AMA Houston Chapter announces Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America the 2015-2016 Marketer of the Year

HOUSTON, Oct. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Marketing Association Houston Chapter (AMA Houston) today revealed the 20 Houston-area companies, organizations and institutions winning Best in Category in their respective industries and announced Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA) as the 2015-2016 Marketer of the Year winner during the chapter's awards event at the Alley Theatre in downtown Houston. For a list of all winners, visit http://amahouston.org/marketer-of-the-year.

The winning MCFA submission highlighted the marketing team's many achievements that included a 26% increase in web traffic, a 14% increase in mobile traffic, a 40% increase in inbound sales leads, and a 100% increase in LinkedIn followers, in addition to reaching 250 new customers in a 14-market roadshow and identifying 300 new leads at a major industry exhibition.

Winning Best in Category were Alley Theatre, AVDA - Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, CHI St. Luke's Health, Children's Museum of Houston, edOpp Solutions LLC, Houston Airport System, Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market, Houston First Corporation, Houston Golf Association, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, LiquidFrameworks, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA), Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C. (PKF Texas), Parawest Management, Pennebaker, Phillips 66 U.S. Marketing, St. Anne Catholic School, TKMLabs/LureDeals and University of Houston.

Judging was done by a national panel of 16 senior marketing professionals who reviewed and scored information submitted about the marketing programs of the category nominees to determine the 60 finalists and the 20 Best in Category winners. The judging panel then rescored the top scoring category winners to determine the 2015-2016 Marketer of the Year overall winner.

Another event highlight was the Legendary Dinner Auction where the evening's attendees bid to win one-on-one dinners with seven Houston business leaders, including Mayor Sylvester Turner; Bob Harvey, CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership; Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale; CEO of Gallery Furniture; Bob Charlet, Publisher of the Houston Business Journal; William Harris, CEO of Space Center Houston; Dana Tyson, morning host at Sunny 99.1; and Reid Ryan, president of the Houston Astros. Leading restaurants sponsoring these dinners included Tony's, Ouisie's Table, Del Frisco's, State of Grace, Uchi, Steak 48 and the Diamond Club.

This year's Marketer of the Year event featured celebrity emcee Mike MacRae who has appeared on Comedy Central, The Late Show with David Letterman, NESN's Comedy All-Stars, and was a full cast member on the TBS sketch show Frank TV.

The Houston Business Journal was the Presenting Sponsor for the 10^th consecutive year, and Sysco was the Event Underwriter. Other sponsors included Comcast, SCI, Greater Houston Partnership, Shell, Sullivan Group, Blinds.com, CenterPoint Energy, Decode Digital, Lone Star College, Phillips 66 and San Jacinto College. Event in-kind partners included Staging Solutions, Coterie Spark, Bayside Printing Company, TeleReach, Saifee Signs, the Alley Theatre, Spry, Clear Channel Outdoor and CTM Interactive.

About AMA
AMA Houston is the area's premier professional marketing organization and is the largest AMA Chapter in North America. AMA Houston provides marketers the ability to remain competitive in today's business environment through networking events, special interest groups and real-world educational programs. AMA Houston was named Chapter of the Year six times in the past 12 years by AMA's international headquarters.

About Marketer of the Year
Established in 2005, the Marketer of the Year award is AMA Houston's annual program honoring exceptional marketing work by Houston-area companies, organizations and institutions. Prior winners include Phillips 66 US Marketing (2014), YMCA of Greater Houston (2013), Aliana Development (2012), Discovery Green (2011), University of Houston Athletic Department (2010), Blinds.com (2009), Kelsey-Seybold Clinic (2008), the Houston Zoo (2007), Weatherford International (2006) and the Houston Symphony (2005).

Contacts:
Gary Carson, Executive Director, American Marketing Association, 713.668.8550, [email protected] 
Matt Ross, Marketer of the Year Co-chair, [email protected] 
Rebecca Loeb, Marketer of the Year Co-chair,
[email protected]

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SOURCE AMA Houston