Dr. Marceline Lemarie, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Katchi Group Sdn. Bhd. was today honoured as one of the only four recipients of the first ever Malaysian Women Marketeer Award 2011.

The tribute came in recognition of her success in innovating new marketing products in the form of a new combination of public phones and outdoor billboards.

The Malaysian Women Marketeer Award is an annual award given by the Institute of Marketing Malaysia (IMM), together with the World Marketing Association to recognize the performance and contribution of women marketers to the development and success of the marketing industry in Malaysia. It is awarded based on the evaluation of a panel of jurors which include Datuk Sharifah of Institute of Marketing Malaysia and Mr. Hermawan Kartajaya, founder of MarkPlus.Inc, a regional marketing services company with presence across Southeast Asia.

Commenting on the award, Dr. Lemarie, who holds a PHD in Strategy and Marketing and an MBA in Finance and Strategy said, "I am indeed honoured to receive this award. It is humbling yet rewarding to look back and see the progress which Katchi has accomplished in such a short period of time and I owe this success to my team."

"I share this accolade with them because this award is attributed to our position as innovative and pioneering leaders in the industry, upholding values such as trust and character with a firm belief of not conforming to industry conventions, essential in the field of marketing," she added.

Over just a short period of time, under Dr. Lemarie’s leadership, Katchi has revolutionised the Out-of-Home (OOH) industry in Malaysia, making her one of the most influential women in the Malaysian marketing and advertising industry. She is a strong advocate of designing creative solutions that enhance the environment, while reinforcing the heritage and design values of the existing city sphere.

Her leadership has spurred Katchi to reshape the industry while upgrading the urban environment status with its award winning scrolling billboards, designed to optimize distance and provide the perfect size to showcase beautifully creative ads, using environmentally friendly technology, while offering wider reach, frequency and flexibility. This move has set the direction of the industry today.

In July 2011, Katchi revolutionised the payphone in Malaysia, together with PERNEC, with the introduction of City Mix. The move introduced a masterful blend of functional communication networks fused with state of the art technology to inject new life into the public pay phone industry. With the initiative, the payphone was no longer just a phone, but yielded Wi-Fi signal relays, provided convenient reload points for major telco providers and featured a Katchi scrolling advertisement. Starting with 3500 units, the initiative has the potential to reach 40,000 phone booths across Malaysia.

In recognition of its accomplishments, Katchi was voted by directors and other senior heads of marketing as one of the preferred Out-of-Home company for 2 consecutive years in 2009 and 2010, ousting more established players in Malaysia for the accolade.

Other recipients of the Malaysian Women Marketeer Award include Puan Rozalila Abdul Rahman, CMO of Telekom Malaysia; Datin Dr. Clara L Chee, Founder of Clara International Group and Dr. Wang Kim Ha, founder of Smart Reader Worldwide.