Reaching Consumers at the Right Moment With Strategic Product Sampling
Reaching Consumers at the Right Moment With Strategic Product Sampling
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In this episode of Local Marketing School, Emily Steele chats with Laurel Rundle, founder of AHA Marketing, all about effective sampling programs for brands, big and small. Since 2011, AHA Marketing has specialized in connecting brands with consumers through trusted professional channels. Laurel explains their unique approach of partnering with professionals like doctors, doulas, and gym owners to distribute product samples. We chatted about sampling strategies, from custom programs to shared-cost opportunities for smaller brands, and also touched on key factors to consider when building out your own sampling program. A great episode for established brands and emerging companies looking to implement effective sampling programs!
TUNE IN FOR TOPICS LIKE:
2:32 The journey of building AHA Marketing from the ground up
3:57 Core functions and value proposition of product sampling
7:51 Expert recommendations for brands new to product sampling
10:08 Evolution and transformation of the sampling industry over ten years
12:25 Industry-specific strategies: Sampling across retail, healthcare, and consumer sectors
16:57 Defining success with your sampling initiatives
19:28 Strategic brand partnerships: Creating successful partner programs
21:53 Building and leveraging networks of professional and everyday influencers
23:48 Essential guide for emerging brands entering the sampling space
28:01 What’s next for AHA Marketing
Listen to this week’s Local Marketing School conversation!
Other episodes you'll enjoy if you enjoyed Laurel's episode:
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Emily Steele (00:00)
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Local Marketing School. If you are a CPG brand and you are interested in sampling programs or you're doing it and maybe looking for a different point of view or hearing from an expert, I have got the perfect guest for you today. Today's guest is Laurel Rundle. She is the founder of AHA Marketing. She was introduced to me by my favorite professor at Drake University in the business school, Mary Edrington. Shout out to Mary who listened to this because, you know, two of your friends are on here today. But Mary had the best class, consumer behavior, and it really influenced the work I get to do today. And so when she made the intro to Laurel, I was really excited about what she's doing specifically with sampling programs to drive trial.
So since 2011, brands and agencies have trusted her brand that she's built to connect their brand directly to prospective buyers through point of influence sampling. So the way she does it is incredibly unique through the network she's built of people who have influence, maybe as doulas or gym owners or doctors, or people who have very specific networks that people are influenced inside of or because of.
I'll let her share more of those details today, but we talk about all sorts of things from her journey of founding AHA Marketing to how she thinks about product sampling, how newer brands can think about product sampling. If you're just getting product market fit, you're really interested in it as a strategy. We talk about the differences or similarities in sectors like retail, healthcare, and consumer. We talk about success and what does that look like when you're sampling, especially kind of in this offline world.
And of course, we talk a little bit more about what's next for the brand and what she's focused on. So there's a lot of really good nuggets in here. Again, if you're a brand that's interested in sampling and really that kind of point of influence sampling, you will absolutely enjoy this episode. Laurel is super bright, has incredible experience, and you're really in for a treat. So let's get to the show.
Emily Steele (02:22)
Hey, Laurel, welcome to the local marketing school podcast. I'm glad you're here.
Laurel (02:26)
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Emily Steele (02:28)
Yes. Okay, let's get into the meat of AHA Marketing. How did it get started? What's your role in the company?
Laurel (02:35)
Sure, I am the founder of AHA Marketing and we are a women-owned business. I started it about 13 years ago. previously I was, you know, I think I was always a kind of an entrepreneur at heart when I think back on my life and, you know, just always working and always coming up with ideas. But I ended up in consumer packaged goods marketing, fell into the agency world and eventually just really saw a need and an opportunity to start this business. And it's been a great journey. It's been full of twists and turns, that's for sure.
Emily Steele (03:08)
Yeah, I was like... Yeah. So was this your first entrepreneurial endeavor 13 years ago? Like were you officially doing this on your own or were you kind of dabbling in other things before?
Laurel (03:20)
You know, I think just always, you know, dabbling for fun and things in my life, but this was my first company. And then we started it. I actually had a business partner at the time who was wonderful. He exited out. But, you know, right after we started it, it was kind of that shiny new toy syndrome and wanting to start like another business and another business. But we always kept AHA. And it's really, you know, blossom since and grown in in ways that I couldn't imagine.
Emily Steele (03:24)
Yeah. Okay, so tell us what is AHA Marketing? What do you do?
