Milestones


1999 July
¡§Hong Kong Top Ten Brandnames Awards¡¨ made its debut, receiving enthusiastic response from the industry.

1999 December
Presentation Ceremony of the 1999 Award was officiated by Mr Chow Tak Hay, Secretary for Commerce and Industry.

2000 July
¡§The Most Popular Brandname On-line¡¨ was newly introduced; and public polling was first introduced such that the public could participate in On-site Polling at the venue of the Hong Kong Products Expo and On-line Polling at the ¡§HKBPE On-line¡¨ website. The 2000 Award was solely sponsored by Dah Sang Bank.

2001 July
¡§The Emerging Brandname Award¡¨ was first introduced in the 2001 Award.

2002 January
Mr Antony Leung, Financial Secretary officiated the Presentation Ceremony of the 2001 Award.

2002 July
¡§Honorary Award¡¨ was introduced in the 2002 Award to give recognition to ¡§veteran entries¡¨ (past winners of the Award) exhibiting continuously superior performance. The 2002 Award was sponsored by ¡§German Tops¡¨ and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Corporation.

2002 November
Jointly organized by the CMA, Shenzhen Municipal Government, China Federation of Industrial Economics, and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the ¡§China Brandname Strategy International Forum cum China Top Brand Commodities Expo¡¨ was held at Shenzhen.

2003 January
The Presentation Ceremony of 2002 Award was officiated by Mr Henry Tang, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (represented by Ms Denise Yue, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (CI)).

2003 March
Sponsored by the SME Development Fund of Trade and Industry Department, a research project namely ¡§Enhancing Competitiveness of SMEs Through Best-practice Business Process Benchmarking¡¨ was implemented. In-depth studies were conducted on over 20 Award winners to conceptualise their best practices and brand-building experiences and to translate them into a benchmarking system applicable to local SMEs.

2003 July
The Survey on CMA Members¡¦ Brand Development Strategies was conducted to grasp the current status of members¡¦ brand development, keep abreast of their future plan and branding strategies, and solicit their viewpoints on brand development. It received 216 responses from member companies.

2003 October
The maiden edition of ¡§The Parade of Hong Kong Top Ten Brandnames¡¨was published and distributed to the public via various channels. It was highly appreciated by the community.

2004 January
Mr Stephen Ip, Acting Financial Secretary officiated the Presentation Ceremony of the 2003 Award. During the Ceremony, Dr Jose Yu, President of the Chinese Manufacturers¡¦ Association of Hong Kong, announced that the preparation for the establishment of ¡§Hong Kong Brand Development Council¡¨ (the BDC) was under way.

2004 January to February
Awardees were invited to showcase at the ¡§Brandnames Areas¡¨ of the ¡§Promotion Week for CEPA of Mainland, Hong Kong & Macau¡¨, which toured around Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and was jointly organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, InvestHK of the HKSAR Government and the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute.

2004 June
¡§The Parade of Hong Kong Top Ten Brandnames¡¨(2004) was published with the booklet size enlarged the publishing quantity substantially increased.

2004 September
A re-branding campaign was orchestrated to enhance the Award through three major new initiatives, i.e. renaming of the Award, introduction of new logo, and the implementation of ¡§Hong Kong Top Brand Mark Scheme¡¨.

2005 January
Mr Henry Tang, Financial Secretary officiated the Presentation Ceremony of the 2004 Award.

2005 May
Initiated by the CMA, the Hong Kong Brand Development Council (the BDC) was formed and the first General Committee Meeting was convened. In August 2005, the BDC held a grand ceremony to celebrate its inauguration.

2005 June
Products of some Aardees were showcased at the ¡§Heibei-Hong Kong Week¡¨ at Heibei, orgainized by the HKSAR Government; and some Awardees were invited to showcase at the ¡§Top Brand Area¡¨ of the ¡§2005 Hong Kong Brands & Products Expo, Qingdao¡¨ at Qingdao, organized by the Chinese Manufacturers¡¦ Association of Hong Kong.

