Mohawk Stainmaster Cup Series

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Company: Mohawk Industries, Inc.

Programs: Sales
Program Types: Merchandise

Objectives:
- Increase sales of Mohawk Carpets
- Increase consumer awareness of Mohawk Carpets
- Stimulate dialogue between territory sales reps and retail sales people
- Stimulate top-down push through greater involvement and awareness of senior sales managers

Mohawk Industries utilized the competitive excitement of the NASCAR racing season to capture the attention and loyalty of their 25,000 nationwide independent retail stores' sales force. The Mohawk Stainmaster Cup Series embraced the racecar theme to particularly appeal to their salespeople who, on average, generally have a strong affinity for sports, electronics, and outdoor activities. The choice of incentives, which included branded electronics, golf equipment, tools and outdoor items such as grills, lawnmowers, etc. keyed on these interests while sustaining the racing theme. The award mix included items that the real race enthusiast would appreciate such as binoculars, coolers, stadium seats, cameras, sunglasses, and a hand-held TV.

The Stainmaster Cup Series was announced with a teaser postcard sent to 25,000 Mohawk retail accounts. Two weeks later, four-color brochures announcing program details and featuring a sample of the available awards were distributed. The territory sales reps and the field salespeople received P-O-P kits containing store posters, counter cards, and carpet face labels so that all qualifying carpets could be easily identified.

The point-of-purchase materials featured a "Grand Champion" of carpets theme. The carpet face labels enabled customers to readily identify qualifying carpets and retailers were able to offer several financing options from Mohawk to stimulate purchases.

In a sales arena burdened with paperwork, Mohawk designed a "paperless" system to simplify the program for the retailers to stimulate greater participation. With each Mohawk carpet sales, retailers called an 800 number, or went to the "Championship Cup Series" website to enter their order number. The website showcased each of the 300 available awards. Each sale earned points that were accumulated throughout the promotion to redeem for awards. The program database tracked both retail enrollments and Mohawk carpet sales providing Mohawk with the ability to monitor and track sales down to the territory manager level.

With over 800 field sales people, effective communications are a challenge. The program's success relied on the territory manager's ability to promote the program to the retail sales staff. To encourage this dialogue, all territory managers were given a booklet of 1,000 pre-numbered "race tickets" which could be redeemed for special bonus points for each sale. The territory managers used these "tickets" to engage salespeople in dialogue about the benefits of Mohawk Stainmaster Carpets and to promote the program. In turn, the salespeople were able to share their knowledge of the Mohawk products with their customers.

Leveraging the race theme, each week was a "race" week named after each of Mohawk's regional vice presidents. The winning region was announced weekly by the senior vice president of sales. Engaging these senior level executives in the competition made a significant difference to the overall success of the program.

To sustain enthusiasm, weekly sweepstakes and a grand champions sweepstakes were included in the program. Every "race week," three winners were randomly selected and they had their choice of a trip for four to the 2003 Indy 500, a 56" TV, a Palm Springs golf trip, or a seven-night Caribbean cruise. At the close of the promotion, the winner of the Grand Champions Sweepstakes selected their dream car from three different options and the second place winner earned a special Atlanta Race Weekend: a trip for four to the NAPA 500, special pit passes, passes to the VIP tent and an opportunity to meet NASCAR star Jeff Gordon.


Supplier: Performance Plus Marketing, LLC (Roswell, GA)

Results: Over half the targeted audience (58%) registered for the Mohawk Stainmaster Cup Series. Sales of Mohawk Stainmaster Carpet increased over 20% as compared to the same period in the prior year. The point-of-purchase materials made Mohawk carpets quickly identifiable and retailers were able to offer their customers more information on the benefits of the carpet and financing options to stimulate purchases.