Give and Take: Efficiency key as revenues jump 10.9 percent.

The product sampling industry again grew at a steady clip in 1999, as manufacturers continued striving for more efficient ways to get products into consumers’ hands – or mouths, or ears, or other appropriate areas.

Sampling revenues climbed nearly 11 percent to $1.12 billion last year, according to promo estimates based on industry sources. While traditional sampling methods produced solid results, new outlets were also being tapped. And the Internet emerged as a strong delivery channel – though its precise role in sampling is yet to be determined.

“The state of the industry is pretty good,” says Jesse Reif, head of Glenview, IL-based Bounty SCA Worldwide’s Young Families division and co-chairman of the Promotion Marketing Association’s Product Sampling Council. “If you deliver enough product, the brand will get a bounce,” says Reif.

The never-ending challenge, of course, is to achieve a better, more qualified, more cost-efficient bounce. Bounty SCA tested a sampling program for a food association that tied into a supermarket’s frequent-shopper program.

The client’s objective was to attract new users, and the program’s results found two-thirds of coupon redeemers hadn’t purchased the product during the previous 26 weeks.

Across the industry, clients increasingly request programs that not only target consumers’ demographics but their lifestyles, too. “Who hands out samples, and how they’re delivered, has meaning,” Reif explains. That led Bounty SCA to deliver diaper samples to second-time moms instead of first-timers, and to reach them in daycare centers rather than hospitals.

Newspaper sampling remains a particularly strong growth area, thanks to the targetability of programs and technological advances that have broadened potential product offerings (Non-dairy creamer with your Sunday paper? It’s possible.) Revenues from newspaper programs at Valassis Communications, Livonia, MI, jumped 46 percent to $41.2 million in ’99.

Studies have found that newspaper samples generate strong brand awareness and trial, says Mary Ann Rivers, vp-targeted marketing services at Valassis. “It breaks through the clutter, because it reaches people when they have some time on their hands,” says Tom Butler, president of Overland Park, KS-based Sunflower Group’s in-home division. Because the medium is still relatively underutilized, there is plenty of room for more growth, says Butler.

FRESH VENUES

A similar strategy was employed by Chicago-based Flair Communications in one of its more effective sampling campaigns of 1999. Seeking to promote Cool Mint Drops and Fresh Mint Drops among 18- to 24-year-olds, Warner-Lambert’s Certs brand asked Flair “to look for a large property where lots of samples could be distributed,” says Staci Rothchild, the agency’s special events director for sampling initiatives. They agreed on the Hard Rock Rockfest, an alternative-music concert held last summer at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Eight “misting” tents were set up to cool off the crowd of 150,000 revelers who, on their way out, received a free sample. A warm-up effort doled out mints to diners at Hard Rock restaurants in the weeks leading up to the concert.

Bill Fasano, vp-general manager of NewsAmerica Marketing’s in-store sampling division, notes a continued trend toward account-specific programs. “Demos are very important to drive traffic and increase sales, but scheduling is increasingly important, too,” he says.

Last year, NewsAmerica made its first foray into sports marketing by teaming with Dallas-based Creative League to test sample packs at National Football League games. Nearly two million fans received a free “Fan Appreciation Prize Locker” containing boxes filled with multiple product samples, sweepstakes offers, and coupons.

Less definitive is the role the Internet will play. On the plus side is the fact that many Internet companies are using samples as a traffic lure. “Dot-coms are looking for ideas to reinforce visits to their Web sites,” says Reif.

Less clear is the future of the Internet as a delivery mechanism. Drawbacks include the fact that one-by-one request fulfillment can be cost-prohibitive, and that mail delivery eliminates the instant-gratification factor that is such a big part of sampling’s appeal.

But it’s also a lot cheaper and easier to collect consumer information on the Net. And shipping samples only to consumers who actually request them boosts efficiency. One alternative approach is to use the Net on the back-end of a standard sampling program – by asking consumers, say, to respond with their comments via e-mail.

The industry needs to “broker the convergence of the online and off-line worlds,” says Flair president Allyn Miller. “I can see some innovative things coming,” such as on-pack samples from overnight-delivery services. “We need to explore new points of contact,” he says.

From his mouth to consumers’ ears.

– Product sampling revenues increased 10.9 percent to $1.12 billion in 1999.

– Internet sampling became commonplace although the medium’s exact role has yet to be defined.

– Marketers are requesting programs that utilize psychographic profiles in addition to demographics.

– The need for better targeting has marketers looking for events and vehicles that can deliver a specific audience.