SAP CMO Marty Homlish Receives Columbia Business School's "Big Thinker" Award

Recognized for Excellence in Marketing and Brand Transformation
NEW YORK - March 04, 2008 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Marty Homlish, chief marketing officer (CMO) and corporate officer of SAP, has been awarded the Columbia Business School’s 2008 BRITE Jury Award for “Big Thinker.” This award, given February 8, 2008 at the Center on Global Brand Leadership’s BRITE ‘08 conference and CMO summit on branding, innovation and technology, recognizes a business leader whose innovative thinking has been translated into executable marketing practices, affecting important change within a company and industry. Homlish was selected by conference organizers as the inaugural recipient of this new annual award.

Presented with the honor by Professor Bernd Schmitt, executive director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership, Homlish was recognized for building a world-class brand throughout his ongoing tenure at SAP. Schmitt praised Homlish for his customer-focused approach and his leadership in building and sustaining the company’s brand, as well as in driving it toward the future.

While accepting the award, Homlish spoke of the opportunity he saw when he joined the company: the opportunity to leverage SAP’s strong legacy, loyal customer base and world-class products to simply “tell the truth,” driving the brand’s direction and growing its value.

“When we think of truly great companies, with best-in-class brands, it becomes impossible to separate the product, the brand promise and the experience,” said Homlish. “Now, as SAP heads toward convergence, we are telling a larger truth. The SAP product, brand promise and customer experience are aligned to help any company – regardless of size – become a best-run business.”

During Homlish’s tenure with the company, SAP has received numerous marketing awards. In 2004, Homlish was named “Chief Marketing Officer of the Year” by BusinessWeek magazine and the CMO Council. In addition, he was named a “Top Marketer” by B2B magazine in its “Best of 2004” issue. Other accolades for SAP's marketing efforts include the 2007 ITSMA Marketing Excellence Award; IMA’s Outstanding Achievement Award; the ACE Award; FORBES “Best of the Web”; and the prestigious 2001 International Web Page Award for Technology and Science.

More info: http://www.sap.com/about/press/press.epx?pressid=9138