"We reward companies that are going to be benchmarks for others"

On June 24, the call for the DHL Atlas Export Awards opens

A few days before the call for the DHL Atlas Export Awards 2020 opens, we spoke with the Director of Marketing and Sales of DHL Express Nicolas Mouze, to inform us about the news of these awards.

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DHL begins the process to once again recognize the work of Spanish companies who bet on international markets across "DHL Atlas Export Awards 2020"

The awards will be presented in a ceremony that will be held on October 7 and will be broadcast live by Empresa Exterior.

El target of the DHL ATLAS Export Awards is to convey your support to those companies that, like DHL, they bet on him outside market as a source of the future. The responsibility of choosing the winners falls on a very high-level jury made up of representatives of the country's main institutions linked to the Spanish foreign sector.

We interviewed Nicolas Mouze, Marketing and Sales Director of DHL Express to provide us with more information.

 

 

 

 

When does the call for the new edition of the DHL Atlas Export Awards open?

 

Nicolas Mouze: “As of June 24, it opens on the website awardsdhlatlas.com the repository where companies can upload their applications.” 

 

For what purpose did DHL create the DHL Atlas Export Awards 7 years ago? Are they still valid today?

 

NM: “Yes, because the awards are recognitions for exporting SMEs; to a job well done. In addition, SMEs that have carried out an export strategy for many years, that are competitive, innovative and that open new markets. 

 

Four awards have also been made to try to reward the different characteristics. The first is andl Grand Prize for Exports, which normally looks at the trajectory, the number of markets where the company is opening. 

 

Then we have three accessions; one to innovative export, because we also see that to continue exporting in a dynamic way, innovation is essential, it is a very important competitive element. 

 

El second access is to the most sustainable export, because sustainability is increasingly essential in business, because we see how companies introduce sustainability into their business model because it makes them last over time. 

 

and the third Access is to export through e-commerce. We have seen that e-commerce is a way to open markets, to make your products known. Here we talk about e-commerce to consumers, B2C, or it can be B2B e-commerce, from business to business. We open to this nuance because with the covid we also saw that there are many SMEs that have finally gone digital and that use digital platforms to make their products and services known to other companies. It is an important issue because it is a key to dynamism in exports but also a necessity to adapt to new post-covid times.” 

 

A professional jury will evaluate the applications. How will it be formed and what issues will it take into account when deciding?

 

NM: “First, it is an independent and professional jury. Have Chamber of Spain, with Julián López Arenas, which represents the entire part of the companies that do participate in the different plans of the chambers of commerce and open new markets; then we have the Forum of Renowned Brands, with Pablo López, because it is important to develop a brand and make it known outside. Then we have the ICEX, with Juan Manuel Marquez, which is also analyzing the companies where they go, whether they participate in different plans and whether the export is temporary or structural. We have the Business Circle with Alfredo Bonet, which also looks at the business trajectory. After, Digital with César Tello, because when we talk about e-commerce we need a digitalization specialist and César helps us identify them. And the market opening part we have to DHL, and I am the representative.

 

 

As you can see, it is an independent jury and also to guarantee that the ruling is even more, the president of the jury is the Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Méndez, As we were also lucky enough to have other Secretaries of State for Commerce in previous editions, who guarantee that the process is objective and that all the companies that present their candidatures are evaluated with the same criteria. 

 

What do we look at? We are looking the export trajectory, the countries where you are exporting, the percentage of sales that comes from exports; Also if it has an internationalization process because there may be companies that say, first I produce in Spain and then I locate my factories in another country to be closer to the countries where I am selling. 

 

Another issue we are looking at is the human teamBecause we often see that in a company, exporting is due to a team; there is usually an export manager… And why do we look at the team? Because the success of a company that opens markets is usually due to having a team. 

 

Other factors, it is innovation, patents and trademarks, which will help you differentiate yourself from the competition; we look Sustainability and also diversity, and equality, because we see that SMEs are increasingly providing themselves with the best resources and seeking a balance in work teams. 

 

What do we reward? They are companies that are going to be references for others, with which we are demanding but in the end I think that the prize is worth it because it is a recognition that we give to all companies but above all the winner, the one who wins the Atlas Grand Prize for Exports, we pay him a trade mission with the chambers of commerce or with the ICEX so that it will open a new market and continue exporting. 

 

When we presented the Atlas Awards in 2019, because we did not do them last year, we received 175 applications from SMEs from all over Spain, from all sectors to compete for these awards.” 

 

After five editions and each year the applications have increased, what expectations do you have for this edition, taking into account the effect of covid?

 

NM: “We know that 2020 has been a year in business activity, there has been, depending on the sectors, a certain slowdown, we will also take this into account. We hope to repeat the number of applications because we see that SMEs are increasingly more aware and the award helps them to better understand their business abroad and, above all, receive the support of professionals to enter more markets. 

 

I encourage SMEs because in addition to recognition, (the award) is a dynamism to access more markets and continue exporting. Because what we have seen is that success in exporting is a way to grow, innovate, reach more markets to also have a critical size in companies that allows reinvestment and diversification. What we have seen with the covid, we have seen markets that have suffered a lot with the pandemic and others less, if you are an export company and you work in several markets, several countries, it allows you much more to balance the risk and protect employment in Spain " . 

 

Could you remind SMEs what they must do to register for the awards and until when?

 

NM: “What are the dates for the awards? The DHL Atlas Awards website is open, and I recommend you check it out because you'll find the winners from previous editions, the criteria used, the profiles of companies and sectors… And the module for uploading your application dossier will be available.” open from June 24 to September 12. Starting September 12, and we began to extract all the information and prepare it for eThe jury that will decide on September 27 and the awards ceremony will be on October 7".