Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated. You should be proud that your work has been recognised by your colleagues. Well Done!
Region: MEE
Melanie did a fantastic job supporting the MEE customer program for Sapphire Barcelona.
Her collaborative approach to working with the Comms team and the business was exemplary, resulting in ten customers participating in the customer program.
She strengthened Comms’ impact by improving the alignment and teamwork with other regions.
Region: EMEA
Raffaella excellently led the Media & Analyst (M&A) program for Sapphire Barcelona 2024.
She made Sapphire Barcelona 2024 relevant to the audience, instead of just copying the Sapphire Orlando format. Rafaella and her team performed exceptionally well; from organizing the ‘Day 0 event’ at Roca Gallery and developing an impressive customer story program, to ensuring our guests had an outstanding experience in Barcelona.
It is widely regarded as one of the best EMEA Sapphire events. The post-event media survey feedback was overwhelmingly positive, proving the M&A program’s success.
Raffaella excelled at collaborating and negotiating with different SAP teams and stakeholders, demonstrating excellent leadership and organizational skills. Her ability to manage these complex responsibilities was even more impressive as she continued her demanding day job overseeing Communications in Italy.
Region: EMEA
Belén had a crucial role in assisting Raffaella Mollame in delivering and achieving excellent media coverage of the Sapphire Barcelona 2024 Day 0 event at Roca Gallery.
She secured a Spanish customer with a great story and a fantastic location for the ‘Day 0 event’ – the Roca Gallery in Barcelona. It was a fantastic experience for our guests, and Belén got great media coverage. The Roca customer story alone got almost 40 pieces of press coverage.
Belén’s impressive ‘media shark’ abilities achieved press coverage across EMEA & MEE, not just in Spain.
The event had great customers, our CEO, CAIO and two regional Presidents. This would not have been possible without Belén.
Region: LAC North
Marcela Perilla, MD of SAP LAC North, orchestrated a high-impact initiative to showcase SAP's influence on Colombian businesses' digital transformation.
Marcela led a partner-sponsored panel discussion on digital transformation in Colombian businesses. She collaborated with local partner, MQA, to showcase four CEO-led customer stories.
Marcela secured over 20 media hits across 13 outlets and facilitated 7 one-on-one interviews to amplify SAP's message in the region.
The panel highlighted how companies like Carbones Andinos, Manufacturas Elliot, Grupo Grasco, and Proquinal use SAP solutions such as RISE WITH SAP to achieve efficiency, innovation, and sustainable growth. The story received coverage in multiple publications, including TechnoCIO, La Nota Economica, Impacto TIC, Tecnogus, IT Sitio, America Retail, Valor y Dinero, TintaTIC. Here’s the SAP News article: From Pandemic Survival to Growth Engine: Cloud Takes Colombian Businesses to the Next Level
Marcela also shared insights on LinkedIn, emphasizing how cloud migration and intelligent solutions are catalyzing innovation and business growth in Colombia.
Region: Canada
Natalie played a key role in developing a thought leadership story for the Canadian mid-market renewable energy companies, which was used in a demand generation campaign.
The campaign saw a 40% response rate and helped secure a new opportunity valued at $250k with a projected Q4 close date. Natalie's efforts demonstrated strategic insight into the needs of the renewable energy sector, positioning SAP as a leader in this space.
Natalie worked closely with various teams to ensure the narrative resonated with target audiences, and the content was amplified across multiple platforms.
Region: Brazil
Luciana Coen, Integrated Communications Director for SAP Brazil, secured a cover story for SAP Brazil’s MD in one of the largest business publications in Brazil.
Luciana and her Comms team invited Hugo Cilo, Chief Editor of IstoÉ Dinheiro magazine, to interview the MD of SAP Brazil, Adriana Aroulho, and helped to prepare her for the interview. The resulting main story on AI and corporate IT trends compellingly conveyed SAP’s cloud and AI messages.
The Integrated Communications team prepared Adriana for the in-depth interview so she could highlight all of SAP’s main key messages.
The article tells how SAP Brazil became one of the fastest-growing cloud adoption markets within SAP, with constant, double-digit growth rates for 22 quarters in a row. It also explores how SAP has been working to integrate AI resources into enterprise software and covers the growth of adoption ofSAP S/4HANA.
Region: LAC Mexico
Fernanda Godínez and Alejandra Labanca secured an interview on Imagen Radio for the SAP LAC President, Cristina Palmaka.
