Announcing the 10th Anniversary Markie Award Finalists

It's that time of year that everyone is waiting for: the announcement of the Markie Award Finalists for 2016. It is the 10th Anniversary of this prestigious award that highlights the success of the best Modern Marketers in the industry.

The award submissions have grown since last year and more fully reflect the breadth of the Oracle Marketing Cloud. We've had more entries using marketing automation, cross-channel marketing, content marketing, social media and data management than ever before. There are also entries in our new testing and optimization category. All told, there were 350 entries, which is up 80% over last year.

With so many entries, you might not think that there would be a theme. But there is. The best Modern Marketers, as represented by their Markie Award submissions, are all about the customer. That's right. Those who put the customer at the center of their campaigns, programs and activities are also the ones who are achieve superior results in marketing. This is not a coincidence.

The winners of the Markies will be presented at the Modern Marketing Experience on Tuesday, April 26 at 8pm in Las Vegas. This will be a night to celebrate the best in Modern Marketing.

Best Customer Retention or Loyalty Program

Every company says they are customer focused, but few actually deliver. These marketers created a customer retention or loyalty program that successfully transformed their customers into fiercely loyal brand advocates. They shifted their culture from consumer transactions to customer relationships to drive loyalty.

Cetera Financial Group

Eaton

JetBlue Airways

Penton

Telstra

Best Digital Marketing Ecosystem

These marketers have taken advantage of digital marketing integration to enhance processes or improve analytics. They created an integrated ecosystem with CRM, third-party cloud apps, or other applications to automate, streamline, and enhance their marketing efforts. Finalists in this category think beyond the norm and consider how they can work with IT to leverage tech investments far beyond marketing automation to positively impact the business and revenue.

comScore, Inc.

Dell Inc.

Lenovo

Sage

Vodafone Global Enterprise

Best Email Marketing Campaign

There are some email communications that are so well written, so masterfully designed, that it’s only a question of when people will respond. Achieving extraordinary response rates isn’t luck. It’s the result of great targeting, content, personalization, and timing.

Comcast Corporation

Eaton

Jetstar

Schwan’s Home Service

Select Comfort

Best Emerging Company Marketing Campaign

As a fast-growing, emerging company of $100M in revenue or less, these marketing teams are lean, mean, and green with envy over the human and financial resources that big company marketing departments throw at their campaigns. These Modern Marketing heroes have chosen marketing automation to do the work of ten people with just themselves and a trusty sidekick running the show. They have made marketing magic with online creativity, digital communication, and compelling content.

Cloud Direct

FramesDirect.com

McCrometer

Mobovida, LLC

Virginia Tire & Auto

Best Integrated Consumer Marketing Program

These marketers create personalized experiences for consumers with relevant content, messages, and promotions across web, social, mobile, email, display, or other digital channels. They are attracting or retaining their ideal customers. If the customers are fiercely loyal, then they become brand advocates. They have designed integrated consumer marketing programs that resonate with customers to produce results.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Magazine Luiza

Mountain America Credit Union

Penton

Best International Campaign

These campaigns have run outside the United States. It may have been in multiple countries in multiple languages, a modification of program originally created in the US and re-launched in another country, or any variation in between. Measurable results – especially in comparison to non-localized campaigns – will be critical in demonstrating success.

Arkadin Collaboration Services

Jetstar

Juniper Networks

TomTom

Zebra Technologies

Best Lead Management Program

These marketers have a sophisticated lead management program that delivered measurable results. They use lead scoring and deliver results that are compelling. Sales and marketing are aligned. People, process and technology all come into play in this award.

Ingram Micro

Insperity

Juniper Networks

MTV Oy

Penn Foster

Best Mobile Experience

These marketers have personalized experiences with messages and promotions optimized for mobile that create a great experience for their customers. Mobile is the platform of choice for a majority of their ideal customers. If they’re reading emails, making mobile transactions, sharing through social, or simply using smartphones and tablets to connect all day and every day.

