Marine Marketers of America announce 2017 Neptune Award winners

Marine Marketers of America  announced the winners of its 2017 Neptune Awards for Marine Marketing Excellence during the Miami International Boat Show.

“It was a robust competition, with a record number of contestants vying for additional categories,” said Wanda Kenton Smith, president of MMA. “All aspects of the marine industry were represented, from small businesses to global corporations, from in-house marketing teams to boutique and full-service agencies.”

The annual competition, now in its tenth year, was open to any organization producing and publishing marine industry marketing materials between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2017.

In total, over 60 marketers from throughout the marine industry were involved in the judging process.

The field drew 155 entries (up from 99 in 2016) in 21 categories covering all areas of marketing, from national magazine ads and newsletters, to video, product literature and social media.

In addition to the six new categories introduced this year, the 2017 competition also launched the “King Neptune” Best-in-Competition Award category, to recognize the best all around entry in the overall Neptune competition.

The King Neptune award was presented to Hatteras Yachts for its “Experience M90 Panacera Launch” advertising campaign, created by Hatteras Yachts and Adventure Advertising.

“The campaign was well executed, achieving its desired goals and results,” said Kenton Smith. “From mailings to events, Hatteras owners were made to feel part of the Hatteras family. No opportunity or detail in this exciting branded campaign was overlooked.”

In addition to the category award winners, 11 “Honorable Mentions” were also presented to companies whose submission scored within a prescribed range of the category’s winning entry.

“The results of this year’s contest prove that innovation and creativity are alive and well in the boating marketplace,” said Sally Helme, MMA vice president and Neptune Awards chairperson. “The Neptune Awards are judged on the basis of marketing excellence with a variety of criteria and benchmarks for each category. This year, many categories were hotly contested, evidenced by a tie in the popular category of mobile apps.”

2017 Neptune Award Winners :

Best Advertising Series: Carver Yachts, “Carver Ad Series;” created by Carver Yachts and Freckman & Guild Best Advertising Spread and King Neptune

Best-in-Competition Award: Hatteras Yachts, “Experience M90 Panacera Launch;” created by Hatteras Yachts and Adventure Advertising

Best Single Page Advertisement: GEMECO Marine Accessories, “Muscle Ad;” created by GEMECO Marine Accessories and Hawley Communications

Best Advertorial/Native Advertisement: Mercury Marine, “Bass History;” created by Markham & Stein Unlimited

Best B2B Marketing: BRP/Sea-Doo Watercraft, “Club BRP/Sea-Doo Test Ride Experience;” created by BRP/Sea-Doo and LOOK Marketing

Best Email Marketing: Galeon, “385 HTS Email;” created by MarineMax

Best Event Marketing/Grassroots Promotion: Hatteras Yachts, “Hatteras Club Experience M90 Panacera Launch;” created by Hatteras Yachts and Adventure Advertising

Best Innovation: Yamaha WaterCraft, “Test Drive;” created by Yamaha WaterCraft and ICBM Media

Best Integrated Marketing Campaign: White River Marine Group, “Bass Tracker 40th Anniversary Product Launch;” created by White River Marine Group Best Mobile App (TIE): Freedom Boat Club, “Member App;” created by Freedom Boat Club, and Yamaha Boats, “Yamaha Boats and Waverunner Apps;” created by Yamaha Boats and ICBM Media

Best Newsletter: Grady-White, “Docklines E-newsletter;” created by Adams & Longino

Best Online Advertising: Boston Whaler Inc., “Dauntless Family;” created by Boston Whaler Inc. and Dino Publishing

Best Public Relations: Hinckley Yachts, “Dasher New Product PR Campaign;” created by Hinckley Yachts and PMK-BNC

Best Product Literature: Larson Boat Group, “Larson FX Interactive Journ-Alog;” created by Larson Boats and Dino Publishing

Best Regional/Local Marketing: Yamaha WaterCraft, “Local Search Marketing Beta;” created by Yamaha WaterCraft and ICBM Media

Best Sales Promotion: Sea Ray, “#SeaRaySummer;” created by Sea Ray and Dino Publishing

Best Social Media: Boston Whaler Inc., “12 Days of Whaler Holiday Campaign;” created by Boston Whaler Inc. and Meghaphone Marketing

Best Video Series: Hobie Cat Company, “Get Out There;” created by Hobie Cat Company Best Video Single: MarineMax, “MarineMax Sea Ray SLX-W 230 Video;” created by MarineMax Best Website: Sea Ray, “New Configurator – Design Your Sea Ray;” created by Sea Ray, New Foundry and Mid Coast Studio 2017 Neptune Award Honorable Mention recipients included: Advertising Series: Hell’s Bay Boatworks, “Ad Series;” created by Markham & Stein Unlimited

Advertorial/Native Advertisement: RMK, “RMK Merrill Stevens;” created by Lisa Overing Email Marketing: MarineMax, “Aquila 36 Launch Email;” created by MarineMax Innovation: Grady-White Boats, “Multipurpose Content Syncing;” created by Adams & Longino

Integrated Marketing Campaign: Hobie Cat Company, “Get Out There Marketing Campaign;” created by Hobie Cat Company

Newsletter: Yamaha, “ProSales Newsletter;” created by ICBM Media

Online Advertising: Yamaha, “Yamaha Helm Master Banners;” created by Hoffman York

Public Relations: Mercury Marine, “Media Events;” created by Mercury Marine

Product Literature: Hatteras Yachts, “Sportsfishing Brochure;” created by Hatteras Yachts and Adventure

Advertising Sales Promotion: Boston Whaler Inc., “New Year, New Whaler Winter Promotion;” created by Boston Whaler Inc. and Dino Publishing

Video Single: Boston Whaler Inc., “Boston Whaler Brand Video;” created by Mack Rackley Productions & Up Down Productions

Website: MarineMax, “MarineMax Website;” created by MarineMax