Elite Excellence Awards
Merck

For the past five years, touch associates has been Merck’s go-to agency partner for designing and executing the annual incentive programme to celebrate the elite performers across their global sales and medical organisation.

The Challenge
Working in tune with Merck’s global vision of promoting ‘curious minds dedicated to human progress’ the aim was simple – make the high performers feel like the stars that they are within the organisation and provide them with the appropriate recognition and exposure to global leadership.
Strategy
To create an unforgettable experience we needed to reward the high achievers by taking them somewhere unique, unexpected and overflowing with culture.
Expression
Bangkok. Our aim was to create treasured memories, enabling participants, potential winners and their partners to experience the rich tapestry of Thai culture. Through impactful communication, we introduced our prefix BE (Bangkok Elite), providing us with a framework to display messages in multiple ways, using it to tease the location and generate excitement. It proved to be a simple but versatile slogan…BE excited…BE amazed…BE prepared…BE proud.
Execution
A variety of activities were set up when in Bangkok across a 5-day cultural immersion. From sampling street food, to traditional games, painting elephant structures and watching several martial arts shows; we made sure participants were introduced to Thai culture, both traditional and modern. We also struck a fine balance of working sessions enabling the winners to engage personally with their global leadership and immerse themselves in the future vision of the business.

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