On September 28, the Incentive Awards ceremony of the IMA Europe event took place in London. Create Direct stood out from the start of the competition with the most nominations for its incentives, loyalty & rewards solutions, and platforms.

The agency won the Company of the Year award, one of Europe’s most prestigious and coveted awards in the incentives & rewards sector. The award is given to the company that has made a significant contribution to the marketing incentives industry through creativity, innovation, and results.

Create Direct was nominated for its solutions and campaigns for incentives, cashback, loyalty and rewards in the categories “Best use of Technology in a Programme”, “Best Technology Provider”, “Best Channel Partner Programme”, “Best Use of Payments in a Programme”, “Best Sales Incentive Programme” and “Company of the Year”.

The jury was made up of experts and leaders in the incentive marketing industry from around the world.

This year, the agency also won the “Excellence in Consumer Promotion” award at the IMA Summit Awards in the US for the multi-country cashback programs developed for Michelin.

Cosmin Lăcătusu, Executive Manager Create Direct:

`The Company of the Year distinction is a special honor and indisputable proof that we are among the best in Europe in developing and managing rewards, incentives, and loyalty solutions.

The credit goes to the Create Direct team and our customers, whom we thank for their partnership and trust.

We plan to continue our evolution and offer the highest performing solutions and the best services with the same enthusiasm and determination as before.`

During the IMA Summit Awards 2022, Create Direct won the “Excellence in Consumer Promotion” award for multi-country cashback programs developed for Michelin.

Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) is an international association based in the USA that has as members the leading companies in the industry of rewards, incentives, and employee recognition. The awards for excellence are given to those incentive programs that stand out through their development and execution. The IMA judging panel was composed of industry experts and global leaders in incentives, rewards & recognition marketing. The IMA Summit Awards was held this year in Snowbird, Utah, USA (July 11-13, 2022).

“CLUB PRO by Michelin” and “Wholesale CLUB PRO by Michelin” are international loyalty programs, active simultaneously in Romania, Croatia, Greece, Slovenia, and Hungary. The programs target professional tire users, respectively dealers and sub-dealers, who are rewarded with cashback on the purchase of Michelin tires.

Both programs are developed and managed entirely by Create Direct. Since their launch, they had excellent results thanks to innovative up-sell and cross-sell mechanics.

The award won at the IMA Summit Awards 2022 is not the only award won by Create Direct for Michelin. The program was also awarded the Bronze for Best Loyalty Campaign at the IDN Awards 2021.

“We are very honored to receive international recognition for the `CLUB PRO by Michelin` loyalty program. It is truly a confirmation of the program’s value, especially given the high adoption rate among professional tire users who see it as a true ally. `Wholesale CLUB PRO by Michelin` is a very pleasant surprise. It’s a great start because this is a program that we just launched this year through which we focus on developing the redistribution network of Michelin tires. “, said Valentin Cojocaru, Michelin B2B Operational Marketing.

Mirela Iordache, Project Manager `CLUB PRO by Michelin` and `Wholesale CLUB PRO by Michelin`:

“The loyalty programs we have developed for Michelin are based on complex mechanics, but for users, both platforms are easy to use, with a fast and easy-to-understand reward process.

Our experience in B2B and B2C cashback campaigns has helped us effectively manage the two programs in several countries simultaneously. We handle the entire reward process, from processing and validating proof of purchase, developing and managing the reward platform, to managing and making multi-currency cashback payments.

We are proud and delighted that, in such a short time, `CLUB PRO by Michelin` and `Wholesale CLUB PRO by Michelin` are already bringing us such valuable awards. ”

Create Direct team:

Project Manager: Mirela Iordache

Full Stack Developer: Gabriel Chiriță

Graphic Designer: Corina Enache

Copywriter: Alina Anghel

Michelin:

B2B Operational Marketing Michelin Romania: Valentin Cojocaru

Distribution Manager:  Nikolay Baltadzhiev

Regional Sales Manager Hungary: Benjamin Metge

Customer and partner loyalty is essential for companies, as it allows brands to build long-term relationships and ultimately gain access to more business opportunities. Loyalty also has a beneficial impact on sales and revenue growth for the company. Partner networks become loyal to your brand, and the external sales force can make you stand out from the competition.

