Emirates Airlines and Visa’s Mohammed Ismaeel have been unveiled as the first winners of The Marketing Society Awards GCC at an inaugural ceremony which took place on December 9 in the company of 60 industry leaders.
Emirates Airline took the crown of Brand of the Year, in partnership with Landor & FITCH, beating off competition from Dubai Airports, Majid Al Futtaim, Noon, and the UAE Ministry of Health. The Brand of the Year category highlights those brands that have demonstrated agility and pace by reacting to evolving situations, put customers at the heart of their decision making, and embodied bravery at their core.
Mohammed Ismaeel, Visa’s Senior Vice President Marketing - Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), took home the Marketing Leader of the Year award after being selected as the winner from a shortlist of six leaders from across the region. Last year’s winner was Vino El Khatib, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer at Majid Al Futtaim. The full 2020 shortlist includes:
Banali Luthra Malhotra, Director of Marketing, RAKBANK
Mahmoud Mirza, Marketing Director, Muvi Cinemas
Mohammed Mousa, Head of Marketing, Floward
Siddarth Sivaprakash, Head of Marketing, Home Centre, Landmark Group
Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President, Dubai World Trade Centre
Khaled Ismail, Chairman of The Marketing Society UAE and VP Communications – Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa at Tetra Pak, commented: “Our region boasts a remarkable talent pool of marketing leaders and brands, and we felt it was really important to recognize the contribution they make to marketing and business in general in what has been a challenging year for our industry and society. Huge congratulations to Emirates and Mohammed Ismaeel on being our inaugural and very deserving winners.”
The winners were selected by an elite judging committee made up from 20 of the region’s top CMOs in a virtual judging day.
The committee also gave out an Outstanding Leadership award to all marketing and communications professionals from the various health bodies around the region who have battled continuously through Covid-19 and provided world-class marketing excellence in keeping the public calm, educated, and informed.
The Inspirational Leader award was given to the whole Dubai World Trade Centre team and their EVP Trixie LohMirmand for the success of the GITEX event and bringing the largest in-person tech show in the world in 2020 to Dubai.
