The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG), has launched the 34th CIMG Annual National Marketing Performance Awards, which was recently held at the Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra. The event took a hybrid form with virtual and in-person attendees.

The CIMG awards are held annually to, among other things, create awareness about the relevance of marketing for the success of businesses, promote higher professional marketing standards and excellence, among practitioners, and also recognise deserving organisations for showing resilience for the year under review.

In his welcome address, the National President, Dr. Kasser Tee intimated that “The over 3 decades old CIMG Awards is a prestigious event and remains a cornerstone of our institute's mandate to set standards for the practice of marketing in Ghana. This platform allows CIMG to acknowledge the efforts and achievements of Marketing practitioners, and marketing-oriented organisations that have consistently demonstrated innovation, creativity, and effectiveness in their respective industries.”

He added that “to ensure survival and sustainable growth, organisations must rely on their marketing teams, recognising their vital role in understanding customer needs and driving business success, especially in today's dynamic business environment of uncertainties and intense competition from local and international sources across industries.”

Organisations were advised to rely on their marketing teams to ensure their survival and subsequent sustainable business growth because marketing is an ever-evolving business discipline that plays a vital role of continuously monitoring the business environment and devising strategies in response to all changing dynamics.

Speaking on the awards, the National Vice-President of CIMG and Chairman of the Awards Planning and Selection Committee, Mr. Theodore Osae, praised the CIMG for its achievements in previous awards ceremonies.

“There is no denying that the scheme has incredibly evolved into what could be considered Ghana's benchmark awards scheme. As we take delight in the successes achieved by our awards, I wish to boldly say that the CIMG takes pride in the several landmark accomplishments, which have greatly contributed towards improvements in organisational and professional performances, and especially, for practicing Marketers,” Mr. Osae said.

the Institute has committed to keep the stakes as high and as relevant as possible so that the standards by which CIMG evaluates individual and corporate performances are not compromised.

The institute, for the past few years, has adopted the online system of completing the awards questionnaire by nominees as well as online assessment for the judges, who are chosen from various sectors of the corporate world. This set up has made it easy for CIMG to continue to drive a rigorous process whilst maintaining its stringent standards.

Mr. Osae indicated that “themes for the awards are usually tilted to how corporate organisations can vary their strategies and reposition their corporate and product brands for effective performance”. The theme for this year’s awards, “Marketing: A Tool for Economic Recovery”, considered the current global economic challenges and how these affect nations and businesses of all sizes.

The Awards cover six major competitive areas, namely: Hall of Fame, Personality, Media and Marketing Communications organisations, Business organisations, Products, and Not-for-Profit organisations.

There is a non-competitive award category known as the CIMG President’s Special awards which are given to noticeable female and male achievers in any endeavour, or a business entity or product or service that has positively contributed to national progress.

The criteria for selecting the winners and benchmarking their performance will include:
I. Marketing Metrics including awareness, numeric distribution (where appropriate) and others
II. Marketing Innovation
III. Technological Innovation
IV. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP)
V. Social Impact
VI. Contribution to National Development
VII. Public Image
VIII. Success in the Market Place
IX. Market Share
X. Customer Service Orientation
XI. Ecological and Ethical Issues
XII. Competitor Orientation

For 33 years, CIMG has consistently held the Annual National Marketing Performance Awards with the upcoming one being the 34th edition, to celebrate the resilience, adaptability, and unwavering dedication of Marketers in the country. Nominations for the awards categories are still open till Thursday, July 20, 2023.