| Christmas Stockings
- Incentive & Motivation provides a guide to incentives
for promotions, rewards and corporate gifts in the
run-up to Christmas
Before the summer suntan has faded, it is time to
think about Christmas. While shoppers have the luxury
of 100 or so shopping days till Christmas, corporate
buyers need to plan ahead to make sure they have the
right gifts for their customers and staff.
Incentive & Motivation this month provides information
on the latest products and packages available in the
key categories of confectionary, hampers and drinks.
The message from suppliers this year is that their
customers are increasingly seeking bespoke packages,
while at the same time expecting shorter turn-around
times in this high-tech age of next day deliveries.
In the promotional marketing sector, brand owners
are already planning campaigns for Christmas 2006.
Justine Clement, director of prize promotions company
Unmissable, says the festive season has been an opportunity
for creating its most fun prizes. "Trips to visit
Santa in Lapland are a perennial favourite, which
never lose appeal to consumers", he says. "The
family experience includes reindeer driving, snowmobiling
and meeting the great man himself.
"Ice skating is a very seasonal and family activity
that works well as a Christmas prize, whether using
the new skating rinks that have sprung up around London
or going a little more chic and offering a family
a chance to skate in Paris on a weekend break".
Other popular prizes include Christmas shopping breaks
in New York or visiting Christmas markets in other
European countries.
But, as Justine Clement points out, seasonal incentives
need not break the budget. "At the lower end
of the scale, options such as Christmas lunch on the
Orient Express always go down well. Simple can also
work: why not offer the traditional hamper, which
is something everyone can raid on the big day".
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