Brands are moving past the idea loyalty is defined simply by repeat visits and on to loyalty at a higher level. To get to brands need consumers to spend more time and (hopefully) more money on their products. The focus of the conversation now is how to get that higher level.

Key Takeaways

Simon Sinek, leadership expert and author of “Start With Why”, gave a great presentation that resonated with me. He made a similar speech at TedX in 2009, it can be viewed here.

Some key take-aways:

1. Loyalty programs are not static, they must be dynamic and multi-faceted.
   
2. In today’s marketplace users are looking for programs that are so easy to use instructions are not necessary and so valuable they can’t live without.
   
3. Brands should attempt to build a culture and community around their product,

• Know your consumers - Who do you want to attract, how do they fit with your brand.
• Show, don’t tell - Express clearly what your brand believes, the people who identify with your beliefs will find you.
• Pull don’t push – If you can build a community of consumers with a shared set of values, your loyalty programs will be less manipulative, more inspiring and ultimately more effective and sustainable.

Activating Core Members

Many brands have created groups of consumers they can market to, spend special offers, educate them about their products and in some cases, activate a core group giving them the feeling they are shaping the program.

• Choice Hotels has taken this member feedback approach with their Choice Privileges program. They reach out to a select audience from the Choice Privileges program inviting them to become part of an “Elite Member Panel”. The panel is asked to participate in a series of surveys and Choice Hotels reports 70% of panel members complete the survey within one day. They credit the high participation rate to fun surveys and careful explanation of what the ‘Elite Panel’.
• Travel Centers of America uses member feedback as well but focuses on a smaller group of members from their Ultra One loyalty program inviting them to participate in “Driver Meetings”. These meetings allow select consumers to share a meal with the company’s CEO while discussing what they like and don’t like about the company’s loyalty program.

The loyalty measure all companies should be striving to achieve is the consumer who’s moving past being a price based consumer to a consumer with a deeper connection to the brand, purchasing your company’s product because it ‘feels’ right. This is the ultimate goal of loyalty. Engagement across multiple channels gets your brand the most connection to your consumers.

Online Branding – .com becomes .brand

Beginning in January 2012, brands may be able to apply to have their dream domain name.  Instead of fighting for their brand name.com, they can now use their brand’s name as their .com. For example, if a consumer is going to mycokerewards.com, Coca-Cola can make the link simpler and more memorable by changing it to something like, “rewards.coke”.   This .brand will become a digital anchor for brands.  It will become an essential marketing tool allowing for even more web pages, less click throughs and more direct web interaction.  There is a vast worldwide web out there, and this is going to blow it wide open.

[There is some heated debate about ICANN's gTLD ("generic Top Level Domain") plans. You can read more about it here.]

Key Speaker Take-Aways

Katrina Klier – Sr Director World Wide Digital Engagement, Microsoft

We have always been told that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.  Well as marketers, we need to figure out how to make the horse thirsty. We need to have the proper interaction with the horse, and convince it that it wants to or needs to drink the water.

–A good marketing strategy gives the consumer more reason to “drink the water”. Today brands need to be interactive and give consumers more than their used to.

Elizabeth Pizzinato – VP Brand Communications, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Social Media is inclusive.  It allows consumers to be a part of the brand without ever actually experiencing the brand.

–The Four Seasons Hotel is not something everyone can afford.  But what social media has done is give consumers the chance to become a part of the Four Seasons brand without actually ever having to stay at a hotel.  Social Media includes, never excludes.  Marketers can use this principle to gain an even stronger brand following.

So, how are you making your horses thirstier?

Lauren is an Account Director in our Detroit office.

This promotion highlights three up and coming artists, consumers learn about each and vote for their favorite. The winning artist will get to record a Coca-Cola version of Taio’s hit song “Higher” and then perform it with Taio live at the Coca-Cola Red Carpet Party at the 2011 American Music Awards on November 20.

