We have a confection to make: sampling campaigns with candy and sweets brands are absolute treats for everyone involved.
And it makes sense. As a category that saw $48.8B in sales last year according to the National Confectioners Association's State of Treating 2024 report, confectionery products excite our inner childs and sweet tooths.
The report also uncovered that 25% of candy consumers stick to purchasing only their favorites. So that means we have a whole 75% of all candy consumers to entice to try and buy new products! One of the easiest ways to do this is through product sampling.
Check out how we were able to support 4 confectionery brands recently with their product strategies by building out targeted and successful omnichannel product sampling campaigns.
Albanese Confectionery’s gummi bears make the grade with parents
By partnering with Recess and schools nationwide on co-branded gift packs for parents, Albanese Confectionery won over the primary buyers in a household. 50,000 sampler packs were distributed by PTO and PTA leaders at 144 back-to-school events and open houses.
These parents were then retargeted with digital ads which received more than 100,000 impressions and a clickthrough rate (CTR) that was 9x the industry standard. We also conducted a consumer research study through which we learned that a majority of the parents had visited or planned to visit Albanese’s website after sampling.
Not only did online activities show interest, but nearly every respondent also shared that they had already made a purchase. As for the PTO and PTA leaders, the enthusiasm they witnessed was motivation enough to work with Albanese again.
“After we passed these out to families, the students were so excited about the gummi bears I went online to see about purchasing in bulk for our school.”
"We have allergies to be mindful of... this product is allergen safe which was awesome! I had multiple parents comment on that specifically. Big win!”
TCHO takes chocolate from farm to bar and product sampling from bites to buys
Berkeley-based TCHO wows customers with plant-based chocolates easily and wanted to elevate that energy by increasing brand awareness. We knew we had to connect them to our partners at WeWork.
WeWork members loved the chocolates! At 44 locations, nearly 5,500 samples with promotional cards were distributed and accompanied by member-exclusive emails at each location to support brand activation efforts.
We heard immediately from WeWork Community teams that samples went fast. Not only were they happily taken but so were the promotional cards which gave recipients 30% off product purchases, an offer that drove retail sales without a hitch.
JOJO’s kicks the chocolate craving at coworking spaces and fitness studios
To improve brand awareness and drive retail sales, JOJO’s partnered with Recess on multiple omnichannel product sampling campaigns in fitness studios and coworking spaces. Their goal: demonstrate how their plant-based chocolate products were healthier alternatives to candy bars and other snacks.
Through multi-state events at 10 coworking spaces and 13 fitness studios, more than 15,000 samples were distributed with promotional cards and followed up with member-specific emails.
What our partners at coworking and fitness studios heard from recipients was how much they loved the samples for being healthy and delicious. Ingredient quality was especially well-received by fitness studio members.
“Taste was good, the nutrition profile was on point, [and the] size went over really well as a post-workout snack.” - TITLE Boxing Club, Fort Collins, CO
Including coupons in these campaigns really helped participants be ready to redeem them by purchasing in-store soon after the events too.
Dream Pops helps fitness enthusiasts cool down post-workout with cold product samples
What happens when you distribute more than 7,600 tasty samples at 13 fitness studios? You get new customers. At least, that’s what Dream Pops experienced by partnering with us on omnichannel product sampling campaigns to drive up brand awareness, push retail sales, and manage short-coded inventory.
Their full-sized chilled treat samples were given out with promotional cards to make it easy for people to buy more at retailers near the gym locations. We also paired the sampling with a digital marketing strategy that targeted members on social media.
How did it go? Several of our partners at the fitness studios commented that Dream Pops had driven their biggest success yet with product sampling. It must have been because members couldn't stop raving about the samples, flavors, and exclusive promotions! We were excited to see this campaign pop off.
Want to outfit your marketing strategy in decadence?
Recess is here to help. With more than 15,000 opportunities for sampling which you can filter by consumer demographic, customer behavior, location, proximity to retailer, Recess can support your unique brand activation and sampling event execution in turnkey, measurable, and scalable ways. Talk to a Recess expert to learn more.
