Social Media Marketing Recognized As A Worldwide Phenomenon By The 2011 Jury Of The Bees Awards

22 World Leading Professionals Will Judge Excellence in the Fast Growing Social Media Marketing Industry

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, January 24, 2011 – The Bees Awards, the first international social media marketing awards for communication professionals, reveal today their esteemed 2011 jury panel members. The event will once again award winners in over 23 specialized categories, including 8 new categories in the fast paced social media marketing world. The ceremony will be held at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco on May 3, 2011 at 7pm and will be live-streamed over the Internet.

One-fifth of the planet is using social media platforms. That new reality calls for a new expertise. “13.5% of all Internet users are from North America*. Social Media Marketing is not a matter of one country, one language or few companies. It is happening everywhere on the planet, in every language” according to Cara Drolshagen, Co-Founder and Vice-President of The Bees Awards. “As testament that social media is a worldwide phenomenon, Bees Awards received entries from 21 countries across 5 continents in 2010. 4% of these entries came from large brands such as Ikea, Old Spice and Toyota. Social Media Marketing is serious business and it’s growing faster each day”.

* Source: Internet World Stats, June 30, 2010

The 2011 Jury announced today is composed by the following well renowned professionals from 15 different countries:

These professionals have been selected on the base of their expertise, the references they received from peers, their passion for social media and their geographic location. Together, they will honor the best social media marketing practices, define standard practices and establish the greatest ethics for the long term growth of the profession.

“Social Media Marketing is not revolutionary. It is evolutionary.” says Co-Founder & President, Bastien Beauchamp. “It remains faithful to the principals of the founders of our industry: Albert Lasker, David Ogilvy, and Bill Bernback. These founders felt strongly that a company should always care about its brand and its reputation, always try to build a brand that is truthful to its product, understand its consumers, and communicate with personality. These marketing fundaments don’t change and The Bees Awards 2011 Jury reflects the fact that large marketing agencies evolve in their practices but are also challenged every day by small specialized social media agencies.”