Welcome to the Incentive Marketing Association
Business improves when employees and customers are recognized, rewarded and engaged through effectively structured programs with defined goals and proven returns. The Incentive Marketing Association is comprised of companies who are leaders in the $46 billion+ incentive industry. That’s why Business Improvement starts with IMA.
IMA is the only organization in the field representing every segment of the marketplace including: Advertising/Sales Promotion Agencies; Consultants, Distributors; Gift Card/Certificate Suppliers; Fulfillment Companies; Incentive Houses; Manufacturers; National Marketing Companies; Performance Improvement Companies; Representatives; Recognition Companies, Travel Specialists and the industry’s major trade publications and trade show managers.
We invite you to explore incentivemarketing.org to learn how IMA can help you prosper in the incentive industry.
IMA’s Circle of Excellence Award identifies and recognizes outstanding examples of successful customer and employee incentive programs designed to drive business. This year’s award winners are Dex Imaging, Travel Tags, Inc., AstraZeneca Australia, and Europcar-Tattarsall Rent a Car. These companies, each with their own distinct business challenges, creatively used incentive campaigns, to achieve their desired results. Click Here to view their case studies.
Save the Date
Mark your calendars for the IMA 2012 Executive Summit! This year, the Summit will take place July 29th - July 31st at the Renaissance Washington DC. Summit details will be posted in March.
Click here to visit the Renaissance website.
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Featured Resources
IMA is your source for the latest marketing intelligence on the use of incentive programs, supplier education, research, best practice case studies, and public relation efforts to support the incentive industry.
New Research Focuses on Incentive From the Travel Participant Viewpoint
Motivational travel has long been recognized as a powerful business tool for helping organizations achieve key business objectives. However, most incentive industry research is limiting as historical efforts have only provided insights from the corporate user and provider viewpoints. Consequently, the results are frequently skewed to their point of view—what they perceive as their own needs, wants and preferences. This study is different.
The Incentive Travel Council partnered with the SITE International Foundation and Monmouth University to conduct this study on the Incentive Travel Participant Viewpoint. “The incentive industry has made strong strides over the past few years in better providing transparency into the business values achieved through incentive programs,” said Jim Ruszala, past president of the Incentive Travel Council. “However, the industry is still starving for specific incentive travel based insights on ways to improve that business value by creating more meaningful, motivational and memorable experiences for its incentive travel participants.”
Click here for a PDF of Part 1 of the study.
Updated Principles Takes Curriculum to the Next Level
If you need to train new employees, provide your sales team with valuable resources and selling points, or share compelling information with your clients, access IMA's new signature curriculum, Principles of Results-based Incentive Program Design at www.incentivemarketin. The self-paced, streamlined course features new research and a fast-read bullet point format that identifies key points and applies those points directly to your business. The online material is available to members at no charge. Cost-effective Principles Webinars will be offered each quarter in 2012. Click here to access the curriculum.
Cash Incentives Not Always the Best Employee Motivator
Incentive Research Foundation/Incentive Federation Study Finds Tangible Awards Often More Effective
The widely held belief that cash incentive awards are the most effective employee motivator has been questioned in a new research review conducted by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Incentive Federation. Examining a wide variety of studies in various industries, the audit found that non-cash awards can actually capture an employee’s imagination better than cash – thereby motivating them to increase performance. For business executives focused on the bottom line this study proves extremely valuable and forces the question, “Does your company have the right award mix in place?” Click here to read more.
People Power Sets the Pace for Innovation - a white paper published by the Performance Improvement Council
As the economy struggles to rebound from the financial crisis, companies need to re-engage their people and re-focus on growth. To generate growth, these strategies must maximize the value of people versus minimizing their cost. Innovation is an opportunity to maximize human assets and leaders can take positive steps to engage their people - the human capital of business - thereby driving behaviors that encourage innovation. Click here to read more.
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Return on Performance
IMA's official end-user publication
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IMA works to raise the corporate community's awareness of the power of incentive programs. IMA's official end-user publication, Return on Performance provides the latest best practice strategies and research to engage, align and motivate employees, business partners and customers to yield measurable corporate results.
Q4-2011 issue available now. |
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In the News...
2012 Incentive Travel Survey
Joint survey between Corporate Meetings and Incentives and the Incentive Research Foundation finds that while perception issues around incentive travel have decreased, the economy is still driving destination decisions.
Latest White Paper from The Forum: Business Results Through People is Released
The Forum: Business Results Through People has released a new white paper, Technology and the Human Touch: Moderating the Negative Impact of Price Increases with Outbound Personal Communication. This paper, the result of research on a large regional insurance provider, shows a significant, positive relationship between the percent of customers being contacted about price changes and the level of satisfaction with the agent. The goal of this work is to provide today’s business leaders with pragmatic insights for advancing customer relationships within their own organizations.
New Study: Incentive Travel Participant Viewpoint
The Site International Foundation and the Incentive Travel Council commissioned Dr. Scott Jeffrey and Monmouth University to conduct a joint study focused on the Incentive Travel Participant Viewpoint. Both organizations represent the belief that business performance can be positively impacted through the utilization of reward and recognition programs that employ motivational experiences and incentive travel initiatives.
IRF/Incentive Federation Study Points to New Trends in Awards
Non-cash incentives are being tapped as a way to both control spending and motivate employees and channel partners in an economy defined by growing austerity. The average employee cash incentive award is now $732--triple the cost of non-cash awards, according to preliminary findings of a new joint study about incentive awards conducted by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Incentive Federation. The cash award is not part of base or variable pay, but rather given as an incentive.
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Industry Events
IMA Membership
Links
Incentive Marketing Association
1601 N. Bond Street, Suite 303
Naperville, IL 60563
Ph: 630-369-7780
Fx: 630-369-3773
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