Christopher Mattia, an information technology executive with over 15 years experience in the information services and media industries, has joined Dittman Incentive Marketing as Director, Information Technology. Mattia will oversee all IT functions, including project development and implementation, application development, IT operations and data management. Prior to joining Dittman Incentive Marketing, Mattia was the Director, IT at the Press Association SportsTicker, overseeing the technology to deliver real-time sports news information services to major media companies. He was previously at the National Basketball Association as Director, Application Development and Data Services. In that role, Chris managed in-arena hardware and software systems to collect NBA in-game statistics, internal web development and back-end development for NBA.com and 56 team sites. Prior to the NBA, Mattia spent over six years with ESPN's real-time sports information service as Director, System Operations and Software Development. For more information, go to: @@http://www.dittmanincentives.com/
Incentive magazine reports that gift card issuers have been given a slight reprieve from the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act that required implementation of new rules and regulations on cards as of August 22, 2010. The U.S. Congress passed H.R. 5502, the ECO-Gift CARD Act, which extends that deadline to January 31, 2011. According to a statement from the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA), "Passage of the extension helps avoid the needless destruction of over one hundred million plastic cards and ensures consumer access to these popular gifts during the busy holiday shopping season." The ECO-Gift CARD Act allows the industry to sell existing gift cards, gift certificates, store gift cards and general-use prepaid cards produced prior to April 1, 2010, provided businesses comply with the new rules regarding five-year expiration of funds, conspicuous disclosures and fees.
The Motivation Show this year will begin each exhibit day with a General Session that addresses the changing business environment for incentives and recognition, and suggests ways in which organizations can improve their programs to drive bottom line profits. The 2010 Motivation Show will be held this year from October 12-14 at Chicago's McCormick Place West. Both sessions are part of the Show's 4th Annual Conference: Connecting Employee Engagement and Financial Results and will start each day at 8 am, one hour before the exhibit hall opens at 9 am. The General Sessions are: "Social" Isn't Just for Media: How Connecting People Drives Business Value, sponsored by the Forum for People Performance Management & Measurement at Northwestern University and presented by Jennifer Rosenzweig, Research Director for the Forum, and Michelle M. Smith, CPIM, CRP, Vice President, Business Development, O.C. Tanner Company; and Incentives, Recognition & the New Normal: A Look into 2012 and Beyond, sponsored by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and presented by Rodger Stotz, Chief Research Officer, Incentive Research Foundation, and Melissa Van Dyke, President, Incentive Research Foundation. To learn more about the professional education offered at the 2010 Motivation Show and see a Schedule At-A-Glance, visit @@http://www.motivationshow.com/.
The entire All Star Incentive Marketing sales team has been designated as certified Incentive Professionals by the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA). According to Annalisa Jacobs, Director of Educational Training and Development at IMA, All Star Marketing is among the first organizations in the industry to have a fully certified IP sales team. The Incentive Professional (IP) designation is awarded after the completion of a 100-question exam which is primarily based on the Principles of Results Based Incentive Program Design Curriculum. The exam covers several concentrations, including different types of incentives (sales, safety, employee, and consumer), fundamental theories and principles behind motivation, the use of appropriate award choices, and methods to track program effectiveness. The sales team was excited to take on the certification process as a way to validate their more than 100 collective years of industry related experience.
Rymax Marketing Services recently announced an exclusive partnership with ION Audio, an award-winning innovator in home and digital audio, DJ technologies, musical instruments and digital audio accessories. Established to meet the needs of music enthusiasts, musicians and DJ's, ION Audio has expanded its focus to include innovations in A/V, home entertainment, gaming, computer transfer technologies and computer peripherals. From their award-winning USB Turntable that turns vinyl LP's into MP3's to state-of-the-art musical instruments such as the Electronic Drum Kit and their battery-powered portable PA sound system for iPod, ION Audio is dedicated to making music more accessible and enjoyable than ever before. "We are thrilled to add ION Audio to our portfolio of exclusive brands," says Paula Ambrozic, Director of Strategic Relations and Compliance at Rymax. "As they continue to invent new ways for people to share and enjoy music, we look forward to offering exclusive access to their innovative products, many of which have never been previously offered in rewards programs."
