Saturday, July 3, 2010

Hot Happenings at Microsoft Business Marketing

Hi folks,

Welcome to the second edition of New Horizons, which you can expect to liven up your inbox every alternate month. Each issue is designed to inform and delight you with the latest news and hottest happenings from BMO.

To kick off, we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone on the successful Mid Year Review we as a company achieved – the brochure was beautifully executed and we received supportive feedback from EMEA. WELL DONE!

On that high note, we are also pleased to share some of our activities this FY09. From boot camps, round table events and EBCs – to IT direct mailings and Business Decision Maker direct mails – BMO has embarked on a mission to optimise opportunities and raise revenue for the South African sub.

We invite you to feast your eyes on some of the incredible results of recent months and our exciting new campaigns that have just been launched – enjoy!

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Recent Marketing Activities & Events

The past few months have seen a range of exciting marketing activities and events.

Click here to read more

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Recent Marketing Activities & Events

Campaigns in market in January consisted of GSI-GFF, BSA & Accordo; SQL Energy Downloads; APO; and OSCI.

GSI-GFF, BSA & Accordo Campaigns

· These campaigns have been in market since 14 October 2008.

· The outbound call campaign is scheduled to run to the end of the fiscal to drive leads.

· The GSI-GFF campaign has achieved thousands of hits to the site, and online reports show that the site is “sticky”, with 2 minutes being the average time spent on the site. Click here to view the site. {link to : http://www.microsoft/southafrica/genuine/factfiles/default.mspx}

· Visitors to the site are viewing all the videos.

· The call centre script has been updated.

· The BSA Print Advert featured a dedicated inbound call centre number to enable us to track the number of Whistleblowers reporting piracy.

SQL Server Energy Campaign

· The SQL Server Energy campaign has generated hundreds of SQL downloads to date. Click here to see the campaign. {link to: http://www.sqlserverenergy.com}

APO Campaign

· The APO Campaign kicked off with an intensive outbound call programme.

· The first episode of the sub-campaign HTML’s was sent on 3 February 2009.

· Click here for more about APO {link to: http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/applicationplatform/default.mspx}

OSCI Campaign

· The OSCI Campaign included an outbound call programme and a sub-campaign HTML.

· Click here for more about OSCI {link to: http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/infrastructure/default.mspx}

What’s Coming in February?

· Security & Reliability – H2 Campaign

· Breadth Promo’s – combination of promotions with communication to Customers and Partners

· Depth Promo’s – communication to Customers and Partners

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Breaking New Ground

BMO has been getting out there and making it all happen – click on the links below for more on some of our exciting initiatives:

· Creating social groups for TechEd Africa and Partner summit on social networks such as Facebook

· Participating in Mother-Tongue day – 21 February

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OGA Notifier – a genuine show-stopper


It’s time to get real for non-genuine Office software users with this new anti-piracy pop-up programme recently launched.

Click here to read more

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OGA Notifier – a genuine show-stopper

We are proud to announce that the (OGA) Office Genuine Advantage Notification Programme is well underway and a press release is soon to appear in key IT publications creating awareness around this new anti-piracy initiative from Microsoft.

Once these notifications have gone out, BMO is ready to address any potential issues that may arise with PR. We also have HTMLs ready to fly, as a formal automatic response mechanism, when customers contact Account Managers or help desk with queries.

This campaign is expected to go a long way in reducing the use of non-genuine Office software among our small business and consumer customers.

What is Office Genuine Advantage Notifications?

Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) Notifications is part of the MicrosoftÒ Genuine Software Inititative. The OGA Notifications enables Microsoft and its partners to combat software piracy by helping customers quickly and easily verify that the copy of MicrosoftÒ Office software installed on their computer is genuine and properly licensed.

· Customers can obtain OGA Notifications as a voluntary download through Microsoft Update.

