Leadership Positioning and Product Launch —
Maritz Travel Insight

The Challenge

A premier incentives travel company and one of the first to break into the industry over 100 years ago, Maritz Travel was losing market share to "do-it-yourselfers." Many potential and current clients were not seeing the need to turn to Maritz to book their incentives trip to the Caribbean, for example. Clients were also not seeing the motivational value incentive travel had once brought to their staff. Maritz' leadership positioning needed to go beyond "executional excellence" and "biggest and best."

The Solution

Through a strategic positioning brainstorm session led by M. Silver Associates, the idea developed to capitalize on the trend towards "choice in travel." This trend is derived from the fact that the main benefactors of incentive trips, sales forces, are more diverse of a population today, and each individual within the sales force is not motivated by the same reward trip offered to the whole group. M. Silver Associates identified this tactical angle of offering a multi-trip structure program to improve employee performance as a way to leverage the thought leadership of Maritz Travel. This idea was developed further by Maritz Travel into an actual product called Maritz Travel Insight. M. Silver Associates launched Maritz Travel Insight with a press conference at the Motivation Show; a press release distribution; continuous pitching and expert interview arrangements all with the sales, incentives, meetings, and business travel trade media.

The Results

• M. Silver Associates secured excitement of the launch by offering two exclusives to non-competitive trade magazines, Selling Power and Incentives, which ran previews of the product.
  
• The following media attended the launch of the Maritz Travel Insight press conference at the Motivation Show: Sales & Marketing Management; Incentive; Meeting News; Motivation Strategies; Meetings Media; The Meetings Group; Corporate Meetings & Incentives; Meetings & Conventions; StarCite; plus various local papers and freelance writers.
  
• In addition to interviews held at the press conference, the agency secured post interviews with Business Travel News; Brilliant Results; Motivation Strategies; and other freelance writers who cover this industry.
  
• Placements have appeared in Selling Power, Incentives, Meeting News; Corporate Meetings & Incentives; The Meetings Group; Business Travel News; Motivation Strategies; and Sales & Marketing Management.
  
• Maritz Travel Insight has already generated new contracts with three major companies for 1,000+ employee programs each.

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