The Marine Marketers of America today announced the winners of its 2016 Neptune Awards for Marine Marketing Excellence during the Miami International Boat Show Innovation Breakfast.
“Marine marketers gave us their best for this year’s highly competitive contest,” MMA president Wanda Kenton Smith said in a statement. “There was a wonderful variety of submissions and participating companies, from small businesses to global corporations, from in-house marketing teams to boutique and full-service agencies, representing all aspects of the industry.”
The annual competition, now in its ninth year, was open to any organization producing and publishing marine industry marketing materials between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2016.
In total, 30 marketers from throughout the marine industry were involved in the judging process. The field drew 99 entries in 16 categories covering all areas of marketing, from national magazine ads and newsletters to video, product literature and diversity initiatives.
Ten Honorable Mentions were presented to companies whose submission scored within a prescribed range of the category’s winning entry, a first in Neptune history.
“The quality of the work proved that 2016 was a great year for innovation and creativity 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 the addition of 10 honorable mentions. Also, as this year’s results clearly reveal, every company — no matter its size — had an equal chance to win.”
The 2016 Neptune Award winners were:
Best Advertising Series: Hell’s Bay Boatworks, “Skiff Life” Series; created by
Markham & Stein
Best Advertising Spread: Hatteras Yachts, “Motoryacht”; created by Adventure Advertising
Best Single Page Advertisement: Boston Whaler, “Core Confidence”; created by Dino Publishing
Best Brand Promotional Video: Boston Whaler, “Outrage Family Launch” Video; created by Dino Publishing
Best Brand Promotional Video Series: Simrad, “Go with Confidence”
Best Event Marketing or Sales Promotion: Volvo Penta, “A New Direction of
Fun” Campaign; created by Cramer Krasselt
Best Product Literature: The Moorings, Product Brochure
Best Social Media Campaign: Grady White, “Night Before Christmas” Video; created by Adams and Longino, and Buzzadelic
Best Web Advertising-Banner Ads: Volvo Penta, “A New Direction of Fun” Campaign; created by Cramer Krasselt
Best Web Advertising-Native Advertising: T-H Marine, “Churning News and Making Waves”; created by Bevelwise
Best Website: Boston Whaler; created by Dino Publishing
Best Print Newsletter: Kadey-Krogen Yachts, “Waypoints”
Best Digital Newsletter: Boston Whaler, “Navigator”; created by Dino Publishing
Best Marketing Innovation: Nautique, “Launch of Super Air Nautique GS20”
Best Diversity Initiative: RBLC New Markets Task Force, “Proven Strategies for Engaging New Markets”
2016 Neptune Award Honorable Mention recipients included:
Advertising Series: Bayliner, “Experience the Evolution” Series
Brand Promotional Video: Galeon, Promotional Video; Created by MarineMax
Brand Promotional Video Series: Volvo Penta, Boating Challenge
Event Marketing or Sales Promotion: Mercury Marine, 2016 Mercury Edge
Print Newsletter: Yamaha Watercraft, “Prosales”
Product Brochure: Hatteras Motoryacht and Sportfish Brochures
Social Media Campaign: Yamaha Watercraft, “My Yamaha Memories”
Web Advertising-Banner Ads: Regal Boats, 2016 Web Campaign
Web Advertising-Native Advertising: Volvo Penta, “A New Direction of Fun”
Website: Chaparral Boats
