This year's much anticipated GMR Effectiveness in Marketing Awards (GEMAS) saw leaders from the marketing world gather at a lavish awards ceremony to recognize industry excellence in the region.

The ceremony took place on February 7th at Joharah Ballroom, Madinat Jumeirah, under the new custodianship of Mediaquest Corp. who bought out GEMAS founder - GBC - earlier this year.

The GEMAS 2008 comprised of 12 categories in which either companies, agencies or brand guardians were able to make nominations. Categories embraced the different marketing functions deployed by companies in the Gulf, from print, broadcast and online advertising to PR and sales promotions.

Those walking away with awards included Barclay's Bank, Clorox, Rani, Vimto, Barbican, Splashtastic, and Emirates Driving School.

The GEMAS was launched in 2004 by 'Gulf Marketing Review', and has since managed to establish a good reputation for their objectivity, integrity and impartiality.

Mediaquest concluded a buy out of prestigious GBC brands including Gulf Marketing Review, GMR-Online, Al Tasweeq Al Arabi and RaceWeek in January of this year.

The company is known for their established stable of publications comprising Communicate, Trends, Saneou Al Hadath and Shaheen. The group also includes Medialeader, the media representation division and data management division, 'Quest Communications'.