Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau was announced as a winner of the 2014 ICCA Best PR Award.
At the Closing Session of the 53rd ICCA Congress, held in Antalya, Turkey, ICCA President Nina Freysen-Pretorius announced that the ICCA Board of Directors had selected Dubai as the host destination for 2018, saying: “Not only did this bid fully meet our business objectives and logistical requirements, the Board considered it to be a truly exceptional proposal.”
ICCA CEO Martin Sirk added: “Dubai is positioning itself as the Middle East hub for association development, and the potential for ICCA membership growth is very exciting, so there are very compelling business opportunities for both ICCA and our members.”
“We are extremely proud and delighted that the ICCA Board of Directors has chosen Dubai as the host destination for the 2018 ICCA Congress. The ICCA Congress is the most prestigious event in our industry and provides a unique opportunity to showcase Dubai and to familiarize the ICCA members with the growing potential of the entire Middle East. We look forward to working closely with ICCA and the members of the Middle East Chapter to organize the first ICCA Congress taking place in our region”, says Steen Jakobsen, Director of Dubai Business Events.
Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau tells its story best
Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau was announced as a winner of the 2014 ICCA Best PR Award, by James Latham, Executive Director of International Meetings Review, the sponsor of the Award, and new ICCA President Nina Freysen-Pretorius.
Martin Lewis, Chairman of the Editorial Advisory Board of International Meetings Review, comments: “What makes good PR is the creation of a story that engages readers, and Wonderful Copenhagen understands the story telling aspect of PR very well. Year on year Copenhagen Convention Bureau has shown a strong and consistent creativity in finding angles to tell stories which include their key messages and brand values, impressing all the judges across the board.”
Copenhagen is a popular meetings destination, featured for decades in the top-20 on ICCA’s ranking of World’s Most Popular Convention Cities. Apart from the city’s meetings infrastructure Copenhagen’s success as a meetings destination tie in to the fields of innovation, sustainability/CSR and high quality of life. Copenhagen’s PR strategy focuses on finding angles to tell interesting stories to tell these three narratives, which are closely intertwined.
Ulrika Martensson, Head of Communications – Meetings & Conventions at Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau, comments: “To us, PR is an essential and cost-effective way of supporting and boosting sales and marketing activities, and we have used PR as a strategic tool for almost 15 years. Copenhagen is a relatively small destination with a limited budget, but that has only served to make us more creative and focused. We don’t work with external agencies, but we work closely together with the city’s meetings industry, public partners and VisitDenmark. We are thrilled that the judges recognize our PR activities as being relevant and outstanding.”
Copenhagen’s #BeeSustain-campaign was also one of three finalists for the 2014 ICCA Best Marketing Award.
Congratulations also go out to the other 3 finalists of the 2014 ICCA Best PR Award: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company (ADNEC), German Convention Bureau (GCB) and Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau.
The finalists and the winner receive worldwide acknowledgement and profiling via ICCA and IMR, and had the opportunity give a presentation on their PR strategy and campaigns in a dedicated PR session at the ICCA Congress, titled “PR Excellence – learning from the best”.
The ICCA Best PR Award, in association with International Meetings Review (IMR), recognises exceptional PR performance by ICCA members, covering both traditional print and web/social media channels. The unique feature of the ICCA Best PR Award competition, in association with International Meetings Review (IMR) is that there is no need to actually send in an entry. Instead, editorial representatives from IMR publishers and ICCA’s PR staff have been carefully evaluating the PR coverage of ICCA members over the course of the year. They have been looking out for high-visibility coverage, for strong story-telling, for brand consistency, for innovative and creative ways of successfully using web and social media channels, and for PR that showcases success or helps to overcome a crisis.
The ICCA Best PR Award competition was launched at the 2012 ICCA Congress in Puerto Rico, where ICCA and its Business Partner, International Meetings Review, launched their long-term strategic collaboration. ICCA CEO Martin Sirk: “Why are ICCA and IMR collaborating in this award? Very simple: we both believe that PR is still the most under-utilised and misunderstood weapon in our industry’s arsenal, and we have a shared mission to demonstrate to ICCA members just how powerful and uplifting great PR can be! It isn’t enough to shout out your message loudly through mainstream marketing, today what’s really critical is for others to be talking positively about you, your objectives, and your successes, and to achieve this goal there is nothing better than well-directed, creative PR. It’s also the cheapest way to get noticed too, of course, not to be underestimated in this age of austerity! This year we’ve had some really great entries: quirky, engaging, inspiring, impactful. We are certain the work of this year’s finalists will encourage more excellent PR from our members in 2015.”
Monaco Convention Bureau wins ICCA Best Marketing Award
The winner was announced at the Closing Ceremony of the 53rd ICCA Congress, taking place 1-5 November in Antalya, Turkey. Monaco Convention Bureau was awarded for their campaign aimed at overcoming negative stereotypes by twisting cliches around to reposition their brand.
Patrick Delaney, Chairman of the Judging Panel of the Best Marketing Award: “We were very impressed with the quality of the entries and in particular of the finalists. Once again the Best Marketing Award session had an extraordinary attendance which shows the magic and ICCA’s DNA in sharing knowledge and best practice.”
Mrs. Laurence Papouchado, Deputy Director of Monaco Convention Bureau upon receiving the Award: “We are very honoured and proud to receive this very prestigious award. Our entire team has worked very hard in order to implement our new MICE Marketing campaign and this award shows that we are on the right path. Our sincere thanks goes to all ICCA members and jury that selected us for the ICCA Best Marketing Award 2014.”
Congratulations also go out to the other finalists of this year’s Best Marketing Award: Amsterdam Marketing and Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau. The three finalists presented their successful marketing campaigns at the 53rd ICCA Congress in Antalya, Turkey.
Dubai will be the host destination for 2018.
The ICCA Best Marketing Award, established in 1997, recognises the excellence and outstanding achievements of organisations in their effort to market their destination or product. Entries can range from full scale campaigns and branding exercises to individual promotions and events. The ICCA Best Marketing Award is sponsored by Bedouk Meetings & Events Media and is open to ICCA members only.
The 2014 ICCA Congress attracted over 900 participants from 72 countries, making it the most global ICCA Congress ever.
Photo caption (from left to right): ICCA President Nina Freysen-Pretorius, Ulrika Martensson (Head of Communications at Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau) and James Latham (Executive Director of International Meetings Review, the sponsor of the ICCA Best PR Award).
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
