MARCUS® HOTELS & RESORTS RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS INTERACTIVE MEDIA AWARD
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa website and Kil@Wat website recognized in the 12th Annual Horizon Interactive Awards Competition
Milwaukee, Wis., May 2, 2014. . . . . Marcus® Hotels & Resorts, a division of The Marcus Corporation (NYSE: MCS), today announced that it won two web design awards from the Horizon Interactive Awards, a leading international interactive media awards competition that recognizes the year’s “best of the best” in interactive media production.
The Grand Geneva Resort & Spa website, www.grandgeneva.com, won a gold award in the travel and tourism category and the InterContinental Milwaukee’s premier restaurant, Kil@Wat, won a bronze award for its website, www.kilawatcuisine.com, in the restaurant and food industry category. Both websites were developed and created by the Marcus Hotels & Resorts development team. Entries were judged on solution creativity and originality; graphic design, appearance and user experience; communication of message; technical merit and effectiveness of solution.
“Our internal development team manages nearly 100 websites for our hotels, resorts, restaurants, spas and loyalty program. These awards recognize their creative talent and outstanding work in providing an exceptional digital user experience for our customers,” said Christine Beuchert, senior director, marketing and ecommerce strategy for Marcus Hotels & Resorts.
“One of the challenges we faced with Kil@Wat’s website was to attract local residents and raise awareness of the restaurant and its location, as the hotel restaurant lacks an easily visible street level entrance. We achieved our goal of drawing locals in to dine, along with hotel guests, by having a responsive design that works on all mobile devices and tablets, and an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy during the rebuild of the website. As a result of these efforts, we achieved a 44% increase in the percentage of local visitors to the website and achieved a 944% increase in website traffic,” said Jessica McCoy, web project coordinator, Marcus Hotels & Resorts.
The 12th annual international competition saw over 1,600 entries from 24 countries around the world and nearly all 50 states in the U.S. An international panel of judges, consisting of industry professionals with diverse backgrounds, as well as an end-user panel, evaluated categories ranging from online advertising to mobile applications. The 2013 winning entries showcase the industry’s best interactive media solutions including web sites, mobile applications, print media, interactive displays, public exhibits, online advertising, video, email and more.
“The 2013 competition is undoubtedly one of the best showcases of outstanding interactive media in our long competition history,” said Mike Sauce, founder of the Horizon Interactive Awards. “Providing multiple forms of digital media platforms into a single interactive experience continues to be a trend. Entries have pushed the boundaries of traditional thinking in terms of expanded features, blended media, and integration of multiple marketing and technology channels. Winners in this year’s competition highlight the best blend of technology, cutting-edge thinking, outstanding user-experience and overall aesthetics.”
For more information visit the Horizon Interactive Awards online: www.horizoninteractiveawards.
About the Horizon Interactive Awards
Now in its 12th year, the Horizon Interactive Awards was created to recognize excellence in interactive media production worldwide. Since 2001, the competition has received tens of thousands of entries from countries around the world and nearly all 50 U.S. states. Each year, those entries are narrowed down to the “best of the best” to be recognized and promoted on an international stage for their excellence. For more information, visit www.horizoninteractiveawards.
