Eva Salem of Canadian Tire and Kraft Heinz named top winners at 2023 CMA Awards

Zak Mroueh, Creative Officer and Founder of Zulu Alpha Kilo, was honoured with the CMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award

TORONTO — Canada’s biggest names and marketing campaigns showed the important role creativity plays in building brands and businesses, with Eva Salem, senior vice-president of marketing and brand at Canadian Tire Corporation, and Kraft Heinz among the top winners at the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Awards show on November 10.

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“Marketing and creativity are core to business growth and this year’s winners truly embodied the theme by expanding our notions of creativity and reinforcing that the future of Canadian marketing is truly boundless,” said Alison Simpson, president and CEO, CMA. “Canada continues to innovate and push the boundaries of creativity. The tremendous calibre of our 2023 CMA Marketer of the Year, AIM Award Winner and CMA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner demonstrate the vibrant health of our profession at every career stage. The future is bright for marketing in Canada.”

Salem was presented with the prestigious 2023 Marketer of the Year award.

“I am thrilled to be named Marketer of the Year by the Canadian Marketing Association – with so much inspiring work coming out of Canada, it is truly humbling to be recognized by our industry,” Salem said. “Thank you to the CMA for this honour, our fantastic agency partners for their support, and the entire team at Canadian Tire Corporation, whose creativity, innovation, and passion have solidified our brand in the hearts and minds of Canadians.”

Winners of the premiere awards, in addition to Salem, are:

Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Kaiser & Partners: Zak Mroueh, Founder, Zulu Alpha Kilo
Best of the Best: Kraft Heinz in partnership with Rethink for the campaign: “Heinz Ketchup Fraud”
Top Cause: Effing Old by Jems and Dentsu Creative
Achievement in Marketing (AIM): Ashley Faccenda, Associate Marketing Manager, Kruger Products

This year, the CMA introduced the Achievement in Marketing (AIM) Award for junior to mid-level marketers to highlight the next generation of Canadian marketers, and added the discipline of Public Relations in all categories.

In total, 150 awards were presented across seven disciplines (listed below) with Awards entries increasing significantly over last year.

More than 800 marketers from across Canada gathered in person at the Awards celebration for an unforgettable evening celebrating the exceptional creativity of Canada’s top marketers and agencies.

Awards categories and judging

Awards were presented across seven disciplines: brand building, business impact, customer experience and shopper marketing, engagement, innovative media and public relations. Within each discipline, entries compete in one of nine categories (automotive, business, consumer products and services, financial, food and beverage, healthcare, retail and social causes).

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This year’s awards were reviewed by a record number of judges from across Canada, through a two-round process.

In Round 1 of judging, entries in each discipline and category are evaluated on strategy, creativity and results.
In Round 2, senior judges and multi-discipline judges evaluate the top entries in the disciplines and categories. The scores from the first two rounds are combined to determine gold, silver and bronze awards in each category.
Top Cause and Best of the Best winners are chosen from the highest-ranking entries across their respective disciplines and categories.

The judging committee was co-chaired by Sabaa Quao, Chief Creative Officer, Cossette and Sandra Sanderson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc.

A full list of CMA Award winners can be found here.

About the Canadian Marketing Association

The CMA is the voice of marketing in Canada and our purpose is to champion marketing’s powerful impact. We are the catalyst to help Canada’s marketers thrive today, while building the marketing mindset and environment of tomorrow.

We provide opportunities for our members from coast to coast to develop professionally, to contribute to marketing thought leadership, to build strong networks, and to strengthen the regulatory climate for business success. Our Chartered Marketer (CM) designation signifies that recipients are highly qualified and up to date with best practices, as reflected in the CMA’s Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and Standards. We represent virtually all of Canada’s major business sectors, and all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies. Our Consumer Centre helps Canadians better understand their rights and obligations. For more information, visit thecma.ca.