Aspire Incentive Program
Client
Ball and Doggett
In a declining print industry, we delivered a unique self-funded incentive program that delivered outstanding ROI and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for their customers. Not only did the program achieve the base objective of merely stopping the decline in sales, it exceeded all expectations in sales and profitable growth!
Key achievements
23%
Profitable Growth
>35%
Engagement Rate
60%
Program Participation
The Challenge
Ball & Doggett, like most printing industries worldwide, have been in decline for most of the past decade as the digitalisation of communications gathers pace globally, and this decline was accelerated during Covid-19 in 2020. The declining industry and COVID impact adversely affected sales, a massive challenge for Ball and Doggett.
The challenge posed Incremental with an opportunity to build a self-funding incentive program to maintain sales from Ball & Doggett's current customers and achieve a step change in a declining marketplace.
The Solution
The primary goal for Ball & Doggett was to halt the annual decline in sales, which was averaging 10% per annum and accelerating. The program required to focus on providing a real step change by acquiring a greater share of wallet from current customers, which would result in eventual sales growth.
‘Aspire’ as the name suggests, we wanted to provide a lifetime experience, something beyond the ordinary. We created two relevant sales-based tiering that recognised every customer and purchase: Aspire 4 More and Aspire VIP rewards.
Profitable Sales Growth
The token earn rates were linked to actual sales growth to ensure we addressed the objective of halting the 10% decline in sales. Rather than have a single dollar conversation value like traditional incentive programs, tokens had a much higher value placed against them.
Attractive Reward
All Ball and Doggett small, medium, and large customers were invited to the overall program brand “Aspire 2021”. Small and Medium customers were placed into the Aspire 4 More tier. Large customers were invited to the Aspire VIP Rewards.
Aspire 4 More received customised merchandise offering an extensive range of personal and industry-specific packaged rewards exclusive to the printing industry, allowing the reward earners to reinvest in their business, creating an upside growth cycle.
Aspire VIP Rewards received a VIP trip to Broome, Western Australia. Pristine waters, wide empty beaches, abundant wildlife, and a tropical climate with breathtaking colours. The incentive trip held from 16th to 20th June was a massive success with a special guest speaker, former Prime Minister, The Hon. John Howard – making it experience money can’t buy!
Budget Management
The program awarded smaller and medium customers tokens once they had reached a self-funding growth target. The base growth target set for all customers in the program ensured that the customer had to achieve a target ranging between 10% – 15% profitable growth in sales for any token reward.
Customised Communication
On invite to the Aspire program, each customer in the program received a launch kit with different branding, colour and style depending on the tier they were allocated. We created personalised visual monthly communications that gave every participant a view of their progress in the program, tracking to target and a forecast on what sales growth was needed to achieve the target. The visually engaging EDMs achieved high engagement and open rates and influenced sales results after each distribution.
The Result
Overall, Aspire 2021 was a massive success. Not only did the program achieve the base objective, it exceeded all expectations in sales and growth! Some of the results delivered include:
- Between the two customer segments, 520 participants were enrolled in the Aspire 4 More program, and 310 customers achieved tokens, resulting in a profitable sales growth of 13%. Not only halting the decline at 10% per annum but growing sales revenue by 13%. A net 23% growth result.
- 150 customers had profitable sales growth with Ball and Doggett but didn’t reach the token targets but contributed to an increasing share of wallet.
- 1400 tokens were awarded through the Aspire 2021 program, with 55 customers and their partners earning a place on the Aspire VIP reward travel incentive trip to Broome.
- Targeted email communication focused on personalised designs resulting in >35% open and engagement rates for the entire program. The sales results became a massive influence on the program’s success.
So, whether you’re in a declining market – where the primary objective is to halt declining sales – or a market that demands sales growth to achieve company goals, our well-structured self-funded incentive program can drive results and deliver a real step change – not just for the client but their customers as well.
