OVERVIEW
The business world is suffering from ‘conference fatigue’, conferences – as we know them – have lost their value.

In recognition of these realities, the Services SETA has decided to use a completely novel approach to their upcoming Conference.

The key objective is to explore how best the Services SETA and other agencies can assist in the development of a new approach to SME development, and provide companies and individuals with opportunities to further develop and empower themselves through interdisciplinary, cross-functional training for practical application.

The SME Partners in Excellence initiative was designed specifically to link together THE SME PREMIER MARKETING AWARDS – for recognition and reward – and the SME PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE CONFERENCE – to advance knowledge and foster business development through research, education and strategy planning.  The initiative has the full backing of the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA) as the Official Endorsement Partner. In addition, the Business Coalition of South Africa (BCSA), the European Marketing Confederation (EMC) and Media Partners such as E News Channel, Maggs on Media, Business Report, and The Journal of Marketing have all lent their enthusiastic support.

The DaVinci Institute has joined forces with the Services SETA and Kirkpatrick & Associates to develop the concept of “Design Thinking” as the basis for creating a conference environment in which the delegates themselves will become part of a team whose sole objective will be to develop a new model designed specifically around SME needs.

SME PREMIER MARKETING AWARDS
Clever business and innovative marketing strategies play a fundamental role in the success and sustained growth in any business – but more so when it comes to businesses in the SME sector.  Large corporations have large marketing budgets that enable them to tap into state-of-the-art technology, and highly sophisticated marketing and business management techniques to identify, captivate and expand their customer bases, and anticipate customer requirements effectively and efficiently. 
SMEs, on the other hand, do not generally have access to these mechanisms and, of necessity, have to adopt an entirely different approach in order to achieve the same results.  There is a need to reach out to those individuals within the SME sector who strive for and achieve excellence within their businesses, who are deserving of recognition and reward. 

To serve two purposes the first phase of the nominations process requires companies and/or marketing managers to complete a questionnaire. The survey will provide important research that will inform the Conference and set the scene for the Design Thinking process that will underpin the Conference. The second purpose is to provide quantitative metrics on which to select entrants for the panel review

AWARD CATEGORIES
SME Premier Marketing Award Categories are as follows:
•    Marketing Person of the Year – Small Business
•    Marketing Person of the Year – Medium Enterprise
•    Marketing Organisation of the Year – Small Business
•    Marketing Organisation of the Year  – Medium Enterprise
•    Emerging Young Marketer – Rising Star
Winners will be announced and awards presented at a Gala Dinner that will be     held at the culmination of the SME Partners in Excellence Conference.

NOMINATION PROCESS
The questionnaire/survey operates as a self-assessment of the entrant’s Strategic Marketing Management process and produces indicators of the approximate level of maturity in marketing management for the company. The higher the index score, the more market orientated is the company. It therefore serves to recognise excellence in the quality of the company’s marketing process.
The assessment is based on the most effective and sustainable marketing efforts derived from:
1.    an External Analysis: which includes a deep understanding of the customer, the competitors, and of the market and environment in which the company operates.
2.    an Internal analysis: which includes an analysis of financial and non-financial metrics, as well as factors such as past strategies, capabilities and constraints, resources, company strengths and weaknesses etc.
3.    Implementation: The final outcome of the strategic marketing management model is the implementation itself. It looks at what a company will need to manage in order to effectively implement its marketing strategy.
The quantitative approach that has been taken to design the questionnaire:
•    provides a questionnaire that is quicker and easier to fill in for entrants, and thereby reduces the drop out rate.
•    provides benchmarks, best practice and trends over time. It will provide an index – and, therefore – a ranking of companies on which we can more systematically short list entrants.
•    provides a report that the evaluators can more effectively use in the adjudication process. The evaluators’ role will be more of a validating and contextualising of the individual company reports, based on their area of expertise.
•    The data can function as feedback in the form of a strategic management dashboard for companies, indicating  the strengths and weaknesses of their marketing efforts, as such adding to the value of the Awards for them. 

