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IMA Effective Program Awards Provide Case Studies for Planners
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The Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) presented its 2025 Excellence Awards during the IMA Summit Awards ceremony at its annual IMA Summit earlier this week at the Austin Marriot Downtown. The Excellence Awards recognize the development and delivery of outstanding non-cash incentive programs that motivate employees, win customers and improve sales.
These annual awards provide some of the only public case studies of incentive and recognition programs because so many organizations remain secretive about their engagement efforts. This year’s winners are:
Excellence in Innovation & Technology: Grupo Digi
Excellence in Social Responsibility: 360insights
Excellence in Gift Cards: Merit Incentives
Excellence in Merchandise: Harco Incentives
Excellence in Incentive Travel: Merit Incentives
Excellence in Recognition: Synchro Marketing
Excellence in Incentives & Engagement: Incremental Marketing
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Excellence in Innovation & Technology: Digi
Client: Nestlé
Digi (an incentive marketing firm in Brazil) worked with Nestlé to engage, empower, and motivate over 2,000 direct promoters, ensuring its products were consistently well-positioned and following defined commercial strategies at the point of sale (POS). The Vença program was designed to enhance the performance of the sales force and create an environment of recognition and appreciation, utilizing cutting-edge technology for performance measurements and a robust rewards system to drive results. The program is structured around monthly campaigns, ensuring constant monitoring of POS performance. The platform focuses on technical training with clear guidelines on product execution and display, motivation through dynamic challenges and gamified journeys that encourage excellence, and recognition with tangible rewards and acknowledging achievements. Vença has led to a significant increase in operational efficiency at the POS, greater engagement of the sales force, evidenced by the high volume and quality of photos received, continuous improvement in commercial results, and strengthened internal relationships and corporate communication.
Excellence in Social Responsibility: 360insights
Client: Johnstone Supply
The Sensory Garden Initiative, led by 360insights in partnership with the Friends of the Care Project (FOTCP), is a powerful example of how collaboration can create lasting, meaningful change. Working alongside FOTCP, 360insights brought together guests from Johnstone Supply and local volunteers to transform the outdoor space at the Friends Development Centre (FDC) in Antigua into a vibrant sensory garden for children and young adults with disabilities.
With the goal of building an inclusive, therapeutic environment that enriches the sensory experiences of FDC’s students, volunteers constructed a sensory sandbox, a wheelchair-accessible water wall, a music wall made from recycled materials, and an herb garden designed for exploration and interaction. It not only transformed an outdoor space into a vibrant, inclusive environment but also united a diverse group of individuals toward a shared purpose, leaving an indelible positive legacy for the Antigua community, reflecting 360insights’ commitment to inclusivity, creativity, and community empowerment.
Excellence in Gift Cards: Merit Incentives
Client: Zurich LiveWell
LiveWell by Zurich, in collaboration with Merit, launched a transformative global gift card program designed to boost employee engagement across continents. Through a customized client portal, employees in more than 10 countries—including South Africa, Germany, and Indonesia—can access curated, locally relevant rewards. Since its launch in the fourth quarter of 2024, the program has processed over 20,000 orders and drives a 230% month-over-month increase in engagement.
By solving the complex challenge of sourcing globally while maintaining regional relevance, LiveWell has set a new benchmark for scalable, employee-centric recognition programs. Merit’s client portal solution is not just a solution, it’s a blueprint for solving one of the most persistent and complex challenges in global employee engagement: delivering meaningful, localized rewards at scale, without sacrificing consistency or control. LiveWell by Zurich is a model of what’s possible when global rewards are treated not as transactions, but as a strategic lever for employee experience and business alignment.
Excellence in Merchandise: Harco Incentives
Harco Incentives partnered with a major transport-tech platform to create the Drive to Earn training program focused on a geographically dispersed and traditionally hard-to-reach audience—professional truck drivers. Drive to Earn paired required online training with a dynamic, desirable merchandise catalog to encourage voluntary participation and boost safety, retention, and pride among professional drivers. Drivers earned points for completing modules and were incentivized by a world-class reward catalog featuring over 15,500 products from 926 top brands that reflected their interests and lifestyles.
The program was integrated directly into the driver's learning portal, requiring no additional logins or tools. It used gamification (points, leaderboard, goals) and an aspirational rewards experience to create engagement. In the first six months, the participation rate was at 78%. It received a 92% positive satisfaction rate from redeemers, and the platform reported a significant reduction in training-related safety incidents.
Excellence in Incentive Travel: Merit Incentives.png)
Client: MASTERCARD
The SAB Points Exchange (PX) Program—developed by Merit in partnership with Mastercard—is reengineering travel rewards across the region. In a space long-dominated by delayed redemptions and disconnected ecosystems, SAB PX has introduced a model of real-time, cross-industry value exchange that puts users at the center of the experience. Tailored for ICSAB+ cardholders, the platform enables users to instantly convert loyalty points into a wide range of travel and lifestyle benefits, including flights, hotel stays, and telecom services.
