With how hurried the world’s become, it’s no wonder why energy drinks have taken off for those looking for a daily boost of “get it done” motivation. What helped our energy drink brand client stand out from others was their commitment to a healthy energy drink sourced from fruits and vegetables and containing no added sugars.
Market trends indicated that this would be a strong product to sample and grow awareness around, especially among those who need a healthy-conscious pick-me-up beverage.
A fitting demographic to distribute healthy energy drinks to? The hard-working professional in a fast-paced space. By sampling nationwide in hospitals, schools, fire stations, and similar locations, we distributed nearly 170,000 cans and spread information to even more. Check out how invigorating the campaign was.
Goals to feel good about: increase brand and product awareness, drive retail sales, and collect consumer insights
For product line extensions that derive from brands well-known to a particular demographic, it can be difficult to gain a foothold within other markets. One of the goals for this product was to increase brand and product awareness among millennials and Gen Z; their parent brand was much more familiar to Gen X and older.
By raising awareness and distributing tasty samples to participants, our client intended to drive retail sales via in-store purchases at targeted Walmart stores, where refrigerator displays near entrances readily showcased the product.
And if sales were not made, there was another objective for this campaign that could be successfully met and required little of a participant’s time: gathering data through a survey that would measure awareness and purchase intent.
A plus-sized product sampling and insights campaign for success
“If you sample it, they will come.” is not a phrase we can take as truth. You need data to drive your decisions on where, when, and to whom a product sampling campaign happens. Our Recess team dove into our platform to do just that: target all the elements needed to help this healthy energy drink brand.
Our partnership network allowed us to sample 8 oz. chilled cans in coworking spaces, schools, firehouses, fire responder stations, nail salons, physician offices, hospitals, and various racing events. Members, attendees, clients, and staff alike at these venues received product samples and were enticed to learn more through display signage, emails, and survey opportunities.
The positive feedback from these diverse settings underscored the widespread appeal and success of the energy drink, making it a standout choice for health-conscious consumers.
Campaign results by the numbers
Across the sampling locations in major metropolitan areas such as Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tucson, our campaign reached 400,000+ people through on-site and digital channels.
Chilled cans of various flavors of the energy drink were distributed into the hands of nearly 170,000 people. Those who got samples were then able to contribute feedback, allowing us to provide our client with quantitative consumer insights.
Among those insights was information about:
- Flavor preferences - good for product strategy
- Likelihood to recommend the product - good for marketing strategy (majority said yes)
- Purchase conversion and repeat purchase intent rates - good for sales strategy (for this campaign, all benchmarks were surpassed greatly)
- And more…
Campaign results by the qualitative feedback
The positive feedback we received through the consumer insights survey was only one of the areas where we heard about the buzz the product created. According to our partners, excitement was palpable at several sampling events where participants appreciated having something cool after long, unexpectedly warm days.
Many jumped right in to asking about where to purchase the healthy energy drink, a perfect opening for our partner managers to recommend nearby Walmart stores.
And a surprise: there were even people at some locations who recommended the product to clients and patients! They gushed about the drink’s vitamin-rich, fruit-and-vegetable content. Make them brand ambassadors already!
Goals fueled and ready to go
This campaign reached all objectives of increasing product and brand awareness, driving retail sales, and collecting consumer insights.
- We engaged with those both new to the brand and to the product line extension
- Purchase intent and repeat purchase rates were high
- Insights were analyzed and shared to help the client plan for their future strategies
Want to energize your marketing strategy with product sampling?
Recess can help you reach your goals. 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.
