VILLARICA earned the most trophies for a single campaign at the Marketing Excellence Awards for a second year in a row.

The pawnshop pioneer received six Gold awards and retained its second overall position in the Philippine edition of the prestigious marketing competition for its “Usisa” campaign. The consumer-goods giant Unilever was hailed as the Marketer of the Year after picking up 17 awards for its numerous brands and campaigns.

“We’re not the biggest and that’s okay,” said Hans Villarica, who was proclaimed the Marketing Leader of the Year. “We’re just happy and grateful to be recognized for providing the best services and experiences to our customers.”

VILLARICA’s “Usisa” entry secured the top prize for Excellence in Experiential Marketing, in Brand Strategy, in Advertising, in Content Marketing, and in TV/Video Advertising at last week’s ceremony at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila. It also won the Silver trophy for Social Media Marketing.

These recognitions came on the heels of the pawnshop innovator’s strong showing at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, where it competed against companies from the region’s 29 markets and notched 10 wins, including People’s Choice for Favorite Company in the Financial Industries. 

VILLARICA developed the “Usisa” campaign with marketing partners Silver Machine and Dentsu X to make transparency the norm in an industry notorious for opaque processes. It encouraged customers to visit, compare and scrutinize the loan offers of multiple pawnshops for the welfare of their families.