Best Marketing Award Site

Best Marketing Award - Goals

The ICCA Best Marketing Award, established in 1997, recognises the excellence and outstanding achievements of organisations in their effort to market their destination or product. Entries can range from full-scale campaigns and branding exercises to individual promotions and events. The ICCA Best Marketing Award is open to all ICCA members, regardless of their sector.

Finalists present on Tuesday at the ICCA Congress and the winner is chosen by judges and delegates on a 50:50 basis. The winner is announced at the Closing session of the Congress (Wednesday). Submission components consist of: innovation and creativity, research and rationale, return on investment, success in meeting the objectives, and communication.

Past Winners:
2023 Tourism New Zealand
2022 ICCA Wales
2021 Hybrid City Alliance
2020 KINTEX, South Korea; Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre; Seoul Tourism Organization; THE INDIAN HOTELS COMPANY LIMITED; VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau
2019 Estonian Convention Bureau
2018 VisitScotland
2017 Flanders Meeting and Convention Center Antwerp
2016 London & Partners
2015 Halifax Convention Centre
2014 Monaco Convention Bureau
2013 Gdansk Convention Bureau, Poland
2012 Bureau of Foreign Trade Ministry of Economic Affairs, Chinese Taipei
2011 Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre, U.K.
2010 Iceland Convention and Incentive Bureau, Iceland
2009 Norway Convention Bureau, Norway
2008 Sarawak Convention Bureau, Malaysia
2007 Promo Leader Service, Italy
2006 Glasgow City Marketing Bureau Ltd., U.K.
2005 Grazer Congress, Austria
2004 Perth Convention Bureau, Australia
2003 Kursaal Centre, Spain
2002 Ovation Group, Ireland
2001 Perth Convention Bureau, Australia
2000 Palais des Congres de Montreal, Canada
1999 Edinburgh International Conference Centre, U.K.
1998 International Convention Centre Durban, South Africa
1997 Boston, America's Walking City, U.S.A.

Judging Panel

The Judging Panel for the Best Marketing Award 2024 will be confirmed later in the process stay tuned.

Prizes & ROI

For the finalists

A free registration (1 person per company) to come to the ICCA Congress the following year
Acknowledgement on the ICCA Website
Acknowledgement in Members Update Online

For the winner

A complimentary full page advertisement in the ICCA Membership Directory, worth approx. EUR 2,795.
A complimentary 9sqm stand (shell scheme with one furniture package or space only) at The Meetings Show, worth approx. £7,794.
A personalised award to display in their office.
A personalised logo to use on their website, emails or promotional literature.
Acknowledgement on the ICCA Website.
Acknowledgement in Members Update Online.

Should a competing show win the Best Marketing Award, ICCA will offer an alternative prize.

If you have any questions about the Best Marketing Award, please contact Mieke van Loenen, mieke.l@iccaworld.org.

How to submit

The competition is open to all ICCA Members (individual ICCA members, or groups of ICCA members working together). Members may submit any marketing campaign or project which is related to the international meetings market, which demonstrates excellence in marketing, and which was undertaken at least partially during the 18 months prior to the Congress at which the BMA entry will be presented.

Entries should be submitted in digital format, no more than 12 pages in length. Links to videos must be included in the digital format. No printed materials are required. The entry must cover the following:

- What were the marketing challenges being addressed?
- What is innovative and creative about the campaign/project; what lessons can other ICCA members learn from your ideas?
- How was the campaign/project undertaken - demonstrate the professionalism involved by setting out all the key steps.
- Set out detailed objectives/targets and explain how well these were met, covering both financial and non-financial issues.
- All submissions must be received by ICCA Head Office by 4 September 2020.

