The trophy value of rewards

I'm getting tired of reading that gift cards, and other incentive rewards, have "trophy value". Imagine Paolo Maldini holding aloft a small piece of plastic that allows him to visit UEFA headquarters to pick up the European Cup the following week, and you'll get an idea of the ridiculousness of this kind of statement.

What articles like this are trying to suggest is that receiving a giftcard or voucher, or points, is somehow inherently rewarding, not to mention motivating, and inspiring.

But try leaving a gift token under the Christmas tree for your kids and see the reaction you get.

Of course, gift cards, vouchers and online points can be exchanged for all sorts of wonderful goods, experiences and memories. But they are not motivational in themselves. It's a deferred gratification, with a time-delay between getting your placeholder and then substituting it for something you want.

At this point I'm not going to argue whether vouchers or points are better in this respect - they each have strengths and weaknesses.

But, if we continue the concept of a trophy, the place at which receives the actual item itself, the iPod, the bike, or the tickets to the concert, is crucial.

If you're redeeming a gift card or voucher, this is likely to be in a shop somewhere.

But if you're redeeming points, the point of delivery is usually at the workplace, where the gifts are received and opened in front of colleagues. This is genuine trophy value.

One of our clients recently told us: "When that first box of stuff arrived for the sales team, and people started opening their prizes, you could see everyone gathering around, and wanting to know what they needed to do to get them. That's when our incentive really took off."

Never underestimate the motivational power of opening a present in front of work colleagues. Gifts have trophy value, tokens do not.