Here are 7 actions to include in your loyalty and motivation program strategy:

1. Customize your loyalty program according to the desired participant category

The foundation of any well-designed loyalty program is a carefully thought-out segmentation strategy. Proper segmentation ensures that your allocated budget is maximized. It starts with identifying program participants and understanding your customer segments, partners, or external sales force. Your efforts will then be focused on those similar to your best customers or partners.

2. Implement an onboarding process

Most companies are familiar with the integration of new employees. But what if you offered the same experience to your customers and partners?

Creating an onboarding process encourages participation in an online loyalty program and helps future participants to better understand the details of the program.

For the best integration experience, consider creating a sign-up email campaign or even contacting customers and partners by phone.

3. Build trust and transparency

Loyalty programs are focused on building relationships.
Your partners and / or clients must see the program as a benefit, and that working with your company is an investment for them.

Communicate very clearly the terms and conditions of the program, the incentives offered, answer all questions to clarify any questions the participants might have, provide support by phone and / or email and, finally, do not delay in delivering on time the promises you have made.

4. Design your loyalty program to be effortless

The best loyalty programs are intuitive.

An intuitive program will speed up the promotional pace of the sales team, and the customer/partner will more easily understand the steps to follow for rewards. Start with a simple loyalty program concept and gradually add new features, depending on results and feedback. Make sure that the basic structure of the program can be quickly understood, from enrolling in the program to accumulating points and turning them into rewards.

5. Increase the commitment of your partners

Offer non-cash rewards to your business partners to motivate them and earn their medium and long-term loyalty.

Surprise them by giving them bonus points when creating an account, on their birthdays or when they recommend the program.

Add gamification elements to incentives and introduce questionnaires to test their knowledge of your products. For every correct answer by customers or partners, they will receive points.

6. Communicate efficiently and constantly

A loyalty program is less about marketing and more about building and capitalizing on the relationship between the brand and your customer/partner. Successful relationships rely on effective, consistent communication. Therefore, use all the channels at hand to establish a functional dialogue with your customers or partners. Provide chat support, encourage feedback, and use instant and personalized communication solutions.

7. Continuously analyze the results of your program, understanding what worked and where it needs to be improved. Add new things from time to time to keep the program attractive.

Create the most enjoyable experience possible for your customers and partners using Rewardiful.com!

• Rewardiful.com is the efficient and fast SaaS solution to reward the external sales force, partners, and customers. You can build trade, incentive, reward, or loyalty clubs in just a few hours.
• Launching a motivation and incentive program in which each partner wins based on performance is simple. The partners are always connected with the brand, meet the sales objectives, receive points, and choose the desired prizes depending on the level of performance achieved.
• The diversity of products in the awards catalog is massive. You can find over 100,000 products in the suppliers’ stock, and the delivery time is 1-3 days from the order processing.
• You can choose various digital vouchers from well-known brands like eMAG, Fashion Days, IKEA, Decathlon, Vivre, Kaufland, Douglas, and others. Digital vouchers are generated within 24 hours of ordering.
• Rewardiful.com allows integration with WhatsApp for more personal and efficient communication. Furthermore, users can send proof of purchase via WhatsApp to earn points and find out the status of orders placed right from the chat. User status information is communicated in a maximum of 2 seconds on WhatsApp, with the help of a virtual assistant. It instantly answers the customer’s questions in WhatsApp chat, providing accurate information about the number of points earned, available or spent, suggestions for prizes that the customer can order, etc.

For details, contact us via email at andreea@createdirect.ro, or by phone at 0759 010 169.