Ryan Reynolds and Kraft Heinz named top winners at 2022 CMA Awards

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Canadian film icon and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds and Kraft Heinz were among the top winners at the sold out Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Awards show this evening.

“The quality of this year’s entries demonstrates yet again the resilience and ingenuity of Canadian marketers,” said Sartaj Sarkaria, acting chief operating officer and chief diversity officer, CMA. “Marketers continue to be creative and effective, no matter what challenges they face,” she added.

Accepting his award as Marketer of the Year, Reynolds declared: “I love marketing,” and thanked the Canadian marketing community “from the heart of my bottom” during his video address.

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

• Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Kaiser & Partners: Jan Kestle, President, Environics Analytics
• Best of the Best: Kraft Heinz in partnership with Rethink for the campaign: “Heinz Hot Dog Pact”
• Top Cause: BBPA, TMU Diversity Institute, Canadian Congress on Diversity and Pride at Work Canada in partnership with Zulu Alpha Kilo for their campaign "The Micropedia of Microaggressions”

In total, close to 150 awards were presented across six disciplines, as outlined below.

The evening festivities featured a special performance by international artist Témi, who was born in Nigeria and raised in Toronto. Témi’s performance was coordinated through Ogo Tawa Inc. – an organization that promotes gifted and underrepresented artists of African descent to help them achieve their dreams and inspires non-Black communities to value Black people’s contributions to the arts.

Several hundred marketers from across Canada gathered in person for the Awards celebration for the first time in two years for an unforgettable evening, which included a nostalgic arcade hosted by TD, an interactive photobooth, and an energetic performance by the FireGuy.

Awards categories and judging

Awards are presented across six disciplines: brand building, business impact, customer experience, engagement, innovative media and martech. 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).

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 Christopher Andrews, President & CEO, BBDO Canada and Allison Litzinger, SVP Marketing, Sephora.

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

About the Canadian Marketing Association

The CMA’s purpose is to embolden Canadian marketers to make a powerful impact on business in Canada. 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 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.