An additional sweepstakes, for consumers, offers the chance to win a walk on the red carpet at the AMAs and the chance to live the experience with the winning artist. Sweepstakes entries are earned by exploring the Coke Collaboration Project website, participating in a poll and trivia questions and by downloading free content found by clicking on a “secret bubble”.

The first phase culminated September 30th at Club Nokia with the three artists: Christina Grimme, Pacha Massive, and Debi Nova.  All had stellar performances and the night ended with Taio singing his hits and some new songs as well.

Consumers also had a chance to attend this party with a partnership from a retail partner. Point of sale messaging at retail partner stores prompted customers to enter via text, bar code or online. Eight winners were chosen to attend a VIP meet and greet with another 1300 winners chosen to see the concert.

]]> http://epimport.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/dreamforce-2011/ Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:09:22 +0000 eprize http://epimport.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/dreamforce-2011/

Check out the Sales Contest Builder website here.

It’s smart, right? Smart enough to win Appquest 11? That’s up to you. Here’s how to vote at Facebook in two easy steps:

1) Go to the AppQuest FB page, like it. Here

First "Like" Dreamforce page.

2) Find our offical entry video link & like that post too, like it a lot (this is the link, but first ‘like appquest’. Here’s the link.

The winners will be announced at AppQuest 2011 at the end of the month and did I mention your hair is exceptionally shiny today?

Go Vote!

I had the pleasure of attending the MMA Forum in New York last week. Speakers from brands like Pandora, Coca-Cola, Gap, American Express, and NHL, as well as the mobile carriers, were there to discuss their experiences with mobile. Here are my key takeaways:

·         Mobile devices provide a solution to consumers’ pain points.  As marketers, we must facilitate how a consumer interacts with our content, from mobile commerce to display advertising, to mobile campaigns and promotions. How we communicate to consumers via the mobile channel can be an asset to our brands — or detract from it. I especially liked Lou Paskalis’ (American Express) assertion that mobile devices should be considered Brand Value Proposition Reappraisal Devices, given how every interaction allows a consumer to be more embedded with our brand. Or not.     

·         The mobile channel is the new direct response.  Mark Fiske of The Gap is right. Mobile can be tracked and measured. It can create awareness of a brand proposition, take it through all the consumer decision model stages (interest, decision) and facilitate the transaction. According to Fiske, mobile is direct marketing. The messages that resonated with the consumer become apparent due to the measurability inherent in the channel.     

·         Mobile gamification is a powerful promotional tactic. Another participant spoke of the need to move beyond the “dollars off” habit to drive traffic. They said that the use of rich media and game mechanics via mobile has delivered the results they sought. Gamification – the use of badges, points, leaderboards and small games to motivate consumer behavior – has been a recurring theme at conferences we’ve attended this year, including SXSW; so it’s not surprising that such tactics also resonate over the mobile channel.

·         Mobile is a connecting platform that complements brand-consumer interactions. Russell Wallach of Live Nation says we need to use both the mobile and social channels to enhance the everyday experience, as “music concerts are a social platform.”  For Live Nation, the mobile channel is employed at all stages of the concert experience.  Before the show, there are touch points to allow for mobile connectivity introducing people to new bands and songs.   When bands and music lovers come together for the evening, these fans will use their mobile devices to take videos, tweet, vote on set lists or encores.  Data shows that 47% of fans text or email during a live show, 66% take photos, and 32% update their Facebook or Twitter pages.  After the show, consumers share on social sites, upload photos, and even write reviews from their mobile device.  Talk about consumer engagement!

Marketers are definitely exploring the potential of mobile and using the channel in creative, engaging, and revenue-producing ways.  Did you attend the MMA 2011 Forum? What were your takeaways? 

I just got back from AdAge Digital.

The message was consistent across the board: Brands are putting more focus on developing content that gets their consumers to engage with their brand and share it socially, and less attention on ad impressions. Advertising helps create awareness of the content, but the most important part is developing a reason for consumers to engage and share.

