MIAMI — The Marine Marketers of America announced 21 recipients of 2017 Neptune Awards for Marketing Excellence during the Miami International Boat Show on Thursday.
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.
“It was a robust competition, with a record number of contestants vying for additional categories,” said MMA president Wanda Kenton Smith in a statement. “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.”
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 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 were overlooked.”
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.
There were also 11 honorable mentions.
“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.”