You can send your submission to Mieke van Loenen, Director Events: mieke.l@iccaworld.org

Examples of marketing that can be submitted:

- Innovative marketing to boost attendance or sponsorship for individual events (either established or brand new).
- Integrated marketing campaign covering all areas of the marketing mix by a venue or meetings management company.
- Rebranding of a city or country destination.
- Successful collaborative promotional event by a consortium of ICCA members.
- Tactical marketing campaign to overcome a negative business environment.
- Creative use of limited marketing budget to generate excellent return on investment.
- Launch campaign of a new meetings industry product or service.

BMA Presentations

- Announcements of finalists: End of September 2020
- Best Marketing Award 2020 Plenary Session - finalists' presentations: Tuesday 3 November 2020 at the ICCA Congress in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.
- Announcement of the winner and BMA 20120 Award giving: Wednesday 4 November 2020, during the Closing Ceremony.

Submissions from past winners

To view the entries from past Best Marketing Award winners, please click on the Finalists tab.

Voting

The following elements will be looked at when determining the finalists:

Creativity and innovation
Quality of execution/professionalism in how the marketing was carried out
Achievement of ambitious, clearly defined targets and objectives
Return on Investment
Quality and effectiveness of communication

The same elements will be used for determining the winner. Both the judges and audience will be voting on each entry, with the balance of the votes split 50-50 between the audience and judging panel.

The Meetings Show

The Meetings Show is the best platform in the UK for the events, meetings and incentives industry to come together to source, learn and network.

Launched in 2013, the show welcomes exhibitors from the UK and around the world including hotels, luxury hotels, destinations, destination management companies, conference centres, venues and technology suppliers.

In 2019 we saw over 12,000 pre-scheduled meetings taking place on the show floor and 5,000* meeting and event professionals attending ranging from agency buyers, in-house planners, associations planners, media and anyone with a genuine interest in the industry.

Last year, we developed an exciting virtual event to keep business meetings and events professionals connected and informed, wherever they were in the world.

The Meetings Show is now part of the Northstar Meetings Group, who have recently expanded to the UK, adding CAT Media to their global portfolio of events and publications.

The 2021 Format

This year's show will run as a hybrid event, taking place live at ExCeL London and virtually - we hope to see you there!

Press releases

Please find below ICCA Best Marketing Award press releases:

9 November 2021

"ICCA recognises Marketing through Transformation with 2021 Best Marketing Award"

30 October 2019

"Go Wild, Choose Estonia!" wins ICCA 2019 Best Marketing Award

14 November 2018

VisitScotland Business Events wins ICCA Best Marketing Award at 57th ICCA Congress

10 October 2018

ICCA Best Marketing Award finalists link destination marketing to intellectual capital

15 November 2017

Flanders Meeting & Convention Center Antwerp Wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

26 September 2017

Best Marketing Award finalists announced for “biggest ICCA Congress ever”

16 November 2016

#LondonisOpen wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

03 October 2016

Four finalists confirmed for 2016 ICCA Best Marketing Award

04 November 2015

Halifax Convention Centre wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

05 October 2015

ICCA announces Best Marketing Award 2015 finalists

19 March 2015

The Meetings Show new sponsor of ICCA Best Marketing Award

05 November 2014

Monaco Convention Bureau wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

08 November 2013

Gdansk Convention Bureau wins ICCA Best Marketing Award for Christmas CSR Campaign

31 October 2013

ICCA announces Best Marketing Award finalists for record-breaking Congress in Shanghai

26 October 2012

Meet Taiwan's "Shake to Share" campaign wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

21 September 2012

ICCA announces Best Marketing Award finalists for 51st Congress in Puerto Rico

26 October 2011

"Glasgow Model" wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

27 October 2010

A volcano as a marketing tool: Iceland Convention and Incentive Bureau wins ICCA Best Marketing Award

16 November 2009

Naked Norwegian man wins ICCA Best Marketing Award 2009!

21 October 2009

ICCA Best Marketing Award 2009 – Finalists Announced!

19 November 2008

Sarawak Convention Bureau, Malaysia, Wins ICCA Best Marketing Award 2008!

