by sandy | Jun 2, 2014 | Blog
Funny article showing a TX man that took a free birthday coffee to a whole new level at Starbucks. He managed to create a $54.75 coffee drink to set a new record. His Frappuccino included 60 espresso shots, chocolate and white chocolate syrup, protein powder, whipped cream, caramel and hazelnut drizzles and nut and cookie toppings, essentially creating a giant coffee milkshake.
It’s a bit of a silly story, but we do have to recognize this as evidence that this rewards program participant is engaged in his program! He will likely remain a loyal Starbucks customer and tell his story to many friends and family, expanding the reach of the rewards program. I wonder how long it will be before Starbucks adds a dollar amount maximum on the free birthday purchase!
Click Here to read the article
by sandy | May 30, 2014 | Blog
Dyson items have been a superb product selection in incentive programs for years. When our sourcing team thinks of a great incentive award, we look for items that most anyone would love to own, yet might not be willing to spend their hard earned cash to buy. Tangible premium products drive program participants to remain loyal customers, meet sales goals, be healthier, and stay safer on the job to earn more program points!
To that point, we are happy to share a brand new item from Dyson, available in June in your incentive program – the NEW Dyson DC59 Motorhead
We just love the new line of cordless vacs from Dyson. Sure, we’ve all used a cordless hand vac since the early 80’s that you use quickly and return to it cradle to charge, but the new cordless series is truly a step forward in what we will expect in 2014. Dyson’s patented Cyclone Technology brings a new era of cordless vacs that delivers more power than anything we’ve seen before.
“No cord, yet outcleans most full size vacuums across carpets and hard floors.* People don’t associate cordless vacuum cleaners with power – they don’t think that they can clean carpets thoroughly enough. DC59 Motorhead has 75% more brush bar power than DC59AN, allowing it to drive bristles deeper into carpets to agitate dust and dirt.“
The NEW Dyson DC59 Motorhead can be docked against any wall, anywhere you can plug it in. A 3.5 hour charge gives you 24 minutes of high powered cleaning time or you can use the Power Boost mode to increase your suction power for up to 6 minutes. There is no belt in the brush bar, which increases the reliability of the overall machine, which commonly breaks in competitor models. V-ball technology has greater range of motion allowing the wand to lay flat when cleaning down low and making it more manueverable/versatile than our previous cordless machines.
*Tested against upright market, dust loaded, using ASTM F608, ASTM F2607, & IEC 60312-1 5.2, 5.9.Tested against
by sandy | May 27, 2014 | Blog
The sun is finally shining here in the northeast, yet we are already thinking about new toys and games for the 2014 Holiday Season! Among many of the new toy lines you will see us blog about in the weeks ahead, we are pleased to share a new line that will sure to be a big hit with tweens, teens, and craft fashion-istas. Loopdedoo™ is a pretty crafty piece from the makers of Craft-tastic and LoopdeLoom. It has been awarded with many prestigious awards and has been featured on the Today Show, in Parenting Magazine, and many others.
Design your own friendship bracelets then make them in minutes with the Loopdedoo™ spinning loom. It’s fast, easy and fun. Just wrap your threads around the Loopdedoo™ device, turn the knob, guide the thread and minutes later you’re done! You can even make necklaces, anklets, belts and more. There’s no pattern to follow so each accessory is completely different and unique, just like you and your friends. You can use as many threads and color combinations as you like and you can make them thick, thin or anywhere in between. The design possibilities are endless, so let your creativity be your guide.
Other items in this collection include Craft-tastic kits for making string art, pom-poms, paper bowls, and a finger crochet kit.
by sandy | May 23, 2014 | Blog
This article from Forbes references a 2014 Recognition Trends Report from almost 5,000 companies and 400,000 employees, to determine how recognized they felt within their workplace and pinpointed the top 10 cities in America where employees feel most recognized with “a raise, professional development or training opportunities, time off, or good old fashioned praise from the higher ups.”
In interesting point was that that “Engaged employees were the least likely to prefer compensation-based recognition,” states the report, “while hostile employees ranked a pay increase, spontaneous cash bonus, and promotion as their top three forms of recognition.”
The Top 10 Cities For Employee Recognition
No. 1 Huntsville, Alabama: Percent of satisfied employees: 73%
No. 2 Nashville, Tennessee: Percent of satisfied employees: 69%
No. 3 Austin, Texas: Percent of satisfied employees: 68%
No. 4 San Antonio, Texas: Percent of satisfied employees: 68%
No. 5 Washington, D.C.: Percent of satisfied employees: 68%
No. 6 Atlanta, Georgia: Percent of satisfied employees: 67%
No. 7 Charlotte, North Carolina: Percent of satisfied employees: 67%
No. 8 Orlando, Florida: Percent of satisfied employees: 67%
No. 9 Raleigh, North Carolina: Percent of satisfied employees: 67%
No. 10 Tampa, Florida: Percent of satisfied employees: 67%
Click Here to read the Forbes article
by sandy | Mar 26, 2014 | Blog
All Star Incentive Marketing knows incentives, and the power of premium brand name merchandise is just one of the tools that help us stay ahead in the industry.
One of our favorite brands, Keurig, By Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has shown some great success in sales, safety, and wellness incentive programs. Keurig giveaways have driven high traffic into hosted casino events throughout the years. It has also been a strong brand for loyalty programs like those used in investment and loan promotions. The Keurig brewers, as well as their K-cup assortment packs, and other accessories, have reigned as a forefront brand since its introduction in 1998.
But they have some plans to change things up in 2014. Former Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has newly adopted the name Keurig Green Mountain. And this is not the only change coming this year. Keurig Green Mountain plans introduce a new brewer in fall 2014, called Keurig 2.0 that will replace the existing lineup.
According to Businessweek, “Keurig 2.0 brewers will use proprietary “interactive technology,” meaning the machines will have a reader that scans Green Mountain-licensed packs for specific “recipe” instructions for a particular kind of coffee, tea, or other beverage, much as current Keurig Vue brewers do. Unlike the existing machines, Keurig 2.0 will also be able to make more than a single cup of coffee.”
This new technology will give Keurig back the reins in the ability to brew only licensed K-cups. There has been some debate over the issue, even some law suits filed by those stating that they are locking out rivals. Green Mountain spokeswoman Suzanne DuLong stands firm. “Because Keurig 2.0 machines are designed to optimize the beverage with specific recipes, it is critical for beverage quality that the system only brews Keurig brand packs.”
According to the recent story on www.keuriggreenmountain.com, “All of our approximately 50 owned, licensed, partner and private label brands that exist today in our Keurig® system – more than 290 different beverages in total – will be offered in our Keurig 2.0 system.” “If that weren’t enough, we also are actively engaged in discussions with even more brands to welcome them into the Keurig® system so they and their customers can benefit from our innovation pipeline. We are confident that our ever-expanding portfolio of brand and beverage options will continue to delight all consumers – across a wide range of taste profiles and prices.”
Keurig Green Mountain further states that, “We’re heard it from Keurig® brewer owners and non-owners: the brewer functionality they want most is the ability to brew both a single serving and a pot of coffee from one system with Keurig® speed, convenience, and brand choice. Our next generation Keurig® 2.0 brewers will do just that.” You can watch the video here.
I have to agree, I most excited about having an option to brew a larger size. As much as I love my Keurig brewer, the ability to brew an “old fashioned” (ha) pot of coffee on a Saturday morning with my Keurig is welcomed additional feature!
