Conquering the world, one program at a time

Every other year, Securian, a Minnesota Mutual company, sends its top performing sales representatives to a remote or exotic location somewhere in the world. In April, the company’s Chairman’s Club qualifiers and their guests traveled to Dublin, Ireland, and the Leaders Conference qualifiers and their guests joined them a few days later in Edinburgh, Scotland.

It’s no easy task coordinating incentive programs this big for more than 300 people, but with the help of Peloquin Design and GLS, Securian’s Carol Rice finds the task much easier. Rice, Steve Peloquin of Peloquin Design and Jim Benedict of GLS have worked together as a team on these programs for more than five years, with each person bringing his or her unique blend of ideas and expertise to the table.

And to Rice, it’s this teamwork that makes for an excellent experience nearly every time. “Both Steve and Jim are very flexible. If I have any questions or need more information, we can sit down and talk through a process,” she said. “Jim is very quality conscious and is always looking at ways to help us contain costs.”

“We used to do our own mailing, but now we rely on GLS for the entire process. By using them for everything from printing to mailing, we know it will get done right and out the door on time.” – Carol A. Rice, Director, Recognition and – Conference Planning – Securian

The Dublin and Edinburgh trips took nearly two years to plan, coordinate and implement and involved distribution of several printed pieces over a 15-month time period. Securian called upon Peloquin to design nearly everything for the program, including a teaser mailer, an announcement brochure, letterhead and envelopes, invitations, newsletters, conference books, name badges, folders and a variety of direct mail pieces.

Peloquin says he had the most fun designing the direct mail pieces. “The Edinburgh and Dublin direct mail programs were both fun and challenging,” he said. “From the program brochures to the various direct mail pieces, each was a unique design, many of which were three-dimensional.”

According to Rice, the direct mail pieces were a big hit with Securian’s sales representatives. “I think everything is so well-received because Steve really does his homework,” she said. “He does a ton of research on each destination, then ties each promotion into the culture and history of the location. I’ve never worked with another designer who does this much research.”

The theme for the Dublin trip was “Experience the Magic,” and the theme for the Edinburgh trip was “From Here to the Highlands.”

	Some of the more popular direct mail pieces included:
	A Dublin journal with a pen Invitations that were designed to look like a kilt, held together with real pins flown in from Dublin A miniature golf bag containing three “golf club” pens, complete with a stand to turn it into a desktop pen holder

Once the pieces have been written, designed and approved, they’re turned over to GLS for printing, assembling, labeling and mailing. “We used to do our own mailing, but now we rely on GLS for the entire process,” Rice said. “By using them for everything from printing to mailing, we know it will get done right and out the door on time.”

Rice plans to continue using the same team to create even more extraordinary programs in the future. “Both Steve and Jim know about our company and our programs,” she said. “They’ve been working with us for so long that they know what we like and what we don’t, what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t, and how to pull it all together to make for the best possible program. I wouldn’t change a thing.”