(L-R) Julio Perez, CEO and Creative Director, OP Communications; Bert P. Pasquin, APRMember, 45th Anvil Awards Board of Jurors; Maria G. Goolsby, Executive Director, Corporate Philanthropy and Social Responsibility (CPSR), UnionBank; Eduardo S. Alcaraz, APR, Chairperson, 45th Anvil Awards Committee; Joseling L. Arce, First Vice President, UnionBank; Butch Raquel, APR, President, PRSP; and Anna Lenore H. Pilobello, Member, 45th Anvil Awards Board of Jurors.
UnionBank received recognition with an Anvil Award of Excellence for its Annual Report 2008 during the 45th Anvil Awards of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) held at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. This annual award is known to be the “Oscars” of public relations. Dr. Cayetano Paderanga, a former socio-economic planning chief and a UP economics professor is the award’s chairman of the 32-member Board of Jurors.
PRSP cited the UnionBank AR for “for successfully presenting the report as not just another document submitted for regulatory compliance but communicating the brand message of an ‘expert, challenging and relevant’ UnionBank and the embodiment of the Bank's brand promise for dissemination to existing and prospective customers.”
Nearly 300 entries, the biggest number in the history of the PR organization, were submitted for consideration for the various categories of the Anvil Awards. Winners underwent the two-stage screening and evaluation process based on criteria that emphasizes out-of-the-box thinking, strategic implementation and measurable results. The Bank bested numerous annual report (AR) entries and only three ARs were conferred the Award of Excellence, the highest award given for the AR category. Aside from UnionBank, the other awardees are Jollibee, and SM Group of Companies.
The annual report is a tribute to the Bank’s clients, partners and UnionBankers. The report mirrors the Bank and UnionBankers’ attributes of expert, relevant and challenging convention. The report is not only a PR tool, it is also an effective marketing tool used by UnionBank Relationship and Business Managers to promote the bank to existing customers and prospective clients. It is also given to correspondent banks, local and foreign investors, media people, researchers, and other business partners.
This is the third Anvil Award of Excellence for the Bank as its annual report 1999 and 2006 were also bestowed the same recognition during the past PRSP Anvil Awards. The 2007 annual report received an Anvil Award of Merit.