Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards 2015

NZ Category Submission Guidelines

Self-Nomination

1 December 2015 – 4 February 2015

Submissions to:

Questions to:

Contents

Introduction

How the Microsoft Partner Awards 2015 could benefit your business

Start preparing your award nominations today

Gold or Silver Level Competency Requirement

Instructions for preparing award nominations

Segment Awards

Marketing Partner of the Year

Submission

Introduction

Welcome to the Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards 2015. We are excited to offer Microsoft partners a variety of awards designed to showcase solutions built on Microsoft technologies that provide benefits to all customers. These awards have been designed to celebrate success related to partner competencies, cloud technology, entrepreneurial spirit, and industry excellence.

How the Microsoft Partner Awards 2015 could benefit your business

Award recognition means visibility for your organisation. Awards help create new business and customer opportunities, generate press coverage, and lead to more market recognition.

Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards 2015 benefits:

•Customised logos and web banners that help you showcase your company as an honoured Microsoft partner

•Custom public relations templates to help promote your award-winning status

•Trophies and nationwide recognition for winners to display their success

•Testimonial letters from Microsoft New Zealand’s General Manager

•Finalists and winners are invited to an exclusive awards ceremony, the event is a unique opportunity to network with Microsoft executives in specific business areas and strengthen your relationship with Microsoft.

•Selected winners may also be given further preference and opportunity to showcase their solutions at Microsoft Partner events in 2015, e.g. at Microsoft roadshows or Partner breakfasts.

•All winners will receive consultation with the Microsoft Partner and Account teams for a joint-case study opportunity after the awards (PR & customer case study consultation will be Microsoft funded within the next 24 months- if selected)

Start preparing your award nominations today

This document contains specifications for one distinct category and details the eligibility requirements and casequestions. These questions should be used as a template for your entry submission. Entries can be submitted via email to from Monday 1stDecember2014 until Wednesday 4th February, 2015 at 5pm.

Gold or Silver Level Competency RequirementThis will be the second year in the history of the Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards where eligibility for ALL award categories requires a minimum Gold or Silver level Microsoft competency. The competency must be locally earned and not inherited from overseas affiliation. Please be sure to check that you have a relevant competency and that this competency is active and current prior to submitting your award submission. Gold or Silver competency may be obtained after submission (on the assumption that competency is processing) but must be validated before the judging process begins February 5th 2015, 5:01pm. If competency is not yet obtained at the time of submission but will be confirmed before the submission period closes, this information must be disclosed within an entrant’s submission. Submissions will be checked against MPN competency status prior to judging, entrants without a Microsoft competency will be held back from judging.

Instructions for preparing award nominations

Prepare your Microsoft 2015 Partner of the Year Award nominations by following these two steps.

Step 1: Review the relevant guidelines to your category (or multiple categories)and the official Terms and Conditions.

Step 2: Email the completed award submission(s) in Microsoft Word or PDF format to . Please ensure the submission addresses all of the questions for any given category, there is no word count restriction. You may enter multiple awards categories, but each submission must be a separate document. All submissions must be received by Wednesday 4 February 2015, at 5pmto be eligible entries. Improperly submitted entries will not be judged.

Your submission must include the following Partner and Customer contact information--please fill in the below tables.

The following timeline applies to this year’s partner awards:

Calendar Item / Date
Submissions open
Submit to: / Monday, 1 December 2014
Final submissions due date / Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Finalists Announced / Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Partner Awards Night / Thursday, 19 March 2015
Official Press Release Announcing Winners / Monday, 23 March 2015
Global Award Submissions Close / Friday, 25 March 2015
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (and Awards- in Orlando, Florida) / Monday 12-16 July 2015

Segment Awards

Marketing Partner of the Year

The Marketing Partner of the Year award recognises the innovative or exemplary marketing initiatives by Microsoft Partners. It is special recognition for those partners that invest their time and energy in marketing activity to successfully promote Microsoft solutions to their customers. Partners should ensure their award nominations highlight the significant impact that their marketing activities have had on their partner business and show collaboration with Microsoft. Partners should showcase the unique creativity of their marketing campaign and the positive return on investment and brand awareness that has occurred as a result of their campaign(s).

Eligibility:

  • Have a current Microsoft Pinpoint directory listing.
  • Have undertaken an integrated marketing campaign across multiple channels (i.e. direct mail, digital, social, PR, event, sponsorship, webinar) promoting Microsoft products and services.
  • Currently a Gold or Silver level partner in the Microsoft Partner Network.
  • Must have a solely dedicated marketing employee within their organisation.

Questions:

  1. Describe your most innovative marketing campaign. List all the elements of the campaign and attach digital examples to your application.
  • What were the measurable results?
  • What was the impact to Microsoft and your business revenue, as well as reach, frequency and yield? (if applicable)
  • Describe how you creatively solved a problem for your customers or exploited a marketing opportunity.
  • What digital marketing activity did you undertake?
  • Describe how you leveraged marketing tools and resources for the campaign.
  • How did you leverage your customer database?
  1. Provide a one-page marketing strategy summary for your business – a ‘Strategy Master’ template will be provided by Kylie Williams, Partner Marketing Manager (email to request a template – otherwise you may provide your own).
  2. What other marketing initiatives has your business undertaken over the eligibility period? Such as doing a direct mail campaign, presenting a webinar, posting on social media to harvest leads, running an event series, contributing a press release or article for publication.
  3. What digital marketing/social media opportunities has your business engaged in? How are you driving customers to your website? How are you capturing online leads?
  4. Describe any branding/rebranding efforts within the eligibility period.
  5. Show evidence of a strong online presence and a digital marketing strategy.
  6. Describe how you would promote your business in an ‘elevator pitch’ to a potential new customer. This describes your unique point of difference and your value proposition to your customers.
  7. What marketing resource do you have in your business; describe the roles and summarise the responsibilities.
  8. Does your business do anything else that you think should be a criterion for this award?

Note: There is no word count restriction for these responses

Submission

Partner Contact Information
Company Name
Company Address (Street, City, Postal Code)
Company Web Address
Company Profile: Please briefly describe in a paragraph or two- the company mission statement, company history, what your main solutions/products or services are (this may be used for press purposes- pre or post event).
Contact Details
Contact Name and Position
Contact Email Address
Contact Phone Number
Business Focus: Please describe your business focus and the market areas in which you operate. (Limit 500 characters)
Please attach a ‘print ready’ high resolution image of your company logo (this may be used for press purposes- pre or post event) Must be pdf, Photoshop or vector formats ( .ai, .eps, .psd, .pdf)
Customer Contact Information (if applicable for your category)
Company Name
Company Address (Street, City, Postal Code)
Company Web Address
Contact Details
Contact Name and Position
Contact Email Address
Contact Phone Number
Customer Size: in # of seats
Industry/Business Focus: Please describe the customer's business focus. (Limit 500 characters)
Yes/No: I have received permission from the customer and give consent to use the customer story for publicity purposes.
Entry
Option 1: You may answer question by question, or
Option 2: You may use a free-form style as long as the key questions are addressed

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