Few marketing tactics can match up to free sampling. For food and beverage brands, letting people try before they buy cuts through the noise more effectively than all other advertising. But while the best sampling events may look effortless, there’s so much to decide on, with practical details that can easily be overlooked.
Read on for some of the biggest challenges your food and beverage campaign will face, and what you can do to keep the samples coming.
1. Choosing the right sampling hub
One of the first challenges takes the form of a question: 'What kind of vehicle is right for the event and the brand?'
A promotional vehicle isn’t just transport – it’s a space for storing, prepping and serving samples on the day. So, your choice of vehicle can affect how many samples you have on hand, how many staff members can fit inside, and whether or not you can cook on-site.
Below: A modern sampling van for Vibes (left) and White Stuff's H-Van (right)
A modern sampling van, Airstream or H-Van can be ideal for prepping pizza slices and breakfast sandwiches, but you can't cook from a VW Camper van. Instead, smaller vehicles like Campers and Piaggio Apes can be perfect for gifting bottled drinks.
Get this challenge out of the way by exploring the options in our article, Which Vehicle Is Right for Your Food and Beverage Campaign?
Below: A small vintage Airstream for New Look
2. Finding the perfect locations
A venue can decide who tries your samples and what you’re allowed to hand out. That’s because many site owners consider how your brand’s presence might impact nearby shops, cafes, and market traders.
They can restrict the size of the samples to 8 ounces or so, or limit the use of hot food or unhealthy snacks. For example, Transport for London bans all food and drink considered ‘less healthy’, in line with HFSS regulations.
How to get around this challenge? Either follow our HFSS-ready marketing ideas, or ask these 7 venue-related questions to find the best event sites for you. Alternatively, simply ask Promohire to source them on your behalf!
Below: BT in Waterloo (left) and the Wasabi truck in a London street (right)
3. Storing and delivering samples
Storage is essential to your sampling campaign. Without it, chilled or frozen items could spoil – ruining the customer experience and your brand’s reputation.
To avoid this, you’ll need a temperature-controlled space to keep your samples in the days and weeks before launch. And once your food and beverage campaign begins, you’ll need a way to move them between locations.
At Promohire, we handle the storage and delivery of samples for some of the biggest brands, and deploy support vans to replenish stock throughout the day. This ensures treats galore for everyone, with all food and drinks kept at the perfect temperature.
Check out our sampling & fulfilment guide for more about the services we offer.
Below: Gourmet burger samples (left) and Tony Singh with food packages (right)
4. Keeping the energy up
Sampling is fun but demanding work for staff, with long days, constant standing, and welcoming smiles for the growing crowds.
The best way to face this challenge is head-on, with experienced brand ambassadors and caterers. They’ll have worked on hundreds of sampling events like yours, so they’ll be able to keep spirits high, samples flowing, and energy levels up.
This is vital for food and beverage brands looking to add a personal touch, with a welcoming feel to their sampling campaigns. Learn about the faces of your next event in our trusted guide to promotional staffing.
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5. Maintaining a hygienic space
Nothing’s more important in food and drink sampling than hygiene, and a single lapse can lead to contamination and a host of problems for your brand.
That’s why it’s so important to have a well-designed mobile kitchen and fully trained staff to prep and serve safely. You’ll also need to consider how you’ll manage waste on the day, with councils expecting you to maintain the whole sampling space from start to finish.
6. Turning samples into shareable content
The best sampling campaigns are shot, filmed and shared into evergreen content, which fans can interact with time and again.
This kind of engagement is hard to put a price on, but it’s well worth the extra investment it takes to make your campaign more impactful.
A distinctive vehicle, clear branding, props and playful extras can all work to make a quick tasting moment into something special. When sampling looks good on camera, it keeps working for food and drink brands long after the event ends.
See our top 8 delicious drink and food sampling campaigns for info and inspiration!
7. Consistency in branding
Sampling events are about tasting and awareness, so it makes sense to brand everything from cups and bottles to napkins, wafers and ice cream tubs.
Branding like this means that any time a guest takes your freebie away, others will see who it’s from. But with thousands of samples to hand out, how can you get the custom sundries your sampling campaign needs, at the right volume and quality?
The wrong supplier may cut corners or fail to meet demand. At Promohire, we can produce all items in line with your vision. Alternatively, visit our online campaign branding store to customise your order online – no extra effort required!
Need an easy solution? Talk to Promohire!
Sampling campaigns don’t have to be challenging. And at Promohire, we make them as easy as possible!
Click below for more about how we bring sampling to life and then book a FREE discovery call. This short call is a chance to talk through any concerns you have and explore the best and most impactful solutions for your campaign.
For help getting started, you can also visit our handy campaign checklist. Otherwise, book your free slot to discuss your campaign challenges with a member of our team!
