How tryvertising can turbo-charge your sales

Tryvertising, which involves allowing consumers to try your product in real-life situations, has been described as sampling on steroids. As TAMI DOWNER explains, it can be a way to win new customers and generate a bit of buzz about your company.

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But that’s exactly what passers-by were treated to when they stumbled upon the Coca-Cola Massive Red Lunchbox promotion at seven busy locations along the east coast of Australia last year.

Inside the six-metre long “lunchboxes”, chefs prepared gourmet meals that were served up with a can of Coke or Coke Zero. The aim of the campaign was to convince consumers that “lunch tastes better on the Coke side of life”.

The initiative, conceived by Maverick Marketing and Communications, is an example of “tryvertising”. A term initially coined by trendwatching.com in 2005, tryvertising is part of the new wave of freeconomics, where consumers are essentially given something for free now in order to get them to buy at a later date

Piers Hogarth-Scott, co-founder of word-of-mouth research company Yooster, calls tryvertising “sampling on steroids”.

“It’s turbo-charged because it’s about giving people experiences in relevant situations. It’s not about standing outside Wynyard train station handing out shampoo sachets.”

Luxury carmakers, for example, have teamed up with hoteliers to introduce guests to new car models during their stay. Nike has set up lounges in warm-up areas for running events where competitors are able to test out the company’s shoes. Condom brand Trojan has enlisted the aid of taxi drivers to distribute its product to customers who look like they may be needing it later on.

Tryvertising is about immersing consumers in your brand, rather than coercing them to embrace it. “It allows consumers to be self-selective,” says Elizabeth Porublev, lecturer in marketing at Monash University. “They can opt in and choose how they want to utilise your campaign so it engages with what is important to them.”

If your tryvertising program is interesting enough, you may even score the “tryfecta” – converting the individual, turning them into a brand advocate, and landing yourself some media coverage in the process. Tryvertising can also be a good opportunity to do some consumer research, provided you incorporate some sort of feedback mechanism into your campaign.

Who should try tryvertising?

The obvious contenders for tryvertising are fast-moving consumer goods, but its application is really only limited by the imagination. “There are no boundaries,” says Maverick Marketing director Cameron Marks. “We’ve employed it hundreds of times – for everything from undies to cars, from charities to salad dressing. It works better when there’s something novel or notable about the product.”

Although tryvertising emerged out of the big end of town – Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Mercedes are among its most high-profile proponents – it’s by no means out of reach for smaller and medium sized businesses.

And don’t discount the value of a little local goodwill. “A couple of months ago I convinced my barber to pick up his chair during a quiet afternoon and take it up to the local pub,” Marks says. “The pub was delighted with this little bit of theatre, and with the free haircuts for its customers. The customers thought it was a great lark to get a haircut over a beer with their mates. My barber handed out all his cards that afternoon and has since seen an increase in business as a result of this outreach.”

Tryvertising works particularly well in environments where you can tap into a captive audience. Think bars and cafes, clubs, events, holiday resorts, waiting rooms, public transport, gyms, public conveniences, office spaces, conference venues, universities – basically anywhere your target audience is likely to congregate.

“Look for a complementary product or service in another industry that has access to your target customers,” Marks says. “Particularly if that access occurs where the customers would have down-time to try your product on their terms. Then think about ways you can bundle your sample with that other product.”

Ideally, you should tailor your offering so that it addresses a need or provides a solution to a problem. Gillette Australia, for example, distributed Brush-Ups teeth wipes to KLM Airlines passengers after in-flight meals. In Holland, Senseo Coffee Machines capitalised on the caffeine addictions of morning commuters by installing a number of coffee machines at bus and tram stops and offering complimentary cups of freshly brewed coffee.

An alternative to on-location tryvertising is to jump on the bandwagon of one of the growing number of websites offering free samples in exchange for consumer feedback. Products are generally distributed according to recipients’ profiles, providing access to a far more targeted audience than traditional sampling.

One Australian example of this type of tryvertising is Yooster.com’s 75,000-strong word-of-mouth opinion panel. Participants are subjected to detailed profiling to ensure a highly qualified audience. Be prepared to dig into the kitty for this option though – campaigns start at around $75,000. Check here for other examples of local sites offering freebies.

Social tryvertising

Another emerging tryvertising model is social gatherings dedicated to product sampling. It’s basically today’s take on yesterday’s Tupperware party – with a dash more interactivity and no hard sell.

The Word Of Mouth Company is an Australian initiative that was launched in 2005 to do just that. The company makes presentations by invitation into established social and community groups, such as churches and school committees, to introduce new products in a “strictly non-sell environment”. Participants are invited to try the products on-site and also take samples home.

While there are many big brands on The Word of Mouth Company’s books, director Jo Schultz says they also cater to the smaller fish in the pond. “A great example is Table Of Plenty muesli,” she explains. “This product is owned by a couple who need to use their marketing dollars to compete with the big brands such as the Unilevers of the world.” A campaign with The Word of Mouth Company will set you back between $1.30 and $1.90 per person – depending on the level of research opted into.

The difficulty of directly measuring the value of a tryvertising campaign is one of the main stumbling blocks for SMEs considering it as a strategy. That’s why Maverick’s Cameron Marks suggests running a pilot program before “jumping in boots and all”.

“Tryvertising has infinite variations, and success depends heavily on the quality of the product,” he concedes.

“So there’s no reliable universal model to predict effectiveness. Pick a test market, work out how to track the results and then try out your idea. Refine it, and try again. Then you can decide whether to expand the program or drop it and try something else.”