Key Insights from last Week:

CONVERSE: Letting Go
Geoff Cottrill, CMO of Converse, said they have learned to “let go” of their brand and create content that people want to interact with and share with others. Geoff stated that they spend only 10% of their marketing budget on traditional media, which shocked the room. The rest of their budget is spent on non-traditional advertising, with a growing portion on the creation of content that will get consumers interacting with the brand.

COCA-COLA: Just One Voice Among Millions
Wendy Clark, SVP of Integrated Marketing at Coca-Cola shared their humble approach on Facebook. They look at themselves as, “just one of the 24 million people who like our brand.” Wendy estimated that only about 10% of the messaging about Coke around the world is within their control – the rest is created by consumers. They focus on building campaigns that motivate consumers to create and share. One piece of evidence to support this is on YouTube, there have been 120 million views of content about Coke, and only 26 million of those views are of content that Coke created on its own.

GOOGLE: Rate of Content Creation
One of the most startling statistics of the conference came from Lorraine Twohill, VP of Global Marketing for Google. She shared that in the last two days, more content was CREATED on the web, than existed on the entire web in 2003. The point is clear – advertisers are putting more of their focus on creating reasons to motivate their customers to engage with and talk about their message.

There were many insights shared at the conference. Aside from those above, I found these five stats interesting too…

1. Bing shared that they spend 20% of their online ad budget on video, which has driven a 16% lift in brand awareness, and a 9% lift in intent to try.
2. 86% of consumers are using a mobile device while watching TV (Nielsen).
3. About 37-40% of consumers use Twitter and Facebook via a mobile device.
4. Dell finds that 90% of CIOs make purchasing decisions based on what they learn in social media.
5. Promotions are an excellent way to drive engagement on Facebook, but pay attention to the words and topics you communicate. The words that best drive engagement are event, winner, offer, new, and win. Less impactful are words are sweepstakes, promotion, save, coupon, and sale. (Buddy Media)

So what does that mean for the world of digital promotions? There is significant opportunity to create “share-worthy” content. We create reasons to engage and share a brand’s message socially. Takeaways from this conference make me think we should put even more attention around that as our value to the marketplace.

What are your thoughts on letting consumers drive your message?

 A Week @ SXSW Boils Down to One Word: Gamification
by Ben Ryder, Manager, Emerging Technologies

This past week, Austin was the place to be for those wanting a firsthand look at some of the latest trends in the digital space. The city was flooded with hipsters and brand reps looking to spread the word about their startups, meet new connections from other companies, and share innovations and ideas. From the moment I walked in to SXSW at the Austin Convention Center and saw hundreds of other attendees waiting in line for their badges, I knew it was going to be an interesting week.

As I experienced the convention floor, attended panels and keynotes, one experience, one word began popping up over and over, gamification — the idea that game mechanics can be applied to things that aren’t considered a game, to make activities more fun and engaging.

Interactive Convention Floor
The inside of the convention center had been transformed into a learning space.
·         Various stations invited users to play with everything from Legos to a 3D video display in the Tron Lounge.
·         For Microsoft it was about Windows phones and Kinect. Microsoft reps were standing by, ready to show off the handsets and answer questions. A small “living room” was directly behind the booth for those who wanted to enjoy a quick game of Dance Central.
·         One of the coolest interactive offerings was from Chevy, who provided rides throughout Austin city limits in some of their new models, including the Volt.

Beyond the overall convention experience, there were a ton of great panels and keynotes to choose from, which were generally standing room only. Garnering some of the biggest crowds were the current leaders in the location space, Seth Priebatsch and Dennis Crowley.

