Marine Marketers of America hands out awards

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Marine Marketers of America (MMA) has named the winners of its first annual North American marketing competition, which drew 46 entries from 24 different companies representing a broad range of brands, boats, products and services, according to the association.

MMA introduced its new “Neptune Awards” for marketing communications campaigns judged “Best in Class” by panels of marine industry marketing professionals. The mission of this new awards program is to recognize and promote excellence in marine marketing communications, the association stated.

Best Print Advertising Campaign (defined as a series of three or more print ads) was awarded to Grady-White Boats of Greenville, N.C. for its series of national magazine display advertisements. The ads, created by Adams & Longino Advertising, also of Greenville, promote some of Grady-White’s express and center console models which allow their owners to enjoy “The Grady Life,” the association explained.

Grand Banks Yachts, headquartered in Seattle, Wash., won the Neptune award for Best Print Advertisement Spread, for its double page ad introducing the company’s new 41 Heritage EU model, according to MMA.

YachtWorld.com, also of Seattle, won Best Single Page Print Advertisement for its consumer advertisement titled, “Find the Boat of Your Dreams.”

The Neptune award for Best Collateral, Single Piece was awarded to a full line new boat brochure submitted by True North Yachts, a brand of the Pearson Marine Group in Warren, R.I.

The Best Product Literature, Series is a category featuring multiple pieces in a series. This award was presented to Mercury Racing of Fond du Lac, Wis. The Mercury Racing brochures were developed by GS Design of Milwaukee, according to the association.

“We were extremely pleased by both the quality and the number of entries in our inaugural year of the competition,” said Sally Helme, MMA awards committee co-chair and publisher of three Bonnier Marine Group boating and sailing magazines. “Clearly, outstanding marine marketing work is underway in our industry and the winners have reason to be very proud of their recognition and distinctive achievement. We look forward to continually building upon a strong foundation established for this program and encourage all marketers to become involved in our association activities, and to submit entries next year.”

Several teams of independent marine marketers were appointed by the awards committee to review and judge individual categories. A no-conflict requirement among judges was enacted to ensure total objectivity.

Besides the awards, the membership meeting also included brief reports from MMA committee chairs and a keynote speaker, Thom Dammrich of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). The MMA luncheon was co-sponsored by Info-Link Technologies, Show Management and Home Port Marine Marketing.

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