Emirates and Mohammed Ismaeel from Visa were named as the first winners of The Marketing Society Awards GCC at an inaugural ceremony which took place in December in the company of 60 industry leaders.
Emirates took the crown of Brand of the Year, in partnership with Landor & Fitch, from a shortlist that included Dubai Airports, Majid Al Futtaim, Noon and the UAE Ministry of Health. The Brand of the Year category highlights those brands that have demonstrated agility and pace by reacting to evolving situations, put customers at the heart of their decision-making and embodied bravery at their core.
Mohammed Ismaeel, Visa’s senior vice-president of marketing for Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, took home the Marketing Leader of the Year award after being selected as the winner from a shortlist of six leaders from across the region. Last year’s winner was Vino El Khatib, chief brand and marketing officer, Majid Al Futtaim. The full 2020 shortlist includes:
Banali Luthra Malhotra, director of marketing, Rakbank
Mahmoud Mirza, marketing director, Muvi Cinemas
Mohammed Mousa, head of marketing, Floward
Siddarth Sivaprakash, head of marketing, Home Centre, Landmark Group
Trixie LohMirmand, executive vice-president, Dubai World Trade Centre
Khaled Ismail, chairman of The Marketing Society UAE and vice-president of communications for Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa at Tetra Pak, said:
“Our region boasts a remarkable talent pool of marketing leaders and brands, and we felt it was really important to recognise the contribution they make to marketing and business in general in what has been a challenging year for our industry and society. Huge congratulations to Emirates and Mohammed Ismaeel on being our inaugural and very deserving winners.”
The winners were selected by an elite judging committee, made up from 20 of the region’s top CMOs, in a virtual judging day.
The committee also announced an Outstanding Leadership award to all marketing and communications professionals from health bodies around the region who have battled continuously through Covid-19 and provided world-class marketing excellence in keeping the public calm, educated and informed.
The Inspirational Leader Award was given to the whole Dubai World Trade Centre team and their executive vice-president Trixie LohMirmand for the success of the GITEX event, bringing the largest in-person tech show in the world in 2020 to Dubai.
