Everybody likes to get something for free, especially when it’s useful.
Not surprisingly, product sampling achieved the highest growth rate among consumer promotion categories tracked by Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
Spending on sampling rose 9.4% to $2 billion in 2006 over the previous year. VSS notes its “ability to engage consumers, foster brand interaction and measure ROI.”
Sampling has long been viewed as the most effective in-store marketing tool. Now it’s used not only in retail settings but in malls, theaters and restaurants.
And yet Art Averbook, co-author of “All About Sampling and Demonstrations,” senses consumer packaged goods marketers are committing fewer dollars to sampling now. He’s been following the business for 15 years.
“Budgets are being fragmented in so many ways,” says Averbook, president of Co-op Promotions. “Sampling is not easy to get into. There’s a high price of admission, but it’s the fastest way to get a trial and gives the best ROI.”
Tom Mooney, vice president of Burke Marketing Services Inc., which measures the effectiveness of customized sampling programs, agrees with Averbook about how well it works.
“We compare the test vs. the control. There are high utilization rates,” he says, adding that his company gauges ROI using one-on-one and exit interviews, telephone calls and e-mailed questionnaires.
Even if recipients don’t use the sample themselves, Mooney believes they’ll probably give it to someone who might.
The types of items passed out are expanding as well. Over-the-counter medicines are always popular, according to Mooney, a 30-year veteran of the sampling business.
“If it’s aspirin they’ll save it for later. Everything gets eaten eventually. It’s not always a new product launch. It can be a slight modification, such as a fifth razor blade.”
Many of Burke’s programs run at high schools and colleges.
Workplace Media has sort of cornered — or at least is the first one in — the market for distributing samples in offices. Over the past 12 months, the company has dropped some 10 million samples in workers’ cubicles.
“People spend 60% of their waking hours at their jobs,” says CEO Dan Wheeler, who sees the office as an untapped marketing environment.
Although the 18-year-old company has provided offices with products they need, it’s only in the past few years that it started giving samples to its clients’ workers.
“Chocolate is very popular,” Wheeler says. “It helps workers get through the day.”
Network
