Commercial Bank honoured by Brand Finance for Top 10 ranking 15 years in a row

Commercial Bank Deputy General Manager (Marketing) Hasrath Munasinghe receives the Brand Finance award from Brand Finance Lanka Managing Director Ruchi Gunewardene

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been honoured by Brand Finance Lanka for being among Sri Lanka’s 10 most valuable consumer brands for 15 years consecutively, at the announcement of the country’s Top 100 Brands for 2018 this week.

One of only two organisations out of all corporate entities in Sri Lanka to achieve this feat, Commercial Bank retained its position at No 4 in the ranking but had the distinction of achieving the highest growth in its brand value among the Top 5 brands.

Brand Finance assigned Commercial Bank a brand value of Rs 29.315 billion for 2018, up 14.5% from last year, reaffirming the Bank’s status as the largest private bank and the largest private bank brand in Sri Lanka.

“Consistency is a virtue in any sphere of business, but is particularly important in banking and finance,” Commercial Bank Managing Director Jegan Durairatnam said, commenting on the Brand Finance recognition. “We are delighted therefore to be singled out by Brand Finance for recognition in respect of being in the Top 10 in every one of the 15 years the ranking has been published.”

Under this ranking, the country’s most valuable and strongest brands are identified through detailed analysis of data that is obtained through an exclusive market research study carried out by an independent market research firm, and through publicly available data.

Considered one of the world’s leading independent brand evaluation and ratings firms, Brand Finance PLC is headquartered in London and has a network of offices around the world. The Brand Finance rankings for Sri Lanka are published annually by LMD.

One of the most active and vibrant brands in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank’s brand-building efforts maintain a healthy balance between its corporate and product communications and ground level customer engagement events. In addition to traditional media, the Bank is very active in social and digital media and customer engagement events, at national and regional level. The Bank also has a large number of Sri Lankan migrant customers overseas, and continuously engages with them through various events and consumer promotions. 

The Bank stated that it places heavy emphasis on strategy when formulating marketing plans and brand-building activities. Commercial Bank maintains a constant watch over its brand performance and measures it both qualitatively and quantitatively. Parameters such as brand equity and top-of-mind recall are periodically monitored through research, and the key takeouts are taken into account when communications are developed.  This strategic approach has helped the brand to evolve through the years and become one of the strongest brands in the country.  

The only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 banks of the world for seven years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 261 branches and 757 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank has won more than 30 international and local awards in 2016 and 2017 and has over the years received multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s Best Bank, Best Trade Bank, Strongest Bank and Most Respected Bank from a number of local and international institutions and publications.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon; the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake; and Italy, where the Bank operates its own money transfer service.