Laurel (03:50)
Yeah, so we are at its core a product sampling company. So what we do is we basically connect brands with consumers and we do it in a really unique way. And this is what reminds me of your business, Emily, a little bit of how you really kind of do the use these everyday influencers are really authentic voices to influence purchases and decisions. So we have built networks of thousands of people that have influence in consumers everyday life. So whether it's a, you know, your children's teacher or your fitness professional or your veterinarian or even, you know, your office space, we partner with these locations and we facilitate the distribution of samples. So it's the difference between you maybe hearing about a product, but also just really experiencing a product in an environment that you already know that's relevant to you and given to you by somebody that you know and trust.
Emily Steele (04:49)
I love it. So like an example of this could be like someone who runs a yoga studio and you are able to send samples of a product that then are distributed after class for a period of time. Is that a good example? Do you have other examples of like how this looks in the real world?
Laurel (05:07)
Yeah. I mean, I think if you look at kind of those key moments in our life and some of my favorite programs are when you're really those teachable moments. So you're about to have a baby and you're visiting your doctor or your doula or you adopt a new pet. We actually do a lot of pet programs, which are really fun. And, you know, just that moment and that point of adoption and you're moving into a new category and you're thinking about. Okay, what is it that I need? What do I want to buy? Like, who do I trust? Where am I going to get my information? Well, we find these trusted people and that's really where the magic happens is that that person is what is who's giving you the sample.
Emily Steele (05:45)
Yep, I love it. So do an example of just different samples that have been out in the world that people have given that, I don't know, maybe some of your favorite brands or others that people love.
Laurel (05:57)
Yeah, I mean, I have a lot of favorite brands. We work with companies large and small. So we are a, you know, approved core vendor with some of the big guys like Mondelez and Campbell's and other companies, P&G. But I really love like the smaller natural brands and emerging products and they're really fun to work with. And I do feel like no matter what size of a project we're working on, like we take that kind of scrappy nimble approach.
But when we're really working with a smaller brand and wanting to really get them the exposure that they deserve in a limited budget, that's just particularly enjoyable. And I don't really have favorite categories. I mean, I know the team, we, they love pet programs, they love the baby programs. We actually work with a network of first responders. So even like, know, fire stations and police stations.
And just to see them receiving products that bring them joy. And if you think about just to kind of build more relevance around what we do, a first responder, might, they're busy, right? Or they're eating on the go. So we might present products that really fit their lifestyle at that time. So just the combination of those two things with the right product and the right audience and the right place is what makes it special.
Emily Steele (06:56)
Yeah, and I think like the core differentiator, you people here product sampling, I think it's easy to be like, like you go to a grocery store and you hand out samples and like you, that's not what you do. You take such a different approach where you go through people. So as you think about kind of the product sampling landscape, what are some of the ways that brands can think about sampling their products from what you offer to other things that you see that are kind of relevant in 2024, kind of leading into 25?
Laurel (07:46)
So what are some other ways that they can sample or how should they look at it? I mean, there's a variety of ways and it really, it all goes back to, you know, what are your goals and what are you trying to do? It might be a situation where you just got distribution in a specific retailer and you really want to drive traffic to those locations. Well, if that's the case, we're going to build the whole campaign around driving traffic to those stores. It might be that a brand is looking to really build up their data and their consumer base. So we would look at ways to really get that information back from the consumer during that moment. So it really depends on the goals. And then of course, just the efficiency of it. So these types of programs, because we are working with real tangible items, there is definitely an operational component. So we look at just the fulfillment and the shipping and delivery of the product samples.
So that's another thing just to kind of keep in mind as you're considering which ways you can go. In-store is really great. It comes at a different price, but you're obviously right there in the store to purchase it. That's not something that we offer, but it's definitely part of the marketing mix. And then sometimes a brand is really looking for where really just that awareness and impressions are more important than really getting that individual trial in some cases.
So we might want to still focus on a sampling experience, but make it into a bigger event. How do we really tap into that audience and culture and environment to make it more exciting? So there's just so many different ways that a brand can look at it. And we hope to think or like to think that we helped them through that journey and just really getting to what are those core objectives and what's the best way to get your product out there.
Emily Steele (09:18)
Yeah, yeah, we find like same at Hummingbirds. There's a few key things that people look at when they want to drive impact. Some of it's that brand awareness, some of its retail velocity. Do you see anything over the last three to five years that's come up as more important than ever? Like what's changing in like kind of the sampling space that you've been kind of a witness of over the last 13 years?
