Republic Services
The Challenge
Republic Services chooses to recognize and reward the more than 15,000 workers that have a perfect safety year at hundreds of regional safety banquets around the country. The challenge is that the jacket program has become old, stale, and a logistical challenge. Republic Services was looking for a fresh new way to reward its safest employees in a compelling way. Republic Services was also looking to recreate a program that would be seamless and easy to administer for division managers.
Story Continued
Another goal of the program was to better promote its custom safety brand, “Dedicated to Safety” or DTS. One other issue is that the exact quantity of awards is not known until a year has ended but the awards must be ordered in advance to be delivered in time. The awards are given out at hundreds of banquets located throughout the U.S. over a period of several months. The legacy program had inherent logistical problems, with variable sized items and geographical challenges. And over time, participants began to lose enthusiasm for the award and ultimately, the program lost its appeal.
The Solution
Understanding Republic Services’ objective to award each worker demonstrating safe work behavior annually with an award, All Star sought to uncover a unique way that the company could convey their sincere appreciation for the safe work efforts of their employees.
Working closely with the safety team at Republic Services, All Star Incentive Marketing® proposed the concept of giving each safe worker a safety kit loaded with several branded items which also included a jacket for those employees reaching a milestone year (1, 5, 10, etc.). In order for this new program to be well received, it was determined that the award kit needed to include high quality items that were custom branded for the program and were delivered in a memorable way. All Star and Republic Services started with a long list of awards to choose from and using employee input, arrived at kit items that would have the greatest appeal.
In 2011, the revitalized program was launched. The employees of Republic Services who demonstrated safe work behavior in 2010 received a safety achievement kit at their year-end banquet. At the center of the offering in that first year was a stainless steel thermal bottle with a carry handle. Other items included sunglasses, a flashlight, hat, lapel pins, belt buckle, and patches (which could be applied to DTS jackets that previously were awarded). All of the items were custom branded to carry the safety message and company brand. They were loaded into a custom four-color presentation box and the handle of the thermal bottle was used as the handle for the briefcase sized box. The box itself carried the message of the program graphically and it contained a congratulatory letter from the President of the company inserted on the front. Those that reached milestone years also received a special voucher redeemable for a jacket along with their kit during the presentation. The program was received with great enthusiasm and the safety kit/jacket concept was repeated for years to follow, with each year featuring new and unique custom branded items.
Results
The results were extremely positive for the revised program. Participant comments on the kit idea affirmed the new award strategy. Many participants mentioned that they retained not just the awards but also the box itself. Others immediately began speculating what may be in next year’s kit and others started suggesting items.
Managers loved the offering as well, as it eliminated the past problem of not having the awards at the banquets on time. It also eliminated the difficult challenges of handing out sized awards during the events, and it was seen as a unique offering and not just the same old jacket award.
All Star handled every aspect of this project including the award sourcing and customization, the development of custom branding and packaging, the kitting and fulfillment process, and the program management and customer service support.
Since 2010, the employees of Republic Services have enjoyed receiving safety kits loaded with custom branded items at their annual banquet. All Star continues to work with Republic Services on an annual basis to uncover unique ways for the company to convey their sincere appreciation for the safe work efforts of their employees at their year-end banquets.
Launched
2001
Program
Employee Gifts
Employees
15,000
Check out the Highlights
Brand identity has a powerful impact. Custom imprinted, high-end, promotional products delivered in custom packaging creates lasting impressions. All Star is committed to helping our clients recognize safety achievement throughout their organizations. The perfect gift not delivered properly will not produce optimal long-term results. With almost 50 years of industry experience, All Star has access to more than 1,000,000 items from tens-of-thousands of suppliers.
More Related Programs