Innovative product sampling on paper cups

For years, product sampling has been the most effective tactic of field marketing. Sampling is of course a great way to get your product directly into the hands of the consumer. Today, brand marketers are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ideas and ways to offer product samples to customers.

Handing out samples at a tradeshow or exhibition is a relatively old and boring way of getting customers to try your products. If you are looking to leave an impression, it is important for your product sampling to be different. To facilitate repeat purchase and customer loyalty, engagement is key.

Product sampling marketing campaigns by reputed brands:

• Godrej launched a campaign for its product ‘aer’, a range of home and car fragrances. The front page of Bombay Times had the ad along with the fragrance of the product. Similarly, Bru Gold made the copy of ‘Sunday Times of India’ smell of coffee.

• German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen took sampling innovation to a whole new level with a talking newspaper. As readers opened the newspaper, a light-sensitive chip attached to the page announced the arrival of “a perfectly engineered car” – the Vento. Two years later, the same brand used a ‘vibrator’ to create a shiver effect in a newspaper ad that read “Feel the shiver of excitement?”

While the above brands were highly applauded for their creative ways of offering product samples and creating buzz, another innovative sampling medium is custom cup branding. Coffee and branding go hand-in-hand. It is a great way to transform a daily habit into a strategic 1:1 conversation with the brand being advertised on the paper cup.

Tea time is definitely a feel good and personal moment. Targeting customers during this time via paper cup branding works wonders. When coupled with a product sample, it is an added advantage as more people are drawn towards your activation. Research suggests that 80% of associates recall seeing the sleeve of a paper cup when a sample is attached.

American chewing gum company, Wrigley’s, in association with Seattle Coffee Company launched a branded paper cup campaign – “Coffee on the Go, Clean Teeth on the Go”.

The fresh and minty paper cup advertising campaign focussed on getting customers to “Start with a coffee, end with an Orbit”. Every customer that purchased a beverage was served in an Orbit branded paper cup along with a sample of the product attached on the sleeve.

To advertise mouth-fresheners, mints, strips or sprays that most people tend to carry every day, branding and product sampling on a paper cup works well.

Top paper cup advertisers in India, GingerCup, carried out a similar campaign for Pulse Candy. Via a tea cup marketing campaign, Pulse was looking at reinforcement. Paper cups are a great way to reinforce a candy like Pulse which one is most likely to find in tea stalls and paan shops.

For a tailored cup marketing campaign for your brand, visit http://www.gingercup.com/ or send an email to contact@www.gingercup.com.