GiftCard Partners Blog

The Citi Thank You Program is revolutionizing the use of rewards points. Imagine being able to share points with your friends to save up for a get-away weekend, or save up points with one friend for another friends' birthday present. Many people pool points for gift cards from retailers who partner with Citi to make their gift cards available through the Citi ThankYou program such as CVS/Pharmacy and Charming Shoppes stores. This allows consumers to use points for gift cards for themselves, or to use as gifts, giving the recipient of the gift a chance to choose their own gift. You could even pool points with friends and family to make a group contribution to a good cause. Well, now you can. The new Citi ThankYou Point Sharing App on Facebook allows groups of friends to pool points in order to redeem the value of the points for a bigger reward. This app is the beginning of a revolution in monetizing social media. This app is allowing users to move assets and share funds through Facebook, a social media platform. This app will soon promote itself, benefiting not just the Citi ThankYou Program, but its users and potential users as well. The more people use the Point Sharing App, the more people will post on Facebook about it, making the App and its use go viral across the platform. A rewards program that rewards itself, an incentive social media innovation.
For more information on the Citi ThankYou Points Sharing App check out the pymnts.com article.

As we enter the new year everyone is trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle, or shed those holiday pounds. Employees returning to work in the new year find their employer's health and wellness program to be beneficial, these programs work because they hold employees accountable for their behavior. Based on a new industry study 78% of employers offering wellness programs are using metrics, such as biometric testing or health risk assessments to make employees aware of their health status. This testing is meant as a tool to reward employees who improve their health, and penalize employees who consistently make bad health choices. Gift cards are a great way to reward employees for healthy choices. Retail outlets such as CVS/Pharmacy, which can help employees along their road to wellness, further encourage the desired behavior. These employee decisions affect the employers health care costs and so to ring in the new year employees are going to be increasingly held accountable for their health and wellness choices.  
To read more about trends in employee responsibility in health and wellness programs check out the Columbus Dispatch story.

As we head into 2013 and employees commit to the New Year's Resolutions to quit smoking, lose weight, or generally live healthier lives it is the perfect time for your small business to implement a health and wellness program. Here are a few tips on starting the year off right for your business and your employees.
Lead the Way Lead by example. If employees observe you living a healthier life style they will take note, and be more motivated to follow suit. If you live a healthier life, and offer a health and wellness program it gathers integrity for the program because employees see the business owner participating.
Designate a Leader Appoint a leader to charge ahead with implementation of the program. Provide a framework, and a budget to work with, and really let someone in your organization make this program their own. This will also plant roots for the program within the organizational community. A peer leader is bound to give strength to a health and wellness program.
Make it Relevant Know your audience. Use motivators and carrot rewards, like gift cards, that will hold intrinsic value with your employees. Having a variety of rewards for goals achieved, whether it is a goal weight reached or another health goal, is important. Providing gift cards to a variety of healthy living retailers such as
CVS/Pharmacy,
NutriSystem, or
GNC is a great way to support employees on their way to healthier living.
Involve Your Insurance Company Many health insurance plans now offer a wellness program or reduced rate on wellness options such as massage, yoga classes, gym memberships and more. Inquiring with your insurance provider about what might be available to your employees could build in more incentive for employees to participate in a health and wellness program.
For more information on Health and Wellness program ideas for 2013 check out this article from SmallBizTrends.com.  

We don't tend to cover topics outside of the gift card industry in our blog, but this story came to us and we found it so compelling, we decided we have to share. Through the NBA lockout the entire NBA community was on edge wondering if there would be a 2011-2012 NBA season, and for teams they were wondering if there would be any opportunity to take in ticket revenue this year. But not Boston Celtics’ Interactive Media Director, Peter Stringer. He was busy maximizing the Celtics' 3-Point-Play Facebook App. This App turned 5.6 million Facebook followers into revenue generating ticket holders. He used the popularity of a Facebook App to raise awareness and strength for his brand, and parlayed that into thousands of dollars in revenue for his organization. This is one instance that proves the power of social media. How will you use that power for your organization?
This social media success earned Stringer the Pymnts.com Innovator of the Week Award this week. For more information check out the article.

In the spirit of the new year, and burning off those holiday calories, it is time to make sure that employers are keeping their employees healthy going into 2012. In a country where 65% of adults don't exercise regularly, 50% have high cholesterol, 25% have high blood pressure, and 30% are obese it is critical that employers, who monopolize adults waking hours promote healthy living. Incorporating a wellness program, where employees are rewarded with small bonuses such as small denomination gift cards for participation in an exercise regiment, or for participating in a diet program pays off. Government and industry statistics show that for every $1 invested in wellness programs employers save between $3 and $5 in health care costs for their employees.   Keep your employees healthy this new year, and it will save your company money.
To learn more check out the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader article.