IMA Announces 2020 Excellence Award Winners

Synchro Marketing, Tango Card Inc., CR Worldwide, Agência Digi, HMI Performance Incentives, Motivforce, MCI Brasil, and Motisha with the Boost Group recognized for development of outstanding incentive and recognition programs that improve business performance.  

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MINNEAPOLIS – Sept.  29, 2020 – The Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) presented its 2020 Excellence Awards at a virtual ceremony last week. This year’s newly revamped Excellence Awards provided more categories to enable the IMA to recognize the increasingly important role of incentives and recognition in improving business performance. 

The Excellence Awards recognize development and delivery of outstanding non-cash incentive programs that motivate employees, win customers and improve sales.

2020 IMA Excellence Award Winners 

Sales Incentives − Synchro Marketing, Hino Guild 2019 Program for Hino Motor Sales
Consumer Promotion −  Tango Card Inc., T-Mobile Tuesdays Program for T-Mobile
Dealer/Distributor Incentive − CR Worldwide, Pirelli Prime Program for Pirelli
Employee Incentive Program − Agência Digi, Desbravadores (Pathfinders) Program for Mentos - Perfetti Van Melle
Merchandise in an Incentive Program − HMI Performance Incentives, APC iRewards Program for APC By Schneider Electric
Gift Cards in an Incentive Program − Motivforce, Know Your IBM Program for IBM
Travel in an Incentive Program − MCI Brasil, Game of Dealers Program for Renault Brasil
Recognition − CR Worldwide, BetVictor Values You Program for BetVictor
Innovation & Technology − Motisha and the Boost Group, Handy at Home Loyalty Campaign for BP Europe

Award Category − Sales Incentive
Synchro Marketing, Hino Guild 2019 Program for Hino Motor Sales

Synchro Marketing helped Hino Motor Sales Australia (Hino) defy tough market conditions to become the only Japanese manufacturer to achieve positive sales results across all segments in 2019. Hino, currently the number two truck seller in Australia, wants to become the country’s top brand by 2025. With no actual Hino dealerships, Hino focused on its dealer/distributor network and its Customer Connect Strategy. Working with Synchro Marketing, Hino developed, launched, and continues to manage its Hino Guild, Dealer Distributor Incentive Program. The 2019 program included a targeted focus on sales managers and sales consultants via an online quiz and role play competition which culminated in one sales consultant becoming the National Skills Champion. Hino increased its 2019 Market Share to 17.5%, from 13.5% in 2018 and 70% of sales managers and consultants having achieved their e-learning key performance indicators for the year. 

Award Category − Consumer Promotion
Tango Card Inc., T-Mobile Tuesdays Program for T-Mobile

Tango Card assisted T-Mobile with driving engagement for T-Mobile’s weekly Tuesday customer thank you program which resulted in more than 80 million customers participating, 41 million prizes redeemed, increased customer retention and satisfaction; and an increase in likelihood of retention and recommendation of T-Mobile services. The program contained offers including 500,000 available gift cards in small denominations varying from $3 to $5 each and some with chances to win higher denominations such as $200 to $500.  Tango Card assisted T-Mobile in executing the reward delivery with their Promo Link product - giving T-Mobile users the choice of a small selection of gift cards and T-Mobile the flexibility to customize their options, brand the experience, and make the prizes available for a limited amount of time. 

Award Category − Dealer/Distributor Incentive
CR Worldwide, Pirelli Prime Program for Pirelli 

CR Worldwide helped Pirelli develop an outstandingly successful program to increase sales of Pierlli tires with Micheldever dealers by launching a first of its kind for the industry points banking rewards program. Pierelli Prime results far exceeded goals with a 66% increase in sales of tires 18 inches and larger, 81% of users interacting with the program regularly, 94% of dealers agreeing the Pierelli Prime program had resulted in buying and selling more Pierelli tires and 75% of dealers willing to recommend Pierelli tires to others. The Pierelli Prime program earned a return of 2,688% in revenue from the initial investment.

Award Category − Employee Incentive Program
Agência Digi, Desbravadores (Pathfinders) Program for Mentos - Perfetti Van Melle

Agência Digi helped Mentos – Perfetti Van Melle improve sales team productivity with the Pathfinders Program, which increased engagement and interaction, and provided incentives for those who reached or exceeded their goals. All employees in the sales process from national managers and account executives to sellers were involved. The centerpiece of Pathfinders was a robust website with campaign resources. Participants earned a progressive series of rewards ranging from virtual badges up through tangible rewards and ultimately a cruise for two for the top participant from each employee category. The Pathfinders Program resulted in 100% adherence and 92% engagement. Sales performance was leveraged by more than 60% of the target employees.

Award Category − Merchandise in an Incentive Program
HMI Performance Incentives, APC iRewards Program for APC By Schneider Electric

HMI Performance Incentives helped APC by Schneider Electric replace an outdated cash rebate program with a new incentive iRewards program designed to provide relevant rewards and drive desired behaviors among sales staff at reseller organizations. Developing the program involved creating a series of engagement tactics and providing a wide selection of desired rewards across 10,000 reseller organizations in 57 countries with many cultural differences and creating resources in 13 languages. The program was very successful in North American, Europe and Latin America with an average iRewards firm generating six times more sales revenue. The experience and merchandise rewards helped develop an emotional connection with the resellers who now say they look forward to the iRewards promotions. 