2005 July
Hong Kong Top Brand Awards became a joint project of the BDC and the CMA.

The Organizers held a press conference in 2005 July to announce the launch of the ¡§Hong Kong Top Service Brand Awards¡¨, as a new initiative to recognize the outstanding brands in Hong Kong¡¦s service sector. The 2005 Service Brand Awards received extraordinary response and 12 local brands were selected as the winners in January 2006.

2005 August
Since the 2005 edition, ¡§The Parade of Hong Kong Top Ten Brandnames¡¨ has been renamed ¡§The Parade of Hong Kong Top Brands¡¨.

2005 September
Products of some Awardees were showcased at the ¡§2005 Hong Kong Brands & Products Expo, Shanghai¡¨ organized by the CMA in Shanghai. The BDC also hosted the ¡§Shangha-Hong Kong Branding Forum¡¨ at the Expo.

In Hong Kong, the ¡§Branding to Win Serial Seminar¡¨ was launched as a public forum for Awardees and experts from a wide range of professional arenas to exchange views on branding from different perspectives. The first seminar focused on ¡§Strategies for Hong Kong Brands to Penetrate into Chinese Market¡¨ and the second seminar was held in April 2006 under the theme of ¡§Effective Marking Strategies for Brand-building¡¨.

2005 November to December
Selected Awardees joined the showcase at ¡§Hubei-Hong Kong Week¡¨ in Wuhan organized by the HKSAR Government, as well as the ¡§Innovation and Design Expo¡¨in Hong Kong and ¡§Style Hong Kong, Chengdu¡¨ in Chengdu organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

2006 January
The 2006 Hong Kong Top Brand Awards and Hong Kong Top Service Brand Awards Presentation Ceremony was officiated by Financial Secretary Mr Henry Tang.

2006 February
Official indications of ¡§Top Mark¡¨ including tent card, labels and pin were first introduced to facilitate the promotion of Licensees of ¡§Hong Kong Top Brand Mark Scheme¡¨.

2006 May
The BDC dispatched a delegation to the 7th Western China International Economy and Trade Fair and information boards of the Awards were displayed at the Fair.

2006 August
¡§Branding to Win Seminar: Quality Customer Service¡¨ was organized, in which professional consultants and some Awardees shared their experience in providing quality customer services.

2006 September
Products of some Awardees were showcased at the ¡§2006 Life Style Hong Kong ¡V Shenyang¡¨, organized by Hong Kong Trade Development Council

Selected Awardees joined the showcase at ¡§2006 Hong Kong Brands & Products Expo, Shanghai¡¨, organized by the CMA in Shanghai.

2006 November to December
BDC and TDC co-organized the ¡§SME Brand Building Workshop¡¨ at the ¡§2006 SME World Expo¡¨, which focused on strategies of promoting, managing and developing brands. Besides representatives of Awardees, experts from a wide range of professional arenas were invited to share views.

2007 January
The 2006 Awards Presentation Ceremony was officiated by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph Wong.

2007 July
To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of HKSAR, the CMA and the BDC jointly organized a luncheon and the ¡§Hong Kong Brand Development Forum¡¨. The Forum was one of the celebration events listed in the 10th Anniversary celebration programs of the HKSAR.

2007 December
Since 2005, the BDC had participated in the ¡§Inno Design Tech Expo¡¨every year and set up showcase to display products of Top Mark licensees.

For three consecutive years, the BDC and TDC co-organized the ¡§Branding Workshop Series¡¨ at the Expo, where experts and representatives of Awardees were invited to share views on brand development and promotion.

2008 January
The 2007 Awards Presentation Ceremony was officiated by Financial Secretary Mr John Tsang.

2008 April
Under the arrangement of the BDC, products of Top Mark licensees were showcased at the¡§103rd China Import and Export Fair¡¨in Guangzhou.

2008 June
The fourth ¡§Branding to Win Serial Seminar¡¨ was organized under the banner of ¡§Brand Communication and Image¡¨, in which academic, professional consultants and industrial practitioners shared views on the ways to build up brand images and implement effective brand communications.