By Rob Booker, Client Partner at TRO

Whilst Covid-19 has led to a challenging couple of years for many parts of the economy, changing consumer habits have had a broadly positive impact on the FMCG sector, with some categories – particularly alcohol and frozen foods – reporting strong results. RTD & NoLo products have been continuing their growth in popularity, as have F&B products that support alternative diets – plant-based meat and dairy products for example. Larger brands have generally done well, with consumers reverting to brands they know and trust.

From an experiential perspective, brand experiences which facilitate trial of these types of products – whether free or paid – have been key tactics for many years, with multiple industry studies showing that trial positively impacts purchase.  According to a report from research firm Sampling Effectiveness Advisors, 73% of consumers said they were likely to buy a product after trying it (only 25% said the same thing about seeing a television commercial).

But physical product trial has been put under pressure in a world where ecommerce is on the rise and footfall in towns and cities fell off a cliff. Covid-19 has catalysed innovation; tactics have had to evolve, and quickly.

Brave brands innovated

At-home and hybrid experiences flourished during lockdown. Cadbury brought us their Doorstep Delivery Service to promote the launch of Twirl Orange – an at-home trial service, which you could request online via social media, while Belvita adapted their sampling campaign, taking street performance and trial to the doorstep. PR and product trial coming together seamlessly in experiences perfect for the moment.

Brands who would typically turn up in the on-trade also popped up in our gardens and living rooms, with Jägermeister launching their Ice Cold Convoy to bring the party to you, and Fever Tree hosting its first ever Virtual G&T Festival.

We saw the Cadbury Secret Santa postal service go virtual, and Mars reimagine Halloween with Treat Town, its virtual trick-or-treat app. Whilst more experiential than traditional product trial campaigns, the connected IRL / online nature of these examples presents a valuable learning for future activities.

Furthermore, we saw creative use of partnerships, and brands exploring targeted ways to drive trial and sales with audiences. As online grocery sales surged, samples with online purchase were an effective way to get brand in hand (and through letterboxes), such as through Hello Fresh subscription boxes. More creative sales promotions saw Haagen-Dazs’ collaboration with Secret Cinema to create Secret Sofa, or Bumble and Uber Eats teaming up to promote virtual dinner dates.

Where do we find ourselves now?

It’s important to remember however, that when activating, audiences are more conscious now than ever. There are of course benefits that arise from these innovations that will increasingly become the norm for product trial campaigns and experiences, but with more and more brands competing for attention online and at home, it can be harder to cut through, particularly for smaller brands who may not be able to compete with the spend of some of their more established competitors.

That said, consumers experimented with new brands throughout the pandemic, and are now more open and curious to try new products. An MIT report found more than 54% of people recently made purchases from brands that were new to them. One of the main reasons cited was a “willingness to try new brands”, which is linked to the increase in time spent online during and after Covid-19. Coupled with audience desire for new brand experiences as society has re-opened, now is the perfect time for face-to-face product trial.

Audiences (particularly Gen Z) are more conscious than ever of the brands they associate themselves with; brand sustainability practices and actions being a huge consideration factor for many. It’s been reported by IBM that “purpose-driven consumers, who choose products and brands based on how well they align to their values, now represent the largest segment (44%) of consumers.” This has seen a greater focus on recycling in recent years, as well as additional education and messaging requirements as part of the product trial experience for many brands today.

Connected, convenient, commercial

Never has it been as important for a brand to be seen, to be experienced, and to be sold. Many clients have been risk-averse and reticent to conduct product trial during the pandemic, but are now moving quickly to plan activity, capitalising on captive audiences and returning footfall to a variety of locations. They need agile agencies adopting a variety of tactics, mixing the best of the old world with the best of the new. That means three things:

1. Be connected. Meaningful connections add value.

The best product experiences not only make us feel good, but they give audiences access to relevant brand content and communities. This is especially true when aligning activity timing with key cultural moments, for maximum relevance and impact, often making brands synonymous with those moments in the process.

2. Be convenient. For the client and the consumer.

Clients are demanding simplicity and agility across all facets of the marcomm landscape, and consumers have become accustomed to experiencing brands wherever they are, online or offline. Ready to go product trial experience solutions, in any format, that can be delivered in any space, is key.

3. Be commercial. See me, try me, buy me.

Some things don’t change. Product experiences that maximise conversion opportunities through the integration of effective engagement mechanics (note the resurgence of QR codes!) across the ‘discover, consider and purchase’ phases, will move trialists into buyers.

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Asda has announced it’s now trialling in four stores its first pizza-delivery service in partnership with Just Eat, a leading global marketplace for online food delivery.

The delivery service which has already been trialled for nearly a month in Killingbeck in Leeds delivers within approximately a two-mile radius of the store. Customers can now order a selection of pizzas from the Asda Kitchen, in-store Diner priced at just £6 for a 16” pizza.