The interviewer, Rodrigo Pacheco, is one of the most influential voices in Mexico’s business landscape. Interviewees on his show usually get 10-12 minutes on air, but Fernanda and Alejandra managed to land a 20-minute interview for Cristina.
The interview strengthened SAP’s reputation as a key player in Business AI, and cloud ERP. It also generated a new business opportunity with the Industrial Chamber in Mexico, which contacted SAP after hearing the interview.
They took a risk by pitching to the respected business journalist and presenter, because he had distanced themselves from SAP after his close friend, SAP Mexico’s MD, left SAP in January. Negotiations took a long time, but their perseverance was worth it: the interview successfully combined our innovation and AI narratives with the local need to address Mexican companies’ reluctance to migrate to a cloud ERP.
Region: EMEA
Lynn expanded and rebranded two weekly newsletters for the Africa Cluster to cover the entire MEA South region.
She successfully transformed the content to ensure it represents the entire region and is relevant and culturally appropriate to the broader audience.
The newsletters create connection and pride in the diverse Market Units, significantly increasing regional employee engagement and awareness. They bring the stories to life with many employee photos, live animation and photo reels.
Lynn's effort in establishing a content delivery network and her attention to cultural nuances have been key to the newsletters' success and positive reception across the expanded region.
Lynn started producing two weekly newsletters for the Africa Cluster over five years ago. The newsletters grew in popularity and readership and have been established as the central weekly information source. Monday’s edition called “This week at SAP” is business focused, while the Friday edition “Feel Good Friday” is more around the team and building morale.
In 2023, Africa became part of the larger MEA South cluster, but the employee comms were mainly managed separately. In Q2, 2024 the Cluster Head asked Lynn to change the newsletters to encompass the entire MEA South region.
Region: India (APJ)
Chaya, Shika and Deepika from the Comms team organized an All Hands town hall meeting for Scott Russell, SAP's Chief Revenue Officer.
The All Hands event achieved impressive attendance, with 2,000 employees participating: 1,500 online and 450 in-person. It was an outstanding achievement because it successfully united employees from two distinct board areas with different expectations during a critical restructuring.
The event fostered open communication and engagement, resulting in overwhelmingly positive feedback, including this LinkedIn post from Scott Russell, interactive Q&A sessions, and valuable post-town hall networking opportunities.
Two India MDs hosted the All Hands — Manish Prasad, President & MD SAP Indian Subcontinent, and Sindhu Gangadharan, MD SAP Labs India and Head of Customer Innovation Services, SAP.
The Comms team collaborated with multiple stakeholders, including colleagues from Labs, the field organization, and the regional hub of APJ, to ensure an appropriate and balanced narrative.
Region: North America
This team led the April All Employee Meeting, focusing on difficult topics like restructuring and return to office (RTO).
Their open and transparent approach to communication allowed employees to directly address their concerns, and the live event drew 8,800 viewers. The meeting's format, which involved real-time feedback and questions, was praised for its candidness and emotional resonance.
The team crowdsourced questions in advance and worked with HR to ensure that employees' concerns were adequately addressed, earning positive feedback from employees and executives alike.
Region: MEE & Global
Sandra and Fernanda have rolled out Signal AI across the regional teams, focusing on implementation, training, and developing effective reporting tools.
Sandra has been the driving force of the Signal AI rollout across all six regions, demonstrating a deep understanding of the data and limitless patience in helping teams train the tool to provide needed information.
Sandra and Fernanda were instrumental in designing, building, and testing scorecards, which have been used impressively to showcase sterling results from Sapphire Barcelona and quarterly successes across regions.
They have shown an innate desire to help, to make things better for everybody, and to constantly improve and innovate better ways of doing things.
Region: North America
Angela Schuller led the communications effort for the 4/1 Transformation Communications, ensuring its success. She consistently goes beyond her usual responsibilities to support the team.
Angela’s diligence and dedication ensured a flawless communications cascade, which was a critical task for the region. She’s known for her strong work ethic, ability to anticipate issues, and her willingness to help others despite her workload.
Angela is consistently a reliable team member, frequently stepping up to support colleagues and the broader team. Her work on the transformation communication project was a testament to her organizational skills and commitment to excellence.
Region: North America
Meghan led the onsite meeting scheduling at Sapphire Orlando, organizing over 280 meetings with more than 100 executives, 70 media analysts, and influencers.
Meghan's efficient handling of meetings, from scheduling to execution, was flawless, resulting in a well-coordinated event. She implemented new features for scheduling tools, ensuring smooth operations and adapting quickly to onsite challenges.
