May 14, 2008 6:05 AM, PROMO P&I, By Amy Johannes

Exhibitors were pushing their new products last week at the New York Incentives Rewards & Recognition Show with a focus on customization and indulgence.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. is giving companies a new way to reward clients or recognize hardworking employees via customized gift boxes and tins. Firms can add a logo, photo or message on a cardboard or paper wrapper that attaches to the box containing Ghirardelli chocolate squares.

Gift boxes can be personalized for $12 a piece, and will start rolling out by month-end, said Amy Brading, who handles Ghirardelli’s business to business sales.

Discovery Commerce, the consumer products, licensing and home video division of Discovery Communications, and newcomer to the trade show, introduced its partnership with Excitations.com to offer experiential rewards. The experiences, which start at $50, mimic adventures found in Discovery Channel programming, and range from
formula racecar driving to shark diving to digging for dinosaur fossils.

Discovery was also pitching its DVD sets, such as “Planet Earth” as incentives to end-users and re-sellers.

Rymax Marketing Services, Inc. talked up its recent partnership with Skullcandy, an audio products manufacturer, which is making its products available for the first time to the incentive industry (Promo P&I, Feb. 20, 2008).

Despite the state of the economy, “We’re seeing incentives still standing tall,” Dana Slockbower, director of marketing Rymax Marketing Services, Inc., said. But there’s still work to be done.

“End users need to, from a consumer standpoint, drive behavior to get people to be loyal to increase buying behavior,” she added. “From the employer stand point, there needs to be engagement or you are not going to see the performance driver you want from a business [perspective].”

Then there are gift cards. AMC Entertainment in July is rolling out customizable gifts cards. The cards, which can be personalized with logos or photos, can be loaded with denominations ranging from $5 to $500, and can be redeemed on movie tickets and concessions at any U.S. AMC theater.

Bath & Body Works is out with a limited-edition gift card for its corporate customers based on its Enchanted Orchid collection, a new spring scent. The gift card is available through July in denominations of $10, $25 and $50, Cicely Wylde-Oubrerie, national sales manager for the firm’s corporate sales division, said.

The card is designed to reflect the company’s “endless pampering possibilities,” she said.

Bath & Body Works, which has offered gift cards for 12 years, plans to launch a new holiday collection in October. Seven holiday cards will be available for consumers and one new offering for corporate clients, Wylde-Oubrerie said.

Barnes & Noble pitched its gift card holders with some new entries. The bookstore giant this month featured its gift card tin, which debuted in last holiday season. The company also showcased a booklight holder, which doubles as a gift card holder. The cardboard packaging includes slits to hold the plastic cards.

The offerings are designed to differentiate the company, Heather Abbott, Barnes & Noble's manager, gift cards, said.

"It gives us a little bit of something extra," she said.

Meanwhile, Restaurant.com talked up its restaurant promotional certificates and co-branded gift cards that can be purchased as incentives. The firm has expanded its roster of restaurants to 8,500 and plans to increase that number of 10,000 by year-end, said Larry Nichter, executive vice president, Restaurant.com’s corporate sales.

For example, the company last week ran a test program tied to Mother’s Day with Sears offering a $25 Dining Dough gift certificate and Sears coupon book to people who spent $75 or more on Sears’ fine jewelry, accessories, intimate, women apparel, or digital imaging products.

A number of exhibitors drew in potential customers with a host of promotions and incentives of their own, everything from free samples to gift cards.

Bath & Body Works handed out two-ounce samples of its Enchanted Orchid lotion, while Pier One gave out $10 gift cards and recyclable bags. Returning exhibitor Restaurant.com distributed $25 gift cards to booth attendees. The first 150 attendees received a $100 Restaurant.com certificate. Likewise, Green Mountain Coffee sampled its flavored coffee, tea and hot cocoa to visitors who picked up a cup at registration.

Rymax Marketing Services offered people the chance to win prizes, including iRobot, Monster or SkullCandy gear, or receive incentive tips for end users in its Gold Box Give-Away. Visitors to the booth who met with a Rymax rep pulled out a ticket from the box to reveal a prize. Upstairs, Discovery offered visitors a sweepstakes for a chance to win a Wolf Watch or a Swim with the Sharks experience.

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