An extension of the trial is now being rolled out to three other stores in Beeston, Wakefield in West Yorkshire and Livingston, Scotland and will start from 19th November 2018.

Orders are placed online via the Just Eat food app and it then goes directly to the Asda store, freshly cooked in the in store diner and then delivered directly to your door.

The pizzas which are extra-large at 16” come in a variety of flavours including Margherita, American Sizzler, Pepperoni, Vegetable Supreme. There is also a special £15 meal deal that includes any pizza, 4 sides, 1 drink, dessert & dip.

The delivery service is available from the Asda Kitchen from lunchtime onwards, however, customers can also buy the pizza’s from the diner in store to choose to eat in or take away.

James Ainger, Asda’s Senior Buying Manager, said: “We are really excited to be trialling this new service in our store in Killingbeck, along with plans to roll out to three more stores later this month. We know our customers love Asda pizzas and now they can have them delivered to their doorstep.”

Asda and Just Eat said that if the trial is successful they will look to continue the rollout to more stores.

A Just Eat spokesperson added: “We have partnered with Asda on a localised trial for takeaway delivery in Leeds. This is part of our mission to offer customers the widest choice possible and we will continue to assess the results to determine whether we can expand our partnership further.”

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Häagen-Dazs is the first ice-cream brand to move into automated product delivery with its new mobile e-commerce technology ‘Häagen-Dazs NOW’. The service enables ice-cream to be ordered and delivered into the hands of consumers when out and about by using an innovative combination of proven mobile technologies. Created by agency Space and developed by Kerve, the brand is trialling the service this Friday, 7 September 2018, offering people in Russell Square, London, a chance to order and enjoy its ice creams without having to leave their spot in the September sunshine.

Visitors to Russell Square will be among the first to try out this new e-commerce service. Through a chatbot conversation platform in Facebook Messenger to place the order, web-based geo-location APIs then pinpoints the exact location through the mobile browser, with swift real-time syncing of data through web sockets to provide a seamless mobile e-commerce solution.  The technology also enables Häagen-Dazs to know the exact delivery location, even if the consumer is not standing still, and the consumer can see how far away their ice cream is – all in real-time.

Samuel Horner, Senior Brand Manager at Häagen-Dazs UK, said “’Häagen-Dazs NOW’ is a first for the ice-cream category, tapping into the growing trend for geo-targeted services.  We’re testing it to inform future consumer engagement plans, each of which aim to make every day extraordinary for our consumers. Who wouldn’t want a delicious Häagen-Dazs ice cream delivered to their exact spot at a summer event?

David Atkinson, Managing Partner at Space, added: “The future potential of geo-targeting is very exciting.  General Mills is an innovative business and it’s a pleasure to be given the opportunity to create ground-breaking initiatives together. This activity provides evidence of our collective consumer-centricity and a desire to provide utility and advantage to our consumers.”

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Brand experience specialist, BD Network, is spearheading a new experiential campaign to support the launch of Arla Foods’ new butter variant, Lurpak Softest.

The sandwich-themed roadshow experience focuses on hands-on trial of the new product, offering visitors the chance to make their own breakfast or lunch sandwich, within a self-contained chilled unit featuring three distinct areas.

The tour, which is visiting London, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow through to 14^th September, is supported by experienced foodie staff from TSR (The Staff Room UK). It offers two sandwich sittings per day, for breakfast and lunch.

The staged experiential approach begins with a bakery window offering freshly baked goods, before moving through to a second chilled room where people can experience first-hand just how easy it is to spread Lurpak Softest onto freshly baked loaves, even when cold.

In the final room, visitors can choose either a meat or vegetarian filling to complete their Lurpak Softest sandwich, with different choices for breakfast and lunch options.  Within the sandwich room, consumers hand over their buttered bread to the Lurpak sandwich experts for filling, and receive it back wrapped, along with a bespoke Lurpak butter spreader made from recycled Italian olive wood, and a £1-off Lurpak Softest 500g pack.

The touring activation is targeting time-poor office workers and professionals around the UK, showcasing the core benefits of Lurpak Softest – while also conveying the brand’s promise that shoppers needn’t compromise between convenience and taste.

Lucy Hurrell Morgan, Lurpak Brand Manager, commented: “We’re really excited to introduce this new product in such an interactive way. For consumers to be able to try Lurpak Softest first hand will really prove how effortless it is to spread, straight from the fridge. As the champions of good food, we wanted to complete the experience with a delicious Lurpak inspired sandwich.”

Imogen Scriven, Account Director, BD Network, added: With this campaign, BD Network supported by TSR (The Staff Room UK) have created another category first, enabling people to experience new Lurpak Softest in an authentic way and truly land the brand message – Lurpak Softest, spreads effortlessly, straight from the fridge.

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