Winning an MM&M Award is the highest honor you can
receive for creative excellence and marketing effectiveness in the healthcare
business. In just four years the MM&M Awards has evolved to become the
premier program in the industry. Last year we received more than 750
submissions, while 800 people attended the black tie presentation ceremony in
New York. And this year is shaping up to be bigger and better still.
The reasons for this success are twofold: First, submissions
are judged with the utmost independence and authority. And second, results are
withheld until the presentation dinner itself, which generates unprecedented
excitement. This event has quickly become the biggest and best party in the
industry.
By the time you read this, you will have perhaps three weeks
or less to get your submissions together. The deadline is May 30, 2008, so make
sure you don't miss out on the opportunity for glory. Please visit
www.mmm-online.com/awards to submit your entries online, and make sure you
check out the rules, guidelines and tips for winning.
It's worth doing it properly because you cannot buy an
MM&M Award—no matter how many times you sponsor an awards category or how
many ad pages you place in our magazine. We don't even have a say in who wins.
(After all, who are we to judge?)
Instead, we have assembled a panel of some of the finest
leaders and thinkers from every corner of the industry to do it for us. The
judges will spend an entire day (July 14, 2008) reviewing your submissions.
They will discuss the merits of each entry with their peers, before submitting
their individual scores in confidence. We calculate the results from these
scores, but we don't reveal the winners to anyone—including the judges—until
the presentation ceremony.
This rigorous process ensures that your submissions are
judged fairly and independently, and with the authority and respect they
deserve, ensuring that only the worthiest work is rewarded. There is no room
for favoritism or backslapping here. The only way to get your hands on an award
is to impress the judges with the quality of your work.
This year's panel is a blend of first-time and seasoned
awards judges —all of whom are experts in their fields. As usual, senior
marketing and communications execs from pharma companies are well represented.
To date we have added Deborah Dunsire, president and CEO of
Millennium Pharmaceuticals; Joan Mikardos, media director at Sanofi-Aventis;
Benjamin Lei, group product manger, e-marketing at Genentech; and Kevin Nalty,
marketing director, dermatology, Merck.
These new experts will add to the insights of returning
judges Cynthia North, customer marketing director at Bayer HealthCare
Pharmaceuticals; Jennifer Rinaldo, marketing director at Forest Laboratories;
Joe Shields, consumer product director, Enbrel at Wyeth; Mike Pucci, VP,
external advocacy at GlaxoSmithKline; and Meryl Weinreb, director of patient
programs, oncology at AstraZeneca.
Agency leaders, too, are impressively well represented on
our panel, including Doug Burcin, worldwide managing director of Euro RSCG Life
Worldwide; Phil Deschamps, president and CEO of GSW Worldwide; Louisa Holland,
president of Sudler & Hennessey; Richard Nordstrom, CEO of McCann
Healthcare Worldwide; Dale Taylor, president & CEO of AbelsonTaylor; Sam Welch,
CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare Communications; Anne Devereux, CEO of
TBWA World Health and LyonHeart; and Carol DiSanto, president of Cline Davis
& Mann—not to mention more than a half-dozen creative directors.
Specialty expertise will come from the likes of David
Zaritsky, managing director, pharmaceuticals at Harte-Hanks; Natasha Giordano,
president, Americas, at Cegedim Dendrite; Peter Pitts, SVP, Manning Selvage
& Lee; Sheila Thorne, president & CEO of The Multicultural Healthcare
Marketing Group; Marjorie Martin, SVP, general manager, health, at About.com;
and Elizabeth Mutisya, MD, president, board of directors at the Healthcare
Businesswomen's Association.
Last, but not least, from the publishing side we will be
joined by Bob Ziltz, VP, publisher of Prevention magazine and Keith Yocum,
director online advertising at the New England Journal of Medicine.
The message is loud and clear: Your submissions will be in
safe hands and the best work will win. All you have to do now is enter. Good
luck.
Entry kits: www.mmm-online.com/awards
Entry and event information: Shital Patel, 646-638-6157
Sponsorship opportunities: Jessica Todd, 646-638-6141