CENTRAL SHORTLISTED FOR NATIONAL MARKETING AWARD
Burton-based communications specialists Central Telecom have joined household names including National Westminster Bank, Waitrose and its neighbours Coors Brewers to reach the final of the Marketing Strategy of the Year Award at this year's National Business Awards.
The company, whose HQ is on Wetmore Road in Burton and also has bases in London and Guildford, has reached the final shortlist of ten in the competition, which recognises those organisations that have achieved high levels of commercial success thanks to a specific marketing campaign.
The other finalists, all of whom are national brands, are the Department for Transport, the Metropolitan Police Service, TNT UK Ltd, Alliance and Leicester Commercial Bank, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance and Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort.
Judging began by short-listing the finalists in each category from the entire pool of entrants based on scores attributed to their in-depth written submissions according to prescribed guidelines.
All ten organisations now go forward to the final round of judging, which takes place later this month This will take the form of presentation to a selected panel of judges, who will cross-examine the data, ask specific questions and obtain a more in-depth perspective of each finalist.
The winners will be presented at a Gala Dinner taking place on 7 November at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
This is the second successive year that Central has reached the final of this highly coveted award. The company hopes to go one better this year after losing out last year to Brains, an independent brewer, pub operator and drinks wholesaler to the licensed trade, based in Cardiff.
The Award will be presented to the organisation that has implemented a specific marketing campaign in the period 1st September 2004 to 28th February 2006 that has achieved high levels of commercial success for the relevant product or service. They will be looking for innovation and a clearly expressed and articulated objective led campaign strategy leading to measurable and verifiable business results.
"On behalf of the judging panel I would like to congratulate Central Telecom on reaching the final of the Marketing Strategy of the Year award for two consecutive years," commented Phil Forrest, Chairman of the Judges, from the awards organizers.
"As always, the calibre of entries was extraordinarily high and we will find it hard to make a final decision," added Phil.
Julie White, marketing director for Central, added:
"We are renowned throughout the telecoms industry for the strength of our in-house marketing department and to be acknowledged alongside global brands with massive marketing budgets is a tremendous achievement and demonstrates that it is not always the value of the spend, but how that budget is applied that is the key to successful marketing."
"Over the past 18 months, we have won a whole host of marketing awards. We were the first team to ever receive Channel Marketing Award from communications giants Avaya for the quality of our Focus Days and Roadshows. We were also awarded Avaya's EMEA Channel Marketing Award and a unique 'Channel Marketing Recognition Award' for marketing campaigns of outstanding quality. We have also been awarded the Marketing Excellence Award for 'The best ideas are often the simplest', added Julie.
The National Business Awards, which are sponsored by Orange, aim to showcase the nation's skills, achievements and innovations in the field of business and feature 23 different categories.
A National Business Award is the UK's most sought after business accolade. In a little over four years the programme has grown to include five regional events, a stand-alone event for Scotland and new for 2007 a European programme too. The Awards have been referred to by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as the 'Business Oscars'. Last year alone entrants represented a staggering 31 percent of UK GDP.
