Figures released last week by Frank Katusak, President of the Incentive Foundation in the US have stunned major players in the Incentive industry worldwide.

Speaking at the Motivation Show in Chicago, Katusak quoted from the recent United States Incentive Merchandise and Travel Marketplace Study produced by GfK, a leading market research company.

The definitive and exhaustive study has found that in the US alone, the value of the incentive marketing industry has reached an all time peak of $US46.1 billion.

Merchandise rewards used to motivate employees, sales people, customers and distributors, take the lion’s share of the industry’s value, representing $32.7 billion. In 2006, incentive travel represented $13.4 billion.

“These are massive figures” say’s Mark Harvey, Event Director of the Australian Incentive Show, which will be held in Sydney in 2008. “We all know the industry was growing at an unprecedented rate but these figures validate the current value of the market.”

“It’s a natural to extrapolate the numbers when referring to the Australian market and for the first time we can place a scientific and valid figure on its size.”  Harvey added. “While we haven’t as yet had a similar study in the Australian space, we naturally assume that our total market alone is valued at $4.5 to $5 billion.”

The US study tested a broad cross section of over 1200 organisations in their report. The findings reveal that consumer promotions have become the most popular type of incentive (both merchandise and travel) with a value of $12.6 billion or 27% of the market. Coming in second was non-sales recognition programs, valued at $11.5 billion.

In response to qualitative questions, 34% of tested organisations revealed that they used either merchandise or travel as reward fulfilment mechanisms last year with 10% favouring merchandise over the travel option.

More than half the organisations surveyed reported increases in their travel and merchandise budgets for the following two years.

With the full report due for release in a month, many operators from all sectors of the incentive industry around the globe will analyse every line to relate the figures to their market.

“With such massive potential in the Australian marketplace, we need to face the challenges of the industry in a positive manner. It’s important the industry unites and works towards a common goal of promoting the benefits of using incentive and reward-based programs to improve business performance, drive sales, attract customers and retain and motive staff,” said Harvey. 

About Incentive Show

Incentive Show (formerly Motivation & Incentive Expo) is the pre-eminent marketplace for anyone involved in the business of incentives, promotions, loyalty and motivation. Attracting buyers from end-users and resellers, the Show showcases the entire spectrum of incentive marketing including incentive and reward merchandise, incentive travel, motivational meetings, promotional products, gift cards and performance improvement programs.

Incentive Show 2008 will be held at Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre on 3-4 June 2008.