Meghan also staffed the welcome/help desk at the Media & Analyst Center and assisted in organizing the reception, where her proactive approach ensured that the event ran smoothly and guests felt well-supported.
Region: LAC North
Diana and her Comms team turned a partnership with a local innovation entity into a newsworthy event highlighting the potential benefits for thousands of entrepreneurs.
SAP formed a strategic alliance with Ruta N and the Mayor of Medellín to drive regional business innovation by providing companies and digital talents with access to world-class resources and knowledge. The team transformed a simple alliance into a high-impact, nationally recognized story. The team's efforts resulted in significant media coverage from a Roundtable with media and 11 one-on-one interviews. They engaged 21 media outlets and achieved over 42 media hits. The media coverage (here’s an example ) amplified the initiative's impact, showcasing SAP's role in driving technological advancement and economic growth in Medellín and beyond.
What initially was an alliance with an entity that promotes innovation in Colombia, became a national news story that showed how thousands of entrepreneurs could benefit from the alliance between these two organizations. The alliance includes programs such as the “Startup Innovation Journey” for startups, open innovation initiatives for large companies, and specialized training for digital talents in SAP software. This collaboration demonstrates SAP's commitment to fostering innovation and supporting local business ecosystems.
Region: LAC South
Lautaro launched a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter to enhance the social media presence of Claudia Boeri, MD of SAP LAC South.
The initiative significantly boosted Claudia Boeri's social media engagement and reach. The newsletter attracted over 4,500 subscribers in just two months, representing about 30% of the follower base. There was a 7% increase in followers, and each blog post generated an average of 150 interactions. This strategy has effectively elevated the MD's reputation as a thought leader across SAP LAC South.
The “Unlock the Future” newsletter features blogs focused on technology topics. The success of this initiative demonstrates the power of strategic content and targeted communication in enhancing executive presence on social media.
Region: APJ
Yuri and Kaori launched a strategic communications initiative to promote SAP's "Fit to Standard" and "Clean Core" approaches in Japan, addressing national productivity challenges.
This initiative has played a crucial role in supporting SAP's mission to improve productivity in Japan's challenging demographic landscape of a declining and aging population.
It resulted in significant media coverage, including a series of articles in Nikkei XTECH, a leading technology publication. It successfully showcased customer success stories, like this one, highlighting the benefits of transitioning from customized on-premise solutions to standardized cloud-based systems.
The success stemmed from strategically pitching relevant customer press releases and consistently engaging with journalists on trending topics. The coverage included in-depth analyses of ERP implementation challenges, reinforcing SAP's message.
This shift has been further supported by insights from Christian Klein, who highlighted the long-term cost implications of resisting process changes and the importance of minimizing custom add-ons for sustainable ERP system upgrades.
Region: APJ
The team successfully organized a high-profile joint press conference with CP Foods; the first customer in APJ to adopt SAP's end-to-end sustainability solutions.
They overcame initial reluctance from the customer to deliver a comprehensive media campaign within a tight one-month timeframe.
Together with CP Foods’ Comms team, they orchestrated a media roundtable in Bangkok, attracting 13 key business and tech journalists. The campaign expanded beyond local borders with an SAP press release distributed across SEA and North America, complemented by a video for APJ Q1 earnings.
Their efforts resulted in extensive social media amplification and news center postings for SAP and CP Foods, including Channel Asia, influencer SEA media and Fortune Indonesia. They generated 346 articles across SEA, APJ, Europe, and the US media, and broadcast coverage, all of which had a 100% neutral-positive sentiment.
The customer, CP Foods, a leading integrated agro-industrial and food business based in Thailand, was the first customer in APJ to embrace SAP’s end-to-end sustainability solutions as part of its Net Zero goals in Q1 2024.
The customer was initially reluctant to participate in publicity with SAP and had declined to be nominated for SAP’s Q1 2024 earnings call. The SEA Comms team worked hard to understand the customer’s priorities. Subsequently, they used Paul Marriott, SAP APJ President’s visit to the country, to convince the customer to join an executive-level, joint press conference in Bangkok, together with CP Foods’ top management. Scott Russell amplified it in his LinkedIn and Instagram channels.
Region: EUROPE
The team organized a comprehensive media program for Sapphire Barcelona, to effectively engage and inform journalists.
