CMA Celebrates Canada's Top Marketers at 2019 Award Show & Gala

TORONTO, Nov. 22, 2019 /CNW/ - A sold-out crowd of 1,200 people gathered this evening to celebrate the winners of the Canadian Marketing Association's (CMA) 2019 Awards, presented by TD, including presentation of our premiere awards: Marketer of the Year, Best of the Best, Lifetime Achievement and Top Cause.

"Every year, we are impressed by the exceptional calibre of award entries, and this year is better than ever," said John Wiltshire, CMA president and CEO. "We are proud to celebrate the best in Canadian marketing, and to inspire all Canadian marketers to this level of excellence."

The 2019 Marketer of the Year, presented by IGM Financial, is Antoinette Benoit, Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's Canada. Under her leadership, the marketing return on investment of McDonald's Canada has increased by 33 per cent over the last three years, seeing the highest sales growth and market share in over 10 years, which positioned Canada as one of McDonald's top performing markets in the world. Campaigns such as Is It Still a Big Mac?, Big Mac x Bacon and Follow the Arches garnered international media attention and awards by balancing the iconic features of the brand with new innovations. For more information, click here. 

The 2019 Best of the Best Award was presented to Black & Abroad for its powerful Go Back to Africa campaign, in partnership with creative agency FCB/SIX. This pan-African tourism campaign blacked out hate-fueled Twitter posts containing the phrase and converted them into a showcase of the beauty and diversity for each of Africa's 54 countries. The campaign was built on an AI algorithm, fueled by Google Vision, that gathered user generated photos from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #GoBackToAfrica, while driving traffic to visit GoBacktoAfrica.com.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Stephen Brown, CEO of FUSE. Over the course of his marketing and advertising career spanning almost three decades, Stephen has consistently produced results in brand, CRM, digital, social media and experiential marketing with clients, such as CIBC, Canadian Tire, GE, Cashmere and the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. FUSE has grown under Brown's leadership to about 100 employees across three distinct business units with clients across Canada and the U.S. For more information, click here.

The Top Cause Award was presented to SickKids Foundation for their SickKids VS – Crews campaign in partnership with marketing and communications agency Cossette. The PR and social media strategy behind this campaign centered on a video that followed hundreds of donors, Toronto-based athletes, media personalities and social influencers in different cliques coming together to encourage people to join them in raising the $1.3 billion needed to build a new hospital.

The 2019 CMA Gold Winners in the special categories are:

• Environics Analytics Data Marketing Award: Black & Abroad with their "Go Back to Africa" campaign; FCB/SIX is their agency
• Facebook Mobile Marketing Award: Sobeys with their "Sobeys Global First Video Flyer" campaign; UM Canada is their agency
• Snapchat AR Marketing Award: belairdirect with their "The Real Fan" campaign; PHD Montreal is their agency
• Cannabis Marketing Award: A Higher Level of Thought for their "Cannabis Curation Committee" campaign

For the first time, CMA Award finalists now qualify to enter the Marketing Agencies Association GLOBES, which recognize the best marketing communications campaigns from around the world.

"We are delighted that our finalists are eligible to enter the MAA GLOBES, giving leading Canadian marketers the opportunity to be recognized among the best in the world," said Tim Bishop, the CMA's vice-president, marketing and experience.

CMA Awards winners have been chosen from a record number of entries that were judged across six disciplines: brand building, business impact, customer experience, engagement, innovative media and martech. Within each discipline, entries compete with campaigns in one of nine categories (automotive, business, consumer products, consumer services, financial, food & beverage, health care, retail and social causes). In addition, nominations are accepted for Marketer of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award, and a select panel of judges select the Top Cause and Best of the Best winners, from the top entries across their respective disciplines and categories.

This year's judging was overseen by a committee chaired by Arthur Fleischman, president and CEO of John St. and co-chaired by Jacquie Ryan, chief brand and commercial officer, Canadian Olympic Committee and Tyler Turnbull, CEO, FCB Canada. Judges from across Canada participated in a three-round process. In Round One, entries were evaluated on strategy, creativity and results, all equally weighted. In Round Two, senior judges and our multi-discipline judging panel evaluated the top entries in the disciplines and categories. The scores from the first two rounds were combined to determine gold, silver and bronze awards in each category. In Round Three, the senior judges met as a group to validate the selections across disciplines and to break ties in earlier rounds of judging.

A full list of CMA Award winners can be found at www.CMAgala.ca

About the Canadian Marketing Association
The CMA is the voice of the marketing profession in Canada. With more than 400 members, we represent leaders across the corporate, not-for-profit, public, post-secondary and health sectors. We provide a forum for members to engage in thought-leadership discussions, participate in professional development offerings and contribute to an environment where consumers are protected and businesses can thrive. We act as the primary advocate for marketing with governments, regulators and other stakeholders. Our Chartered Marketer (CM) designation ensures that marketing professionals are highly qualified and up to date with best practices. We champion self-regulatory standards, including a mandatory Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice and a series of guides to help marketers keep current and maintain high standards of professional conduct. Our members make a significant contribution to the economy through the sale of goods and services, investments in media and new marketing technologies, and by providing significant employment opportunities for Canadians. 

SOURCE Canadian Marketing Association