Demand for industry holiday gathers pace

London taxi firms predicting a heavy night are already upstaffing ahead of the Marketing Week Engage Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel on 24 May.

Excitement about the event has been rippling through the industry for weeks and is now increasing fast following the announced shortlist of potential winners.

The Engage Awards is considered the industry’s most robust test of marketing effectiveness and creativity, with a string of heavyweight judges having sifted through sackfuls of brilliant entries to find the best of the best.

The inaugural Engage Awards in 2010 saw more than 1000 marketers cram into what turned out to be the biggest industry event of the year. The party continued through the night with the dance floor still heaving at 2am.

But rumours about this year’s event and after-party have now begun to leak from the Marketing Week offices, suggesting that the 2011 celebration is going to trump last year’s night by some distance.

One confirmed detail is that broadcasting legend Chris Evans will return for his second year as host of the Awards after helping make the event such a success the first time round.

Many in the industry fear that productivity could plummet among the marketing departments at some of the biggest brands in the world the following day. There is even concern in some quarters that attendees may fail to get into work altogether on 25 May.

Marketing Week is now proposing a bank holiday be introduced on that day, specifically for the industry.

“Marketing can have an enormously positive impact both on the economy and on society,” said a spokesman for Marketing Week. “Getting marketing’s power players into one room and giving them time to kick back, relax, network and enjoy themselves could be the golden egg the coalition government needs to get the country back on its feet.”

See the full shortlist and book your table now at www.marketingweekawards.co.uk