Leaving the Decade of Facebook
Seth Priebatsch, 22-year-old founder of SCVNGR, kicked off the week’s keynotes with his interpretation of how the next ten years will play out in the digital space. Priebatsch believes we have just left the decade of social where Facebook is now positioned as the leader. The next ten years, according to Priebatsch, will be the decade of the game layer. The game layer will usher in a new era of incentives for users to interact with traditionally non-game actions. 
·         Gaming in Schools: One of the biggest issues Priebatsch wants to tackle with the game layer is the “ineffective” reward system currently in place in schools. He believes that the game layer could turn school into a system where students don’t fail classes but compete against themselves to earn a higher status, not dependent on grades.
·         Real-time demo: Priebatsch put the game layer to work as a large scale game with the 2,000+ attendees in the room. Each person was given a 12″x8″ card with a color on each side. He told the room we had 180 seconds for each row to pick a color from one side of the card and create uniformity. What could have been chaos, was a controlled effort. This is because Priebatsch used simple game mechanics, broke the room into individual rows instead of one large collective and coupled it with clear directions. As a result, the 2,000+ attendess succeeded and Priebatsch donated $10,000 to the National Wildlife Federation.

Next Generation LBS
Dennis Crowley, CEO of Foursquare, was interviewed by Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable.  Cashmore kicked off the interview by crowning the Foursquare CEO “Mayor” of SXSW, which didn’t seem to be Crowley’s favorite point in the interview. Crowley went on to discuss:

·         The future of the platform will focus heavily on their APIs and allow developers to leverage their venue database. That database is also undergoing a transformation in the form of their new “venue harmonization” initiative, a push to make the ultimate “social places database.”
·         Crowley says in the future, users should be able to create “to do” lists of places they’d like to see and things they would like to do. Once they are in the area of that “to do,” they will be reminded that they wanted to eat at that restaurant or go to that museum, regardless of the date that the “to do” was created.
·         Foursquare is currently one of the leaders in the gamification space. Crowley gave us some insight during his panel announcing that March 13 was the biggest day in the company’s history, surpassing their previous one day check-in record of 2 million by 600,000.  For a company driven by gaming principles, they are proving to be a driving force in the digital engagement space.

After a week of some of the best interactive panels I have been to, I was ready for a few moments to digest. Panelists seemed very passionate that, moving forward, users are going to need a more compelling reason to take action. The reason could be as simple as checking in to earn a badge, or as complex as redefining the school system. Either way, gamification could be exactly what users need to change their behavior.

Will gamification and the game layer be the biggest digital trend of the next decade? Let us know what you think.

Our team just returned from another wildly successful and rewarding experience at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show!

The ePrize crew had an excellent opportunity to spend time with our clients, network with others, and participate in invitation-only sessions on the latest and greatest in the digital space.

While there is an endless list of interesting things we learned about and people we spoke to, here are our top three takeaways from this year’s show:

From ‘marketing geek’ to ‘marketing chic’
On the surface, it is easy to get caught up in the hoopla of what CES poses to be. It is, after all, the largest convention in the United States and occupies the entire Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as a majority of conference space at the resorts on the Strip.

Back in the days when COMDEX was the industry’s largest event, it was a closed-loop trade show where a majority of the action happened on the show floors in booths.

Flash-forward to more recent years and CES has evolved and matured into a digitally-integrated super-conference. If you are anyone who uses digital means to communicate with your customer base, this has become THE place to see and be seen.

For example, Alan Mulally from Ford gave his third annual CES keynote with a large number of the Ford global marketing staff in tow. The team announced an all-electric-powered Ford Focus — an unheard of place to make a product rollout by old Detroit standards.  

Other headliners ranging from General Electric Chairman Jeff Immelt and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to WPP head Sir Martin Sorrell were in executive roundtables, hosting clients at high-end parties and exhibiting general interest in the category.

Tablets, tablets, and more tablets!
Talk about sheep following the herd. Since launch of Apple’s uber successful iPad (which was announced intentionally following CES 2010 to harness the entire press cycle to itself), manufacturers decided that to be relevant and cool for CES 2011, they had to showcase a tablet device of some kind to try and compete against the folks from Cupertino.

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was extremely excited about Windows 7 during his opening night keynote. Motorola Mobility released their latest Android effort named XOOM. BlackBerry threw a coming out party for its new “PlayBook” device. Heck, even the Pandigital folks – you know, the company that makes the digital photo frames? — decided to get into the game and come up with an ultra-low-end unit for the sake of doing it (you can imagine the snickering that went on about that, much to the chagrin of Microsoft and Motorola).

