The fifth edition of Icon Honors opened Oct 30 with the 2014 call for entries inviting retailers, manufacturers, sales agencies and service providers to compete for top recognition in the home and gift industries.
With more than 50 Honorees selected through rigorous judging from among thousands of submissions and nominations recorded over its first four years, Icon Honors recognizes the highest levels of professional and personal accomplishment. Submissions and nominations are fielded across an array of categories. Icon Honors are conferred annually in July in conjunction with The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market.
Icon Honors is produced and staged by AmericasMart Atlanta in exclusive partnership with the Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA) and Progressive Business Media, and in affiliation with Gift For Life.
For 2014, the Icon Honors' categories of competition open to submissions and nominations expand with the addition of Branding. This new category joins the continuing Innovation, Contribution and Achievement categories to offer entrants an important new recognition celebrating pure marketing/branding achievement in three divisions: Brand Identity Development/Brand Launch; Brand Identity Development/Brand Continuity; and Brand Identity Development/Rebranding.
The four Icon Honors recognition categories, with their individual subsections, include:
Innovation
Innovation 1: Technology Innovations/Marketing; Technology Innovations/Networking; and Technology Innovations/Selling.
Innovation 2: Product Innovations/New Products; Product Innovations/Redesigned Products; and Product Innovations/Licensed Products.
Innovation 3: Packaging Innovations/New Designs; Packaging Innovations/New Material; and Packaging Innovations/Eco-Friendly.
Contribution
Contribution 1: Community Influence/Business Development and Community Influence/Outreach.
Contribution 2: Industry Influence/Leadership and Industry Influence/Cause-Related Product.
Branding
Branding/Identity: Brand Identity Development/Brand Launch; Brand Identity Development/Brand Continuity; and Brand Identity Development/Rebranding.
Achievement
Achievement 1: New Achiever.
Achievement 2: Career Achiever.
All IconHonors submissions and nominations are made exclusively online at AmericasMartIconHonorscom.
In addition to Icon Honorees selected through independent judging from open submissions and nominations, Icon Honors additionally confers special recognition through the Lifetime Achievement Honor, AmericasMart Medal of Excellence Honor and The GHTA/Gift For Life Honor of Excellence. These Honors are conferred at the sole discretion of the Icon Honors governing board representing the partners. Those named as Honorees in this level of recognition include truly iconic brands such as Hallmark, Century Furniture, Restoration Hardware, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Retail, Anthropologie, the Williamsburg Brand of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and others.
Honorees are selected through extensive adjudication by highly qualified experts drawn from the world of design, manufacturing and product development. The 2014 call for entries continues through March 14, 2014, with adjudication immediately following. The 2014 Icon Honors celebration is set for Thursday, July 10 as the signature event of The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market.
