMAJUTA公司董事經理

學術領導成就：
李昭揚博士（39歲）、理大昆蟲學教授

文化成就：
阿牛陳慶祥 （32歲）、歌手
馬金泉 （39歲）、共享空間專業舞團創辦人

人道及志愿服務成就：
阿迪安拉新邦（31歲）、PACOS Trust社區組織委員和JOAS土著聯繫主席

科學及工藝成就：
葉永興博士（40歲）、博大科學與技術教授
莫哈末巴亞魯丁（36歲）、博大化學部主任

個人發展成就：
拿督妮柯爾（25歲）、世界排名第一的女壁球手

原文：星洲日報‧2008.11.02