A blog by Chris Ashworth, of Competitive Advantage.

Last week saw the announcement of the 2019 Finalists for the Construction Marketing Awards. Now in its nineteenth year, the role of the Construction Marketing Awards is to encourage and recognise best practice in construction marketing. This commitment is supported by key industry organisation like CIMCIG, the Construction Products Association and a number of leading trade associations. In addition, there are a group of sponsors, including Barbour ABI, who’s funding ensures the event can improve in quality year on year.

In recent years we have seen a continuous increase in the number of entries and 2019 was no exception. At the same time, we have made the judging criteria more demanding which has also meant increasing the number of volunteer judges on our panel, all of whom contribute extensive experience of marketing in construction to the reviews they conduct. All of which means that to become a CMA Finalist is quite an achievement.

So why do companies enter? There are many reasons; it provides agencies with a showcase for their expertise, marketing teams can benchmark their performance against the industry and becoming a winner can also demonstrate their capabilities to the internal organisation. The awards dinner is also a fun place to be.

This year the Gala Dinner is being held at the Hilton London Bankside on 28th November. For the Finalists and their guests there is the excitement of a possible win. But competition, and it is very high quality competition, means that not everyone can be a winner. The evening is also an opportunity to meet with colleagues and peers in the industry and be inspired by what others are doing. This is a key purpose of the Construction Marketing Awards and a few days after the gala dinner a list of all finalists and their entries will be available to view. If you are looking for marketing inspiration the lists of past winners and their entries are a great place to start.

So, if you are a Finalist, congratulations and make sure of your place at the gala dinner. If you are not a finalist you can still come to the dinner, either by purchasing a ticket, or why not hint to one of the sponsors or shortlisted agencies that they really should be adding you to their guest list!