Meet the 2024 Motivation Masters Awards Winners

Designing programs to incentivize and reward your best performers can be a challenge, requiring hefty doses of creativity to raise the bar — and encourage others to do the same. Motivation Masters pays tribute each year to those who do it best, including this year’s 17th anniversary winners: EMC Insurance and ITA Group; Nutra Blend; ShipBob and Ladidadi Events & Incentives; and T-Mobile and Augeo.

The awards recognize excellence in four categories: travel experience, which honors the inventiveness and attention to detail in a trip; employee program, for professionals who contributed to their company’s success; dealer/channel categories, which reward third parties for boosting the sponsor’s bottom line; and recognition, for companies that show appreciation for their hard-working teams.

Northstar Meetings Group’s editorial team evaluated the entries, reviewing the applications and supplementary materials. Entries were judged on elements including program design, innovative rewards, execution and demonstrable outcomes. All programs took place between Jan. 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024. Following are the highlights of the award winners’ four outstanding programs. 

Best Travel Experience

EMC Insurance/ITA Group

EMC Montreux 2024

The saying, “Good things come to those who wait,” was true for the qualifiers of EMC Insurance's May 2024 incentive program that took place in Montreux, Switzerland (above). The bucket-list destination was the reward for a 2020 program that was canceled due to the pandemic. The independent agents who sell EMC products finally got a second chance at winning a trip to the fairytale-like destination this year. And as with the 2020 plan, a record number of agents — 20 percent more than the typical number of winners for EMC trips — qualified for this hugely popular travel reward. 

EMC and ITA Group, along with their DMC, Bucher Travel Switzerland, replicated many of the elements that had made the original program so appealing. Home base was the elegant city of Montreux, gateway to the awe-inspiring beauty of Zermatt and the Matterhorn, and famed for its historic castles, vineyards and estates. 

Because the group was so large — 504 participants, made up of winners and their guests — some could not stay in the main property, the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace. To ensure winners assigned to the two luxury overflow hotels felt special, the organizers secured for them suites with views of Lake Geneva. 

The city’s proximity to other charming towns lent itself to a number of unique local experiences. Among them was a village party, where the group took over the medieval, walled village of Gruyères for an evening. Guests were welcomed by alpine horn-blowers, flag-throwers and adorable St. Bernards during the cocktail hour. Traditional Swiss cowbell ringers invited guests to dinner in local restaurants, where they enjoyed the iconic local dish, fondue. 

Other one-of-a-kind activities included a dinner at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, and an evening at Portes des Iris, a farmhouse venue on an estate in the countryside. Attendees also were treated to a full-day tour of the Swiss capital, Bern; the glamorous ski resort, Gstaad; the beautiful Interlaken region; and the popular Geneva.

The program achieved high marks from the insurance agents: Nearly 100 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the trip overall, while the vast majority considered the program motivating in achieving their business goals and strengthening their confidence in EMC. 

Among the many accolades EMC received, one winner called the trip an “incredible balance of relationship, fun and relaxation. EMC feels like an even stronger partner after I experienced this.”

Best Channel/Partner Program

Best Channel/Partner Program

Nutra Blend

Nutra Blend Customer Rewards Trip

Animal-nutrition company Nutra Blend has two main objectives for its customer rewards program: to retain and show appreciation for their strongest partners, and to enhance engagement with these loyal sellers and distributors.

Participation is based on purchases of Nutra Blend products that customers, who are an integral part of Nutra Blend’s supply and distribution chain, make throughout the year.  The customers earn points that qualify for rewards, such as gift cards and tech gadgets. The ultimate prize for the top earners is a spot on Nutra Blend’s annual company rewards trip, which gives the winners the opportunity to network with their peers, learn from industry leaders and strengthen their connection to the brand.

Until this year, the travel reward Nutra Blend offered was a four-day trip to a domestic destination. To make the top prize more enticing and increase motivation, the brand, which is a subsidiary of food-industry giant Land O’Lakes, offered an out-of-the-box experience for 2024: a private seven-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Azamara Quest.

When the points were tallied, 350 customers, who represented more than 130 companies within various sectors of the animal-nutrition industry, qualified for the cruise. Another 150 attendees — key suppliers and Nutra Blend team members — rounded out the group. 

The spectacular itinerary, crafted by Land O’Lakes’ meeting and event operations team, included immersive experiences and custom touches. Participants enjoyed tours and shore excursions in Livorno, Italy, and in Nice and Marseilles in France. On-board meals, cocktails and entertainment were inspired by the various ports of call. 

