So, we only went and won it. Incentive Event of the year. Yay. It was a joint effort with our fabulous partners at Outbound, the go-to Channel marketing agency. As we like to say, with us, you get two specialists under two roofs. They do what they do wonderfully well, and we do what we do wonderfully well as well (try saying all that quickly). This effort was for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and was the biggest inter-partner sales competition the channel has ever seen. HPE approached us to find a creative way of achieving these objectives, whilst incentivising their channel partners for selling their new Storage proposition. The incentive was to be themed around the prize trip, including eye-catching communications.
Knowing the target audience to be typically males aged mid-20s to late-40s, sporting events are always a great prize. With that in mind, and the incentive to end in September, we looked at the worldwide sporting calendar for a memorable experience. We wanted a renowned event and location – the last New York Yankees baseball game of the season at the iconic Yankees Stadium fitted the bill perfectly.
Launch assets included a website to register deals and view training and sales enablement content, email communications and social media posts. A playbook included full details of the incentive, prize and how to win. HPE’s resellers and distributors were placed in four leagues depending on their partner metal/status, which ensured even the small partners had an opportunity to win. Points were awarded on sales, pipeline and interaction on the website through registration, viewing assets and completing quizzes. An intuitive points matrix ensured participants couldn’t win on website interaction alone, with increased weighting towards closed deals. To ensure HPE’s Sales teams were driving the incentive to their customers, three of these places were awarded internally, which would also provide an opportunity for building relationships with the 13 winning customers on the trip.
Winners earned a place on a 3-day trip of a lifetime to New York. Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, The Westin Times Square provided the perfect base in the heart of New York’s bustling city centre, close to all the Winners earned a place on a 3-day trip of a lifetime to New York. Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, The Westin Times Square provided the perfect base in the heart of New York’s bustling city centre, close to all the top attractions. The highlight of the trip was experiencing full hospitality at Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees. Our winners enjoyed the electric game day atmosphere of Yankees vs Blue Jays in the final game of the season; one of the most sought after events. Dinners were second to none, including STK Steakhouse and A-lister venue, Beauty & Essex, for the final night. Another truly unique highlight of the agenda, a real money-can’t-buy experience, was a neighbourhood tour with an active NYPD homicide detective. This took us through the criminal underbelly of New York, learning how it’s shaped the city’s history and culture – with a few hilarious stories added in! Free time was built into the agenda so winners were able to enjoy the best of New York. Whilst planned activities always provide exceptional memories, everyone valued this leisure time to explore areas of the City they wanted to experience – or just a bit of retail therapy.
Just wanted to say “thank you so much in everything you have done on this project!”. We’re delighted to have delivered a great incentive which certainly animated the channel and helped our Storage proposition become front of mind with our customers.
Head of Partner Marketing, HPE
A great result all round as they say. The client won. Ulterior and Outbound won, and the Yankees wo….oh no, they lost. You can’t win them all!
Written by Graham Alderman