21 Jun Michel Mersch jury president Belgian Marketing Awards

Posted at 14:37h in Consumer Understanding, News by

As is tradition, a “captain of industry” will also chair the jury of the Belgian Marketing Awards this year. This will be Michel Mersch, CEO of Nestlé Belgilux. In addition, the jury includes 12 marketing professionals from diverse backgrounds.

Once again this year, ACC, BABM, BAM, BMMA, CUBE, UBA and UMA will be looking for the Belgian Marketing Company of the Year, The Young Belgian Marketing Company of the Year and The Marketing Leader(ship) of the Year. These will be chosen by a 13-member jury that includes agency executives, advertisers and academics.

They are Catherine Closset (CMO Director Stellantis Belux), Eddy Cremers (Sr Client Officer Ipsos), Alain Decrop (Professor University of Namur), Eveline De Ridder (Partner Whyte Corporate Affairs), Maggie Geuens (Professor Ghent University), Anne-Françoise Piette (Partner Brain Impact), Sharon Roels (Marketing Director GB Goods), Suzanne Stroobants (CEO Mindshare) and Koen Van Impe (CEO +KOO Network). As always, the jury also includes last year’s three Belgian Marketing Awards winners: Etienne Bachelier (Marketing Director of Alken-Maes), Lise Conix (CEO Schoenen Torfs) and Ruben Renaer (co-founder Brauzz).

Michel Mersch (Nestlé) as chairman.

Jury president will be Michel Mersch, CEO of Nestlé Belgilux. “I believe in the power of marketing and especially marketers,” he indicates why he accepted the invitation. “Their role is to inspire consumers, but also citizens, to embrace a more sustainable, ethical and inclusive way of consuming.”

Mersch himself has no specific marketing experience, but has had marketing as a co-responsibility in roles as a department manager and CEO each time, including adjusting product recipes and bringing in digital transformation. “That’s also one of the reasons for being on this panel,” he adds. “The other members we have that specific expertise and that with very diverse backgrounds. My goal is to have as inclusive a debate as possible as well as to exude positivism. There is already enough fear instilled in us from certain media, among others.”

Dare

Michel Mersch finds it difficult to determine at this point what the jury will pay attention to. “I think it’s important to hear the opinion of all the jury members on that. But in any case, I would like to be able to see the marketer’s impact on society.”

For the candidates, he has one last message: “Don’t be afraid. Dare to send in a case. After all, you should not see ‘not winning’ as a failure, but rather as a nice progress you are making. After all, preparing a case will teach you a lot about the process you went through.”

Applications for the Belgian Marketing Awards – which enjoys the support of Deloitte and Trends/Trends-Tendances – closed on April 30. Currently, candidates are invited to submit a dossier. This is still possible until May 31. A Selection Committee (the Steering Committee supplemented by some marketing professionals including last year’s nominees) will then choose the 9 nominees (3 per category). On that basis, supplemented by an oral presentation, the jury determines the winners. These will be announced on November 8.

More information can be found on the website www.belgianmarketingawards.be.