Young Marketer of the Year 2013 – Karla Pearce Melia White House
Karla Pearce, Marketing Manager at London’s Melia White House hotel is the ‘Young Marketer of the Year’ 2013.
The Judges considered Karla to be a worthy winner because of the way she took on the marketing manager’s role after the hotel had been without one for five years. They felt her passion and creativity for her job, shone through and were impressed with the way she made it her own with a limited budget and achieved some great results on her own initiative.
The Young Marketer of the Year award was created by the HMA, a branch of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, to recognise the cream of young marketing talent in the hospitality industry with the chosen candidate required to be aged under 30 years. Karla received a one-day course at the Chartered Institute of Marketing at Moor Hall and a bottle of champagne.
Best Use of Social Media in Marketing – 360i London for InterContinental Hotels Group
This award was won by 360i London for a campaign called Franchise Media That Works on behalf of InterContinental Hotels Group. The objective of the campaign was to deliver CRM and brand engagement across 65 local hotel websites whilst supporting the growth of SEO traffic.
The campaign saw each hotel have its own Twitter, Facebook and Google+ profiles which were regularly updated with unique, locally relevant content.
The Judges said the winning entry showed that a big brand can bring localisation to social media and were impressed at the way the campaign successfully combined social media with SEO to drive traffic to their website.
Best Partnership Marketing Campaign – Edwardian Group London
The award was presented to Edwardian Group London for a partnership marketing campaign, which they executed with Historic Royal Palaces.
The Judges praised the campaign for successfully combining social media with more traditional marketing channels and showing an excellent return on investment.
Best Media and Public Relations Activity – Ibis Hotels
The Best Media and Public Relations Activity award went to Ibis Hotels, for their Science of Sleep Campaign. The campaign had two distinct parts, one was a Sleep Art App developed for iphones which captured the movement and sounds from a person’s sleep and converted the data into a piece of artwork.
The second part of the campaign comprised a research programme into people’s dreams. Both achieved impressive coverage in their target media.
The judges described the campaign as “exceptionally creative and demonstrating an outstanding use of social media channels.
Highly Commended – Red Carnation Hotel Collection
Red Carnation Hotel Collection received a Highly Commended award for their Living Wall at The Rubens at The Palace Hotel in London. The Living Wall was an environmental project involving the construction of a vertical garden on the side of the hotel covering an area of some 350 square metres.
The project generated impressive media coverage including a broadcast on ITV’s London Tonight.
Best Website – Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons
A record number of entries in this category provided a headache for the Judges to agree on a winner, however they decided to make the award to Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons for www.manoir.com The website incorporated extensive use of imagery to sell the surroundings, rooms and facilities.
The Judges praised the website for its “fantastic imagery which entices you in.” They said the website had succeeded in updating an iconic brand to make it relevant to a new generation of traveller.
Highly Commended- Umi Digital for HOAXLiverpool.com
Described as a ‘boutique’ hostel for people who ‘don’t do establishment’, the website www.HoaxLiverpool.comreceived a Highly Commended award in this category. The website was developed by umi Digital to appeal to a young generation and showcase the hostel online in a mobile and tablet friendly way. All of this was achieved on a limited budget and in a limited time scale.
Long Term Contribution to Hospitality Marketing Award – Alan Parker, CBE
The HMA Committee decided to make a special presentation to mark the 20thanniversary of the Hotel Marketing Awards. This was made to Alan Parker, CBE, President of the British Hospitality Association, for a distinguished career in hospitality marketing. While Chief Executive of Whitbread PLC, Alan Parker created the UK’s largest hospitality company, expanded Premier Inns in the UK and developed the global Costa Coffee brand.
“We could not think of a more worthy recipient for a Long Term Contribution to Hospitality Marketing Award than Alan Parker who has clearly carved a highly successful career in the industry from a strong marketing background”, said Linda Moore, Chairman Hotel Marketing Association.
The Hotel Marketing Association Awards are the only dedicated recognition scheme, which celebrate good practice in hotel marketing and are judged by industry experts.
The HMA’s membership comprises sales and marketing specialists and operators of independent and chain hotels, hospitality companies and agencies.
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