Karla Pearce, Marketing Manager at London’s Melia White House hotel has been named ‘Young Marketer of the Year’ 2013 by the Hotel Marketing Association (HMA), as it celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Hotel Marketing Awards, sponsored by American Express. The HMA has also honoured Alan Parker CBE, President of the British Hospitality Association, with a Long Term Contribution to Hospitality Marketing Award.
Other award winners this year were: Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons for Best Website; InterContinental Hotels Group and their agency 360i London for Best Use of Social Media in Marketing; Edwardian Group London for the Best Partnership Marketing Campaign; and Ibis Hotels for Best Media and Public Relations Activity.
The Young Marketer of the Year Award
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.
“The judges were posed with a difficult task as we had some outstanding candidates this year, however Karla was considered to be a worthy winner because of the way she took on the marketing manager’s role and made it her own with great results,” said Linda Moore, Chairman Hotel Marketing Association. In addition to her award Karla received a one-day course at the Chartered Institute of Marketing at Moor Hall and a bottle of champagne.
Marketing Awards
The judges praised Le Manoir, who won in the Best Website category for producing a website with “fantastic imagery that enticed you in”. Also Highly Commended in this category was UmiDigital for Hoax Liverpool a ‘boutique’ hostel with a difference located in Liverpool city centre.
The winner of the Best Media and Public Relations Activity – Ibis Hotels, for the Science of Sleep Campaign was praised by the judges for a ‘highly creative” campaign that combined an app to measure sleep patterns with a research campaign into sleep.
Also Highly Commended in this category was Red Carnation Hotel Collection for The Living Wall at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel, which achieved great coverage including a slot on ITV’s London Tonight.
Edwardian Group London won the Best Partnership Marketing award for a campaign, which they ran with Historic Royal Palaces. The campaign received praise from the judges for successfully combining social media with more traditional marketing channels to show an excellent return on investment.
The judges were also impressed with the way that InterContinental Hotels Group were able to adapt the requirements of a major brand to fit in with local marketplace demands. They gave the Best Use of Social Media in Marketing Award to their digital agency 360i London for their campaign Franchise Social Media That Works.
Long Term Contribution to Hospitality Marketing Award
Alan Parker was honoured with the Long Term Contribution to Hospitality Marketing Award 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.
The Hotel Marketing Association Awards are the only dedicated recognition scheme which celebrates good practice in hotel marketing and is 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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