Each night, the company’s leadership team partnered with the cruise director to film Nutra Blend’s “Daily Show,” which recapped the day’s events and built anticipation for the next cruise stop. On the final night, the group was treated to a spectacular light and sound show. 

Attendees were gifted with travel swag and nightly stateroom treats, including bottles of local wine and artisanal cheese plates.

Though the company did not release specific metrics from the program, they said: “A comparative analysis of year-over-year sales data reveals that customers who attended the trip consistently outperformed those who did not. This suggests that the event not only strengthened customer relationships but also drove increased sales and loyalty.”

Best Employee Incentive Program

Shipbob/Ladidadi Events & Incentives

President’s Club

ShipBob considers its top sales, marketing and sales support professionals its rock stars, so it’s fitting that their President’s Club trip leaned in on a music theme for its annual incentive program. 

The company, which provides logistical support to eCommerce businesses, traditionally gives winners a weekend at a resort in a sunny destination. The trips are held at the beginning of the year as an escape from the winter cold. And winners work hard for the tropical getaways: They must be in the top 15 percent of their departments and earn at least 100 percent over their expected goals. 

A hallmark of ShipBob’s incentive programs is a performance by a surprise musical act. But for the 2024 President’s Club, held in Los Cabos, Mexico, the company turned the tradition on its head. In an effort to drive more employees to qualify for the program, the company decided to reveal the band — the popular aughts’ group, Lit — while the contest still was in full swing. 

Another way ShipBob motivated its employees and drove sales was by announcing a group of 10 super qualifiers a month before the contest closed. These individuals had hit their targets well ahead of the deadline and were rewarded with early registration and flight-booking privileges. This tactic also helped the company build FOMO among the other participants who wanted to join these colleagues on the trip.

The result of these tweaks: The 2024 program saw a 21 percent increase in the number of qualifiers over 2023 numbers, making it ShipBob’s most successful program in the contest’s five-year history.

Other standout elements of the program, designed by Ladidadi Events & Incentives, were commensurate with the winners’ rock-star performances: Not only were they treated to a private concert by Lit, who performed their top hits including the ShipBob team’s favorite karaoke song, “My Own Worst Enemy,” but the group mingled with winners during a surprise tequila tasting and throughout the weekend at the Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort. Music also played a big role in the awards ceremony: Each winner picked the song they wanted played as they walked up to the stage to be honored.

The rock-star treatment wasn’t the only aspect of the trip that stuck with winners. Their post-trip comments revealed that the trip strengthened their team bonds and loyalty to the company. 

Best Recognition Program

T-Mobile/Augeo

T-Mobile PEAK Achievement 

T-Mobile’s PEAK Achievement program stands out for many reasons, most notably for the unique way it recognizes and celebrates outstanding employees. The initiative is open to anyone in the company; workers are nominated by their peers within the vast telecommunications giant’s network for their achievements and their embodiment of the company’s core values. 

The top 200 nominees — who represent a mere 0.0038 percent of T-Mobile’s workforce — are then recognized in a ceremony of a lifetime: They and their guest are flown to Maui in Hawaii, where they are feted and celebrated during a five-day extravaganza.

The PEAK Achievement program, designed by Augeo, is a departure from traditional recognition programs. Even though there are no universal goals for employees to reach to earn the trip, the 2024 program still featured all the bells and whistles that are hallmarks of a traditional, sales-based incentive program.

The VIP treatment for the top employees began before the trip. They were gifted with travel swag — including logoed luggage tags, sleep masks and wireless charging stations — shipped to their homes. 

On site, the honorees were showered with arrival and room gifts, and were invited to a gifting suite, where they chose Maui Jim sunglasses, locally crafted bath products, sandals and more. 

Augeo, along with their production partner Proscenium, crafted an agenda befitting this group of standout employees. They organized more than a dozen activities for the winners to choose from, ranging from a whales-and-
cocktails adventure to rappelling through waterfalls.

In a heartfelt response to the fires that devastated West Maui in 2023, participants took part in a CSR activity to plant 10,000 local plant and tree seeds.  

Rounding out the recognition trip were a town hall where the honorees got to rub shoulders with T-Mobile’s top brass, and a final-night award ceremony. 

Post-event comments reveal the recognition trip was a hit. As one honoree noted, “This was an experience of a lifetime. Thank you so much, T-Mobile, for this amazing opportunity.”