· If they are using a non-genuine or improperly licensed copy of Office, OGA Notifications will alert them with a recurring pop-up dialogue box. The customer will then be given specific options for resolving the error:

· Where possible, the OGA website will help them activate their product or adjust settings to pass validation;

· Customers who continue to fail validation will be directed to Microsoft partners for special offers on Microsoft software and/or offered an OGA legalisation kit, which includes Microsoft Office software and a valid product key;

· Customers who have questions or require assistance will be directed to the reseller who sold them or installed their copy of Microsoft Office for support.

What benefits do OGA Notifications offer Microsoft partners?

· Microsoft has released OGA Notifications to help level the playing field – directing business to legitimate channel partners and away from counterfeiters. When partners’ competitors sell non-genuine software at a discount, genuine partners can be at a competitive disadvantage.

· With OGA Notifications, customers can now easily identify whether they have genuine Office software. This tool can help partners build even greater trust and credibility with their customers by enabling them to know that the Office licences sold to them by the partners are genuine.

What if a partner’s customer receives OGA Notifications?

If a customer:

· Has not activated Office, the OGA failure page will provide instructions on how to activate Office successfully;

· Is a victim of counterfeit or non-genuine Office software, he/she will be instructed to complete a counterfeit report. If the media is deemed to be counterfeit, the customers will receive complimentary Office Professional media;

· Requires less than 5 licences of Office, he/she can license a new copy at a retail store or complete an online order to receive a physical copy;

· Requires 5 licences or more, he/she will be directed to local partners to license genuine Office at a retail store or be directed to a specific local partner.

Click here to find out more about Office Genuine Advantage and the benefits of genuine Office software {link to: http://www.microsoft.com/genuine}

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Virtualisation Launch Event – what next?

After its successful launch on 23rd October 2008, Virtualisation and its cost-cutting benefit will continue to feature in widespread communication.

Click here to read more

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Virtualisation Launch Event – what next?

With the objective to drive home that Virtualisation saves customers money, we are in the process of creating a follow-up HTML that will be sent to IT Pros as a reminder of this valuable resource.

The launch took place at Vodaworld, Johannesburg on 23rd October 2008, followed by a 4-day System Centre and Virtualisation boot camps attended by 110 IT Pros the week after.

Overall, this event was attended by 414 IT Pros and 198 TDMs, helping to generate 62 direct Microsoft MQPs, 75 Partner MQPs and an overall satisfaction rating score of 83%.

With challenging economic conditions at the forefront of every company, Microsoft Virtualisation Solutions couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time to put us ahead of the game and help us engage deeper with our customers and partners.

Defining Virtualisation

Virtualization has many champions and definitions. Microsoft Virtualization is designed to work with the realities of the marketplace — that other vendors are already well-established, that our audience may already have investments in other virtualization products, and that our audience is likely still challenged to deliver the promise of virtualization.

To this end, the Microsoft definition extends beyond consolidation of physical servers for cost saving. Microsoft Virtualization is about helping IT departments achieve larger goals of improved infrastructure management, increased business continuity, and return on investment.

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Security and Reliability - a priceless investment

No one thinks of security and reliability until something goes horribly wrong. BMO is always thinking ahead, ensuring businesses benefit from an efficient IT infrastructure.

Click here to read more


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Security and Reliability – a priceless investment

Customers can continue crash-proofing their business processes by ensuring they have the correct IT solutions that offer Security and Reliability.

Thanks to Microsoft Solutions Pathway, businesses can upgrade seamlessly to Windows Small Business Server 2008 or to Windows Essential Business Server 2008.

In addition to this new portal, we are incentivising small businesses to upgrade to Windows Small Business Server 2008 with a 15% discount.

Microsoft Security and Reliability provides customers with a reliable IT infrastructure that secures their businesses ­- ensuring productivity, less worry about downtime and protecting them against loss of critical business information.

We are also targeting mid-sized businesses to migrate to Windows Essential Business Server 2008, which is designed to simplify the administration and deployment of a company’s infrastructure, while facilitating greater integration, enhanced security features and automation of specific routine tasks.

