
Hamilton has been recognised on the international stage for the Love the Centre campaign -- taking out the award over finalists from Sydney and Melbourne.
The Hamilton Central Business Association (HCBA) won the Best Traditional or Digital Marketing Award at the Mainstreet Australia 2025 Awards for the campaign.
The awards featured finalists from all over Australia and New Zealand, and honoured groups who were revitalising main streets.
HCBA General Manager Vanessa Williams said the group decided to enter the competition while organising their own Love the Centre Awards last year.
The HBCA were “so incredibly proud of the work that we had done with Daymark around the creation of the Love centre website”.
“So we thought, actually, yeah, let's put our money where our mouth is and, and see if there is an award programme that we could enter that celebrates our achievement as well.”
Asked how it felt to take out the award over other finalists, Williams said, “there was a lot of pride of Hamilton representing on the international stage against business associations in Sydney and Melbourne”.
“There was a little bit of chest puffing, I'll be honest.”
She said that the award recognised how the Love the Centre campaign showcased the city centre and local businesses.
“With our international flights we have with Jetstar now, you know, encouraging people over from Sydney and the Gold Coast, it's great to be able to profile the best of Hamilton City centre, and I think we do that.”
And what’s next for Love the Centre?
Williams said the HCBA were still growing the content of the site, and were listing more businesses. She added they were also looking into how they could use AI in the campaign.
“We're looking at different things that will make this a really functional site that people ... can use to really find the best of Hamilton Central.”



