EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND winners were awarded last week. (The contest is held annually and the most recent was the seventh). 94 brand nominees out of 284 bidders waited in line for their bronze, silver and golden bagels, which were the main prize. The numbers of bidders and winners are stubbornly growing, so next year a two-day award ceremony is supposed to be arranged. the organizers of the ceremony want EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND to become like the Oscar for Russian businesses.

The comparison of EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND to Oscar is fully justified, as Russian companies have become really experienced in building star brands over the past several years. "We are a little bit afraid as it is harder and harder to determine the winners, Chairman of the EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND Organizing Committee Mariya Khokhlova said. There are more and more worthy brands and bidders as well. One should say that there are over 1,000 top managers of Russian and multinational companies at this year's ceremony. This event is becoming more and more important, so we can be ambitious about the future of our contest."

As the number of bidders grows, (this year the increase from the first ceremony was 1600 percent) the number of nominations is growing. In 1998 there were only four award categories and this year there were 24. Financial and IT service projects were appraised within the framework of a separate category.

Among new trends disclosed as a result of holding the contest - the development of strong brands in the mass media sector (among nominees - STS, NTV Plus and MTV) and the clothing, footwear and accessories sector (among the winners were Ralf Ringer, Sela, Savage). As for multinational companies, not just food producing companies reigned in this sector. For instance, Samsung was awarded a Grand Prix in the Goodwill and Confidence category and this company received gold in the household appliances, high-tech goods and services categories, as well as won silver in the home electronics category. The Baltimor company received a Grand Prix Award (its "8 Vegetables" brand was the winner of the New Name Grand Prix Award), as Hewlett-Packard did (for the Image Change).

The contest will be broadcast for the first time on RBC TV this year. "With the help of television the ceremony should develop into a brighter event, a certain analogue to the Oscar in the form of a business show," Mariya Khokhlova said. The non-stop ceremony made it impossible for winners to address guests with a few proper words. In 2005 organizers want to address this unintended oversight.