13 November 2007

Promo Leader Service, Italy, Wins ICCA Best Marketing Award 2007!

08 October 2007

ICCA Best Marketing Awards 2007 – Finalists Announced!

20 October 2006

ICCA Best Marketing Awards 2006

26 September 2006

ICCA Best Marketing Awards 2006 – Finalists Announced!

22 November 2005

2005 ICCA Best Marketing Award Winner

10 November 2004

ICCA Best Marketing Award 2004 Winner

06 January 2003

Winner of the ICCA Best Marketing Award 2002!

Best Marketing Award - Special edition 2020

Special edition of the 2020 ICCA Best Marketing Award: highlights of transformational leadership examples among ICCA members.

27 August 2020

“Recognising Leadership in Transformation”

ICCA honours five of its members with the special edition of the Best Marketing Award - Recognising Leadership in Transformation at the global hybrid 59th ICCA Congress in Kaohsiung.

The ICCA Best Marketing Award, sponsored by the Meetings Show UK, recognises the excellence and outstanding achievements of organisations in their effort to market their destination or product since 1997. Considering the unprecedented social and economic circumstances this year, ICCA introduced a special edition of the Best Marketing Award recognising the best examples of transformative action.

Chairman of the judges and BMA Moderator, Patrick Delaney of SoolNua explains: “This year has been an extraordinarily difficult year, it has been difficult for our businesses and affected each and every country. So, in these economic and societal conditions, we felt that it was inappropriate to run our normal ICCA Best Marketing Award. However, we did want to recognise the amazing role ICCA members have played in this very difficult situation, so we combined our Global Destination Sustainability Award and the Best Marketing Award to highlight the key role in transformational leadership that ICCA members have played throughout the world. “

Therefore, ICCA invited all types of initiatives that provide creative answers to the current challenges to apply to be recognised. A great number of well-crafted and engaging submissions made the selection process incredibly difficult for the judging panel. Among all those who applied, five of the initiatives were found not only to have showcased a great amount of creativity, innovation, and local outreach, but also leadership in transformation with their unparalleled community engagement and extraordinary collaborations:

KINTEX, South Korea: Created a comprehensive and innovative framework for re-opening a venue during the pandemic, which has subsequently been adopted in different parts of the world as the go to standard.
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre: Identified a deficiency in their local supply chain, namely insufficient knowledge among the PCO community of the scope of work and services required by international planners. They formed a unique partnership with the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) to launch the IAPCO online platform providing globally accredited training to Malaysian Professional Congress Organisers (PCOs).
Seoul Tourism Organization: Created a series of practical initiatives and supports to underpin their campaign ‘Stand Strong Together’ and totally revitalized the local the MICE community.
THE INDIAN HOTELS COMPANY LIMITED: Provided emergency accommodation and meals for frontline health and police personnel who were on duty treating Covid-19 patients during the nationwide lockdown. In addition to supplying 20,000 food boxes daily for those migrant workers who were combating unemployment.  
VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau: Rebalanced their long-term vision for business events with the immediate need to create measures to support the industry. Taking Covid-19 as an opportunity to innovate, they created a new set of services and tools for their industry supply partners and association customers.

ICCA CEO, Senthil Gopinath, thanks all initiatives for their great efforts despite facing challenging times as well as their dedication and commitment towards ICCA: “The Best Marketing award is very special for the ICCA community. Every destination makes great efforts in showcasing their achievements. Considering how important it is for the ICCA members, we decided to recognise the community leadership within our industry in these challenging times. It is amazing to see the dedication and commitment of ICCA members and how swiftly they engaged in the society. This year we received a record number of entries and it clearly showcases the long-term vision of our industry. I thank the ICCA members for their efforts in submitting their entries. We are a global community which proactively supports every situation.” 

Watch the ICCA Best Marketing Award session recording to learn more about the submissions: https://youtu.be/0_wsia82d8c.

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