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Insight

CONFIDENTIAL

Small packages, big rewards?

Sampling

New technology and distribution methods may give beauty sampling a boost, but challenges at retail remain

A lot more options in sampling are on offer today beyond the basic vial or scent strip, enabling brands to better reach consumers and turn testing a product into a sale.

For example, samples can now do more thanks to QR codes, which consumers can scan to see a video or find out more about the product. “A sample can be scanned to give the consumer far more detailed information and linked to a video on YouTube that shows more about the product,” explains UK-based Sampling Innovations managing director Mark Lockyer.Linking street sampling campaigns to the internet can also yield results. For example,

in May, US-based prestige haircare brand Living Proof launched a three-day bus tour in New York City called Restore the Love. The bus made stops throughout the city providing hair analyses, consultations with “Living Proof scientists”, free samples and hair styling services. The event was well attended and garnered positive feedback from fans on Facebook. Another novel sampling campaign was from UK-based bath and body brand I Love

Cosmetics. Also in New York, the brand placed ice cream carts outside of Duane Reade drugstores (where the brand is sold) and offered passers-by free ice cream cones in the same “flavors” as the products on display on the cart. Shoppers were given a 100ml bubble bath and shower cream along with a buy-two-get-one-free coupon for Duane Reade. That same month, I Love Cosmetics said its sales of creams and bubble bath increased five-fold.Aside from traditional retail and

street marketing, more brands are also looking to get more out of their samples by teaming up with non-beauty stores to distribute their pro-ducts. “We are seeing an increase in the use of product dispatch. Rather than going through its own website or retail partner, brands are seeking affiliate partners, such as fashion websites, grocery retailers or magazine publishers [to distribute their samples],” comments Sampling Innovations’ Lockyer. He cites UK-based ■ ■ ■

Some brands look to reduce the costs of their samples, which is a big mistake as the sample can then reflect poorly on the brand. If you strip out too many costs in the quality of the sample, you will deliver a poor or average sampling experience, which can be completely self defeating

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”Sampling Innovations managing director Mark Lockyer

The growth of beauty sampling websites, such as Glossybox, which gives members a set number of beauty samples every month in exchange for a fee, have renewed brands’ interest in samples. A sample put in the right hands—those of a popular blogger or simply a Facebook member with a lot of “friends”—can quickly generate a substantial buzz for brands. Glossybox, which is present in more than 15 markets,

offers a set of five beauty samples to its members every month in exchange for a subscription fee. Members fill out a “beauty profile” in order to receive samples tailored to their needs. The company also introduced a box for men in France to come out on a quarterly basis. Birchbox, another members-only subscription sample

site, recently launched its limited-edition box called Just Because, which contains ‘deluxe’ samples and full-sized beauty products in addition to items such as candy and stationery. A UK site, Latest in Beauty offers The Little Beauty Box, a monthly package which contains three small samples (usually sachets or vials) free of charge—customers just pay a £1.50 shipping and packing fee. The site also offers a “luxury sample” option for a price.

Beauty sampling websites

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Insight Sampling

■ ■ ■ retailer Asos, a fashion company that offers beauty brand samples inside the packages it ships to customers, thereby providing an opportunity to expand a beauty brand’s reach.

What’s the ROI?Yet despite the advances in samples and what can be done with them through the internet and elsewhere, they are often one of the first budgets to go when a brand needs to make cuts. “Sampling is often seen as an expense, but our objective is for brands to see sampling as an investment. A successful sample is the one that gets used. A brand that wants to cut corners on quality could well end up with unused samples that do not resonate with or tempt the consumer. In that case, the brand might have done better to invest in a cheaper strategy, such as advertising,” Aptar Beauty and Home vice president of business development Isabelle Lallement explains. Sampling In-novations’ Lockyer agrees: “Some brands look to reduce the costs of their samples, which is a big mistake as the sample can then reflect poorly on the brand. Sometimes purchasing departments lose sight of the fact that a sampling campaign is meant to create a positive impression on the consumer, but if you strip out too many ■ ■ ■

Arcade Marketing is a nomad point-of-sale display (pictured) that dispenses samples on demand. “Our briefs from beauty brands were very specific in that the samples should be closed and hygienic, at a relatively low cost and that the consumer could keep the product,” explains Arcade Europe senior vice president international Philippe Ughetto. Totem is currently being tested by two major brands at the point-of-sale.

