PMA: Kraft Promotion Marketer Of The Year.

The Promotion Marketing Association, Inc. (PMA), the premier trade organization representing the $350 billion promotion marketing industry, announced that it has named Kraft as its 2002 Promotion Marketer of the Year.

The annual award, which will be given by the Promotion Marketing Association at this year’s Leadership conference, June 23 -26 at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona, honors those organizations that have shown consistent commitment to promotion, with special achievement during the past year. Kraft’s vice president of marketing and strategy, Sarah Gleason, will accept the award on the organization’s behalf, and will also speak at the Leadership conference about the driving force behind Kraft’s long-standing commitment and dedication to promotion.

“We selected Kraft this year because of their sustained commitment to promotion and the extent to which the entire organization utilizes promotion as a key strategic and creative driver to build their business and brands,” said Larry Deutsch, executive vice president at UPSHOT and Co-Chair of the PMA’s Promotion Marketer of the Year Committee. “Kraft’s has demonstrated a unique ability to orchestrate multi-brand, scale events like their Nickelodeon Kids Marketing and Major League Baseball initiatives, as well as brand-specific promotions such as DiGiorno’s “Be a Delivery Guy” and Lifesavers ‘Win The Whole Thing. What is especially impressive is their ability to target multiple consumer segments and key retail accounts, while integrating promotion online and offline.”

The Promotion Marketer of the Year award is given to organizations based on the following criteria:
· Brand-building through promotion
· Consistency of quality and communication
· Innovation, vision, and willingness to take risks
· Impact on business results/ ROI
· Highly visible promotion department/promotion leaders
· Integration with brand and other elements of the marketing mix

“The entire committee was impressed by Kraft’s ability to continually refresh its promotion initiatives,” said John Hopper, president and CEO of RealTime and Co-Chair of the PMA’s Promotion Marketer of the Year Committee. “One such example is Kraft’s association with Nickelodeon. Now entering its sixth year, the partnership continues to thrive due to the team’s ability to develop new and innovative campaigns that further both brands.”

“There are many organizations that utilize promotion, but Kraft truly stands out as a leader in terms of strategy, innovation and execution,” said Claire Rosenzweig, CAE, Executive Director of the Promotion Marketing Association. “We are pleased to present Kraft and its entire promotion marketing team with this special honor.”

Promotion marketing is an essential element of the overall marketing mix. A recent study conducted over four years by PMA in conjunction with the department of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University found that promotion marketing results in significant contributions to the corporate bottom line and that, executed strategically, promotion builds brand equity, increases retail traffic, and most importantly, drives sales of both products and services.

For more information at http://www.pmalink.org