After 35 years, the 1,500 employees of global agency BCD Meetings & Events are experts in crafting memorable experiences. But in the highly competitive incentive program space, it’s a challenge to “wow” the qualifier year after year. Here’s how Cate Banfield, VP of event solution design and strategy, describes a novel approach to a recent reward program. Read our full interview with her here.
For seasoned companies with longstanding incentive programs, what have you introduced to change the game?
CB: A big step we tried with our client was to let the qualifiers choose the destination. Traditionally for incentive programs, the destination is the story, so finding the newest resort in the hottest destination is key to driving performance for the qualifiers. But for us, we were dealing with a sophisticated company with a longstanding incentive program, and they had experienced many of the trending destinations already. We pitched to a client the concept of allowing the participants to choose the location—reinforcing one of the key tenants of experience design: participation.
Over several months we created a marketing campaign for each of the four destinations we were considering for a future program. We allowed the potential participants to evaluate and vote on their preferred experience, resulting in a true crowdsourced experience.
So, how did it go?
CB: It was scary for our client at first, letting go of control. But in the end, the destination that won was the client’s first choice also. And with the participants feeling like they drove the decision, the satisfaction results were even higher at the end of the program. They specifically called out how they appreciate being part of the decision-making process.
If you’re ready to take the next step in experience design, enroll in one of our upcoming Event Design Certificate courses today. You can also join our online Experiential Marketers and Designers Community.
