WHEN CORUM SPEAKS WITH THE WORLD’S LEADING BRAND AND BUSINESS ICONS

September 2nd, 2008 - CORUM is proud to announce that Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, is the 2008 winner of THE GLOBAL BRAND ICON™ OF THE YEAR AWARD supported by the Swiss Watchmaking Brand. He is the second person to win this honor as the inaugural award was won in 2007 by Al Gore, the former U.S. Vice President who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize later that year. Jimmy Wales received a CORUM watch - the Romvlvs Dual Time in red gold - as a distinguished award at the Global Brand Forum in Singapore on August 14. 

Deepa Chatrah Regional Managing Director of CORUM Singapore and Jimmy Wales Founder of Wikipedia
and winner of THE GLOBAL BRAND ICON™ OF THE YEAR AWARD. Jimmy Wales wears the CORUM Romvlvs
Dual Time in red gold.

Over the last 5 years, the Global Brand Forum has become the world platform for inspiration and thought leadership in the area of brands and business. Called the “Davos of Branding”, this exclusive event highlights the achievements of people in the global arena who have made an outstanding contribution to the world and redefined business. For 2 years, CORUM has been supporting the Global Brand Forum in offering a privileged stage to the world’s leading brand and business icons.
 
During two days at the Ritz Carlton Millenia in Singapore, from August 14 to 15, 8 outstanding speakers were gathered to bring their voice and vision to the theme of: “The maverick approach to brand building”. A time to share and discuss experiences, learning and insights on what it takes to build disruptive brands. The world’s leading marketing experts were asked to show how their approach helps to build brands with the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and to go against the grain.

Spike Lee wearing a Romvlvs 42 mm in steel

CORUM shares the values upheld by the Global Brand Forum and is concerned by the chosen theme of Maverick Approaches to Brand Building because the Swiss watchmaking brand aims on a daily basis to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by adopting a more disruptive approach. 
 
This year, by giving this award to Jimmy Wales, CORUM is proud to highlight the work of a man who has himself become a brand that stands for good, giving free access to human knowledge on a worldwide level. He duly represents what CORUM continually supports: To unlock and conquer new perimeters of innovation and breakthrough.
 
CORUM will support the next Global Brand Forum which will be held in Malaysia in November.

PRESENTATION OF THE EIGHT FAMOUS SPEAKERS
 
JIMMY WALES
Founder of Wikipedia, a free and open content encyclopedia in 2001, and Wikia, a privately-owned free web hosting service set up in 2004. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation. His work with  Wikipedia, has become the world's largest encyclopedia, and led Time magazine to name him in 2006, among the “100 most influential people in the world”.
 
SPIKE LEE
Multi Award-Winning American Filmmaker, Writer, Actor, Music Video Producer for Chaka Khan, Tracy Chapman, Michael Jackson etc. His debut film, “She’s Gotta Have It”, earned the Prix de Jeunesse Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986 and his third film, “Do the Right Thing” garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won Best Film and Best Director awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 1989. His epic drama, “Malcolm X”, received two Oscar nominations. He also directed “Inside Man” and is the ad  filmmaker of the famous Orange and Nike Air Jordan commercials.
 
AL RIES
Celebrated marketing strategist and repeat best-selling author, Al Ries is the architect behind the marketing tool  known as brand positioning. In 1980, he wrote his first book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind which has become an industry hallmark and one of the best-selling advertising books of all time. He is also a best-selling  author of 11 books on marketing.

WILL WRIGHT
Chief Designer of Electronic Art and known as the “Spielberg” of the gaming industry, Will Wright is creator of The Sims game franchise. In 2007, he received a fellowship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Awards by PC Magazine in 2005, a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2001, and was the fifth person inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2002. His next video game, SPORE, is scheduled for release in September 2008.
 
AL GOLIN
Founder & Chairman of Chicago-based GolinHarris, he was voted one of 100 most influential public relations  people of 20thcentury in America; whose first handshake with McDonald’s Founder, Ray Kroc in 1957, helped lead the McDonald’s brand to forward-thinking visions and innovations until today, 51 years after. 
 
JOANNE OOI
She is the Creative Director of Shanghai Tang . China’s first luxury brand did not have a smooth ride until Joanne Ooi joined Shanghai Tang. She helped boost sales, up almost 50% since 2003, and doubled the number of stores to 30 worldwide in the next three years. To reinvigorate the brand, she created bold design statements that combined Chinese cultural references and sleek, contemporary clothes.
 
HARRY HUI
Chief Marketing Officer Pepsico International, China. A veteran expert on youth marketing, (formerly with Universal Music and MTV), Harry Hui steers Pepsi product pitches to China’s next generation. The brands under  his wing include Pepsi Cola (China’s #1 Cola drink), Gatorade, Tropicana, Dole, 7Up, Mirinda, as well as other  locally developed brands. 
 
VIKAS MALKANI
The Enlightenment Specialist and founder of SoulCentre, Vikas Malkani is one of the world’s leading teachers of  spiritual awakening, personal growth and self-awareness. His forte is to make ancient spiritual wisdom simple to understand and apply, thus creating a life of health, harmony and abundance on all levels. He has written numerous books that involves the disciplines of meditation, spiritual wisdom and yoga.

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