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Serena Hotels, NMG join search for top marketers, advertisers
Representatives of awards sponsors and judges (seated L-R); Teddy Nabakooza, NSSF Head of Marketing Barbara Arimi, Carol Asimire from Uganda Development Bank, Allen Ampaire from Serena Hotels and Racheal Kulany from I &M Bank. Standing (L-R) are; Darius Mugisha from Matooke Republic, Dr Ben Mugerwa from Uganda Management Institute, Esau Joshua from MPL, John Paul Okwi from MTN and Bonny Tamale from NTV and Spark TV. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
Organisers say the Uganda Marketing Excellence Awards are meant to expose advertisers and marketers to their peers to draw inspiration.
The management of Serena Hotels and Nation Media Group-Uganda have partnered with the Uganda Marketing Excellence Awards to help identify Uganda’s top advertisers and marketers.
Speaking at the launch of 2023 Marketer and Advertisers Awards in Kampala yesterday, Ms Allen Ampaire, the country manager Serena Hotels, said they know what marketing does to their institution, hence would like to help identify top talent in the field.
“Advertising is a branch of marketing. When we have a marketing company which produces good adverts, we can use it as Serena Hotels as opposed to going for companies outside Uganda,” she said.
“Our advertising campaigns come from our head office in Nairobi, as Kampala Serena Hotel, we do our art work from Mozambique from a company called Brand Lovers because they are the ones that can do the quality we look for,” she added.
Ms Ampaire added that even their promotional work is all handled by Scanad East Africa but they are ready to identify the best local talent they can work with.
Mr Bonny Tamale, the Brand Manager NTV and Spark TV, said as the biggest media company in East Africa and in the country, the partnership came naturally.
This is because, he said, NMG represents excellence in all its brands by looking out for the best talent.
“When the organisers of the awards came to us, it was like a fitting jigsaw puzzle. They are looking for the cream de la crème. We looked at the authenticity of the awards and we saw that they stand for excellence and that is why the Daily Monitor stands for truth every day,” he said.
Mr Martin Mukama, the co-founder Evolve Africa, the awards organisers, said the awards are a platform for marketers to learn from each other and be celebrated.
Dr Ben Mugerwa, a consultant at Uganda Management Institute who is also among the judges at the awards, said the latter are meant to expose advertisers and marketers to their peers to draw inspiration and also learn new developments in the industry.
“There are new industry developments, there are partnerships like in banks, which are partnering and making more money. Marketing opens companies and they do better,” he said.
Dr Mugerwa added that during the evaluation stage of the awards, they will be looking at how the ideas were developed and executed.
