Incentive - January 2008 - (Page 72)

AWARDS Sony’s 4GB Walkman Video P3 Player is an attractive iPod alternative have new for the season. You see a lot of black boxes—tentative products not in production yet. But once the electronics makers sit down with the big retail outlets at CES, they make decisions on what new technology they’re going to put into production.” And that’s exactly the sort of information that savvy incentive buyers use to stay ahead of the technology juggernaut. Beside keeping cozy with vendors and listening up for the buzz at the electronics trade shows, gadget gurus gather information on important changes in consumer electronics by following the press. “The way I stay ahead of the curve is I read everything I can get my hands on,” states Mark Kramer, senior merchandising manager at Maritz Motivation in St. Louis. “It requires a little bit of research. But there’re a lot of great magazines, a lot of great Web sites, and even a lot of great TV the call when it comes to television, with LCD expected to emerge as the superior technology to first-generation plasma sets. “We now know that LCD flat-panel televisions are projected to be 75 to 80 percent of the market over the “The appetite for new trendy items is almost insatiable.” –Rick Blabolil, Marketing Innovators that showcases the latest technology and gives a sneak preview of what’s about to come out.” These days, Kramer’s reading list includes magazines (Consumer Reports, Stereo Review) and Web sites (CNET.com, g4tv.com), and he scans the cable television channels G4 as well as HSN and QVC. next five years, as opposed to plasma, which will be just 20 to 25 percent,” says Maritz’s Kramer. And of course, the prices for those sets, even from leading makers like Sony, Panasonic and LG, continue to fall rapidly, with some 40-inch-plus sets now inhabiting the sub-$1,000 price category. The most controversial area of home theater is DVD, with two formats competing for supremacy in the world of high-definition discs which recalls the 1980s battle of VHS versus Beta. Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD are attractive to early-adopting incentive recipients who want the latest technology, and they’re expensive, with both types of players coming in at around $500. Incentive buyers say the savvy bet is to offer both types of players as rewards, until the score’s settled. It’s no secret that Apple rules the digital music market, and recent developments in the company’s line of portable media players are making incentive buyers salivate. “They’ve really developed a sophisticated What’s Hot Now Get a bunch of gadget-loving geeks together to talk about the hottest incentive electronics, and you’ll find that they’re mostly excited about the same technologies: home theater, portable digital music players, digital cameras, and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). These are the big categories in incentive electronics, and things are changing rapidly in all of them, fast enough to keep the buyers’ nimble minds hard at work to stay ahead of the curve. In the home theater segment, a few developing stories are changing rapidly enough to hold buyers’ (and consumers’) attention. Highdefinition, flat-panel technology is definitely assortment of products at a broad spectrum of price points. I think they’re penetrating pretty much any demographic you can think of,” says David Peer, senior director of merchandise and fulfillment at Minneapolisbased Carlson Marketing. “There’s a lot of interest in the new products, like the iPhone, and the iPod touch, which is similar to an iPod, but with Web-browsing capability. And they’ve really defined their iPod lineup with the Shuffle, the nano and the traditional models.” Also look for related products like headphones and speakers from Bose. But even though the genius-bar behemoth controls about three-quarters of the market in digital music players, don’t count out the underdogs yet, who are continuously releasing new gadgets in an effort to knock the king off the throne, says Peer. “Sony was the grandfather of the portable audio, and I don’t see them standing idly by while Apple dominates.” Few categories in electronics are as dynamic as the digital camera segment, where new products hit the market every 90 to 120 days, and prices are falling just as fast as megapixel counts are rising. Nowadays, most incentive shutterbugs are angling for resolutions of eight or nine megapixels, says Peer, and familiar brands like Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm continue to dominate. “The lines like Fuji and Canon are setting the pace for us,” says Peer. “They’re working on new features like smarter zooms and face recognition and centering technologies that will really help you create more attractive pictures.” GPS gadgets, which allow users to locate themselves on the globe and also provide tracking capabilities and offer directions, have long been a favorite electronic incentive, particularly in the sales force cohort. The trick is to watch out for price reductions and new features from top makers like Garmin, Magellan and TomTom, who are continually rolling out better, less expensive models. In addition to being rewards that motivate, GPS units can improve the productivity of salespeople who travel by car, says Peer. Sounds like a win-win situation. 72 | Incentive | January 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - January 2008

Incentive - January 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Out of SITE In The News Cover Story: Include a Meeting, Improve Morale Case Study: DHL Delivers Recognition Incentive Primer: How To Use Promo Products How Bob Nardelli Rallied Chrysler’s Dealers Incentive Interview: Ken Blanchard Says Be Nice TV’s Extreme Makeover Motivates Giving Pre-Employment Motivation The Daycare Dilemma Happy Employees Shouldn’t Mix with Sick Employees Incentive Research: Consumer Promotions Report In Her Shoes: Winning Approval Of Flextime Travel News Field Report: Barcelona Field Report: Bermuda Golf: Follow The Pros potentials Here and Now Watches As Jewelry Awards: Online Gift Cards Tech Gadgets for 2008 Last Word: Stanley Bing Bashes Bully Bosses

Incentive - January 2008

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