ADJUDICATION PROCESS
A Panel of experts has been set up to review the top scorers of the Nominations process. The purpose of the panel is not only to assess the  quality of the  entrant’s marketing strategy management but also its innovativeness. This forms part of the qualitative assessment of the Award

SME PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE CONFERENCE
The purpose of the Conference is:  to
•    ADDRESS the challenges faced by SME’s, focusing on what needs to be done to make a meaningful impact on the SME sector in South Africa
•    DEVELOP a new model aimed specifically at SME development, by creating an environment in which delegates themselves will become part of the process through design thinking
•    CREATE A REALISTIC STRATEGY (co-owned and co-designed by delegates) which will enable the participants to implement a different and innovative approach to and within their organisations
•    EMPOWER SME’s with the knowledge of what needs to be done to bring this sector in as an equal partner in the South African economy

“DESIGN THINKING” CONCEPT
The “Design Thinking” concept creates an environment which is conducive to a highly interactive planning process that encourages the participants to view the challenge from a systems  approach – as distinct from an analytical aprroach.  The significance of the concept is the ability for all members of a team to actively participate in designing a new model.  The model thus designed is co-owned, implementable and, more importantly, is highly innovative.
The “Design Thinking” approach is a methodology that eliminates the need for forecasting. It seeks to identify assumptions in the strategy, and to frame them as possibilities and areas for contingency planning. Whilst assumptions are about possibilities, predictions and forecasts are about probabilities. Therefore, any method of planning that is critically dependent on the accuracy of forecasting is less reliable in this environment. Identification of assumptions, however, allows for monitoring of their validity as the environment changes.
“Design Thinking” is not yet another fad in the annals of management science.  The process embodies a new way of thinking and operating, and is now recognised as the foremost management process to empower operations to take on the realities of the growing complexities within which organisations have to operate. There are a large number of striking examples of organisations who have adopted the process and who, through the process, have defied all skeptics.
Once implemented, the team adopts an entirely new mode of engagement.  There are many anecdotal studies – the most notable being Procter and Gamble, who have adopted the process.  Their success bears testimony to the effectiveness of the process.

THE CONFERENCE PROCESS
The conference delegates are divided into two teams who operate in parallel – a “Mess Formulation Team” and an “Idealised Design Team”.
The Mess Formulation team focuses on developing a picture in terms of current realties.  This team’s sole purpose is to be able to paint a realistic picture of what is actually taking place on the ground. They are expected to have insight of SME issues from a multi-stakeholder perspective. 

For this process, inputs from both local and international experts, government agencies, NGO’s – and any other important stakeholder as identified by the team – will be a requirement.  The Mess Formulation team’s final model of the current reality is to answer the question: “What will happen if the status quo continues as it is?” 

The role of the Idealised Design team is to develop a model which is based on the hypothetical reality that, at this stage, nothing is in existence.  As such, their mandate is to deliver a model which is not constrained by conventional wisdom. 
The process is guided by Facilitators, who use a process guideline for both the Mess Formulation and Idealised Design team.  In the case of the Mess Formulation process, the team will be given some useful pointers to assist the participants to identify their stakeholder group, as well as to guide them through the thinking processes, so as to ensure that they explore all the relevant elements. 

In the case of the Idealised Design team, there will be a number of pointers which will be made available to them to assist in the preparation of their concept.  One of the critical roles of the Facilitator is to ensure that this team does not fall into the trap of reverting to the current status.

Once the two teams have completed their tasks, a facilitation process is undertaken in which the Mess Formulation team and the Idealised Design team are brought together. The purpose here is to take the Idealised Design and modify it to ensure that the resulting strategy is feasible in terms of the key issues which have been identified by the Mess Formulation team.

The resultant output from the workshop will be a realistic strategy (co-owned and co-designed) which participants will be able to take back to their organisations, with a view to creating a different, workable approach to the challenges facing the SME sector, empowered with the knowledge of what needs to be done to bring this sector in as an equal partner in the South African economy.

PARTNERS EXCELLENCE GALA DINNER
The GALA Event combines the closing ceremony of the SME Partners in Excellence Conference and the SME Premier Marketing Awards presentation.   
We aim to design an interactive and experiential environment by way of creating a digital gallery. 

This platform will provide the opportunity for delegates and guests to experience the story behind the brands of “South Africa’s Great  Marketing Icons”.