Incentive - July 2008 - (Page 70)

Here & Now Winning Wares Homewares—a little different than housewares—are honored at the National Hardware Show By Nathan Adkisson One Tough Wa t c h A Bulova is recovered after 66 years in the ocean. It still worked. ost good watches these days claim to be water-resistant to as much as several hundred feet, but few owners test that beyond a quick dip in the pool. Well, one former British Navy officer gave a gold Bulova—the company is an active participant in the incentive market—a heck of a test. In 1941, Lieutenant Teddy Bacon dropped his new gold watch off the deck of the HMS Repulse into Gibraltar Harbor, he told Britain’s Daily Mail. He reported his loss to the harbormaster and forgot about it. According to the paper, the Gibraltar harbormaster’s office did not. In 2007, workers dredging the harbor dug up the watch and turned it in. The harbormaster eventually tracked down Bacon, now 89, and returned his watch. Still ticking. After 66 years on the ocean floor. “To say I was stunned could be considered a major understatement,” Bacon told the Daily Mail. “Now I wear it every day and it keeps perfect time, even after all those years in the water. It is absolutely excellent, and I consider it a long-lost friend.” That’s some pretty impressive build quality. And for the record, Lieutenant Bacon nearly suffered the same fate as his watch. A few months later, on Dec. 10, 1941, the aging Repulse was struck by several Japanese torpedoes and sank. According to the BBC, 513 members of its crew lost their lives. —LJ T he best products in the new category of “homewares” were announced May 14 at the 2008 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. Officials at the show said that with the term “homewares,” they are trying to address a specific new market for certain housewares within the hardware market. “Homewares are targeted at the home-improvement, do-it-yourself people who shop at Ace and DoIt-Best, as opposed to places like Kohl’s,” says Beth Blake of Reed Expo, which organized the event. Excluded are tabletop items not found in hardware stores, like linens and cutlery. The show winners demonstrate “homewares” diversity: The Gold award went to Reynolds, for its Handi-Vac freezer-bag sealer, while LightWedge won the Silver award for its USB-powered Flex Neck LED laptop light. Davom Products Inc. took home the Bronze award for the PROLOCK propane safety cap, which makes a propane tank valve tamper- and child-resistant—a nice addition to a high-end grill award. Olivier Jammaers, merchandising manager for Pine Brook, N.J.–based Rymax, Inc., says that while these awards represent the popular “gad-get” form of homeware used in incentive programs, he has noticed a trend toward more ecofriendly products. He attributes this to both increasing environmental awareness and the economic downturn. “Fewer redemptions are so materialistic,” Jammaers says of incentive winners. “There’s more of a focus on practicality.” Some product lines in the homewares market are especially suited to tiered-reward pro- grams. Jammaers recommends an iRobot package including the Looj automated gutter cleaner—which won a Best Innovations 2008 award in the Home Appliance category at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January—the Roomba automated vacuum cleaner and the Scooba automated floor washer. Jammaers adds: “Employees say, ‘Why don’t I get something I’m actually going to use every day?’ ” Norma Jean Knollenberg, owner and CEO of Oshkosh, Wisc.–based Top Brands Inc., has also noticed the popularity of cleaning appliances. Top Brands, which represents Dirt Devil products, offers vacuums at a variety of price points. “Floor care continues to be a viable market in redemption incentive programs,” Knollenberg says. “You can start out with a hand vac on for the first level. Then give a stick vac and finish with a full-size upright.” Knollenberg estimates that housewares constitute about 15 percent of rewards redeemed at Top Brands, a figure she expects to stay constant. But she expects winners to forgo luxuries in favor of more pragmatic products. M 70 | Incentive | July 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

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

Incentive - July 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Accentuate the Positive In The News Cover Story: Three Profiles in Good Corporate Citizenship Case Study Incentive Interview Senior Secrets To Thine Own Self be True Incentive Primer Motivation@Work Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do Take the Spa Home Not the Only Game in Town Here and Now Writing and Desktop Gifts Watches and Clocks Gift Cards: Health and Wellness Incentives Good Health Is Not Its Own Incentive Advertiser Index Last Word

Incentive - July 2008

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