Sampling; a Prime Way to Add Value to Your Brand
Sampling Success
Larry Burns
“Free samples!” Two words that will make hearts leap and palms sweat. The thought of giving away samples may send you into a tizzy, but the response from consumers will make it well worth your while. The tactic of offering a consumer the chance to experience and try a product before buying it has been a foundation of marketing practice for decades, quite simply because it works.
Consumers are overwhelmingly positive and appreciate the ability to try products before they buy them, reported the recent survey "Trial and Conversion VI," which was conducted for the Promotion Marketing Association by NFO WorldGroup, a leading provider of research-based marketing information.
In the United States, product sampling industry revenues have been estimated at 1.2 billion annually, excluding the cost of the products themselves. In 2001, product sampling was one of the few marketing tactics that actually grew while the overall promotions industry revenues suffered their first decline in ten years.(1)
Basic consumer truths help shed light on why, as marketers, you ought to be seeking to understand how and when sampling might work best within a brand’s marketing mix. Fully 94 percent of U.S. consumers responded with agreement that sampling is a risk-free way to try new products, and 68 percent reported that they were truly “excited” about trying a sample they had received.(2)
Think about that for another moment. More than two-thirds of consumers were excited about a “branded moment” they were given the opportunity to experience, by virtue of having gained access to a product sample. Isn’t getting a consumer excited about your products one of the true marketing challenges you face?
Now, will sampling really add to your business results? Should you be developing a sampling program for your brand? The answer is a resounding, absolute and unequivocal maybe. The techniques of sampling are effective, but sampling is not right for every brand and certainly not at all times within a product’s lifecycle. You must verify there is justifiable evidence that a majority of your target market consumers will respond in a positive manner to the product being sampled. To know whether sampling is right for any one brand, and when, start at the foundation of your brand strategy.
OBJECTIVES. What are the objectives of your marketing strategy for the brand? This fundamental question is the most integral part of the process. While sampling is often first thought of as a trial vehicle for new products, there are many stages in a product’s lifecycle that may directly benefit from a sampling approach. For example, reviving an older brand, a new line extension or a product reformulation could bring back lapsed users or overcome a competitor’s branding efforts.
TARGET AUDIENCE. Who is the target audience you seek to reach? Multiple consumer segments exist with variable potential value to your objectives. Consider the discrete "sub-groups" within your target that might offer more potential to your brand. Often these segments can and should be treated differently within your program structure to ensure maximum ROI.
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE. Are you clear on what consumers need in terms of a product experience to ensure they can properly evaluate a product? Ensure enough applications are available in the sample to allow consumers to determine whether a product works. Packaging also shouldn’t become an issue. If consumers struggle to open a packette, the entire sampling experience is compromised.
MARKETING MATERIALS. What additional marketing materials and information will enhance the overall consumer experience and should be included with the sample? Sampling provides a unique moment with consumers where they stop and attend to your product. Evidence suggests these materials add value, and 73 percent of consumers report they always or sometimes look at information that "comes with" their samples.(2)
Measuring Impact
The ultimate goal of any sampling effort is not to sample but rather to convert consumers into more frequent brand buyers. Yet, you must establish clear and formal goals and agree on how you would like to measure success before you execute any program.
1. Decide on the metrics. This includes actual purchases (measured in some manner consistent with available market data), consumer perceptions (marketing research driven pre/post or test/control designs), coupon redemption (uniquely coded purchase incentives linked back to the program), opt-ins to a club or program (an increasingly popular enterprise in the online world).
2. Design data collection methods.
3. Set benchmarks that equal "success," such as a percentage of new buyers entering the franchise as measured by data stream Y over a specific amount of time and the months following its market execution.
