Incentive - March 2008 - (Page 58)

AWARDS development than huge news. But that didn’t stop incentive pros from turning out in droves, despite the fact that many complained that CES is becoming overwhelming, as well as increasingly expensive to attend. Why is this technology show so important for incentive merchandisers? “Because people in the incentive business always want to be on the leading edge,” says Jimmy Beyer, national sales manager at Park Ridge, N.J.–based Sony Premium Incentive Sales Group. And Beyer saw a lot of incentive buyers at CES, getting a jump on new products. “Motivation programs often last from three months to a year, so buyers place products as early as possible to keep the cool factor for the length of the program.” CES helps them accomplish this. But though the floor was packed at this year’s show, attendance was down from Two of CES’s more recognizable rock stars last year, and some remarked that energy was lacking. “A lot of folks are thinking it’s become overgrown—a victim of its own success,” says Dave Peer, vice president, client services for Chicagobased Hinda Incentives. “I felt that there was less innovation compared to prior years. There were no great technological leaps, although there was a lot of spin.” Peer also says that the show is becoming more difficult to navigate, thanks to increased media presence and spectacles like Mr. Gates’ keynote performance with Slash. To get the most from the show, focus is a must. “I direct my staff to attend the show with a mission in mind,” Peer says. “First, we gain clarity on what our customers want, and then we go to the show to seek out those objectives. We still come across new products that muscle their way into our lineup, but we keep the mission in mind.” CES works well as a fact-finding mission, but some incentive buyers make it a point to bring back hardware from CES. “We collect samples of products, like new televisions, and share them with clients,” says Mark Kramer, senior merchandising manager at Maritz Motivation in St. Louis. “After CES this year, we met with two clients: a major financial client and a major technology company. We showed them new electronics merchandise and held daylong meetings about merchandise for their programs going forward.” The meetings included hands-on, showand-tell sessions featuring hardware that debuted at CES. “We have a very nice theater at our office, and we set up the entire stage with electronics and other merchandise,” he says. “This way, clients can see the goods in person” and make more informed purchasing decisions. Hitachi’s new 32-inch, high-definition LCD television earned praise at CES for its quality imaging and slim profile, which measures just 1.5 inches deep Unfortunately Kramer was sick this year and couldn’t attend CES, so some colleagues went in his stead. But by not going, Kramer saved a lot of money: The three-day event is getting very, very expensive, and some say that area hotels and airlines have jacked up prices way too high during the event. “There were some rumblings during the show over the cost of holding the event in Las Vegas,” says Gary Slavonic, partner at Dallasbased Premier Incentives. “I paid three times as much for my hotel and transportation for CES than I did the following week at the PPAI Expo, also in Vegas.” The high prices have caused some to call for CES to move to Chicago, or Florida. “I heard a rumor that it’s moving to Orlando,” says Donna Davis, purchasing manager at Pine Brook, N.J.–based Rymax Marketing Services. “But wherever it goes, I’ll be there.” And Davis shouldn’t buy those plane tickets to Florida anytime soon: According to organizers, 2009 International CES will be held in Las Vegas, from January 8–11. Our advice: 58 | 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

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.