The Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) has been buoyed by record entry submissions for the 2009 Queensland AMI Awards for Marketing Excellence being staged on Friday (September 11).

The awards are the most prestigious accolades for the Australian marketing industry and recognise effective and innovative marketing practices by Queensland's leading professionals and their clients.

AMI Queensland president, Jason Greenhalgh, said the awards timing and relevance was more important than ever.

"In difficult financial times such as these, marketers have to do more with smaller budgets and be more clever and creative than in the good times when money isn't such an issue," Mr Greenhalgh said.

"It's an enormous challenge to devise and execute campaigns that give clients the cut-through they're looking for in these times, which makes recognition even more important.

"The AMI Awards for Marketing Excellence have attracted a record number of entries - 238 nationally and 53 in Queensland - and I think that shows that marketers see the value in entering and winning our prestigious awards.

"They are a good way for both marketing professionals and clients to differentiate from their competitors as well as adding credibility to what they're doing."

The 2009 AMI Queensland Marketing Awards for Excellence will be held on  September 11 at the Sofitel Ballroom, Brisbane.

Winners of the Queensland awards progress to the national finals on October 28 in Sydney.

Murray Berghan, of Make Communications, said the currency of the AMI awards should never be under-estimated by marketers or their clients.

"To be a finalist or win an award at the AMI Awards for Marketing Excellence is a huge honour and achievement," said Mr Berghan, the founding director and managing partner of Make Communications.

"Any client wants a great business result for their marketing expenditure and to be acknowledged by your marketing peers is icing on the cake."

Make Communications and its client Youngcare won Australia's highest marketing accolade last year taking out the coveted Marketing Program of the Year.

Youngcare is an organisation dedicated to finding appropriate care for young people with high-care needs.

Make Communications received recognition for its clients as the most awarded agency at last year's Australian Marketing Institute National awards with 10 national finalists, three national awards and seven state awards.

The AMI is also using the 2009 Queensland Awards to throw its support behind one of the state's most important charities, Chicks in Pink.

All proceeds from a raffle at the lunch will go to Chicks in Pink, the Mater Hospital charity dedicated to raising funds for people affected by breast cancer.

Chicks in Pink pays for temporary prostheses and bras for women who have recently undergone mastectomies, as well as providing other practical support programs and initiatives.

The Australian Marketing Institute is the country's peak organisation for marketing professionals, representing over 5000 practitioners nationally across all marketing functions and industries.

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Public relations (PR) is vital to the survival and success of business in tough economic times according to a leading Brisbane agency.

Yasmine Gray.

Public relations is becoming more valuable for business survival, as an effective and economical promotional solution, than ever before, believes Gray Media Services director, Yasmine Gray.

Mrs Gray will be addressing a businesses at The Pavillion Function Centre in Albion on August 27. She said PR is not only as effective as other forms of marketing but for a fraction of the cost.

"Every business is currently feeling the pressure of how to do more for less with their promotional dollar," Mrs Gray said. "So why would anyone spend more than they need to for an equally effective result?

"PR provides both innovative and cost-effective ways of getting businesses the exposure they need, and in tough times this could be the difference between succeeding or failing."

The issue of corporate accountability is increasingly causing return on investment (RoI) figures to be more carefully scrutinized. 

"RoI has become the real buzz word" confirmed Mrs Gray who draws upon 23 years of experience in the media industry as both a journalist and a PR consultant.

With a wide range of high profile clients that entrust their business to Gray Media Services, Mrs Gray has an extensive understanding of how the media works and how to get her clients the results they need.  She believes PR has more potential than ever to become the marketing spend of choice as the industry evolves into a new era.

"These are exciting times," she said. "We have wonderful new opportunities opening out to us with social and online media growing rapidly to name just a few advantages outside of traditional marketing methods.

"What hasn't changed is the need to have a professional organisation to help businesses navigate the media to use it to their best advantge. Speacialists in any field are invaluable," Mrs Gray said.

At the special women's business lunch on Thursday, Mrs Gray will examine the profession of PR, its history, what exactly it is, how it works, why it is important to any business and how much it should cost. She will also give examples of the difference a professional PR campaign can make.

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Queensland agency, Make, has dominated the 2008 Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) Awards for marketing excellence.

The Brisbane independent agency, previously known as Advertising Depot, won an unprecedented seven state awards and had three national finalists to be the most nominated agency nationally at the AMI awards. Make dominates for Queensland for the second time in three years with 10 nominations for the 14 awards on offer.

Make’s work for clients Brisbane City Council, Bond University, Macquarie Leisure owned AMF Bowling, rare|wear and Youngcare was assessed using criteria measuring not only creativity but effectiveness.

Make’s managing partner, Murray Berghan said, “We’re delighted to have been part of these campaigns. Innovative and effective marketing doesn’t happen without a concerted collaboration between clients and agency. We are lucky to work with some wonderful people who have great marketing acumen. Our business ethos is effectiveness through creativity and results are always the priority.”

Brisbane City Council was awarded for its Greenheart CitySmart campaign – a campaign launched to achieve the Lord Mayor Campbell Newman’s commitment to make Brisbane Australia’s most sustainable city. It aims to reduce Brisbane’s carbon footprint by 50 percent by year 2026.

AMF Bowling scored a strike at the AMI NSW awards, with its Striking campaign for the launch of AMF Bowling Centre North Strathfield.

Bond University’s Chase Your Ambition campaign was also selected as a national finalist in several categories. Spearheaded by a 30 second television commercial and teamed with web, outdoor and radio, the campaign achieved outstanding results.

Director of marketing and admissions at Bond University, Andrea Harcourt, said, “Together with Make, we were able to create a campaign that adopted a layered approach to establish a credible connection between Bond University and our target market. Market feedback and the ensuing results were outstanding. Student enrolments, applications and conversion rates for 2007 broke all records against a declining industry trend, and our audience clearly received the message that ambitious people go to Bond.”

Another of Make’s clients which needed to make room on the mantle, was clothing company rare|wear who won for their interactive campaign, Believe in Destiny which, with over 3.5 million views on YouTube, has become Australia’s most successful YouTube viral ad of all time.

National charity, Youngcare was awarded twice for their Young People Deserve Young Lives entry. Dedicated to finding appropriate care for young people with high care needs, Youngcare used a variety of media to deliver their message including print, outdoor and a ‘game day stunt’ with the NRL One Community Initiative.

www.advertisingdepot.com.au

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