Pleasanton, Calif. (PRWEB) June 14, 2017
Blackhawk Network, Inc., a global financial technology company and a leader in connecting brands and people through branded value solutions, has announced the winners of its 11th annual Hawk Awards, which recognize the U.S. payments industry’s most innovative leaders.
“The creativity and innovation exhibited within Blackhawk’s program and among our partners continue to raise the bar for excellence year after year,” said Talbott Roche, CEO and president of Blackhawk Network. “Blackhawk has been honoring the best in the industry for more than a decade, and we are thrilled to once again celebrate the impressive achievements of our winners and finalists this year.”
The 2017 Hawk Awards were presented at an awards ceremony held during Blackhawk’s Summit in Palm Springs, Calif. on May 3, 2017. Award recipients included:
Most Impactful Marketing Program: Recognizes the company that developed and executed a marketing program that met or exceeded its business objectives.
- Top Markets: Top Markets partnered with Blackhawk content providers for the Christmas Bonus Program, which not only drove growth for the participating brands, but increased store traffic and basket size during a key gifting season.
Most Innovative Product: Honors the year’s largest and most strategic progression by a vendor in the gift card or related industry.
- Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and MT&L Card Products: for the Travel MultiPack Gift with Purchase. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store developed this cool package in tandem with MT&L Card Products, who manufactured its look, feel and execution. The set included a fun “Road Trip Game” and the packages were sold in a holiday shipper in Kroger stores.
Industry Achievement: Recognizes the individual or organization that made the greatest contribution to the advancement of the gift card industry.
- Kroger: Consistently pushing the envelope to achieve results, Kroger innovates and drives growth through various marketing verticals. The company boasts a best in class loyalty program that rewards members for gift card purchases, and its omnichannel strategy leverages in-store industry best practices combined with its growing digital and ecommerce offerings.
Industry Innovation: Honors the year’s largest and most strategic progression by a vendor in the gift card or related industry.
- United MileagePlus: for its MileagePlus X app, which has set the benchmark for using branded value to reward and delight their members. The app connects partners with United MileagePlus members by displaying nearby merchants where users can earn award miles for their purchases, and lets them calculate how many award miles they can redeem for an egift to use toward a purchase at that merchant.
Best Design: Recognizes the most impactful design of a branded value form factor, such as a card, fob and/or packaging.
- Nike: for its “Geared for Gold” card. To kick off and create excitement for the 2016 Olympics, Nike launched this product partnering with the Olympics shipper featuring world-class track and field athlete Allyson Felix.
Best Retail Program: Honors the company that created the most unique physical or digital retail experience.
- Meijer: Meijer continues to be a leader in the industry by focusing on its consumer first through in-store engagement and launching incremental programs, enabling growth.
Best Incentive Program—Sales: Recognizes the company with the best use of a rewards-based program to drive sales channel behavior.
- Advance Auto Parts: for the company’s Advance Professional “ProRewards” program. As a leader in the industry in offering a rewards program to professional installers, Advance Auto Parts’ program provides it with a unique competitive advantage. Program participants earn points through parts purchases and points can be redeemed for thousands of options, including merchandise, gift cards, trips and more.
Best Incentive Program—Consumer: Recognizes the company with the best use of a rewards-based program to drive consumer activation or acquisition.
- Discount Tire: for developing its customer-centric rebate solution, which allows for validation resulting in industry-leading customer turn times. The strategy has helped support the company’s tremendous growth and their customer-first approach has made a positive impact on the rebate industry.
About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAWK) is a global financial technology company and a leader in connecting brands and people through branded value solutions. Blackhawk platforms and solutions enable the management of stored value products, promotions and incentive programs in retail, ecommerce, financial services and mobile wallets. Blackhawk’s Hawk Commerce division offers technology solutions to businesses and direct to consumers. The Hawk Incentives division offers enterprise, SMB and reseller partners an array of platforms and branded value products to incent and reward consumers, employees and sales channels. Headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., Blackhawk operates in 26 countries. For more information, please visit blackhawknetwork.com, hawkcommerce.com, hawkincentives.com or our product websites giftcards.com, giftcardmall.com, cardpool.com, giftcardlab.com and omnicard.com.