All of these devices, price points, and options are great because, in theory, they provide more options to consumers, right?

By a large margin, the majority of OEMs are helping Google’s Android effort to scale wildly by way of their catchy, open source OS. Yet, the near-term Achilles heel will likely be that the hardware build quality varies dramatically from unit to unit.

This creates an interesting catch-22 for the Android camp: depending on which unit from which manufacturer you buy, your experience and satisfaction will be totally different – even though you’re running the “same” operating system.

That effect harkens back to two decades ago when discount PCs began to reach the marketplace. Microsoft learned the hard way that this experiential disconnect tarnished the Windows brand name. In fact, it greatly aided in opening the door for Apple to come into the market with an integrated OS/hardware solution and begin stealing share.

The next battle in this war: will Google step in and demand specific hardware standards from their OEMs? Will their decentralized approach and fractionalized marketing message be able to take the throne away from Apple? Is BlackBerry still relevant to the enterprise community? 2011 will be a defining year for this category that is white hot in its growth potential and in consumer interest.

Get ready to ditch your desktop and move to mobile
The tech-famous journalism team of Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher from The Wall Street Journal’s “All Things D,” hosted an invitation-only event. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showcased his company’s focus on a new class of mobile computing, powered by their latest Tegra processor.

As a leading video graphics chipmaker, Nvidia sees a bright future through diversification and enabling consumers to use devices currently considered “mobile” as their primary computing devices overall in 3-4 years’ time – if not sooner.

Huang even demo’ed a “super-phone” (as he called it) running Android and powered by Tegra that could not only handle multi-tasking and more mundane tasks that users typically need from their laptops, but he also played 1080p full-motion video without a single hiccup. All of this with exceptionally efficient power consumption and a seamless user experience promise.

Imagine a world where you could replace 2-3 of your primary devices (laptop/desktop, media center, and mobile device) with one complete device that acted differently based on where you dock it and the kind of accessories you attach to it.

If Nvidia, Intel, and AMD have their way, you will see this be available as a mainstream technology that not only positively impacts consumers, but causes the marketing community to again redefine what a digital experience could be.

More than ever, CES has become a destination for marketers of all kinds – to learn about new ideas, new mediums, and to explore new partnerships.

Interactive and Social Promotions have leveled the playing field when it comes to building a relationship with your target audience. Every company, no matter what size, has the opportunity to compete. So, whether you’re The Gap or the corner coffee shop, empower your business with the philosophy of “Connect, Collect, and Perfect.” Learn how to optimize your business marketing platform and address the “What’s in it for me?” factor that’s central in today’s society.

 Read here for the full article.

Loyalty Expo | June 6-8 | Orlando, FL
Loyalty Expo was created to be the first of its kind — a true “voice of the customer”-driven, best-practice-focused engagement, loyalty, and incentive/reward conference. The Expo will continually provide a forum of best-in-class vision and resources, to assist our members in reaching their customer relationship-building goals.

Kimberley Brennan: Join ePrize Director of Strategic Services for the panel discussion Success in Loyalty comes down to Survival of the Fittest on Monday, June 7 at 3:25 pm ET on the panel discussion.

Call or email Kimberley, kimberley.brennan@eprize.com or call 347.604.1002, if you’d like to set up some time to talk about some of the fundamental considerations in achieving lasting loyalty.

MMA Forum | June 8-9 | New York, NY
The Mobile Marketing Association’s Mobile Marketing Forum series brings the entire mobile marketing ecosystem together under one roof. You will hear from industry thought leaders who really challenge existing thinking and drive initiatives; you can expect powerful debate and well-facilitated interaction; you will meet new partners and business connections; and you can expect to leave each event with new ideas and perspectives that will change the way you do business.

Anny Woo: We’ve got some fun things brewing with the Mobile Marketing Association at the event! Plus, look for Anny Woo, Senior Innovation Manager from ePrize. Want to talk mobile campaigns? Call or TXT Anny at 248.556.6497 or email anny.woo@eprize.com.

