06 Nov Toerisme Oostende, Just Russel en Valérie Morfitis (Unilever) winnaars Belgian Marketing Awards

Brussels, Nov. 6, 2024. Toerisme Oostende, Just Russel and Valérie Morfitis (Unilever) are the winners in the three categories of The Belgian Marketing Awards. The laureates of the fifth edition were announced during a festive evening on November 6 at Deloitte.

Belgian Marketing Company of the Year: Toerisme Oostende

Toerisme Oostende, a collaboration between the government and the private sector (such as the hotel and catering industry and tradesmen in Oostende), is the fifth organization ever to be awarded Belgian Marketing Company of the Year. It follows in the footsteps of Spadel, Alken-Maes, Alpro and Delhaize. Toerisme Oostende left retailer Albert Heijn and energy supplier Eneco behind. They went home with a Silver Award and a Bronze Award respectively.

“The jury was particularly charmed by Toerisme Oostende’s case,” echoes jury chairman Koen Verwee (Mediahuis). “The organization was founded 25 years ago and aims to improve Ostend’s image, attract more tourists and second-stayers and be attractive all year round. It has therefore positioned itself as a cultural destination and despite a limited budget with great success: the number of tourists and second-stayers has increased markedly, as has the number of four-star hotel rooms, for example. Not compromising and being patient has led to this exceptional achievement.”

Belgian Young Marketing Company of the Year: Just Russel

In the Belgian Young Marketing Company of the Year category, the win was for Just Russel, a young pet food brand. Ray & Jules (coffee brand) was good for a Silver Award, Nobi (producer of smart lamps) for a Bronze Award.

The jury was impressed by the maturity of the young company’s marketing approach: “The company has only been active for five years,” said Koen Verwee, “but was already profitable after one year. It responds to a clear consumer need by putting together a quasi-personal food package for each pet. Moreover, the brand uses all state-of-the-art marketing tools and maps the customer journey in great detail.”

Belgian Marketing Leader(ship) of the Year: Valérie Morfitis

Finally, Valérie Morfitis, Global Media Director at Unilever, made it into the Belgian Marketing Leader(ship) of the Year category ahead of Nicolas Lambert (Tuanis) and Yannick de Bièvre (Carrefour), who took home a Silver and a Bronze Award respectively.

“What stood out in Valérie’s case was how she generates impact by building bridges between consumers, media, agency partners and her own internal team,” explains Koen Verwee. “She couples that gift with a strong vision. Valérie bet on an evolution from digital marketing to marketing in a digitized world. In doing so, she makes a clear statement: as an industry, we are past the stage of implementing digital marketing and need to look deeper into how to do marketing in that fully digital world. That is an important difference and an insight with which she holds up a mirror to many Belgian marketers.”

Deloitte Award

Finally, the Deloitte Award, for Excellence in Data & MarTech, went to Just Russel because of their data-driven marketing approach. Koen Verwee: “They do it just the opposite of what is common in FMCG and so big companies can learn a lot from them.”

Impressive quality, from both nominees and judges

“It was a long, but very enjoyable day,” concludes Koen Verwee. “The quality of the nine nominees was very high. Add to that an impressive jury, with different backgrounds, but also interesting exchanges and very good questions, and you get a record that inspires!”

More information about The Belgian Marketing Awards, which enjoys the support of Deloitte, can be found at www.belgianmarketingawards.be