Two Acquisitions Highlight New Focus on the Reward Experience

A leading gift card company and one of the world’s largest meeting planning platforms make acquisitions in the emerging arena of experiential rewards. 

 

For over two years, RRN has predicted that all the research supporting the importance of the reward experience would begin to show up in actual practice. Two recent acquisitions demonstrate the growing importance of personalization, customization, and the reward experience. InComm, a leading prepaid product and payments technology company, announced that acquired Kansas City-based Gift Card Impressions (GCI), which focuses on providing “innovative gift card packaging and digital gifting solutions to physical and online retailers.” GCI will be a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm, with its operations and leadership team will remain in Kansas City.

 

GCI says it is the the largest provider of decorative gift card holders in the U.S. and says it offers “state-of-the-art, highly personalized, multimedia experiences that can be combined with stored-value products and services.”

 

The very same week, meetings technology giant Cvent purchased the Chicago-based group event booking platform Kapow, which serves what Business Travel News calls the “burgeoning demand for unique event experiences and venues that appeal to attendees' sense of exclusivity and authenticity.” Kapow offers customized experiences such as private movie screenings, chef-led dinners, personalized fittings, tasking and more. The company’s customers reportedly include some of the world'