Helm Inc. of Highland Park Wins Contract For DaimlerChrysler Incentive Program

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich., Oct. 25, 2002; Helm Inc., a Highland Park, Mich. marketing services firm, won a multi-million-dollar, three-year contract from DaimlerChrysler to develop and implement a new "Gold Tool" incentive program for dealer service technicians, announced Bob Malkiewicz, vice president of sales and marketing at Helm Inc. The Gold Tool program rewards vehicle service technicians at DaimlerChrysler dealerships for completing the automaker's 12-exam MasterTech technical training program. Helm will revise the nine-year old program by developing new incentives for technicians to earn MasterTech status, DaimlerChrysler's certification for completing in-dealership training. As 2002 marks MasterTech's 55th anniversary, the revised program aims to enhance pride in the MasterTech brand.

The program will involve a combination of services from Helm, including:

Supplying a new line of incentive items. Helm will order, stock, take orders for and ship these utilizing its 560,000-square-foot warehouse and state-of-the-art order processing, customer service and fulfillment and distribution systems. Creation of an online MasterTech merchandise catalog, allowing easy 24- hour online redemption of MasterTech and Gold Tool incentive certificates. Helm will use its proprietary e-commerce framework to build a custom merchandising website for the Gold Tool program. Internal promotions to increase the prestige of MasterTech and Gold Tool designations among technicians and generate interest in the program. "We're thrilled to provide DaimlerChrysler with this complete solution backed by our full-range of capabilities that only Helm can provide in-house," said Malkiewicz.