What makes great marketing? There are a lot of ways of breaking it down. Fortunately, AMA Houston has two top awards that recognize the many achievements of those in the community. It wasn’t enough to host Houston’s largest marketing event—The Crystal Awards Gala. We’re inviting the city back for another night with the crème de la crème of marketing professionals at Marketer of the Year (MOTY).
Crystals and MOTY—What’s the difference?
There’s no limit on who can apply to either—and yes, it is possible to win both awards in the same year! Fredrica Cudjoe, Director of B2B communications at Phillips 66, led her team to win eight Crystals and three MOTYs. “Winning both a Crystal and MOTY award has been such an honor for my team!” Cudjoe said. “We find that it’s good to apply to both because you become exposed to a diverse competition.”
Crystals is an award gala hosted in May that recognizes the best individual marketing campaigns of the year. Each Crystal award represents a moment where strategy, talent and innovation intersect to make a brilliant idea other marketers can draw inspiration from. See this year’s photos.
“In a nutshell, Crystals is based on individual campaigns, whereas MOTY is based on a team effort on an annual basis,” Hami Arrington, Crystals Co-Chair, said. “I like to think of it as MOTY covering annual strategies and Crystals covering tactics. Crystals is double-weighted towards results.”
MOTY recognizes the outstanding effort a team brings all year long. Both awards distinguish the best in the Houston marketing community but MOTY takes a step back and looks at marketing from an overall perspective.
“Unlike Crystals, [MOTY] looks at the entire marketing initiative, not a single project,” Heather Sasser, MOTY co-director, said. “We have 21 categories based on industry. The Crystals focuses on a single project and you compete in project categories against all industries – not just your own.”
A national panel of judges compares MOTY entries to peers in their industry. Participants are asked questions about their marketing initiatives, the challenges faced in their industry, and how they worked together as a team and attributed to the overall success of their organization.
What to Expect at MOTY 2017
During this year’s event, AMA Houston will give out 21 category awards and the top winner in each of those categories will compete to be named Houston’s Marketer of the Year. While not a gala, the event itself is geared towards networking. Attendees will be treated to cocktails and heavy appetizers followed by the award ceremony and dessert.
Sysco will present a new sponsored award called the Sysco Innovator Award. This new award recognizes an individual or company for vision, purpose, resourcefulness and innovation with regards to marketing. Judging will be independent of the Marketer of the Year award.
September 1 is the last day to submit an entry to be considered for this year’s Marketer of the Year. The event takes place at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, November 7, 6 p.m. For information on entries, tickets and how to become a sponsor, follow the links below.