From the customer stories to the ROCA gallery event this was a remarkable team effort across multiple countries. Hailed as the "BEST European SAPPHIRE ever," the event demonstrated the team's ability to create impactful media experiences. From compelling customer stories to the innovative ROCA gallery event, the program showcased exceptional teamwork across multiple countries, setting a new standard for SAP's media engagement.
The results from May 8th to June 28th were truly remarkable. The team generated an impressive 1,082 target media articles, with 461 appearing in the most influential publications. Their efforts also resulted in 424 partner articles and 251 customer articles, showcasing the broad reach of their campaign. Key spokespeople, including Christian Klein, Scott Russell, and Philipp Herzig, received significant coverage, amplifying SAP's leadership voice in the industry. Business Agility (Cloud ERP) and Business AI emerged as the most mentioned corporate topics, aligning perfectly with SAP's strategic focus.
Antonia's praise highlighted the "truly collegial collaboration across all the regions" and the positive, mutually supportive work with various departments, including GPR, Exec Comms, AR, and Events. This cross-functional synergy was vital to the program's success. The impact of the team's efforts continues to resonate, with coverage still coming in weeks and months after the event.
Region: LAC South
The team organized and executed the two-week SAP House event in Santiago, Chile.
The event combined business, technology, networking, and immersive experiences in a casual setting. The team demonstrated exceptional cross-functional collaboration, working with Marketing and other business areas to create a multi-faceted program. They facilitated meetings between local journalists and SAP leaders, offered hands-on Cloud solutions and AI integration demos, and generated social content.
The initiative resulted in more than 20 articles in business and technology media, effectively positioning SAP's Business AI strategy and highlighting the speed of solution adoption and sustainability efforts in Chile.
The success of the SAP House Santiago event demonstrates the team's adaptability and skill in creating high-impact, tailored content that resonates with diverse audiences across various channels.
From April 8th to April 19th, SAP House in Santiago became the bustling hub where business, technology, networking, and immersive experiences converged in a relaxed, casual setting.
The event also served as a platform for internal engagement, with the team organizing a town hall meeting for SAP Chile employees featuring Cristina Palmaka, president of SAP Latin America and the Caribbean. Combining external communication with internal engagement, this comprehensive approach showcased the team's ability to leverage a single event for multiple strategic purposes.
Region: India (APJ)
The team used SAP NOW India 2024, the region's first flagship event in Mumbai, to drive critical narratives around SAP's sustainability study and the ‘GROW With SAP for Scaleups’ launch.
In April 2024, SAP India hosted the region's first SAP NOW in Mumbai. The flagship event, built around the theme "India: Incredible to Inevitable," attracted over 3000 attendees, including prospects, customers and partners. The communications team orchestrated a comprehensive media strategy, including a press conference with top SAP executives and customers, and a media roundtable for the GROW with SAP for Scaleups launch.
Their efforts resulted in over 150 pieces of positive coverage, reaching an audience of over 50 million. The team secured high-profile media placements, including a five-page magazine story in Business Today that featured SAP's sustainability research.
The communications team capitalized on this ‘company moment’ to drive narratives around SAP’s commitment to Sustainability, the focus on the Indian Scaleups community, and the partner ecosystem.
The Comms team further leveraged 2 press releases on the respective announcements, interviews with seven SAP regional and local executives, and customer advocacy across seven customers, including Sula Wines, Reliable Autotech, and Prama Hikvision. They facilitated 16 interviews with APJ and India executives across major publications such as Moneycontrol, CRN India and CNBC Storyboard.
Region: Greater China
The team orchestrated integrated communication programs for SAP NOW events in Beijing, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in May, despite the challenges posed by restructuring.
SAP NOW events were held in the Greater China Region in May, including Beijing, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. SAP achieved broad and in-depth exposure through local communication activities, reinforcing its leadership in digital transformation with Business AI and cloud, and its commitment to local markets.
The team generated over 450 media articles, achieving a remarkable reach of 660 million. They successfully attracted more than 60 media representatives to attend the events, and secured six executive and four customer interviews. These impressive numbers demonstrate the team's ability to effectively communicate SAP's leadership in digital transformation, Business AI, and cloud solutions. The extensive media reach and high-quality coverage reinforced SAP's commitment to local markets across the Greater China region.
Despite the challenges posed by restructuring, the team demonstrated remarkable dedication and effort in planning integrated communication programs during three SAP NOW events in May across Beijing, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Their hard work resulted in significant achievements and reinforced SAP's leadership in digital transformation, Business AI, and Cloud.