SAB has created a dynamic, travel-first rewards infrastructure that is scalable, intuitive, and built for a global user base. In just six months, SAB PX has processed over 25 million points and onboarded six major loyalty partners, demonstrating strong user adoption and platform success. Within months of launch, SAB PX has transformed reward points from passive balances into active currency.
SAB PX is more than a rewards platform—it’s a breakthrough in travel incentives, seamlessly connecting loyalty with lifestyle.
Excellence in Recognition: Synchro Marketing
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Client: LEXUS AUSTRALIA
Working with Lexus Australia, Synchro Marketing developed and managed the ‘Lexus Leaders’ Program, a reward and recognition and dealer operations facilitation platform for all Lexus dealerships across Australia to drive performance and demonstrate ‘Omotenashi’, the spirit of Japanese hospitality, to dealer channels and customers. Lexus Leaders has key touchpoints throughout the Lexus dealer network, accessible for dealer employees at all levels with tailored KPIs for each position. Successful participants earn varying denominations of ‘Lexus Leaders Reward Dollars’, which can be redeemed for gift cards or leading brand merchandise. Rewards are delivered via senior management as an in-dealership recognition event. Management also receives monthly notifications of key sales and service milestones in their department. Recognition plays an equally important role in the program with a Lexus Leaders Trophy, honor roll inclusion, and length of service recognition. Lexus Leaders have seen increased engagement across all dealership roles and high levels of participant satisfaction.
Excellence in Incentives & Engagement: Incremental Marketing
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Client: Fujifilm Australia
Fujifilm X Rewards is a high-impact B2B (business to business) sales incentive program developed by Incremental for Fujifilm’s Electronic Imaging division. Launched in August 2023, the initiative was designed to reposition Fujifilm from a legacy film brand to a modern leader in digital mirrorless cameras, while driving product knowledge and market share across Australia and New Zealand.
Targeting floor staff and store owners in specialist camera retailers, the program rewarded sales of eligible Fujifilm products through a points-based system. Participants could redeem points for lifestyle experiences, Visa gift cards, and branded merchandise. The platform also embedded training modules, encouraging staff to complete product training and apply their knowledge in-store.
With AI-powered automation, the program ensured fast claim processing and seamless redemptions, resulting in over 20,000 sales claims submitted and a 4% increase in market share. Fujifilm X Rewards shows how strategic incentives and real-time performance data can turn frontline staff into brand ambassadors and drive lasting business outcomes.
IMA Judges
Neely Adkins, CRP, RecogNation; Ian Arthur, Carson Optical; Jim Atten, Wolfe LLC; Vera Barovska, Ovation Incentives; Debbie Bertram, Continental Premium Corporation; Taylor Collier, Fiserv; Sharon Conley, Marriott International; Fintan Connolly, Engage Loyalty; Johane Desjardins, Vibe SMG, Inc.; Jim Drakakis, CRP, Engaging Rewards; Amanada Et Tibary, Inspire Europe Limited; Debbie Ghillino, The Incentive Company; David Gould, CPIM, 360insights; Matt Griffiths, 212F; Lisa Grimaldi, Northstar Meetings Group; Andrew Johnson, Diggecard; Marlene Johnson, CRP, Dash Solutions; Elizabeth Keeslar, Best Western Hotel Group; Mark McCowan, Synchro Marketing; Cindy Mielke, CPIM, BHN | Tango; Mark Oldenburg, Great Lakes Incentives; Tiffany Perry, Landry's, Inc.; Scott Russell, CRP, Effingham Health System; Micah Vander Tuig; Mark Wunderlich, IncentiveSource, Inc.Enterprise Engagement Alliance Services
Celebrating our 15th year, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance helps organizations enhance performance through:
1. Information and marketing opportunities on stakeholder management and total rewards:
ESM Weekly on stakeholder management since 2009; click here for a media kit.
RRN Weekly on total rewards since 1996; click here for a EEA YouTube channel on enterprise engagement, human capital, and total rewards insights and how-to information since 2020.
2. Learning: Purpose Leadership and Stakeholder
Management Academy to enhance future equity value and performance for your organization.3. Books on implementation: Enterprise Engagement for CEOs and Enterprise Engagement: The Roadmap.
4. Advisory services and research: Strategic guidance, learning and certification on stakeholder management, measurement, metrics, and corporate sustainability reporting.
5. Permission-based targeted business development to identify and build relationships with the people most likely to buy.
6. Public speaking and meeting facilitation on stakeholder management. The world’s leading speakers on all aspects of stakeholder management across the enterprise.
