Just before the holiday break, the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada (SMCC) announced that a panel of leading industry experts has been selected to judge the 8th Annual Sponsorship Marketing Awards, Canada’s premier showcase of sponsorship marketing excellence.
The awards, presented by the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada (SMCC), recognize companies that have maximized their investments in sponsorship marketing by developing innovative leveraging strategies that drive business results.
The entry deadline for the 2012 awards program is Thursday, January 26th at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced at the SMCC’s 9th Annual Conference on April 3rd in Toronto.
The judging panel, chaired by Hari Sihvo, Director, Marketing Assets at Molson Coors Canada, is comprised of senior executives representing a cross-section of the sponsorship marketing industry. They are:
- Sue Bundy, Director, Corporate Sponsorships and Marketing Alliances, BMO Financial Group
- Simon Cazelais, Director, Alliance Marketing, bleublancrouge
- Jeff Deline, Senior Director, Corporate Partnerships, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
- George Dudas, Director, Marketing & Corporate Partnerships (Canada), National Football League
- Dana Gladstone, Vice President, Group Account Director, MacLaren Momentum
- Nicolas Marullo, President & CEO, CINCO
- Tyler Mazereeuw, Director, Business Development, Canadian Football League
- Jason Quehl, Director of Marketing, Red Bull Canada
- Gavin Roth, Vice-President, Sales, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium
- Karim Salabi, Vice-President, Marketing – Image & Sponsorship, RONA
- Patrick Taylor, Executive Producer and CEO, Toronto Downtown Jazz
- Laurel Walzak, Director, National Hockey League
- Glenn Young, President, Liquid Nutrition Group
The judges will consider SMA entries in eight categories: Sports; Arts & Entertainment; Cause (for not-for-profit programs); Special Interest (activation of sponsored programs in areas other than Sports, Arts & Entertainment, or Cause); Sustained Success (for programs that demonstrate delivery of business results over three consecutive years or longer); Small Budget (for programs budgeted at less than $100,000 annually, which includes rights fees and activation); Media Sponsorship (activation of sponsored programs experienced primarily via media such as broadcast, print, online, etc.); and Business-to-Business, a new category this year that recognizes sponsorship programs where the primary target is the business customer not the mainstream consumer.
SMA entries will be evaluated on their success at driving business results. Complete entry rules and guidelines are posted on the SMCC website.