Incentive - March 2008 - (Page 40)

2008 Participants Anne Hamilton VP Resort Sales & Services Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Incentive Gift Card Roundtable The juggernaut of the incentive industry, gift cards continue to soar in popularity, and there’s no sign of their slowing down. To get the inside scoop on key topics such as online growth, tracking, branding, experiential features and new technologies, as well as popular program uses, ROI and what’s to come, Incentive gathered a group of five experts from some of the biggest brand names in gift card incentives: Disney, Bass Pro, Hallmark Insights, JC Penney, and Omaha Steaks. Here are highlights from the onehour discussion. According to a study by research firm TowerGroup [a subsidiary of MasterCard], gift card sales in 2007 reached $97 billion, a $17 billion increase from 2006. What do you think is contributing to this growth? Are you seeing it reflected in your incentive sales? Disney: We have seen a growth at Disney with gift cards. We think it has to do with the ease and acceptance of gift cards for all age groups. We have aligned more of our products and services to be usable with the gift card, which also would increase our sales and usage—like Disney Theatrical, Adventures by Disney, and our travel packages, merchandise, themepark tickets, food and beverage, Bill Wagner Director of Incentives Bass Pro Cindy Mielke President, Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), Manager, National Accounts, JC Penney Incentive Sales Q Keith Fenhaus President Hallmark Insights, Business Incentive Solutions Melissa K. Paladino National Account Executive Omaha Steaks, Business Incentives etc. We have created the ability to utilize gift cards for our products and services domestically, which makes it extremely flexible and appealing to gift card users of all ages. At Disney you get a lot of travel incentive groups. Are you seeing gift cards used along with travel programs much? Are people giving them as room gifts or saying, “Here, you’re going to have a day in the park, take a card?” Q Moderator Anne Marie D. Lee Incentive magazine Disney: We are seeing that, and where we are really seeing it is in incentive group travel. Instead of issuing coupons and vouchers and buying theme-park tickets without knowing exactly what everyone wants to do, and trying to pick the 40 | Incentive | March 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

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

Incentive - March 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Delivering on Diversity In The News Cover Story: Leveraging Diversity in the Workplace Incentive Interview: Paul Levesque on Why Awards Fail Case Study: AEIS’ Max!-imum Incentive Program Mine Employees’ Creativity with Innovation Incentives Incentive Must-Reads The Third Annual Gift Card Roundtable My Turn: Motivation or Bribery? Everybody Get Together In Her Shoes: Why Bosses Should Be Flexible Incentive Primer: Passport Problem-Solving potentials Here and Now Is CES Electronics Heaven? China and Crystal: More Than a Pretty Face Travel News Florida: What’s New on the Beach? Smooth Sailing for Incentive Cruising Come To Hawaii And Take It Fast Last Word: But Enough About You

Incentive - March 2008

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