Laurel (10:05)
Yes, you know, it's interesting. I feel like it's like fundamentally the same in so many ways yet different and how it's used is different. I'm particularly excited right now. I do feel like some of the brands we're working with that sampling is becoming more of a core strategy versus sometimes it's an afterthought or sometimes it's, you know, part of kind of the sharp shopper marketing plan where it's just a smaller piece of the budget. But we're really looking at brands wanting to or seeing the importance of just that, you know, real authentic live engagement and getting trial of products. So I would say that's, you know, probably like, I guess one thing that I'm seeing, you know, just the where digital lies also impacts this industry and how sampling is used. you know, that while we're not a digital marketing agency, our company is really based on a lot of data and we're delivering impressions and we can build media into that. But it's still, you know, just that core aspect of, you know, getting consumers to try your product so they buy it.
Emily Steele (11:06)
Is there an instance or can you think of anything around like a brand has said sampling is a priority It's not an afterthought and how that changes Their kind of omni-channel approach like when you prioritize it first How do you then strengthen the strategies that support it and maybe this is to like depo question I just a curious if you haven't.
Laurel (11:40)
I think that's a good question. mean, the best thing is when they all work together, right? So we're currently working on a pretty big plan that has a large media component. So we're looking at how can we use sampling to really drive that media. So it's still a cool piece of it, but it also relates to other elements of the plan. So that makes sense. Yeah.
Emily Steele (11:44)
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's like they all do overlap. It's just kind of like sometimes you're like, what is like the key lever that then kind of waterfalls the other either tactics or results. And so it's interesting to think like if sampling is the top of the mountain, like what kind of waterfalls under it. So it's like just gets my wheels turning, makes me really curious.
Okay, another question. What are some of the differences or similarities in implementing sampling programs in sectors that are like retail, healthcare, or consumer?
Laurel (12:38)
So what are the key differences? I mean, for us, it really depends on the product, obviously the target audience. When we're doing, we also do work in healthcare. So we distribute product samples and messages and offers through physicians' offices or places like urgent care or even doulas. So the difference there is really in the messaging and how the samples are presented.
So obviously if somebody is in a doctor's office, their health is top of mind. So how are going to reach that consumer? And we often guide brands on the kind of messaging they would do because it would be different than other form of advertising. So how do you really talk about the category, for example, without pushing your brand? Because they are typically in there for a need state and you want to bring them in. So it really varies. You know, we look at all our programs, they might be going to a bunch of different places with that one target audience. But each of those environments kind of bring forth a different, you know, energy in terms of the environment and the way that you would want to position products and market them. Or even like promote offers. We can also work through, you know, we call our influencers, everyday influencers. But sometimes there's ways to really engage with them a little bit more because they're the ones impacting their audience. So a good example of that might be fitness professionals. We work with studios, but also class instructors and trainers. How can we motivate them to share things with their client base by presenting it a little bit differently to them?
Emily Steele (14:05)
Mm-hmm. And do you find a lot of the influencers are physically like they might be teaching a spin class and it's post exercise fitness class that they're getting the sample and having that experience like is that it's the in the moment versus another scenario or is that a lie?
Laurel (14:34)
Yeah, I mean, think that's what leads to the most authenticity. We are also trusting them to really deliver brands on the behalf of the brand. So you lose a little bit there, but what you gain is that trust, that authenticity, that being delivered a product that really fits your lifestyle, but just at that right time and right place. It's from somebody that you already know and that you trust.
You rely on that person. So just even the implied nature and the implied endorsement of some of these environments take a brand so much further. And then sometimes we'll do something called like event in a box. So we might set it up a little bit differently where, you know, instead of, hey, you know, give us that after class or, you know, one-to-one when your members walk in the door, it might be where we really want them to create an event. Maybe they have to serve something or pour a beverage or put up certain signage. And we really work closely with them and do everything we can in our control to ensure that they have a great event. We get feedback. It's like having kind of thousands of mini events happening for your brand at one time.
Emily Steele (15:30)
Yeah. My gosh. Is that a lot to manage or does it feel like there's a process you've refined it over the last 13 years? know, like walk me through a little bit of that.
Laurel (15:59)
Yeah, I'm really proud of our process actually. And that's mainly because we have an incredible team. And honestly, I sometimes don't even know how they do it. Because they are literally, I mean, they work with thousands and thousands of locations and a lot of them know the team by name and they get letters and like, you know, we're basically delivering like joy to all these different locations and giving them free products to share and it's the brand that benefits, but it just really feels like a treat in every way. And sometimes it almost feels like too good to be true because we're not asking them to post certain content or it's not as controlled in that way. So again, it just goes back to that kind of grassroots approach, but very scalable.
