Incentive - February 2008 - (Page 32)

PricePOINT Merchandise Incentives $25–$300 Affordable Portables: Coby’s digital music players can be had for under $50. Philips’ Flash Audio and Video Player competes favorably with the iPod. Pocket Shooter: Nikon Coolpix L11, six megapixels with a price tag of just over $100. buster, movie tickets, books, magazine subscriptions, downloadable music cards.” Remigi especially likes the reloadable Vibe music card. If your program includes a few different merchandise options at this price range, you might be surprised at what winners select, according to Andersen. “Sometimes the things we think are going to be the best redeemers aren’t necessarily what sells,” she says. “We want something really cool and cutting edge and hot in the marketplace. But the things that people actually redeem in the twenty-five to fifty price range are typically not the things you’d splash across a billboard.” Among the items that she says do well are handheld vacuums, golf balls and walkie-talkie sets. “Not exactly things that you’d think are market leaders,” says Andersen. “This is kind of bread-and-butter stuff.” While these kinds of products have their incentive appeal, Andersen also advises including some eye candy in the mix. iPod accessories, such as car adapters, speakers, headphones or clocks with docking stations, are some low-cost items that accomplish this. Thanks to price compression, more electronics are available for under $50. “You can get a two-gig digital music player that’s a real good bang for the buck; those will continue to be real popular,” says Remigi. “Also, now that so many people have the flatscreen TVs, they are in the market for wall-mountable components so the whole system will look more integrated. You can get DVD players or a home stereo system that mounts on the wall starting for around fifty dollars, all the way up to two thousand.” When it comes to client gifts, “two-thirds of corporate gifting sits in this bottom tier, with the other third falling in the middle,” he says. “If you send too expensive a gift, that can seem inappropriate.” He adds that you should keep it safe, simple and shareable—food baskets, office games like darts, or desktop diversions like a punching bag are all good client gift options. One option for under $150 is an accessory from a high-end fashion brand. “Something we sell a tremendous amount of is a little wristlet—a pouch that you put in your purse,” Andersen says. “It’s something that’s traditionally not at a terribly high price point. But it gives people a chance to carry, for example, a Dooney & Bourke piece.” Fashion Listen Up: Monster is a flexible, fun and ever-changing iSoniCast Wireless category, she notes. “You can keep Audio Bridge for iPod is priced at $99.99. giving them different looks, something that’s seasonally appropriate.” Remigi says this middle price range fits well with spa treatments, which O.C. Tanner offers through SpaFinder gift certificates, redeemable at 4,000 different spas. Pampering can include a one- or two-hour massage, a facial or a body wrap treatment. Among electronics available between $51 and $150, Andersen says that cordless phones are still a surprisingly strong item, as incentive winners look to upgrade to a home phone with more features like GE’s new Google Free One Touch Directory Assistance. Remigi expects big things from the line of Nikon Coolpix digital cameras, projecting that they will probably be one of O.C. Tanner’s most popular items in 2008. Olivier Jammaers, merchandising manager at Rymax Marketing Services in Pine Brook, New Jersey, says they’ve added two exciting new $100 products to its rewards lineup. “The iSoniCast is a wireless audio bridge for your iPod,” he says. “It lets the user listen to audio from their iPod over their home stereo, wirelessly, controlling playback from your iPod.” He’s also bullish on the Looj, a cleaning robot from iRobot, the people who brought you the Roomba and Scooba. The Looj’s claim to fame is that it handles the arduous, and somewhat dangerous, task of cleaning gutters. SWEETER SPOT: $151-$300 MIDDLE GROUND: $51-$150 This price range is in some ways a sort of no-man’s land, suitable to a variety of program types and encompassing hot products from several categories. Too high for a movie or coffee gift card, and too low for an iPod, it’s a price range that requires and rewards a little creativity. Our experts were especially high on electronics at this level. “At this price point, you’re hitting a sweet spot for electronics,” Remigi says. “It’s a little high for home goods, and a little low for travel.” This is the range that the iPod occupies, and its value as a motivator is still high, but incentive marketers are especially jazzed about global positioning system (GPS) devices. “It’s really becoming an important category, whether 32 | February 2008 SPECIAL SECTION

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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