“We’ve reduced our technology management chores by 50% with the move to Windows Essential Business Server 2008. We’ve also reduced our server count, which represents huge savings in ongoing maintenance work”, says Tim Dreyling, Wasser Studios.

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Mid-Market Relationship Programme (MMRP) – staying in touch with our customers

Always touching base with our customers is of fundamental importance to guarantee prolonged product and service satisfaction. BMO shows how it’s done…

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Mid-Market Relationship Programme (MMRP) – staying in touch with our customers

The Mid-Market Relationship Programme is aimed at fostering communication with our mid-market customers once they have purchased software.

The type of communication that the customer receives is determined on where they’re at since they purchased and licensed their software.

MMRP is a typical retention programme whereby a series of marketing and sales communication goes out to customers in an effort to maintain good relationships with them, inform them of any promotions or upgrades and, of course, open a door for their feedback.

Various communication takes place at the Welcome, Deploy, Use and Renew stages where customers at each stage are approached with a different message. We have begun talking to customers who are in the Welcome and Renew phases via monthly messages.

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Citizenship Human Rights Day Internal Event – a little inspiration goes a long way

You may have been wondering, what ever happened to our citizenship heroes? Well, you will get to meet them and hear all about their progress at our Citizenship Human Rights Day Internal Event happening soon.

Click here to read more

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Citizenship Human Rights Day Internal Event – a little inspiration goes a long way

After featuring in our FY09 citizenship brochure, the citizenship heroes will be making an appearance at the Citizenship Human Rights Day Internal Event.

These are individuals who, with odds against them, have transcended boundaries and achieved greatness thanks to Microsoft’s Student2Business Programme. This programme is aimed at transforming education, encouraging local innovation and creating jobs. It’s all about helping people and businesses in South Africa realise their full potential.

Watch your inbox for details about this event and the second Citizenship Newsletter where you will find other people or businesses being evaluated for our support.

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Microsoft Mid Year Review – bringing financials to life

Produced under extreme time constraints and accuracy requirements, the Microsoft Mid Year Review brochure forFY09 was received with great acclaim by the MEA heads...

Click here to read more

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Microsoft Mid Year Review – bringing financials to life

The Microsoft Mid Year Review brochure for FY09 was received with great acclaim by the MEA heads – to the extent that they requested to use the visuals in their own report to the Corporate Review team in Redmond, USA.

The A3 saddle-stitched brochure was printed on Magno White 135g & 170g and featured a selection of African-themed visuals chosen for their relevance to the sections they illustrated.

For example, the Agenda page was accompanied by a close-up of a straw bowl containing beads, and the Appendix pages featured African beadwork necklaces – i.e. the beads in the bowl represented the beginning of the story, and the necklaces were metaphors for the completed story.

The FY10 Revenue Outlook section was illustrated with a man looking contemplatively into a valley as he considers what is to come.

The FY09 P&L and HC Summary page showed a dry riverbed with a single moist footprint, to portray a note of cautious optimism for 2009, and the FY09 Revenue Summary page featured a visual of a Zulu maiden filling a water bowl at a river represented an analogy of Microsoft activities and initiatives aimed at capturing profitable business.

The brochure’s highly detailed charts were inserted at the very last minute to accompany the arresting visuals, and the printers worked through the night to ensure that the Microsoft Mid Year Review brochures were ready and delivered on deadline.

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IW Compete Roadshow

THE IW Compete Roadshow taught partners how to compete against the major industry players in South Africa and win with the Microsoft Information Worker Platform.

Click here to read more

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IW Compete Roadshow

When partners’ customers run systems other than Microsoft in their environment – or even consider running such systems – partners’ abilities to continue selling Microsoft software is at risk.

In response, Microsoft hosted the IW Compete Roadshow on 9 and 10 February 2009 – to teach partners how to compete against the major industry players in South Africa and win with the Microsoft Information Worker Platform.

