Sri Lanka`s Munchee biscuit brand won top place as brand of the year, while Panadol, a paracetamol product, bagged the gold for the international brand at the eighth annual Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) brand awards.

Ceylon`s Biscuits Limited`s Munchee also walked away with the award for the top export brand. Diva won silver and Tiara bagged bronze in the local category.

DIMO Batta, a half-truck manufactured by TATA Motors of India, distributed by Diesel and Motor Engineering Company (DIMO) won a silver in the international brand category.

Switch and bulb manufacturer Orange Electrics won Gold in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) brand of the year, while Munchee came in second place.

Celco`s, Mobitel and Dialog Telekom bagged gold in innovative brand of the year category. Ritzbury Chocolates, another Ceylon Biscuits brand, won the bronze in the category.

The Upahara package opened for state sector employees by Mobitel, a unit of Sri Lanka Telecom bagged gold in best new entrant of year award, while shoemaker DSI and Dialog news services, a text based new service, won silver.

Unlike awards which recognizes creativity, SLIM brand award organizers say they judge the effectiveness of the brand and campaign run by the marketing team of the company.