The Electric Fan: Get Plugged In with Sampling at Sporting Events
Sports fans are some of the most passionate and intensely loyal people on the planet—more so, I think, than the ordinary consumer—and definitely a demographic worth targeting. They take time out of their busy lives to support their favorite team, they dress up in team logo apparel, and whether their team wins or loses, they remain loyal. When you are in their presence at a ballpark or a stadium there is electricity in the air. What brand wouldn’t want to plug into the hearts and minds of these die-hard consumers?
This is certainly why sampling at sports events seems like a no-brainer for most brands. But when it comes to event sampling, the when and the where are sometimes more important than the who. Remember that trial is key to sampling success. So reaching your target matters only if they are at a place and a time when they are likely to actually try the sample. Your sample could very well end up lying on the ground or in the trash if you don’t make that an important consideration.
Our regular mega-sampling events at Wrigley Field provide great examples of how brands can gain immediate trial through strategic positioning and well-trained event staff. We typically offer either entrance or exit sampling for up to eight brands, but we often recommend one over the other simply because of the place and time considerations. The right strategy will maximize your trial rates.
For instance, one day at the end of May, we positioned BullFrog sunblock as a pregame sample to fans as they were entering, simply because it was a hot, sunny day. Guess what? Almost every person opened his sample immediately and applied it to his face, neck, and arms. That gave us the opportunity to provide positive reinforcement of the brand message by asking, “Did you notice how the BullFrog sunscreen dries instantly, and there’s no greasy residue?”
Antacid Rolaids, on the other hand, made the perfect postgame sample to fans as they exited the ballpark after a day of high-volume consumption!
If you are handing out purchase incentives or product information, we recommend pregame distribution. Your information is much more likely to be read and saved by a captive audience waiting patiently for the game to start.
Of equal importance is carefully training the event personnel on the features and benefits of your product. After all, what good is it to hire people to just hand stuff out? You need brand ambassadors who can speak about how to use your product, when to use your product, other uses for your product, etc. We’ve seen how that alone can make or break an event for a brand.
One of our brand sponsors for a recent event was Gold Bond medicated powder, and our team handed out sample packets after a major league baseball game. If our event staff hadn’t been knowledgeable about this product we would not have gained as much immediate trial as we did. But because our team knew to communicate to the fans who had been out in the hot sun all day that this product “cools and soothes,” we improved on-site trial rates significantly.
Remember, if the sample doesn’t get tried, then it doesn’t matter who you are targeting. We make it our goal not only to bring brands to the fans but more important, to bring fans to the brands. And nothing is more powerful than having a positive brand experience that is connected in the hearts and minds of loyal sports fans.
CHIEF MARKETER columnist Laurie Carlson McGrath is director of marketing with Schaumburg, IL-based marketing services firm PromoWorks (www.promoworks.com).