4. Agree up-front across the brand supplier and management to the metrics and measurement proposed.
5. Follow through in analyzing the program at the proper time following completion.
Cost
Assess the value of any sampling program to determine whether the overall cost per converted consumer justifies the scope of the program in regards to your goals. Cost should include all product packaging and labor required to create and have the samples available for use. In many instances your sampling supplier can consult on packaging and the utility of the sample from a consumer and delivery standpoint. For early analysis, simply use a rational value to represent the program cost of engaging consumers and distributing samples to them. These final costs will vary by tactic chosen. At first, base cost on brand history or internal benchmarks and model from there. In addition, factor coupon redemption and other purchase incentive costs into your ROI assumptions.
However, avoid being caught in the "this looks too expensive" trap by failing to look beyond the cost-per-thousand metrics on distribution of the samples—regardless of the program type chosen. To really understand the cost/benefit equation and reach a considered opinion on the value of sampling for your brand, you must look at the value of consumers who experience your program beyond their trial purchase.
In personal care, with a consumer behavior that seeks variety and with new colors, scents and fashion changing by season, it is essential to consider the fact that a consumer being brought into the brand’s overall franchise might "pay out" well beyond the individual item being sampled.
As one assesses the long-term value of brands’ sampling efforts, a good sampling program has both tactical—immediate trial—and strategic benefits, such as building long-term brand franchise and equity. Force yourself to attempt to quantify some sense of the annual or even lifetime value of a consumer gained for your company versus one more sale for the individual brand, and you might be surprised by the value sampling can help you create. Consumers responding to the question, "What do you usually do with your samples of cosmetics?" reported that 34.3 percent "used it right away," 41.3 percent "saved it for later use" and 17.8 percent "gave it to someone else" with only 6.7 percent reporting that they "threw it away."2 Compared to other categories studied, cosmetics exhibited, by far, the highest "gave it to someone else" behavior. Could this knowledge be used to enhance consumers’ experiences by determining whether they might be an appropriate person to be given additional samples to pass along to friends, spreading the influence of the program? Some of the newest marketing science research indicates attempting to foster positive word of mouth can directly add to brand success.
Once established, marry your program goals, consumer understanding and needs along with the financial discipline of seeking to maintain the lowest possible cost per converted consumer and develop an effective sampling program.
Sampling Options
Dependent on your brand goals and product attributes, some sampling approaches may be self-evident; in other cases, you may still have a wide-open field to explore. Brand owners traditionally have sought to reach their sampling goals by utilizing one of the varying forms of in-store sampling, sampling via newspapers, direct mail sampling, in-magazine sampling, street corner sampling and event sampling techniques. This year, the plethora of options is even more expansive and creative, including more events than ever to draw consumers to a particular location for samples; point-of-use sampling, which places items where consumers really have the need for the product, such as a body wash sample at the health club; and online programs that put the consumer in control of their interaction with the brand and move sampling to an "active request" mode. Samples are often part of the overall experiential marketing taking place and, frankly, the possibilities are not likely to slow down.
One phenomenon that is gaining favor is the hybrid program approach in which sampling is accomplished across a variety of different approaches and tactics all under the same brand program. Consumer touch-points need to cast an ever-wider net as consumers continue to become a more elusive breed for the marketer to engage. By spreading your sampling program across multiple venues and tactics, you may increase the opportunity for any individual consumer to be impacted.
How brand owners can engage consumers with samples is limited only by your imagination and the ability to find a supplier who can share and even enhance their vision and, therefore, effectively execute the program. Aim high and do not be afraid to stretch your partners to explore new possibilities. Consumers are leading increasingly complex lives and are ever more difficult to reach, and your programs must break new ground to keep up with them.
References
1. April 2002, annual report of the U.S. promotion Industry, PROMO magazine estimate
2. Trial and Conversion VI, March 2002
Larry Burns is president and CEO of StartSampling Inc., an online marketing and promotion company, and chair of the Promotional Marketing Association’s Sampling Council. www.startsampling.com
Larry. "Burns." Packaging. 30 12. 2003. The Cosmetic Site. 23 03. 2004
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