December 4, 2019

Announcing the MarCom Awards Winners for 2019. This year, Next Level Performance MarCom team earned one Platinum Award and two Gold Awards!

The 2019 Platinum MarCom Award Winner:

Platinum -- 2019 Winner’s Package
in Print Media, Design (Print), Other -- Incentive Marketing Packaging
Art Direction: Jennifer Kralyevich; Designer: Matt LaZaro

Park City, Utah, is a popular ski and resort town famous for its wild, natural beauty. This inspired the creative team to create the platinum-winning travel theme, with its consistent colors and images.

The region's “Big Sky” sunsets and rugged mountain photography were perfect for the trip's marketing collateral. Old wooden type and wanted posters provided design cues evoking the wild, wild West.

The spectacular scenery built anticipation for the trip, and served to visually unite all pre-trip and on-site components in an inspiring way.

Lead Travel Planner: Cheryl Hammerschlag, Sr. Travel Program Manager

Travel Operations Direction: Jennifer Mazza, Sr. Dir. of Travel Operations

The purpose of this Incentive Group Travel program was to enable managers to nominate and reward key contributors in the organization whose 2019 performance was outstanding.

Aside from award-winning graphics, the program elicited praise from participants.

The following observations and conclusions can be made from the trip survey results:

• 95% of the participants rated the overall trip as either Excellent or Very Good.
• Next Level Performance pre-trip Customer Service/Travel Support received Excellent or Very Good ratings by 100% of participants.
• Onsite Travel Staff received a Perfect rating of 5.00 for their hospitality and attention to detail throughout the program.
• The St. Regis Deer Valley luxury resort hotel received an overall Excellent satisfaction rating of 4.69.
• The group outing, “Behind the Scenes” at Utah Olympic Park was well received, earning an Excellent overall satisfaction rating of 4.68.
• The program’s optional activities received a Near-to-Perfect overall average rating of 4.95, with Guided ATV, Park City Mine & Wine, and River Rafting Excursions each receiving a score of 5.00.
• The Welcome Reception & Dinner received an overall Excellent rating of 4.70 with the Décor/Ambiance and Service both scoring the highest at 4.89.
• The Awards Dinner at High West Distillery was well received with an Excellent overall rating of 4.82.
• Décor/Ambiance ranked the highest, with a Perfect score of 5.00.

Comments that attendees made on the surveys reflected the overall high satisfaction scores:

“Extremely well done.” “Staff was readily available for any questions. Kudos!” “The on-site staff was amazing. They always went above and beyond on every request.” “The customer service was great.” “Our onsite staff was awesome.”

When surveyed, participants’ responses to open-ended questions were enthusiastic. The question was, “We're perfectionists, but nobody is perfect! What would you like to have seen us do differently?”

“Everything was well done.” “…I loved every meal…” “The entire weekend was an amazing experience…” “The trip was very well coordinated. We had a wonderful time. “…was a wonderful experience.” “The nightly gifts/ jacket that was delivered to the room… was great. Opening the door every night to see what was there was a cool thing.”

In addition to Platinum, Next Level Performance achieved two Gold Awards for Design in 2019:

Gold – 2019 VIP Loyalty Winner’s Package – Alaska Cruise
Next Level Performance – 2019 VIP Loyalty – Winner’s Package – Design (Print), Other – Incentive Marketing Packaging – Designer: Jamie Santiago

Gold – 2019 Winter Business Meeting – Los Cabos
Next Level Performance – 2019 Winter Business Meeting – Winner’s Package – Print Media, Design (Print), Other – Incentive Marketing Packaging – Designer: Stephanie Gross

The MarComm team at Next Level Performance takes it all in stride. “We are already focused on 2020 programs, and beyond,” said Sr. Art Director Abe Pendon. “Our concepts must engage the eligible, to win their attention and excite their commitment. It is great to know that the programs have proven so rewarding to those attending. Every design must be a visual feast!”

Next Level’s Marketing Communications exerts a powerful positive influence on the performance of those eligible during the time leading up to the trip, and delivers lasting emotional impact via the memories and enjoyment after the trip. That has been proven to boost performance results in subsequent years, compounding the positive results.

Interested in Group Incentive Travel Programs? Have questions and want to explore ideas? You are welcome to reach out to VP of Travel & Engagement Susan Adams.