Incentive Marketing Association Honors Effective Programs, Industry Leaders
The annual award program honors effective incentive and recognition programs as well as members who have contributed to the advancement of the association in the incentive, rewards, and recognition (IRR) field.Member Recognition
Program Recognition
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Nine incentive and recognition programs and 11 members were honored at the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) 2024 Excellence Awards dinner at the annual IMA Summit this week at Hilton New Orleans Riverside attended by over 400 industry professionals. The Excellence Awards recognize the development and delivery of outstanding non-cash incentive programs that motivate employees, win customers and improve sales, according to the organization. Click here for photos from the event.
The IMA has announced that its 2025 summit will be held July 14-16 in Austin.
Member Recognition
Recognition Awards. Click here for details on the winners.
- Karen Renk Award: Anne Jetter, SB Collectiv
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Ferreira, founder of HMI Performance Incentives and strategic advisor 360insights
- President’s Award: Mike Donnelly, CPIM, Hinda Incentives
- Incentive Industry Influencer: Richelle Suver, One10
- Inspirational Place to Work: One10
Spirit Awards. Click here for more details on the winners.
- IESP: Vince Chiofolo, Senior Vice President – Revenue Strategy, Dash Solutions
- IGCC: Steve Bradbery, SVP United States & Canada, Savvy
- IMRA: Ian Arthur, Director of Special Markets, Carson Optical
- RPI: Rachel Rump, CRP, Employee Experience & Engagement Specialist, University Of Notre Dame
- IMA Europe: Andrea Verri, Founder & CEO, Amilon
- IMA MEAPAC: Carly Neubauer, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Elevate Loyalty
Program Recognition
The following programs were highlighted for effective program design as outlined in the descriptions.
Dealer/Distributor Incentives – 212F – Toyo Tires
Facing a competitive market driven by dealer selection and consumer bias, Toyo enlisted 212F to develop and implement an incentive program to engage dealers in selling more Toyo brand tires. The Toyo Rewards “Make Your Move” program provided successful dealers with a highly desired incentive travel package. 212F worked with Toyo to select 60 high-performing dealerships to participate in a target-based incentive program to boost sales on selected stock. The dealerships had to meet an overall target during the six-month lifespan of the program to earn their place on an incentive travel package to Hawaii. Using a combination of leaderboards, personalized communications, in-person meetings, and bonus offers, Toyo saw a 23% increase on top of the annual targets, with each of the 60 dealerships meeting individual targets to earn their place on the trip to Hawaii. By providing a strategy around communications and customer personas, 212F reportedly helped Toyo achieve the most successful incentive program in the company’s history, with 100% of participants overperforming within the established criteria.
Employee Incentive Program – Merit Incentives – Riyad Bank
Kafo, Merit’s employee engagement and rewards platform for Riyad Bank, has transformed organizational morale and productivity, according to the IMA. Launched in 2023, Kafo leverages Merit Incentives’ technology to offer a comprehensive system of peer recognition, automated milestone celebrations, and a versatile rewards marketplace. In five months, Kafo reportedly has enrolled over 2,400 employees, facilitated the exchange of 4,300 appreciation cards, and celebrated 2,000 work anniversaries, with nearly 9 million points redeemed for diverse rewards. Looking ahead, Kafo aims to expand across Riyad Bank, integrate CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives and introduce innovative features such as a digital rewards card and a points exchange system. This program not only enhances employee satisfaction but also aligns with Riyad Bank’s strategic goals and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 sustainability targets, according to the award announcement.
Gift Cards in an Incentive Program – Merit Incentives – Aljomaih and Shell Lubricating Oil Company
Merit Incentives helped Shell launch a program to optimize the reward process for garage staff and customers, ensuring instant gratification and high user engagement, the announcement states. Shell’s Loyalty Program in the MENA region reportedly has transformed the traditional customer service experience at petrol stations. Utilizing an advanced online app with rewards and incentives provided by Merit, garage staff can effortlessly manage services and reward transactions while customers enjoy a seamless journey of promotions and personalized care. The program features instant access to a wide array of rewards, facilitated by Merit’s API connections to over 6,000 global brands. In its inaugural year, the program successfully sold 89,271 gift cards and fulfilled 45,137 orders.
Innovation and Technology – eGifter SmartKYB™
Conducting manual account vetting and managing rising fraud rates and compliance requirements is time-consuming. eGifter SmartKYB™ provides a technology solution that standardizes and automates the Know Your Business (KYB) process for B2B gift card sales. Using automated prompts, verification steps, centralized document collection, and Know Your Customer identity screening, results in greater efficiency, the IMA announcement states. Available to organizations already using the eGifter Platform™ or as a stand-alone service, eGifter SmartKYB has been used to vet hundreds of companies for the B2B purchase of gift cards. This has saved thousands of hours in manual account vetting, and enabled program managers to bring their gift card programs into compliance. Fraudulent activities and unauthorized transactions were also reduced. eGifter has received positive feedback from satisfied clients and brands, according to the award statement.