Aptar Beauty and Home is a credit-card sized spray (pictured) that dispenses 0.3ml of fragrance. Imagin’ can easily be inserted into magazines as it is delivered flat (when the tab is pulled the sample ‘opens’ to allow it to be squeezed to release the fragrance). According to Sampling Innovations managing director Mark Lockyer, Imagin’ is a cost-effective alternative to 1.5 or 2ml glass vial or spray samples, as with 0.3ml it is a more “immediate call to action” for the consumer. “When you provide 1.5 or 2ml of fragrance the consumer can use that for quite some time during which they can be influenced by other factors, not least another fragrance launch or brand and then they’ve lost that high level of interest,” comments Lockyer.

Orlandi Inc in the US is a single-use applicator for fragrance, make-up or skincare. When peeled off, the entire label can be removed and applied directly to the skin, without leaving a residue on the magazine. The company’s ColorKiss sample (pictured, far left) provides one applica-tion of lipstick on a flat card, which is meant to be folded and the upper and lower lip are pressed onto the card to receive one dose of color.

Castelberg offers Scent Blotter (pictured, near left), or thermo-formed polymers that can be moulded into different shapes and are infused with fragrance. This technology is ideal for high-end or gift-with-purchase samples that can become a keepsake and therefore be used as a longer-term advertising medium.

Novel sampling innovations

▲ Imagin’ (Aptar)

▲ Totem (Arcade Marketing)

▲ Scent Blotter (Castelberg)

▲ ColorKiss (Orlandi)

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Insight Sampling

■ ■ ■ costs in the quality of the sample, you will deliver a poor or average sampling experience, which will result in no desire to purchase the product, so it can be completely self defeating.”

Retail lagsAnother reason samples are sometimes undervalued by brands is how they are distributed at retail. “The real worry for retail is that the strategy is backwards—the consumer gea sample once she has made her purchase, which makes no sense. That approach means that the sample either is meant to be tried later on or is to be used for traveling, which isn’t good as many samples aren’t conceived for travel,” says Aptar’s Lallement. Skincare brand Polaar has made sampling an important part of its strategy at the point-

of-sale. The company claims to provide 15 samples for each product sold (the industry average is said to be around three samples per product sold). “Our goal in terms of sam-pling is to satisfy our retail partners—the beauty advisor and the pharmacist—as well as the end consumer, but the challenge is that we cannot target the consumer ourselves. To remedy this, we train store staff extensively to be sure that they give the sample to the right consumer,” explains Polaar president Daniel Kurbiel. Polaar places its samples on or near the products on shelf, rather than having them dis-

tributed randomly at the cash register. “The sample should be used to back up a consul-tation, rather than be a reward for a purchase,” adds Kurbiel.

Some analysts have said that the industry should move into selling sam-ples at the point-of-sale or on their websites, especially for expensive pro-ducts that the consumer may want to try and consider for a few days before splashing out and making a purchase. Others advocate that retailers do

more to integrate sampling into their loyalty card scheme, with a customer receiving a certain amount of free items depending on her purchase. Tying sampling into the loyalty scheme also means that the retailer can access the customer’s purchase history to offer more targeted products. Ano-ther strategy is to track the sample. L’Oréal-owned skincare brand Kiehl’s, for example, prints a bar code on its samples, which allows the brand to contact the consumer (via either the brand or the retailer’s database) to create a follow-up conversation and gauge satisfaction with the product. If brands and retailers work more with

the consumer in mind, beauty sampling could become a lot more efficient. ■

The majority of samples are still in fragrance, but the skincare and make-up categories are becoming more of a focus, accor-ding to suppliers. Arcade Marketing, for example, increased its investment in both make-up and skincare last year, according to Arcade Europe senior vice president international Philippe Ughetto. “We launched a new technology last year that we are rolling out worldwide which is the Beauty Pod—a 2ml sample that contains a liquid formula and is a solution both for the press and for the point-of-sale. It has been a big success in North America and is currently being launched in Europe and Asia,” he explains. Sampling Innovations’ Lockyer believes that there is much

untapped potential in make-up sampling. “I’ve always been a little disappointed in the lack of color cosmetics’ sampling; for years brands have just relied on in-store testers.” One recent interesting color sampling initiative came from Christian Dior, which launched an on-counter dispenser, called the Dior Forever Dramming Fountain to provide samples of its Forever Foundation at Selfridges department store in London. The dispenser resembles an espresso machine with six nozzles corresponding to each shade. Consumers can book a “complimentary color match” and are given a 5ml sample to try at home. This strategy has been praised for combining service (the BA helps the consumer choose the right shade) with a novel tool and a generous-sized sample.

Fragrance still reigns

We train store staff extensively to be sure that they give the sample to the right consumer. The sample should be used to back up a consultation, rather than be a reward for a purchase

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”Polaar president Daniel Kurbiel