At the IW Compete Roadshow, partners were exposed to the sales strategies used by Microsoft’s major competitors in Collaboration, Enterprise Search, Desktop Productivity and Unified Communications. The partners also got a good idea of how Microsoft is countering these competitor strategies from a position of strength.

The following topics were covered during the events:

· Overview of competitors’ sales strategies for 2009

· Training on a competitive sales approach

· Updated demos of competitors’ technologies and how they compare with the Microsoft platform

· Training on how to migrate customers to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Office SharePoint Server 2007

· Insight into Microsoft Office 14

· Training on the Business Value Analyzer Suite to develop a business justification deliverable tailored to their customers

· Case studies showing how to deal with competitive customer scenarios

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20% Office Promotion

In addition to productivity boosts, improved user experiences and better data management, in today’s testing economic times customers want one thing above all else. Customers want to save money – which is why Microsoft has developed a series of hard-hitting discount-based promotions.

Click here to read more

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20% Office Promotion

In addition to productivity boosts, improved user experiences and better data management, in today’s testing economic times customers want one thing above all else. Customers want to save money – which is why Microsoft has developed a series of hard-hitting discount-based promotions, running from February to April 2009.

· 15% off Small Business Server 2008 Standard Licence and 5% off Small Business Server 2008 Standard CALS

· 20% off Office Standard 2007 and 25% off Office Small Business 2007

· 15% off SQL Server

· 15% of Windows Server 2008

· 20% off Windows Vista Business Upgrade with Software Assurance

· 18% off Windows Vista Business Upgrade with Software Assurance and MDOP

· 15% off Open Value Consolidation

Partners were informed about the offers and encouraged to drive hard to close opportunities in the pipeline.

The promotions were aligned to with existing opportunities in Siebel they were leveraged to close business.

PAMs are leveraging Thru-partner marketing as the offers are aligned to customer campaigns.

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Windows 7 Beta Now Available!

Today's economy is driving an even greater need for customers to retain a competitive edge. Microsoft launched an HTML campaign to highlight the fact that Windows 7 represents a significant opportunity for partners to grow revenue for their solution services as they help customers reduce costs and increase IT business value.

Click here to read more

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Windows 7 Beta Now Available!

Today's economy is driving an even greater need for customers to retain a competitive edge. Microsoft launched an HTML campaign to highlight the fact that Windows 7 represents a significant opportunity for partners to grow revenue for their solution services as they help customers reduce costs and increase IT business value.

With Windows 7, customers can immediately deliver a better overall user experience, facilitate collaboration, and increase user productivity-whether employees are in the office or on the road.

Partners were invited to deploy Windows 7 to improve their customers’ security and data control, and to streamline desktop deployment and management of their customers' infrastructures.

The HTML Mailer informed MSDN and TechNet subscribers that they could download Windows 7 Beta, (and partners without either subscription could, from 9 January 2009, also download Windows 7 Beta).

Partners (and customers), were also given access to number of useful tools available to them through the Windows 7 Online Readiness Kit, including:

Windows 7 At a Glance: A white paper to help you learn what's new with Windows 7 for IT professionals.

Deployment and Windows 7: An overview of what's new with Windows 7 deployment tools and processes.

Windows 7 Quick Reference Card: A look at Windows 7 and the partner resources to help you support small-business, midsize-business and enterprise customers.

Partners were invited to Try Windows 7 Beta, and to recommend it to their customers. And to streamline the process, IT Process were offered access to the Springboard Series on TechNet, providing them with dynamic information and structured resources to help them explore, pilot and deploy Windows 7 in their environment. The Springboard Series showed IT Pros how Windows 7 can help them better manage and secure their PC client infrastructure, and provided tools and resources to guide them through each stage of the adoption process – from both Microsoft experts and the community of IT professionals from around the world.

To find out more about Springboard Series, click here {link to: http://technet.microsoft.com/windows/default.aspx?ITPID=carepgm}