Merchandise in an Incentive Program – Create Direct – REHAU
Create Direct worked with REHAU to implement the Club REHAU Expert program, an incentive program aimed at increasing sales and fostering dealer loyalty within the window industry. With its extensive catalog of over 100,000 products, tools, working suits, and promotional items, the program has not only boosted sales but also strengthened the relationship between REHAU and its dealers, according to the award announcement. Positive feedback, steady growth, and constant activity from dealers demonstrated the program’s effectiveness. Rewards being claimed from every category of merchandise offered exemplify dealer satisfaction with the exceptional array of merchandise prizes, the statement says.
Recognition – Dash Solutions – Advocate Health Care
Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care began working with Dash Solutions in November 2021 to enhance their online recognition platform, Kudos Connection, with non-monetary awards to drive meaningful behaviors and celebrate valued teammates in a user-friendly, fun, and engaging way. With Dash Solutions’ help, the Kudos Connection platform was revamped, implementing new best practice strategies, transitioning existing awards into the platform, and building several new programs for additional recognition categories, according to the IMA program summary. These efforts streamlined communications and improved the nomination process for recognition programs. The flexibility of the Kudos Connection platform allowed Dash Solutions to quickly react to ongoing requests and implement various solutions even after the initial introduction. The volume of recognition grew with a 14% increase in teammates receiving Kudos in 2023, an 8% increase in logins since 2021, and well over a million Kudos awarded since the program’s inception.
Sales Incentives – Motivforce – IBM
Know Your IBM (KYI), created and managed by Motivforce, is a global channel sales incentive program targeting IBM’s Business Partner distribution channel for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and non-government reseller firms in 104 countries with nine languages. This represents 3,520 individual reseller participants, representing 30% of IBM’s SME channel. IBM is heavily dependent on this segment to win and protect market share against aggressive competitors. KYI rewards participants for sales of eligible IBM Storage, Power, Flash and Red Hat solutions, and for undertaking voluntary learning activities. The objective is to ensure participants maximize sales by selling at least two times more products/services than similarly profiled non-participants. KYI remains the program of choice for IBM Business Partners year after year, according the program award summary. Innovative new program mechanics in 2023 included the Propose & Earn component, rewarding participants for pre-sales activities; and the gamification-style Storage Expedition Challenge with an incentive travel reward of ‘The Summit’ in Jamaica. Once again KYI exceeded IBM’s targets in 2023 and delivered exceptional return on investment, according to the IMA announcement. Participating firms reportedly generated an average of 5.6 times more sales/revenue on products incentivized in the program.
Social Responsibility – 212F
The KoruGreen initiative began in 2022 as part of 212F Group’s (212F and Incremental) promise that all travel incentive programs prepared by 212F Group’s brands will be carbon net zero at no cost to clients. To achieve this, 212F Group developed what it says is the industry’s first greenhouse gas (GHG) calculator, called the KoruGreen Calculator. This calculator helps estimate greenhouse gas emissions based on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and offers users a step-by-step process to estimate company emissions for specific programs or incentives on offer. Carbon emissions are offset through donations to the United Nations’ recommended projects in developing nations, which will be disproportionately affected by climate change. The travel incentive packages are prepared with recommendations of sustainable accommodations, venues, and restaurants at the destination location, showing that sustainability can co-exist with luxury, creating a change of perception and behavior in 212F Group guests. The first year of operation provided 40 travel and event programs, both domestically and internationally, with net zero carbon emissions and offset over 1,300 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through the actions and donations to selected sustainable projects.
Travel in an Incentive Program – 360insights – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
To increase sales of key products and reinforce Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) brand sentiment, 360insight organized an "incentive trip of a lifetime" to reward HPE’s top-performing sales associates. HPE Dubai Trip was a blend of luxury, business and adventure. Attendees were treated to a two-night stay at the luxurious W Dubai, The Palm, complemented by exquisite dining and premier airport lounge access. Engaging business meetings at the HPE Dubai office not only served as a platform for fostering stronger connections with key partners, but also allowed for an exchange of innovative ideas and strategies. Participants enjoyed a supercar tour around Dubai’s iconic cityscape, an adventurous dune bashing experience in the desert, a sunset yacht cruise reception, and a unique camel polo experience. This meticulously organized trip not only yielded a significant 12.5 times return on investment on the profit margin, but also received unanimous approval from guests, evidenced by a perfect score of 10/10 in NPS (net promoter scores) and a 5/5 rating across all aspects of the experience, according to IMA's summary.
Judges. The programs were judged by Jim Atten, Wolfe, LLC; Ian Arthur, Carson Optical; Jen Brumley, Fiserv; Wendy Carter, Collection Pot; Fintan Connolly, Engage Loyalty; Johane Desjardins, Vibe SMG, Inc.; Mike Donnelly, CPIM, Hinda Incentives; Anges Fasano, InComm; Brian Galonek, CPIM, All Star Incentive Marketing; Debbie Ghillino, The Incentive Company; David Gould, CPIM, 360insights; Karen Gray, CRP, PMP, O.C. Tanner; Lisa Grimaldi, Northstar Meetings Group; Stephanie Harris, Incentive Research Foundation; Courtney Jaehme, Jigsaw Business Solutions; Andrew Johnson, Diggecard; Marlene Johnson, Dash Solutions; Cindy Mielke, CPIM, Tango, a division of Blackhawk; R. Scott Russell, CRP; C.A. Short Company; Amy Stern, BI Worldwide; Lincoln Smith, IP, Lincoln Smith Advisors; and Mark Wunderlich, Incentive Source, Inc.
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