Incentive - February 2009 - (Page 53) O HOLD ’EM OW WHEN T KN eness , but their effectiv economy like this ms in an gift card progra need to fold yourpractices no st relies on a few be BY HEIDI WALDROP BAY J ust about a year ago, a Fortune 500 automotive company launched a gift card incentive program for its salespeople. Since a major tool manufacturer wanted to participate in the incentive, the award chosen was an open acceptance prepaid Visa card that was featured in a comarketed campaign. “The winners could use the card anywhere, but the intent of the program was to drive traffic of a particular product through home supply and hardware stores,” explains Patty Saari, vice president of client services, rewards and recognition for Minneapolis-based Carlson Marketing. “So the card was marketed with the tool manufacturer’s logo, and all the collateral suggested that the recipient purchase that manufacturer’s product at their favorite home supply store. We saw upwards of 85 percent of the winners use the card exactly that way.” With customization, a notable gift card trend on the consumer and B2B sides, comes impact. “We are seeing an increase in the partnership angle, whether it be in a co-marketed campaign as with that car and tool manufacturer program, or a company leveraging the clout of a major retailer/service provider for their program,” says Saari. Incentive’s 2008 Gift Card IQ Survey found 21.3 percent of respondents using the cobranded strategy. AVERAGE GIFT CARD SPEND PER RECIPIENT Less than $25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14.7% $25-$49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23.4% $50-$99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17.9% $100-$149 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17.9% SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE “The tough economy has just brought to light all the things you should do anyway. Now there is just more appreciation for those best practices.” While gift cards $150-$199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6% have proven to be $200-$499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9.2% an effective and very popular tool for $500-$999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.4% motivational pro$1,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.4% grams in recent years, the economic Source: Incentive Gift Card IQ Survey 2008 downturn has revealed an Achilles’ heel: gift card holders left in the lurch when troubled retailers and other service providers turn off the lights. “Like any other product or service, a gift card is not immune to what is going on in the marketplace. It isn’t that gift cards are being singled out. Everything is being put under a microscope,” says Michelle Smith, vice president of development for Salt Lake City-based O.C. Tanner, who reports that most of their clients are eager to maximize the impact of their incentive programs in these difficult times. If anything, the silver lining here has been the backto-basics approach to using incentives, including gift cards. SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | FEBRUARY 2009 INCENTIVE 53
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.