AT A PREMIUM

Choosing the right gift, reward, teaser or giveaway can be the crowning glory to a well-planned event, incentive travel programme, or marketing initative. Here's how to give the right thing at the right time.

A dynamic teaser campaign using premiums combined with a great incentive destination had one planning company's corporate client's employees lining up sales in record numbers. So much in fact, that they outgrew the hotel at which they were booked and had to move the programme to another equally sought after and much larger hotel in the same location.

The secret? They were able to tape into the destination - Napa Valley - and their financial client's participants' interest in wine knowledge, wine as an inventsment and wine auctions. The teaser theme was tied to "I heard it through the grapevine" and featured items wine connoisseurs would enjoy. The overall theme, when blended with the destination and the participants' interests, came together to produce an extremely effective campaign and greatly added to the success of the programme.

For years, planners have been using premiums and incentive gifts as marketing tools to meet programme objectives. While trends and hot gift items may change, their value has not diminished. Premiums are used in a variety of ways: as teasers to launch incentive programmes; as marketing tools; as handouts at trade shows; as room gifts for meetings, conferences or incentives; and as gifts of appreciation to staff or customers.

Carolyne Saurmer, assistant to the vice-president of the Independent Advisors at Manulife Financial in Toronto, looks for items that will "imprint an event for the participants and serve the dual purpose of being able to be useful after the event has ended.

PLAN YOUR PREMIUMS

Joanne Godin, specialist, corporate events, public affairs and communications at Standard Asurance Co. in Montreal, recommends tying your items to the theme, destination and "making them useful". At her company, Godin says the teaser items tailored to the destination become bigger as the campaign winds down, and are sent with a letter of standing. "It really keeps the momentum going", she says.

One company who had a great on-time delivery record was holding a product launch at Disney World. They gave customized his and her Mickey Mouse watches as welcome gifts to employees. This clever gift captured the corporate message, the theme, the destination was useful - a great example of all elements coming together in a memorable gift.

"If they are tied to the destination and symbolic in some way it's very effective", says Laina Novack, vice-president of business development at E.L.K. Corporation in Toronto, a premium and incentive provider. "Especially if it is combined with today's hot new trend of versatility". Novack says a recent incentive client gave attendees a custom crocodile leather passport jacket for an exotic incentive. "It even doubled as an evening bag because the logo was on the inside of the item", she says.

Novak says one of the newest trends for employee and customer appreciation premium gifts are items geared to lifestyle . "Electronics are still hot", she says. "Portable CD/DVD players, flat screens, digital cameras, things people can enjoy on their own leisure time are hot. Not business related items, such as leather portfolios or briefcases.

NO LOGOS PLEASE

Another major change, Novak says, is logo-free items. For premiums and incentives gifts given as rewards, companies are no longer requesting that their corporate logo be prominantly displayed. Companies today are looking at who the recipient is and what the objective of the gift is. Corporate image is also important to keep in mind when choosing a premium gift. It is the company known as a trensetter? Keep in mind who the recipient is and how sophisticated they are. What would capture their attention?

GOING GREEN"

"Going green" is all the rage these days, as everyone from ex-U.S. vice-president Al Gore to Hollywood heavyweights takes up the cause. And they're not alone. "There's a growing appetite for 'green' in the meetings industry," says Anthony Watanabe, president and CEO of Innovolve, a Toronto-based company that advises businesses on sustainability issues.

For instance, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre is building an eco-friendly "living roof," which, along with the Metro Toronto Convention Centre's Zero Waste events, typifies the sorts of environmentally responsible action being spearheaded by our industry.

I've also heard that a growing number of hoteliers are factoring enviro-friendly meetings into their business – and significantly, it's client driven, as, more and more often, RFPs are featuring a "green" section.

Not surprisingly, a survey, conducted by travel directory www.TotalTravel.com , indicates almost one in five Australians is considering abandoning air travel. Why? Its impact on global warming.

"People can't be complacent anymore, and it's time for them to become aware of the facts, so they can make an informed choice about how they travel," says www.TotalTravel.com global marketing manager Paul Fisher.

Wise words, as the meetings industry takes its first, important steps to confront this environmental challenge head-on.