THE very best in marketing across four counties in East Anglia has been recognised at an awards ceremony in Norwich, with many national and international brands represented through a varied set of winners.

THE very best in marketing across four counties in East Anglia has been recognised at an awards ceremony in Norwich, with many national and international brands represented through a varied set of winners.

Around 180 people helped celebrate the cream of the region's marketing talent at the East of England Marketing Excellence Awards.

Organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing in association with media company Archant, whose titles include the EADT, the event cast its net wider this, taking in Cambridgeshire and Essex as well as Suffolk and Norfolk where the awards were first launched.

The event was held at the Holiday Inn Norwich, with marketing guru Simon Middleton, who won the CIM Awards for marketer of the year last year, giving the keynote speech before the gala dinner. The evening was introduced by Andrew Chalk, the regional chairman of the East of England branch of CIM.

Jonathan Hart, CIM's east of England regional director, said the awards saw several “exceptional entries” and was pleased some of them came from the two counties newly added to the awards.

“The purpose was to celebrate and recognise the very best in marketing in the east of England,” said Mr Hart. “The entries were not only of excellent quality, but they also represented many well known products and brands, such as the work Soup have done for the Innocent brand.

“There were many things and people to be impressed by, but I was particularly pleased with the work done by the two people who shared the young marketer of the year award.”

Philip Preston, director of marketing at Archant Norfolk, added: “For the second year running the awards highlighted what great marketing talent there is locally and the winning campaigns would all have done well at a national level.

“It's great to see the Chartered Institute of Marketing provide marketing professionals in this region with a showcase for their work.”

The awards were:

Brand excellence award, won by Just and sponsored by Turton Middleton.

Product or service of the year, won by Adnams and sponsored by Steeles Law.

Young marketer of the year, the two winners were Helen Hawes and Emily Nudd, sponsored by Reed Marketing and Creative.

Campaign of the year to consumer, won by Shorthose Russell and sponsored by Further.

Campaign of the year business to business, won by White Space Design and sponsored by OTW Imaging Ltd.

Corporate social responsibility award, the two winners were CPW Computing & Deepdale Farm, sponsored by Norwich Union.

Online effectiveness, won by Further Online and sponsored by Foolproof.

Marketing excellence award, won by Soup and sponsored by CIM.