CIMG launches 24th awards

The Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) has launched the 24th annual marketing performance awards at a brief ceremony in Accra.

This year’s event, slated for August 17, 2013 at the Banquet Hall, Accra, is under the theme “Reshaping Public and Corporate Engagement through the Power of Marketing”.

The awards will cover six major areas: personalities, hall of famers, media organisations, not-for-profit organisations, business organisations, and products.

National President of CIMG Shola Safo-Duodu said the institute has decided to introduce some new award areas.

“The first is the financial sector, and the awards will include non-bank financial institutions and the rural banks which are playing a major role in taking financial services to the previously unbanked population in Ghana," she said.

“The second is the airline industry, for which the awards will now include both domestic and international air travel. Last is the hospitality sector awards, which will include allied and support services."

She added that marketing thrives in a vibrant economy devoid of controversies, labour unrest, worker agitation and political bickering.

“Though we do not have the numbers readily, we can arguably deduce from what is happening in Ghana on the labour front that so much has been lost through the inability to properly engage the public and the private sector constructively," she said.

“Fortunately for us, marketing is not only the means for promoting products and services. Today, the marketing concept can be used to engage and solve a myriad of socio-political and economic problems.”

Mrs. Safo-Duodu noted that marketing is “about engagement and convincing your prospect to understand your position (product) and the benefits so they can buy into it.

“In the same vein, we hope to use the qualities of marketing to bring together our citizens, communities, businesses and Government at all levels together. Our advocacy and other marketing engagements can serve as veritable tools to drive home the need to use tested and effective marketing tools to find solutions for the many differences that exist between the various players in our economy," she said.

“Our leaders and officials can use these principles of engagement to get every affected sector to come together to talk about their collective problems. It becomes easier and acceptable if citizens, communities, organisations etc. work together with Government to take decisions that affect them."