The American Marketing Association Chicago (AMA Chicago) announced that Meghan Hurley is the recipient of its new individual award for Chicago area marketers, “Marketer of the Year.” Presented at the chapter’s annual CMO Forum held on Thursday, October 6, at Havas Chicago, the honoree was selected from an impressive group of in-house marketers from Chicago. To be considered for the inaugural award, nominees were required to be marketers living in the Chicagoland area, regardless of where their employer is located.
“We are delighted to present the ‘Marketer of the Year’ award to Meghan Hurley,” said Chris McGuire, president-elect of AMA Chicago. “The selection committee had a very tough job determining a winner given the caliber of the nominations. Ultimately, Hurley’s nomination stood out because of her ability to lead and scale her team and its channels. In addition, an exemplary integrated strategy was presented to the judging panel.”
Hurley is currently the VP of Brand for Claire’s and leads a multi-functional team to drive the company’s narrative through an aggressive turnaround, supporting a significant rebranding effort. Before joining Claire’s, Hurley led the marketing team at Farmer’s Fridge, building their marketing department to address rapid expansion into new markets and channels. In addition, she launched performance marketing in 2020, paving the way for growth in e-commerce.
Earlier in her career, Hurley worked in marketing across several food and retail companies. Within those roles, she developed extensive knowledge of brand strategy, market expansion, and product development and innovation. She graduated from the University of Illinois and earned an MBA from Loyola University, Quinlan School of Business.
“Adding the ‘Marketer of the Year’ award to the initiatives created by AMA Chicago is an exciting way to engage and recognize marketing excellence in our city, said Leslie Marshall, president of AMA Chicago. “We have a lot of talent in Chicago, and the ‘Marketer of the Year’ award is the perfect way to honor the hard work of those who lead the day-to-day efforts for brands.”