JetBlue Airways, in partnership with Carlson Marketing, has launched "Be True," a new campaign focused on driving membership and raising awareness of the benefits and enhancements of TrueBlue, the airline's newly revamped customer loyalty program. The campaign highlights the passions of six real TrueBlue members, selected from nearly 100 inspiring candidates nominated by the airline's crewmembers. Each customer's passionate true story of dedication – providing clean water wells in Tanzania, training medical students to care for people in austere environments, or teaching improvisation – demonstrates the importance of being true to yourself and your passion. Similarly, TrueBlue shares its own passion of being true to its members by redesigning the customer loyalty program based on what customers want: every seat on every flight is available for travel and there are no blackout dates, allowing customers to redeem rewards whenever they want to travel. This transparent and flexible new program is richer and more rewarding for members, who can earn one-way awards flights starting at just 5,000 points. The year-long campaign, created by Carlson Marketing out of its Minneapolis and New York offices, will involve email, in-flight, airport, online and out-of-home advertising. The videos are now airing in-flight on all JetBlue flights, and can also be viewed at @@http://www.jetblue.com/betrue.
The Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) recently announced that research measuring the return on investment (ROI) of an annual meeting of healthcare insurance brokers that stressed training, relationship-building and networking opportunities found the sponsoring company enjoyed a return of almost $2 for every $1 invested in the program. Initial results reported in March revealed that the program had a profound impact on the way brokers thought and felt about the company, its products and its people. Part 1 of the report, The 'ROI in Channel Partner' Conferences – A Case Study, noted that the annual gathering translated into higher sales, performance and engagement among those who attended. Part 2 of the report examines the actual change in sales of Allsante, Inc.* products among program participants, summarizing the ROI the company achieved from the event. EEA analysis of the methodologies and findings reveals that Allsante earned significant ROI from its annual event. "After all variables were accounted for, a highly credible and conservative estimate of 190% ROI was arrived at," says Allan Schweyer, Chairman of the EEA. "In other words, the company enjoyed a return of almost $2 for every $1 it invested in the first six months following the event, and our researchers say it's likely that the returns, if calculated after another six months have passed, will be even greater." Parts 1 and 2 of the study, The 'ROI in Channel Partner' Conferences – A Case Study, can be downloaded at @@http://www.enterpriseengagement.org/
* The company in this report is referred to as "Allsante, Inc." at the firm's request, due to competitive reasons.
The June/July issue of Engagement Strategies Magazine is out! Here's a look at what you'll find inside:
A pair of articles examines this critical building block of engagement from two different perspectives. The first, Internal Collaboration: Why Partnering Works, by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller, Ph.D., notes that great partnerships don't just happen. Whether your joint mission is to build a great company, coach a team, improve the government, do something spectacular for a charity, or any other worthy goal, all successful partnerships share the same crucial ingredients. The second article, External Collaboration: When You Can't Do It All, looks at some of the companies in the engagement marketplace that have successfully used collaboration to expand their reach through alliances and partnerships. To make sure you get your copy of Engagement Strategies Magazine, go to @@http://www.enterpriseengagement.org/account/login/ and update your subscription today!
Sue Gordon has been with American Airlines for over 20 years. As a result of her vast and varied experience, she not only knows American Airlines and the American Way very well, she also understands very clearly how the company's internal communications and branding efforts work to promote employee engagement and employee retention, while at the same time contributing to a more positive customer experience. In other words, she's seen it all – what works and what doesn't. "From 2001 to today, our industry has essentially been in turmoil," she says. "But we found the most traction by involving employees in the business. This is where we've seen the greatest process improvements and the greatest cost savings. It's where we get our best ideas and the greatest amount of buy-in, by involving our employees from soup to nuts in the process." Read more in the next issue of Engagement Strategies Magazine – coming in May.
One of the greatest opportunities to increase corporate profits – and subsequently boost the economy – lies in motivating workforces to improve performance, drive greater customer engagement and ultimately increase revenue, according to a new report from the Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) and the Human Capital Institute (HCI). The Enterprise Engagement Alliance is a coalition of companies and associations dedicated to promoting the importance of engagement, founded last year by the Human Capital Institute, Peppers & Rogers Group, 1to1® Media and Selling Communications, Inc. Entitled The Economics of Engagement, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of research in the field of Enterprise Engagement and offers how-to information on benchmarking tools that can quantitatively measure the benefits of employee and customer engagement. These measurement tools are critical to demonstrate the bottom-line impact of enterprise engagement, both to corporations and to the economy as a whole, using financial language that senior executives, investors and economists are accustomed to. "One of the most encouraging findings of this report is the revelation that vast reserves of overall performance potential are essentially hiding in plain sight," says Bruce Bolger of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance. "Engaging the people that companies deal with on a day-to-day basis – both internally and externally – in a comprehensive, compelling and connected way will create a result that is more than just the sum of its parts. Naturally, as with any such investment, the return needs to be demonstrated to decision makers, and there's a growing body of evidence in the engagement arena that does just that." Get your copy of the report >
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