The project was designed and implemented for HSBC Bank plc - Prague branch.
SUMMARY OF PROJECT
Awards for dynamic Czech exporters, which took place from November 2013 to May 2015. Companies could enter their export projects for an award and compete in two categories: "Czech Export Rising Star" (an award meant for medium-sized companies with a turnover over 800 million CZK a year) and "International Innovation" (an award meant for large companies with a turnover of more than 1.5 billion CZK a year). The partners for the awards were EY, White & Case, EGAP, the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Czech Export Bank and Czech TOP 100. The awards are a follow-up to a previous similar activity by HSBC - the "Grant for Export" competition, though it targeted larger companies to a greater extent.
The awards also included a professional "Exports in Focus" seminar, which offered Czech exporters practical advice and useful information for exports and success abroad and the opportunity to meet and discuss with professionals in this field.
DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNITIES OR THE RISK THE PROJECT RESOLVED
The project had to deal with several communication risks - it took place under this heading for the first time. Compared to its predecessor it offered the winners fulfilment in the form of consulting and concrete support from HSBC's experts, but not a financial reward. It is not the only competition of its kind in the Czech Republic. The greatest challenge, however, was the change of the target group of competitors from medium-sized companies to the largest companies, whose interest it was necessary to attract so that they would participate in the event.
INFORMATION ON THE RESEARCH PERFORMED PRIOR TO THE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF DURING THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT
N/A.
EXPLANATION OF CHOSEN STRATEGIC APPROACH
The strategy was both to maximally simplify the application to the competition and, using an active approach, to facilitate the application process, as well as to explain to the competitors the added value that HSBC and the awards' partners offer to the winners.
DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTED PHASES AND PROJECT ACTIVITIES
The competition began at the end of 2014 with an announcement and the launch of a special web microsite. It continued in the spring of 2015 with the "Export in Focus" seminar meant for the members of top management of significant Czech companies - in addition to an exchange of experience, its main point was the promotion of the competition. It culminated in May with a two-round evaluation and, at the beginning of June 2015, with the presentation of the results at the awards ceremony, with the participation of important personalities from Czech industry and trade. A PR campaign accompanied the entire duration of the competition.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS ACHIEVED WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE PROJECT'S EFFECTS WITH REGARD TO BUSINESS, THE COMMERCIAL RESULTS AND CLIENT'S REPUTATION
The winner in the "Czech Export Rising Star" category was a producer of agricultural technology, BEDNAR FMT, s. r. o., whose export project aimed at the Republic of South Africa, and in the "International Innovation" category it went to FERMAT CZ, s. r. o., with its project to expand to the North American engineering market through the acquisition of a local American company. Thus the awards went to truly interesting projects from strong Czech companies; this aspect of the completion was completely fulfilled. The client was also very satisfied both with the quality of both the events (the seminar and the concluding ceremony) and the publicity connected with the competition.
