Incentive - February 2008 - (Page 18)

COVER STORY I From traditional sales programs to consumer promotions, sports themes win big with incentive participants BY LEO JAKOB SON f you watch football these days, the name Manning conjures up two brothers, both pro quarterbacks, who lead two of the league’s most storied franchises: Peyton Manning, who led the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl championship last season, and Eli Manning, whose New York Giants are, as of this writing, headed for Super Bowl XLII. But if you watched football in the ’70s, or if you grew up a New Orleans Saints fan anytime since then, you’re thinking of Archie Manning, father of Eli and Peyton, and a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback in his own right. The elder Manning remains a draw in Corporate America as well, speaking to up to 50 incentive groups, meetings and conventions annually, to audiences that ranged in size from 18 to 1,800 last year. And while 50 or 60 is generally the lower end, Manning can tailor his style to the size of the group just as he tailors his topics. Themes like leadership, teamwork and overcoming adversity (despite his talent, the Saints were not exactly a power- house during the 11 years he played for them) come up frequently when he gets on the phone with the client a month or two before the event. Besides the speech, most speaking engagements come with a smaller event for a privileged group of top executives or performers, he says. Often, there’s “a small meet-andgreet before, maybe with breakfast,” he says. “You don’t really give a talk, you say hello and visit a bit with the officers—maybe a group of 20—[and] sometimes afterward you might do the same thing, do a little photo session or autograph session with another smaller group.” “When I tailor or tweak, it’s often about what’s going on with their specific company or industry,” Manning says. “One bullet point that’s usually there is leadership. I talked a little bit about this [during] this past year, because people like to hear it, about the Colts’ run through the playoffs and winning the Super Bowl. And I don’t go around bragging on my kids, so the leadership part is about not just Peyton but the owner of the Colts, Jim Irsay, the president, Bill Polian, GET IN THE 18 | Incentive | February 2008 | incentivemag.com GAME Photo: Nathan Sayers http://www.incentivemag.com

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

Incentive Magazine - February 2008 Editor’s Note: Archie and the Boys In The News Cover Story: On The Ball Incentives Incentive Primer: How to Use Sporting Events Incentive Interview: Jim Avery on Doing the Right Thing Employee Empowerment Motivates and Pays Dividends Hospitals, Nurses Win With Flexible Scheduling Legal Ease: Safety Programs and Unions Case Study: The Weitz Company Retains Its Boomers Potentials: Here and Now Star Power in the Kitchen Awards: Gift Card Trends for the New Year Travel News The Manhattanization of Las Vegas Classics Renewed: Monaco and France Advertiser Index Off The Cuff: Tumi’s Mike Landry

Incentive - February 2008

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