Sampling activities for food and drink may at first sound simple – hire some people and give out the products. But in fact the planning, the logistics and the health and safety requirements that go on behind the scenes make it a hugely complex area for experiential marketing.

Ed Wood, managing director of A Little Bird, points out: “You can sample anything – but there are always key considerations.” He quickly reels off a few – “suitable packaging for product samples; food hygiene when sampling hot and freshly-prepared food samples; responsible drinking guidelines when sampling alcohol products; sample handling – bulk samples require significant logistic and handling considerations and chilled products require constant refrigeration.”

Depending on the product involved, the samples themselves can raise a number of issues. For example, “food safety control checks need to be factored into each sampling campaign,” says Joel Kaufman, managing director of Link Communication.

“The field teams participating in food production roles require adequate training and certification for food production and for that specific type of product. Ongoing temperature control checks, catering thermometers and suitable serving equipment are all essential to ensure that the produce is cooked to, kept at and then presented at an optimum serving temperature. This is usually the responsibility of the event manager, who needs to ensure that chart recording and safety checks take place at regulated, scheduled intervals.”

On the other hand, it can also be difficult when you have to create experiential activity for a new food product without handing out direct samples. Luffa Khnom, head of experiential at The Marketing Store, explains: “When McDonald’s tasked us with the experiential launch of its new Wraps we needed to come up with a creative way of encouraging people to trial the product without actually sampling it. Direct sampling of products is difficult for McDonald’s because they like to ensure that any product sampled is as you would be served in any one of their restaurants. Our solution was to bring the Wraps brand proposition - ‘Too Tasty to Put down’ – to life, which we achieved through the use of brand theatre.”

The Marketing Store incorporated the creative from the TV advert, which shows people carrying out two-handed activities with one hand and a Wrap in the other, and conducted an experiential tour with professional artists showcasing their talents but performing them whilst holding a wrap in one hand. This included juggling, basketball, acrobatics and football freestyle and performers also dared the public to join in.

Khnom adds: “So, whilst all we are actually giving away is product information leaflets promoting the different Wrap flavours and the £1.99 ‘Deli of the Day’ offer, this type of brand experience has allowed us to interrupt people on their daily journey and engage with them significantly more than a simple leaflet on its own would.”

Another challenge is to ensure you are reaching the right audience in the right environment. “We can’t stress the importance of targeting,” says Marcus Sandwith, managing director of integrated agency, Haygarth. “To maximise spend, it is absolutely crucial to identify target-rich connection points where wastage is minimal and dwell time and usage relevance is high.”

Ed Wood adds: “To be effective, any sampling campaign must be timed and positioned to engage consumers when they are open and welcoming to new brands and when they are willing to exchange their time for a potentially new brand experience.”

So any activity must be relevant, as Leyton Ede, founder and managing director of LIVE Experiential Marketing, stresses. He adds: “Too many times, we’ve witnessed a brand sampling purely based on what appears to be the only rationale: a high footfall.” That’s not enough, he argues: “You need to analyse the message, consumer and interaction against the location. So sampling cereals at a train station during the evening rush hour will not be conducive to a quality interaction, as a consumer’s mind set is focused on getting home.”

The choice of location can also impose logistical challenges – for example, experiential agency whynot! live recently went to the Moto GP at Silverstone with Malaysia Kitchen, a campaign to promote Malaysian food in the UK. More than 100,000 motor cycle fans were offered free samples of hot food.

Stuart Knight, deputy managing director at whynot!, explains the logistical issues: “A purpose-made kitchen had to be built, with sink and running water and preparation area for our Malaysian chefs. Due attention had to be given not only to the enjoyment and safety of the consumer with the food but where all the rubbish was going to go afterwards. Health and safety requirements vary depending on the environment and can build extra cost in to an event, so should be researched thoroughly.”

Jo Sasso, account director at Closer Live, notes that considerations when planning a food and drink sampling campaign “go far beyond asking consumers if they fancy trying something for free. First and foremost must be a meaningful consumer engagement, where they have had the opportunity to experience the brand and sample the offering in a unique way. By doing this, a brand has a much stronger chance of remaining front of mind with consumers.”

Not only do marketers have to offer follow health and safety guidelines, they also have to create brand experience. A campaign for Mikado, created by experiential agency Closer, encouraged people to ‘give into temptation’ and provided samples via sound-activated ‘brand theatre’, each involving a different conceptual stand, different theme and different themed characters.

For example, ‘Do not eat the art’ featured a mini-art-gallery with a massive ‘arty’ Mikado pack with jaws that try to ‘bite’ anyone who tries to grab Mikado. A sleepy curator sat next to the ‘exhibit’ and engaged with people who took part.

This campaign highlights the fact that sampling is only a part of the experiential activity. “Getting a product in front of someone is only the beginning,” says Jamie Sterry, senior account manager at Dialogue141. “A sampling campaign should be amplified by trained ambassadors who can inform and engage shoppers in a busy, often stressful, environment with mechanics such as sales promotions that encourage them to buy. Offering samples is fine, but it has to be linked right the way through to point-of-sale.”

The Circle Agency worked with soft drinks company Ben Shaws to help it celebrate its 140th anniversary. As well as sampling its product range, brand ambassadors were encouraged to evoke memories about where consumers have enjoyed the drinks in the past. Event staff were briefed to understand the heritage, provenance and key messages of the brand to ensure every consumer left with that brand experience.

Food and drink sampling is no different to any experiential activity, argues Simon Sá Feio, director of experiential agency MADE. It must deliver for the client and must produce measurable results.

Sá Feio says: “What we especially need to communicate to brand owners is that brand experience is measurable.” MADE has its own measurement system which allows it to compare brand experience campaigns with other media such as print, DM or online advertising so clients can see the comparative costs of engaging with their target audience.

Winston Murray, head of commercial operations at Circle Agency, points out that “Return On Investment is often measured on the sales uptake of a product while the sampling is on, or reach and brand extension derived from social media and online interaction. Clients must be asking ‘have you converted the consumer into a buyer?’”

But any measurement must be built in from the start, as food and drink sampling is never just about getting the product out there. Carey Trevill, managing partner at 3sixteen, observes: “For complex or simple activation involving food and drink, understanding from the outset what the end goal is – for example, more sales; raising awareness that leads to sales; brand experience to create trial and loyalty – will ensure that you plan to deliver the samples in the right way. Just giving out 100,000 packets of crisps will do nothing for that brand if the end goal is not planned – otherwise you are just giving everyone a lovely snack.”

Sally Durcan, managing director of Hotcow, agrees: “The right response for your brand will be determined by what you want to ultimately achieve from your activity. For example, when we did sampling campaign for Bottlegreen drinks, they were focusing on being a British brand and wanted more people to try out a wider range of flavours, hence we attended British events over the summer.”

Food and drink sampling has moved on from just in-store: but with ever increasing creativity in sampling locations and delivery, campaigns now have to stand out in a crowd and from the crowd.

But, as Carey Trevill at 3sixteen concludes: “There are a million ways to hand out a sample, and yes, of course a sausage on a stick may not be the most imaginative – but it may be right for the brand. The sample delivery should reflect the brand essence, without compromising brand values.”