The Yahoo brand awards, now in their second year, aim to recognise brands that have built an emotional bond with internet users in Hong Kong.
According to Alfred Tsoi, general manager of Yahoo Hong Kong, this year's awards saw a 50 per cent increase in respondents, with about 15,000 web users casting more than 700,000 votes for brands via the Yahoo Hong Kong website.
He added that through ACNielsen, Yahoo invited 225 marketers to participate in an online survey, which generated a nomination list of about 300 brands.
Web users then voted online to select three winners in each category.
Said Tsoi: "These are all famous brands which won and many of them are international names. But the results also show that a lot of local brands are able to compete with international brands."
The online portal, which according to Nielsen//NetRatings figures ranked top among online domains in Hong Kong in December last year, handed Hong Kong flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways the top prize for the best consumer website.
Meanwhile, local restaurant chain Cafe de Coral, which in October last year roped in five young stars for an integrated campaign to mark its 35th anniversary, outflanked KFC and McDonald's in the restaurant category, while Calbee, Nestle and Nissin were the most popular brands in the food category.
Other big winners of the show included Adidas, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Nike, Nokia and Sony.
This year's awards show also judged brands on their use of celebrities in marketing campaigns. Local celebrities Miriam Yeung (Biotherm), Gigi Leung (Fancl House), Kelly Chen (Samsung), Twins (H2O+ and Matsunichi) and Joey Yung (Nissin and H2O+) were ranked top in the category.
"The new category of spokesperson was introduced because it's a very popular strategy among FMCG companies and it has a major impact in making brands successful," said Tsoi.
An ACNielsen online poll, held in conjunction with the voting, found that 59 per cent of marketers believed that interactive marketing as a component of an ad campaign could increase marketing effectiveness.
Sixty per cent of respondents also said they regarded email as a good marketing channel, while 70 per cent of marketers polled said the web was a good channel for conducting CRM activities and collecting customer data.