3rd Advanced Forum on Advertising Law | June 9-10 | London, England
Following the enormous success of the 23rd Annual Advertising Law conference in the US, C5 is proud to present its 3rd Advanced Forum on Advertising Law, the only event of its kind bringing you the latest, the best and the most innovative international case studies led by in-house counsel.

This is a can’t-miss for leaders in the industry who want to engage in compliant marketing practices by implementing fit-for-purpose strategies to maximise opportunities, minimise risks and accelerate return.

Gabriel Karp: Gabe, Executive Vice President and General Counsel will be speaking in two sessions on June 10.

• Advertising on Social Networking Sites: Adopting Fit-for-Purpose Strategies to Maximise Opportunities whilst Minimising Risks
• Developing Contests and Sweepstakes that Can Withstand Enforcement and Litigation.

Public Words Speaker Forum 2010 | June 11-12 | Cambridge, MA
Public Words is holding their first annual Speaker Forum taking place on June 11-12, 2010. The event will be held in conjunction with The Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA. In a series of discussions, panels and talks, you will learn from the most successful and influential minds in the public speaking business.

Josh Linkner: Josh, Founder and Chairman of ePrize, has written a soon-to-be-released book on creativity, Disciplined Dreaming, and he’s launching a speaking career to help other companies and teams re-charge their creativity and keep ahead of their competition. As Josh puts it, creativity is the only competitive advantage companies have left. Everything else can be copied by a teenager with access to the Internet. Catch him at the Public Words Speaker Forum 2010.

ePrize is hosting the Detroit Area Adobe Users Group CS5 Launch party this Thursday, April 22 from 7-9pm ET

Discover breakthrough interactive design tools that enable you to create, deliver, and optimize beautiful, high-impact digital experiences across media and devices. Create once and deliver that same experience virtually everywhere, thanks to the highly anticipated releases of the Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR® 2 runtimes.

The event is open to anyone interested in attending at the ePrize headquarters in Pleasant Ridge, MI. Please register prior to the event at the DAAUG web site.

Learn more about Adobe CS5

If loyalty marketing were personified, he’d likely be found standing at the water’s edge, reflecting on days gone by as well as his plans for the future. He may even try to skip a stone or two. Before judging where we’ve been and where we’re headed, we usually start with where we are today. That intersection could be marked by acknowledging the presence of the Internet, the panacea of tools available to marketers, and an economic market with a sign “Recession” hanging overhead.

The Internet and related technologies have put consumers in the driver’s seat. We are all spending our time more wisely – in full control of the media we choose. We spend over 30 hours a week online – not to mention the third screen: mobile.

As marketers, we are trying to crack the code of digital and engagement marketing. The good news? There are more tools than ever. The bad news? There are more tools than ever. It may be difficult to prioritize among all the choices. While the tools exist to create and extend loyal relationships, reaching the next level of loyalty and engagement remains elusive to many brands. In loyalty, as in life, setting the right priorities is more than half the battle.

The recession has also changed the way we make decisions – possibly forever. From now on, consumers will spend more wisely. From now on, credit will be different. From now on, businesses will act differently. From now on, our culture will be different.

Read the full article here:
http://tinyurl.com/lrzxyb

ePrize was lucky enough to have an amazing guest speaker at our 2009 Roll Out held at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit.  

Jeff Hargett, the Corporate Director of Learning and Content Delivery for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, educated and entertained our team with his presentation on Ritz-Carlton’s world famous service. Through examples and comparisons to the business of ePrize, Mr. Hargett allowed the team to envision taking our service and client devotion to the next level. 

He inspired us by saying, “The philosophy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company not only guides me in providing world renowned service but also helps me on a day-to-day basis to evaluate my personal commitment to life.”  Click here to view Jeff Hargett’s profile and contact information.

Our second trade show in as many months brought us to New York City for Ad-Tech.  Trade shows, in essence, can be similar to each other.  However, it is always the people and overlying experience that is remembered (Ed. Note: Doogie Howser M.D. did not write the opening for this post).

