Reigniting a Channel Network to Drive Market Share Growth

The challenges were significant and came from multiple directions at once.

Competitors were actively running their own incentive programs, making it critical that the Astral Pool program maintained its position as the most compelling offer in the market. The new ownership transition created uncertainty that EVT needed to actively manage through the program's communications and positioning, ensuring customer confidence remained high throughout.

The previous program had performed strongly, raising participant expectations for what came next. A gap between programs had also created a real risk of purchase drop-off that needed to be addressed through the program's mechanics from the outset.

The customer base presented its own complexity. Pool builders operate on project timelines and seasonality cycles that differ fundamentally from retail purchasing patterns. Designing a structure that was fair and motivating across both, while also accommodating a new franchise audience with its own distinct commercial relationship with Astral Pool, required a genuinely strategic approach rather than an adapted template.

And there was a reward challenge. Astral Pool wanted Chile as the headline destination, but the budget could not support a single long-haul group trip for the full achiever base. A solution was needed that maintained the aspirational power of the reward offering without compromising the experience delivered.

EVT developed a holistic channel incentive strategy under the program theme "Hot Sales, Cool Rewards," a name built around the two travel destinations and carried consistently through every element of the program's creative identity.

Two parallel programs ran simultaneously: one for independent customers and one tailored for Poolwerx franchise partners, each with its own mechanics and communications calibrated to reflect the different relationship each audience had with Astral Pool. Independent customers were segmented into volume-matched competitive groups, with quarterly targets that worked with the seasonality and project timelines of the pool industry rather than against them.

The reward challenge was solved with a dual-destination structure. Chile was the top-tier aspirational reward for the highest achievers. Thailand was designed and communicated as an equally compelling second-tier trip with its own distinct identity, ensuring both destinations generated genuine excitement across the full participant base.

A Trip Credit currency system drove behaviour across the full Astral Pool product range. Participants earned credits for purchases and for hitting quarterly targets, with promotional bonuses each quarter directing focus onto specific product ranges. A loyalty bonus structure maintained momentum across the gap between program cycles.

Communications were treated as a primary performance driver. EVT managed monthly personalised result letters alongside destination teasers and competitive updates. A standout creative element was a monthly chilli seed campaign, with seeds and cooking recipes physically mailed to participants each month, a talking point that kept the program present in homes and businesses rather than just another email. Internal sales people were briefed monthly on how their customers were tracking, embedding the program within the business's day-to-day commercial activity.

62% of participants achieved their targets, despite targets being deliberately set higher than anything previously achieved across the program's history.

9.1% sales growth compared to the previous program period, above the client's expectations going in.

Poolwerx franchise customers achieved 35% growth across the program period, a standout result for a segment participating in the program for the first time.

138% return on investment, confirming that the commercial returns generated by the program significantly outweighed the investment made in running it.

Beyond the numbers, the program achieved something equally important for a business navigating an ownership transition: it maintained and strengthened customer loyalty at a moment when it was most at risk. The program's reputation as the best incentive in the category was preserved and enhanced, with new customers drawn into the Astral Pool network as a direct result of its market presence.

The results led immediately to the commissioning of a further program, cementing the incentive as a permanent part of Astral Pool's channel strategy.