Incentive - September 2009 - (Page 20)

Restarting the Engines The stall in auto-industry incentives may be over BY ANDREA DOYLE his has been a year many in ago. Maritz Travel is telling its auto industhe auto incentive sector try clients that if they are considering would prefer to forget. incentive programs, now is the time to Chrysler, General Motors, book, as the hospitality industry is still soft and Toyota all scrapped and deals are to be had. 2009 incentive trips. Ford kept at least “A lot of auto clients had canceled one program, rewarding dealership everything, but it looks like the worst [is mechanics who finished master technician over],” says Gaia. “The economy is still training by sending them to the CasaMnot great, jobs are still being lost, but it agna Marriott Cancun Resort in January, appears the economy and this industry according to a USA Today report. Dealers have begun to stabilize. We’re encouraged paid for the training, but by what we’re seeing.” Ford paid for the trip. But by August, things Not Everything didn’t look quite as bleak. Braked to a Halt Chris Gaia, vice president BMW North America is of marketing for St. Louis, one automaker that didn’t MO-based Maritz Travel, tinker with its incentive says that last month things travel programs for dealers, started picking up. Several general managers, and auto manufacturers have salespeople, because the requested proposals for company believes the proincentive travel and meetgrams pay for themselves, ings programs for their Wayne Orchowski, vice dealer networks, with most Maritz’s Chris Gaia says autopresident of sales, told USA anticipated to deploy in industry programs are returning Today. Orchowski’s division 2010 and 2011. regularly recognizes BMW’s “Although the pulse is weak, we’re top 10 percent of dealers. They’ve taken encouraged that there is now a pulse,” exotic trips, such as an African safari and says Gaia. a trek to the Great Wall of China. Maritz Travel’s incentive travel bookIt’s not only about recognition, he says, ings in the automobile segment for 2010 because on the trips, people spend a good is up 35 to 40 percent over 2009 but is deal of time networking and discussing still less than half of what it was two years best practices. And they’re exposed to T experiences that will help them relate better to BMW’s well-heeled clients, says Orchowski. “Times are tough,” Orchowski told the paper. “But you have to be prudent with where you make your cuts. You want to keep cultivating the soil to make sure things keep blossoming.” Cory Mosley, an auto industry consultant and trainer based in Short Hills, NJ, says manufacturers like BMW and Audi are still awarding trips to high-achieving salespeople and managers. Audi of America recently held a “Mileage Marathon” campaign across America that entailed 14 cities in 14 days, from New York to Santa Monica. The 4,800-mile promotional trek featured the carmaker’s fuel-efficient TDI models. One stop was an event at Cleveland’s landmark Glidden House, a mansionturned-hotel. Audi’s event logistics firm, Livonia, MI-based Presentation Works, enlisted a local event design company, HeatherLily, to help with the event’s sophisticated decor. “Typically, we would handle each stop’s event design, but time was of the essence and HeatherLily was highly referred to us as an event design firm that can meet stringent deadlines and achieve the caliber of decor that Audi required,” says Lisa Combs, Presentation Works’ director of special events. 20 | Incentive | September 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - September 2009

Incentive - September 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note
Headlines
Cover Story
Auto Incentives Turning Over
Strategies
Primer
Travel News
Top Destinations
Stockholm and Copenhagen
Broadmoor and Barbecues
Potentials
Top Merchandise Picks
Top Gift Cards

Incentive - September 2009