Myself, Marcie, and Anne Marie had an excellent time speaking with all the attendees of Ad Tech.  Some looking for a promotion, while others just got to know ePrize a little better.  We gathered countless (but impressionable) business cards, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends during our two day stay at Ad-Tech. 

However, for a few ePrizers from the Mid-West, our memorable experience came on Election Night.  Ourselves and some new Ad-Tech friends walked to Rockefeller Plaza to witness a historical election with thousands. Regardless of political affiliation, it was an awe-inspiring spectacle of people with one thing in common.  They voted. 

We would like to thank the people of New York City, and Ad-Tech’s many visitors, for an incredible experience.  

Photo provided by Flickr user: muuuusic

Learning and developing philosophies and initiatives to increase customer commitment, communication and overall customer value should be a priority for all growing companies.

Matt Kates, VP of Strategy will take ePrize one step closer to accomplishing just that by presenting at The 2008 Loyalty, Incentive and Reward Expo on November 2-4, 2008 at the Omni Orlando Resort.  The theme of this expo is “360° Voice of Your Customer!”  It is the only Conference focused on maximizing customer, employee, and client relationships.  

Check out Matt’s presentation at 2:15 on November 3 to learn about: 

o Why in today’s world of fractionalized media, product and service proliferation and opt-out communication opportunities, a consumer’s time is as valuable as their purchase.

o How loyalty programs can be utilized to drive consumer engagement – not just consumer purchase.

o Why incenting and rewarding consumers for their time and attention creates the opportunity to develop a relationship and have one to one communication opportunities which ultimately drives purchase. 

http://www.loyaltyexpo.com/

The “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” tag line does not apply when your boss wants a blog post documenting the experience of the recent Shop.org summit at Mandalay Bay. Even if your tongue was “planted firmly in cheek.”

ePrize is back on the trade show scene after a short hiatus. This year we invested into the design and architecture of a new LCD tradeshow display featuring eight monitors powered by Apple. Armed with our display, and some smiles, myself, Jordyn, and Anne were able to represent ePrize at Shop.Org. The Summit is known for its quality turnout and many networking opportunities through peers, clients, and keynote speeches. Just like any other visit to Vegas, you wish there were more hours in the day.

Our next appearance will be at Ad Tech in New York, New York from November 3^rd – 6^th. Drop us a line by email, Facebook, or tweet if you plan to be there!

While many people have heard of Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, etc. There are still numerous people who have no idea how to use them, or are only using them for a fraction of what they can do. With this in mind an ePrize employee has established The Detroit Area Adobe Users Group on July 24^th, 2008. The first meeting was attended by 18 people with high hopes that the next meeting will attract even more. This gathering was a great opportunity for Adobe users to collaboratively brainstorm and establish the group’s overall purpose.

The Detroit Area Adobe Users Group provides a place for people who use Adobe tools to gather, learn, and inspire others.  And, the group is officially registered with Adobe, who provides online training and information that isn’t offered to just anyone!

In order to stay on top of industry trends and changes, this group’s major task is to explore the possibilities! The group leader even gets access to “insider” information, which is great for anyone interested in staying ahead of the curve with Adobe Software.

So the next time you are thinking “there must be a better way to do this!” and wish you had someone to ask, remember the group and attend the next meeting taking place on August 28^th.

The air is getting warmer, the snow is starting to melt, people are smiling more, and energy is up.  You may call this Spring Fever but around here we call it Summit Fever!

Our momentum is strong and there are only 6 days left until the hottest event in interactive marketing takes place: The Interactive Promotion Summit held in Las Vegas.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the speakers for the event: large brands such as Wendy’s, Playboy, and Coca Cola will be talking about what’s “hot and now” and the latest marketing trends in the interactive world. This is your chance to mingle and network with the top brands in the industry-we would love to see you in Las Vegas on April 30th!

Make your mark, catch some Summit Fever and change the way you think about marketing and request your invitation today!

To register for this event please visit
http://www.promotionsummit.com/registration.aspx