Promo - March 2009 - (Page 10)

Sampling by Surprise Intrigue, don’t interrupt, is the new approach to getting people to try your brand/Amy Johannes In the film “He’s Just Not That Into You,” Ginnifer Goodwin’s character is making out with a guy and starts to get nervous. She retreats to the relative safety of his bathroom to call a friend for some moral support. While she’s in there, she opens the cabinet and sees some Crest Whitestrips and puts one on. Thus began the in-theater experience last month for the brand. And in five markets, when the film ended, brand reps were waiting by the exits with samples of the new Crest Whitestrips Advanced Seal. They passed out more than 200,000 promotional cards that included upper and lower strips, a $10 coupon, and a funny message linked to the film. “[Theaters] were a logical place to test and see how people would receive our product,” says Andy Deister, brand manager for Crest Whitestrips, made by Procter & Gamble. “It’s all about the experience. We needed to reinforce that with moviegoers.” For P&G, the general audience for the film was a perfect match for the product: young, giggling, guycrazy girls and women. Companies like P&G are searching for interesting ways to get samples to consumers in unexpected places. The average program includes about 500,000 to 1 million samples, with the average cost per item ranging from 25 cents to 40 cents, Crest passed out these postcards says Cindy Johnson, with free samples to moviegoers last month who saw “He’s Just president of Sampling Not That Into You.” The cards Effectiveness Advisors. came with humorous messaging “Long gone are the such as, “Make sure he is into your smile” and a $10 off coupon. days when a brand is doling out 3 million to 5 million samples at a time,” Johnson says. “It’s become more expensive to get a sample out,” so marketers are looking to maximize results. Here’s a look at some surprising campaigns. HOUSE PARTY On March 14, Sargento will bring its Salad Finishers and Potato Finishers food items to the place where people are most likely to use them: the kitchen. The company is staging more than 1,000 parties with help from House Party, an agency that hosts in-home events. Hosts are solicited online and through House Party’s extensive database, and prescreened to assure a good fit with the products—which in this case combine Sargento cheeses with other ingredients for salads or baked potatoes. Hosts in the Sargento sampling will invite dozens of family members, friends and coworkers, and set up salad and potato bars. As part of the fun, hosts will hold blindfold tastings for their guests and play salad-themed trivia games. The program is expected to draw between 13,000 and 15,000 guests, mostly women ages 35 to 54 who are passionate about cooking. The guests will be given product coupons to take home, and blogs will be monitored to gauge their satisfaction. The cost to stage 1,000 parties can run $120,000 and up and includes the search for the appropriate hosts, product coupons, Web site expenses and tracking results. The hosts earn the right to be the “influencers,” receive coupons to purchase the products and plan a fun party. “Word-of-mouth is a very strong component in terms of how you can build awareness and trial,” says Troy Davis, senior marketing manager for Sargento’s Finishers. “Traditional sampling wouldn’t really have helped us. We wanted a party setting and that strong experience where consumers can interact with the brand.” The use of in-home events to sample products is on the rise. House Party CEO Kitty Kolding says that this year, the company will more than double the number of events it held last year. “What we are creating for the client is not just a personal experience, but we’re embedding it in a fun social experience,” Kolding says. “That’s what makes people talk.” W For more articles on premiums and incentives go to www.promomagazine.com/incentives Newsletter Web RSS Webinar Conference Podcast 10 March 2009 / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / Promo http://www.promomagazine.com/incentives http://WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - March 2009

Promo - March 2009 Contents Editor's Note No Lumps Sampling by Surprise Legal Check Smartphone Shoppers Taxes and Twitter New Rules of the Road Commentary In Your Face Phones and Flash Social Studies The Agency Center Resource Center Peer-to-Peer Index of Advertisers

Promo - March 2009

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