Award Category − Gift Cards in an Incentive Program
Motivforce, Know Your IBM Program for IBM

Motivforce helped IBM develop a rewards program to differentiate IBM’s products and services from competitors’ offerings in a crowded marketplace. The Know Your IBM program targeted small and mid-size non-government resellers in 131 countries with 14 languages. Know Your IBM is delivered by a bespoke web portal with desktop or mobile access via a single sign on. The program is structured around two key components: Learn and Earn, which provides incentives and rewards for undertaking a variety of e-learning activities and Sell and Earn where points are awarded for claiming sales of eligible IBM products/services. Large dollar value prizes were delivered via IMB-branded reloadable prepaid gift cards making distribution efficient across the world. Category-specific promotions such as an “In it to Win It” storage promotion helped boost sales and revenue from participating resellers 10.3 time that of non-participants.  

Award Category − Travel in an Incentive Program
MCI Brasil, Game of Dealers Program for Renault Brasil

MCI Brasil helped Renault Brasil create a unique and highly customized destination travel experience for Renault’s annual Dealer of the Year program with “Game of Dealers,” a play off of the internationally popular Game of Thrones TV show. The travel program provides a reward and celebration with Renault’s board for their top dealers. Everything about the experience was tailored to the theme including using Croatia, where segments of the TV show are filmed, and Montenegro as the destinations and unique dining and tour experiences. MCI included an innovative technological solution, combining the campaign’s website and APP containing all mandatory travel information as well as fun insights, quizzes and games related to the Game of Dealers theme which guests had easy access to during the trip. The integrated theme, app and activities created a whole new level of interaction between the guests and the Renault board leaders. 

Award Category − Recognition
CR Worldwide, BetVictor Values You Program for BetVictor

CR Worldwide developed the “BetVictor Values You” program to help the company improve employee retention, enhance appreciation, grow engagement and strengthen their position in the competitive Gibraltar labor market. The program connected employees across age groups, cultures and locations (Gibraltar, London and Hungary). Newly established company values became the focal point for rewarding behavior and redefining the company culture. An online points-banking website was the hub for the program with a look and feel tied to sporting brands such as Liverpool FC and Real Madrid to reinforce the teamwork, morale and celebratory appreciation of the players. Results included reducing employee attrition by 46%, the company’s approval rating increased 14% and 76% of employees used the system. 

Award Category − Innovation & Technology
Motisha and the Boost Group, Handy at Home Loyalty Campaign for BP Europe

Motisha and Boost Loyalty worked with BP to provide a 3-month multi-channel campaign where customers could save up to 50% on exclusive Black-Label line Princess products when fueling at BP. Customers were able to combine Princess discount vouchers and Freebees points, a key differentiator to other programs, for up to a 100% maximum discount. Clear, user-friendly communication through the online and offline customer journey helped to deliver an appealing experience for BP’s customers. Results included: more than 25,000 discount vouchers redeemed, more than 7,000 Princess products sold, and 50% of all orders were completely or partially paid for with Freebees. BP also gained as the completely digital redemption process and responsive state of the art online shop, fully hosted by Motisha and Boost, eliminated the need for merchandise handling at BP sites.

Judges and Sponsors 
Special thanks to the IMA Excellence Awards judges who give of their time and support to make it possible to recognize and honor the great work of IMA members. 

• Judges – Heena Akhtar, co-founder, Tripxoxo.com/Reward Port; Brian Dunne, FCMA, FIH, CPIM, MBA, Fellow IMA, chief executive officer, Giftcard Consulting; Stephanie Harris, president, The Incentive Research Foundation; Lisa Grimaldi, editor, Incentive magazine and editor, Incentives & Destinations, Northstar Meetings Group; Rich Killian, president, RK Incentives; Mike Landry, CPIM vice president of special markets, Tumi; Cristiano Miano, CPIM, chairman, Grupo Digi; Cindy Mielke, CPIM director, channel marketing: incentives, Tango Card; Mike Murrell, president/publisher, Lakewood Media Group; Lore Rincon, sales manager, Continental Premium Corp; Rob Purdy, founder and chief executive officer, CarltonOne Engagement; Len Sadek, CPIM, director of gift card sales & marketing, Landry’s Inc.; Tasha Sharp, president, Sharp Incentives; Lincoln Smith, IP, chief strategy officer, HMI Performance Incentives; Robert Ward, CPIM, director of sales, Ovation Rewards and Gift Card; Martha Weaver, vice president of merchant relations, Raise Marketplace; Sean Wilkinson, chairman, CR Worldwide.
• Sponsors – Blackhawk Network and NGC.
  

View the full list of award recipients or watch the video on the IMA website. 

About the Incentive Marketing Association
The Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) connects members from leading companies across the marketplace to create a unified voice and growth for the incentive industry. IMA is the umbrella organization for the Incentive & Engagement Solution Providers (IESP), Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance (IMRA), Incentive Travel Council (ITC), and IMA Europe. IMA members have the expertise, leading brands and services to help companies improve their business with reward, recognition, loyalty and engagement programs. 

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Contact: Ione Terrio ● iterrio@incentivemarketing.org ● 952-928-4649