2011 AWARDS
BLUEWATER WINS THREE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
Bluewater has won three international awards at the Solal Marketing Awards held at the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) on 7th April 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Two awards recognise Bluewater’s commitment to supporting the local community through its work with The Learning Shop and the third award in the PR category, recognised Bluewater’s campaign during the snow management in December 2010.
Selected from a large number of entries from across Europe, The Learning Shop was awarded the prestigious ICSC Foundation European Community Support Award, which recognises Bluewater’s ongoing commitment to supporting the local community through The Learning Shop and its pioneering partnership with North West Kent College and Job Centre Plus. In addition to the award, The Learning Shop will also receive a $5,000 USD bursary from the ICSC Foundation.
The second award for The Learning Shop was from the Community Relations Category. In the last 12 years, The Learning Shop, Bluewater, has found employment for over 26,000 people from the local community, with more than 12,000 having received formal training, and nearly 10,000 qualifications awarded. In 2010 alone, The Learning Shop, Bluewater, created employment for 4,000 people, trained 500 and awarded over 375 qualifications. Furthermore, approximately 70% that benefited were from the local community.
The final award recognised Bluewater’s snow management campaign in December 2010. With the snow management involving the entire Bluewater team pulling together to keep the centre open during a period of unprecedented levels of snowfall, the award really underlines the team approach that makes Bluewater so successful.
In the past three years, Bluewater has received more accolades at the ICSC Solal Marketing Awards than any other retail asset in Europe.
Bluewater has been shortlisted for the National Recycling Awards 2011.
2010 AWARDS
Bluewater shines at the ICSC Awards Solal European Marketing Awards.
On 17th June 2010, Bluewater won two Gold awards and one Silver at the prestigious ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) Solal European Marketing Awards, which celebrate the very best of industry marketing, and PR.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, and out of a record 152 entrants from across 18 countries in Europe and South Africa, Bluewater won two of the seven Golds awarded and was recognised as being one of the leading retail destinations in Europe.
The two Gold's were won under the Business to Business and Public Relations categories for the; 'Bluewater. No Comparison' trade campaign and the Jenson Button/Virgin Media Speedweek 50 event, respectively. Silver was also received for the unique Bluewater Apprenticeship Scheme in the Cause Related Marketing category.
ICSC Jury Award Chair, Frank Pöstges, Managing Directory of CentrO Oberhausen in Germany said: "With a total of two Golds and one Silver Awards won, Bluewater was the most successful individual shopping centre of the 2010 Solal Marketing Awards. This underlines, that when it comes to Marketing, Bluewater is one of the leading shopping centres in Europe".
David Wilkinson, Head of Marketing at Bluewater, added: "The ICSC Solals are a highly respected and very influential awards programme, and we are extremely proud to have been recognised in three such highly competitive categories. This is a fantastic achievement for the whole team that worked on these campaigns including our agency, Klein O'Rorke".
As a winner, Bluewater will automatically qualify for entry into the internationally acknowledged ICSC MAXI Awards, which recognise excellence in shopping centre marketing across the world.