SAMPLING OFFERS MARKETERS a valuable opportunity to get their products directly into the hands of consumers. As a result, it has become an interactive way to achieve both brand awareness and exposure. Many packaged goods companies have found that sampling programs have contributed to increased response rates and/or market share when part of an integrated marketing plan.
Two markets that are often overlooked when it comes to sampling are pharmaceutical and healthcare audiences. Although these industries can rightly be perceived as packaged goods companies, the health category faces unique challenges when it tries to capitalize on sampling as a marketing strategy. Nonetheless, when properly planned and executed, sampling remains a fundamental and dynamic marketing tool for such products.
One of the main purposes of sampling is to provide valuable information about a product, as well as help to reinforce branding and messaging. When placed within a pharmaceutical context, for instance, a company may send information kits to medical professionals, as well as marketing support materials that enhance product awareness. Keep in mind, however, that while the packaging itself should contain consistent graphics, key messaging and colors, it is the actual product that must somehow be delivered into the hands of targeted consumers.
By sending information kits and samples to physicians, marketers of health and medical products are able to put the product directly into the hands of the best potential consumer. In addition to having the physician assess and ultimately recommend patients’ needs for your product, the perceived professional endorsement through such sampling distribution is an unmatched builder of brand loyalty in the consumer. And don’t overlook the CRM component that is involved in consumer sampling.
Yet, brand awareness is not the only benefit to sampling. One of the most essential aspects of a sampling program is building your database and understanding your customers.
Finding a business partner who can help you successfully capitalize on your database intelligence and content is a key first step to achieving success in this area. This type of service provider not only helps you identify consumer segments for successful targeting, but also puts valuable information about your products into the hands of targeted physicians or consumers. A properly managed database should offer you extensive segmentation opportunities such as physician specialty, clinical interest level, gender, geography, number of patients seen daily, prescribing activity, and much more to enable you to apply your database to the sampling mix and overlay any additional demographic selections you require. This information can also be used to vary the quantity of samples going to specific doctors, thus maximizing the use of sample inventories. Furthermore, it is essential that your database provider updates your data regularly throughout the year. Addressing your prospects with inaccurate information not only proves costly, but may also undermine your CRM efforts.
Find a supplier that can archive your data. This allows you to access your historical sampling information, which can then be used to customize future sampling programs more specifically by audience, as well as determine the quantity of samples required to service a given program. Your database provider should also offer you in-depth analysis of sampling data across multiple products that have been sampled by the same doctor/consumer over multiple programs. This analysis assists in refining programs and maximizing ROI on sampling budgets.
The critical information from such analyses will not only enhance your sampling program, but also raise overall marketing intelligence. The information should be supplied to you through in-depth, easy-to-read, decision facilitating reports to help you better understand current and prospective consumers.
When selecting a sampling partner, ensure that their order processing, picking, packing, and shipping capabilities meet your entire needs. For instance, can your vendor provide the fulfillment services you need, from custom laser-printed letters to full skid-size displays? Can they kit, assemble and ship marketing support materials and samples to retailers, consumers or targeted professionals? With regards to pharmaceuticals, does their warehousing comply with regulated quality control standards? The right service provider will not only help you target the right audience, but also assist you in developing the program and deliver to your target group on time and on budget.
In a recent survey conducted by Physician’s Pharmilink, a division of the Cornerstone Group of Companies, 89% of physicians indicated that they are more likely to recommend a product, when appropriate, if they have that sample on hand. Surveys and sales data have proven that sampling can substantially improve product awareness as well as enhance recommendations of a given product. These factors are essential in maintaining market share and in launching a new product or formulation.
A well-executed sampling program will provide you with the essential information that gets your product to the proper consumers and offers you the most opportunity to leverage intelligent data for future strategic marketing.
Dareth Miller is the president of Cornerstone Inter-Active Communications (CIC), a division of the Cornerstone Group of Companies. He can be reached at [email protected].
Sampling recap
Smile! (April) Polaroid provided consumers Polaroid One instant cameras as part of a sampling campaign launched in February in Los Angeles and Orlando. Sampling teams, dubbed Click Crews, roamed malls, movie theaters, parks and Little League games with Polaroid One cameras that consumers borrowed to snap pictures of their special moments. The crews targeted “social snappers” to encourage casual photography and build awareness of One, which faces stiff competition from digital cameras. Crews first hit the Chicago and Dallas auto shows. DVCX, New York City, handled. Waltham, MA-based Polaroid then ran an innovative on-pack sweeps that used film as game pieces. Packages of Polaroid 600 Instant and I-Zone Sticker film included a “dark slide” that acted as a game piece, with code numbers that players checked online at www.polaroid.com to win a car or online gift certificates. DVC Worldwide, parent of DVCX, handled.
Beauty at the door (April) A quick call to a toll-free number and a sample of Olay Daily Facials was at the doorstep within weeks, thanks to a request-based sampling program that in April. Consumers called 1-800-TRY-OLAY and interacted with a speech recognition system to request the free product sample. Consumers supplied Olay with some personal information (such as home phone number, address, name and skin type) to receive the appropriate sample of the cleansing cloths. At the end of the call they were invited to join Club Olay, a relationship program, to get free samples and newsletters, along with other benefits. The six-month program — at a cost per call of less than $1 — delivered about 250,000 samples, said Dan Hamilton, interactive marketing manager at Olay. “We have updated the cloth technology and have gone back to the market with a stronger customization message,” Hamilton said. Olay chose a phone-based system to capture a group of the population that may not be accessing its Web-based sampling programs. The ease of application was also attractive. CIBER, Inc. and West Interactive, handled.
Hair today (May) L’Oreal distributed 1 million samples of Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo via health clubs in July. Clichy, France-based L’Oreal worked with the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association to distribute 1,200 samples in each IHRSA member club. (Couch potatoes could request a Garnier Fructis sample online at www.garnierusa.com.)
Hair tomorrow? (June) Pfizer Corp. sampled Progaine shampoo and conditioner via 250 health clubs in six markets in July. The clubs distributed 375,000 samples accompanied by a “Workout to Go Out” brochure written by Oprah Winfrey’s personal trainer, Bob Greene. The hair-thickening formula doesn’t have the regrowth ingredients of sister brand Rogaine. The target audience is active women. The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association coordinated sampling.
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