Winning the 2025 Certified Practising Marketer of the Year Award was significant, not simply as recognition, but because it reinforced something I believe deeply: strategic marketing creates disproportionate value. 

Not noise.  Not vanity metrics.  Not endless activity disguised as progress.   

Value. 

The kind that accelerates growth, sharpens market position, builds trust, creates demand and gives organisations an advantage competitors cannot easily replicate. 

Too often, marketing is reduced to promotion, content calendars and campaign outputs. 

That misunderstanding is expensive. 

Because when marketing is undervalued, organisations miss opportunity, dilute differentiation, misread customers and quietly leave revenue in the hands of better-positioned competitors. 

At its best, marketing is one of the most commercially powerful functions in any business. 

It spots growth whitespace early.
It turns insight into strategy.
It transforms reputation into preference.
It converts preference into profitable demand. 

That deserves recognition. 

The AMI Awards matter because they spotlight marketers doing work with substance. Work grounded in commercial intelligence, strategic clarity, courageous leadership and measurable impact. 

Winning created immediate momentum for me. Stronger authority. New opportunities. Higher-value conversations. Expanded visibility. 

That is the practical power of recognition. 

If you are considering entering this year, do it. 

Not for the photo.
Not for the applause.
Not for a fleeting moment of attention. 

Do it because too many exceptional marketers are delivering serious commercial outcomes while staying unnecessarily quiet about their contribution. 

The entry process demands a discipline every leader should value. It asks you to define the challenge, sharpen the strategy, quantify the impact and articulate the value you created. 

That is not ego.  That is executive credibility. And if you win, use it well. 

Leverage the platform. Raise your profile. Open doors. Expand influence. Help reset expectations of what excellent marketing actually looks like. 

Our profession does not need more fluff, more busyness or more performative activity. 

It needs marketers with commercial intelligence, strategic courage and the confidence to own their impact. 

Quiet excellence is overrated. 

Back yourself. 

Katie Bennett-Stenton 

Partner, Camojee , 2025 Certified Practising Marketer of the Year