By Kathleen Cassedy

Four remarkable marketers were recognized with ATME 1999 Atlas Awards, designed to honor those leaders who show continual excellence through their innovative tactics and results-oriented programs, during a banquet hosted by Discover/Novus Services.

JAY WALKER LAUDED AS GUERRILLA MARKETER
Perhaps the Atlas Award for Guerrilla Marketer of the Year was a given for 1999. Marketers have rarely, if ever, launched a product that has been embraced by the public and investors as rapidly as Jay Walker's priceline.com. The Internet travel company, which allows consumers to set their own price for airline tickets and hotel rooms, was introduced to the public via radio last year by actor William Shatner. In its first year of operation, the company sold 333,000 airline tickets and 75,000 hotel rooms on-line, achieving mega-brand status among e-commerce companies.

"If you can imagine Jay incessantly telling William Shatner to say 'big, really big,' just like that (during ad production)," remarked Bill Harris, vice president of priceline.com, during his acceptance remarks for Walker, who was unable to attend. "Because Jay is in the trenches all the time, sending our message to the world net."

Walker is chairman of Walker Digital Corporation and founder and vice chairman of priceline.com. Walker Digital is a leading inventor of innovative Net-centric business solutions, including priceline.com's patented e-commerce system. An acclaimed entrepreneur and marketer, Walker was ranked among the most influential business leaders in the digital age by Time magazine in October 1998. Target marketing magazine also named him a direct marketer of the year.

ROGER BALLOU AWARDED FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
The most prestigious honor bestowed by ATME is its Atlas Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to Roger Ballou, chairman and CEO of Global Vacation Group (GVG), following a remarkable 19 years in the travel and tourism industry.

Ballou's first travel job was with American Express, where he was given one year to turn around the company's flagging tour business. He successfully did that, and became vice president and general manager of AmEx's United Kingdom division. That job was followed by heading a new division to merge corporate cards with business travel services. When Ballou became president of American Express Travel Services Group, its annual revenues were more than $15 billion.

From American Express, Ballou went to Alamo Rent a Car as its president and COO. Alamo was sold to a group of investors, for whom Ballou became senior advisor to their capital partners and private investment fund, helping to create GVG, which recently completed a successful public offering. In March 1998, Ballou became chairman of GVG, which acquires and consolidates vacation package companies, and operates under three brands.

Ballou has also participated in travel organizations that work for the good of the entire industry. He is past chairman of the Travel Industry Association of America, and currently chairs the U.S. National Tourism Organization.

In accepting the award, Ballou revealed that during his career he has always followed the same philosophy. "The people who build great corporations are those that practice anticipation [of customers' needs] and innovation better than their competitors....If you do those right, you should have great comfort that the return on investment will be there. If the proof is there now, you are already wrong if you are in marketing, because marketing is about taking chances before you know the results."

Ballou encouraged conference attendees to be bold. "That is one of the disciplines that marketing must have-to be the risk-oriented arm of the corporation-the group that takes the constructive risks to move the organization to new places."

INSPIRING LOYALTY, TWA'S LISBETH MACK AWARDED
Veteran airline marketer, Lisbeth Lee Mack, received the Atlas Inspiration Award for her leadership in developing and marketing Trans World Airlines' "Aviators" frequent-flyer loyalty program. In accepting the award, Mack, who is TWA's vice president of marketing, said, "It's a humbling experience to get an individual award for something that was so clearly a team effort," citing the advertising agency and the creative services department.

The loyalty program was revamped, based on customer research that showed that frequent flyers perceived themselves as pioneers who endured hardship [travel] in pursuit of their [business] goals. She learned that customers want to be recognized by airlines for their fortitude and loyalty. With that information, Mack and her team created a program that celebrates the pioneering spirit of TWA's frequent flyers. Advertising collateral features aviator legends. For example, the headline for a picture of aviator Amelia Earhart, reads, "You don't have to be a legend to be recognized for your travels." That pioneering message and its symbols were used to shape the program that recognizes frequent flyers with awards and upgrades. In summing up the program, which increased active membership to more than 20 percent it its first year, Mack adapted the closing line from an earlier conference speaker, Doug Fyfe, president and CEO of Canadian Tourism Commission, who said "Don't ever forget we're selling dreams." She said, "If you can convince your customers that they're still buying dreams, that's inspiration."

RADISSON'S MAUREEN O'HANLON RECEIVES 'TO MARKET' AWARD
Maureen O'Hanlon, executive vice president of marketing and sales for Radisson Hotels Worldwide, received the "To Market" award in absentia for her many contributions to Radisson's innovative trade and consumer marketing programs. These include the company's Worldwide Hospitality Program, which provides corporate clients with a state-of-the-art computerized rates and benefits package. She is also instrumental in the success of "Look to Book," the company's computerized incentive program for travel agents, and is responsible for developing marketing initiatives via emerging technologies, such as the Internet, CD-ROM, and interactive kiosks.