Incentive - January 2009 - (Page 54)

Watch Report: Strike the Pose PAGE 56 Digital Delights PAGE 60 The watch industry is now more about fashion than time The features, but not the price, of portable computers are expanding CRE Builds Fulfillment Marketplace The incentive marketplace targets newcomers By Alex Palmer 54 | Incentive | January 2009 | incentivemag.com Illustration: Chad Crowe wide-ranging group of incentive fulfillment companies, media partners and industry organizations have come together in an effort to simplify reward delivery and incentive program management. This month, Solata Technologies, The Motivation Show and the Motivation Strategies brand, as well as the Incentive, Successful Meetings and MeetingNews brands launched CorporateRewardsExchange.com (CRE). CRE functions as a businessto-business marketplace where incentive brands and fulfillment companies offer merchandise and rewards systems to qualified end users and resellers. The end users can order products for bulk purchase or drop shipping, set up a points-based program for their company or get information on running an incentive program from the site’s partners. Among the incentive companies currently signed on to A offer their services are Certif-A-Gift, Harco Industries, Lapine, Partners for Incentives, Rewards Direct by Maritz, Rymax Marketing Services and Quality Incentive Company. All provide branded rewards, gifts and incentives at wholesale prices for corporate use. The site aims to provide a central location where incentive companies and end users can buy incentive products directly from fulfillment companies for use in both points-based and corporate gift programs. With an estimated $30 billion of revenue spent on incentive rewards going into retail rather than through industry channels, the organizations behind CRE see this as a way to help educate corporate end users that there’s a whole industry available to help them manage their rewards and gift programs. The Web site promises, “to power even the smallest program profitably.” “Very few people know this business, so there is a huge number of ‘do-it-yourselfers’ and people who buy direct through retail who don’t take advantage of this market and expertise,” says Bruce Bolger, founder and president of Tarrytown, N.Y.–based Selling Communications. According to Bolger, CRE will leverage the number of brands involved in the program to communicate about their products and services with a broad audience of qualified end users who might be looking to upgrade their current program. End users are able to choose from the programs available or reach out to experts for help with designing their programs. CRE allows both the end users and resellers working with them to buy incentive merchandise at the corporate price for use in rewards programs. http://www.CorporateRewardsExchange.com http://www.CorporateRewardsExchange.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - January 2009

Incentive - January 2009
Contents
Editor's Note: Rewards Must Be Sustainable
Headlines
Cover Story: Responsibility's New Role
Incentive Interview: Patrick Lencioni
Family Rewards: Who They're Working For
Primer: Working Design
Leap of Faith: Religion in the Workplace
Cook Up Engagement: Kitchen Teambuilding
My Turn: Procurement Possibilities
Motivation@Work: Hard Times Recognition
Legal Ease: The Tax Facts on Corporate Gifts
Travel News: Where to Go and What to Do
The Bahamas: Islands in the Sun
Field Reports: Four European Destinations
Golf: Around the World in 18 Holes
Potentials Here and Now
Watches and Clocks: Strike the Pose
Golf Merchandise: Awards with a Solid Swing
Computers: Digital Delights
Retailers Band Together for Gift Card Market
Gift Cards: The Prepaid Reward Spectrum
Advertiser Index
On the Web www.Incentivemag.com

Incentive - January 2009