Harry & David

Mobovida, LLC

Product Madness

Reiss

Zalora South East Asia

Best Sales & Marketing Alignment

Can Marketing and Sales really achieve true alignment? It takes more than words. These companies have translated words into action through tighter organizational alignment, shared goals and reporting, new communications strategies or innovative approaches to compensation.

Chicago Bears Football Club Inc.

GE Healthcare

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sierra Wireless

Best Social Campaign

These brands and companies effectively use social marketing as a strategy to build brand awareness or turn customers and prospects into advocates. These brands use social media in new and interesting ways or as the centerpiece of a successful new program. They have seized social media opportunities and generated proven results.

FamilyShareNetwork / Deseret Digital

Mack Trucks (Big M)

Mack Trucks (The Horn)

Thomson Reuters

Time Warner Cable Business Class

Best Testing & Optimization of the Customer Experience

These marketers are optimizing the online customer experience with testing, insights, and personalization. They have maximized revenue potential across web, mobile, social, apps, and other digital channels as a result. Nominees for this award have incorporated testing and optimization of their campaigns and programs to mitigate risk, drive better decisions, increase revenue, and improve the customer experience.

Intuit QuickBooks

Mercury Insurance

Nordstrom

YOTEL

Zalora South East Asia

Best Use of Audience Data

These marketers are targeting and engaging their ideal audience for a specific business initiative. They are successfully using audience data for modeling audiences (e.g. Look-Alike Modeling) to drive results and decrease wasted ad spend. This award recognizes organizations that use audience data in innovative and strategic ways, and have seen their efforts pay off with faster conversions, increased revenue, and higher ROI.

Dell Inc.

Intel Corporation

Laser Spine Institute

Lexus / Team One

realestate.com.au

Best Use of Data Analytics & Insights

These marketers are interpreting data for actionable recommendations that improve business results. They make strategic decisions to improve their customer experience. This award recognizes an organization that has moved beyond reporting (old methods of organizing data into informational summaries to monitor performance) towards analysis (new data and meaningful insights that improve performance).

Mercado Libre

Mobovida, LLC

Ruukki

Thomson Reuters

Best Web or Commerce Experience

The data-driven Modern Marketer delivers a personalized buying experience for every customer. They provide their customers with relevant content, merchandising, personalized search, customized marketing programs, and tailored websites, across all channels. This award recognizes the supremely enlightened organization that truly gets the power of personally engaging, consistently delightful, and seamlessly integrated experiences where the customer runs the show.

DLT Solutions

FramesDirect.com

Ingram Micro

Penton

SunPower Corporation

Content is King

Drawing in prospects with engaging content is an important piece of Modern Marketing. These nominees aligned their target personas and the buyer’s journey to their content strategy. Their content converts prospects, sustains customers, and impacts revenue. Winners of this Markie will have a strategic approach to content marketing that sets them apart from their competitors.

Atmel Corporation

Dell Inc.

Sammons Retirement Solutions

TD Ameritrade Institutional

Wine.com.br

Modern Marketing Leader of the Year

Just as great people are the foundation for successful businesses, innovators are often the driving force behind exceptional marketing. You know who they are—the passionate senior people that push their teams to succeed, lead change, set the vision for the entire marketing organization, and deliver results.

Blake Cahill, Royal Philips

Aaron Cullers, Dell Inc.

Meagen Eisenberg, MongoDB

Milla Ikonen, F-Secure

Neil Rongstad, Rockwell Automation

Most Creative Marketing Campaign

Sometimes all of the pieces align to create a fantastic marketing campaign—the perfect idea, the right target, the memorable artwork, the personalized follow-up, and of course, the measurable results.

Avalara

Cisco Systems

Eaton

Sammons Retirement Solutions

Time Warner Cable Business Class

Rapid Transformation

This award is open to those who have successfully implemented any Oracle Marketing Cloud technology in the past year. Enabling a high performance marketing culture isn’t always easy. For most organizations, it can take time to master the intricate blend of messaging, segmentation, data orchestration, organizational alignment and other disciplines. So how do some businesses make Modern Marketing transformation look easy in their first year? The Rapid Transformation award honors fast starters for their superb planning, execution, and results.