Rhonda Brewer
Incentives appear to be regaining some lost
ground. According to a recent M&C survey (see
the Guide to Incentives supplement, September), 29 percent of
planners saw their incentive budgets increase in 2004; for 2005, 28
percent predicted increases over their 2004 budgets.
“The shift started in late 2003,” said Rhonda Brewer, vice
president of pricing and proposals for Fenton, Mo.-based Maritz
Travel. “By 2005 or 2006, we anticipate budgets returning to their
pre-economic-slump levels.”
Brewer noted some clients who had cut the number of participants
over the past few years are now beginning to add more winners,
though without yet increasing their budgets. “We’ll get there,”
Brewer said. “People are comfortable again in using incentive
programs, but not comfortable in investing a lot more money.”
Yet, for Irving, Texas-based Sunbelt Motivation & Travel,
“The dollars are definitely increasing for 2005 business,” observed
Bill Boyd, Sunbelt’s president and CEO.
Meanwhile, some companies that had scrapped their programs,
such as Vienna, Va.-based software firm Convera, are reinstating
them.
“We decided to try one again, to see how it went,” said Dale
Hazel, Convera’s vice president of marketing, in reference to an
awards program launched in mid-2003. The effort did not have the
traditional kickoff or promotional campaign, Hazel noted; a
destination was not selected until a few months into the contest
because, he explained, “We hedged a little to see how people
performed.”
The program was a success, boosting sales by 24 percent, and
Convera has formally reinstated the incentive program, with a full
kickoff and promotion slated for the 2005 program.