Emily Steele (16:30)
Yeah, yeah, cool. I love that. So as these brands are doing events in a box, they're getting product to share, how are they thinking about success? Like what is sampling, how to measure that? I think like we might be in a similar space and yours maybe has more concrete data around it, but you even with social sharing, it's kind of like, well, what does that lead to from like a conversion moment and it's I think it's harder than ever. So how do you how do your brands think about it?
Laurel (17:19)
Yeah, I mean, the first thing we do is really start with a brand success criteria. So that can vary a little bit. And then we design the entire sampling campaign around what their success criteria is. Obviously in this case, they're usually their goal. A brand's goal would be to get trial or awareness or product consideration. So we will find ways to measure that in the way of primarily surveys. So we can conduct surveys amongst the, what we call like the, you know, the everyday influencers or professionals. And we typically get about a 20 % response rate, which is high. And then we can also trace that back to the consumer if we build some sort of mechanism on the sample. So that way they would go online, they would fill out the survey. It's typically eight to 10 questions. It's qualitative, but we do get things like, you know, obviously category usage.
Purchase intent for the professionals, it's more about would you recommend this product? We can get into key attributes. And then basically continue to kind of build a model that shows what does conversion look like. We can also tie it to sales data if we're working closely enough with the brand. In that case, you really need to do a significant amount of sampling within a given market to measure at retail to show a lift. You know, we're always looking for ways to improve upon the metrics of it because it's different from digital. You know, it's not, or, you other forms of media, whereas it's sure thing. But we do see consistencies in the qualitative data. We do see consistencies with other types of studies that are done that really indicate that we're getting good feedback.
Emily Steele (18:46)
Yeah, it is harder in the offline space, isn't it? It can be so meaningful to have a brand experience in real life and harder to understand the impact of that short and long term. But it's cool to hear how you focused on that and definitely aligns with some of the ways that we're focused on it too. Love it. Can you tell us a little bit about your partner programs where you pair complimentary brands together?
Laurel (19:07)
Sure, yes. So occasionally we will do programs that we call them partner programs, but it's multiple brands that are basically targeting a specific key audience. So we do this for our expecting parents, we do it for pet owners, and then also fitness. So these are kits, and for example, we are running another expecting parent program in May. And this is a bit more for maybe more natural brands because we work with our network of doulas and midwives and, you know, just childbirth educators, some of our OB guides within our network. And instead of them getting a custom program with one brand, there's a bunch of brands that are featured and they are category exclusive. So they're non-competitive with each other. So we might have, you know, products for the baby, products for mom, everything from diapers to you know, baby care, skin products, to, you know, snacks for mom. So it really, really ranges. And I guess the nice thing about these is it's way for maybe smaller brands to get in very efficiently because they're sharing the costs with other brands. And it's to a really, you know, wonderful audience and a very highly receptive audience. And it's just, it's a bit more exciting because there are multiple brands. So there's a bit more bells and whistles, it's like getting like a gift kit. So imagine like a bundle of samples and you would get it during a birthing class or at events or after you've had the baby. There's usually some gifts involved there.
Emily Steele (20:59)
I love that. I'm like, ooh, I'm done with that chapter of my life, but I wish this program was part of my experience.
Laurel (21:24)
Yeah. then you obviously at that time in your life, like you're so susceptible to new products and messages and offers, and especially if it's coming from your doctor, right, or your doula and someone that you trust. So that really is the essence of what we do, reaching consumers in these teachable moments and presenting products and information and education through the people that matter.
Emily Steele (21:26)
Yeah. And those people that are part of your network, do they get incentivized? Are they just like, this is so cool, I get to try free products. How does that side of the network work for your company?
Laurel (21:54)
Yeah, that's another great question. We do not incentivize them. So instead we build really the value to their business. So for example, you know, just in the example of expecting families, right? We are providing them with gifts to give to their patients and their clients. So, and that really is when you can have a win-win is when you can really find a way to marry the brand with that environment and just even make that whole experience even better and more memorable.
Emily Steele (22:11)
Yeah, it makes sense. Like if you're trying to find ways to add value to your own network and you're like, I can give you these incredible products. Like it makes sense that they wouldn't need to be incentivized in the same way like a macro big influencer might need to be, you know, it's just such a different persona of a person and that's super cool. Yeah.
Laurel (22:42)
You know, it is, but they're also business owners. So we think of it that way too. And if you think about it, if you're a doctor's office, how do I enhance my patient experience? If you're a gym owner, how I am going to make this more valuable to my members so they come in the door more often? You know, want them to feel good and I want to reward them. So we do talk to them in that language and there are two sides of our business. We're really, you know, that B2B side with our professional channels and then the B2C side getting to the consumers.
Emily Steele (23:12)
Yep. Yep. Makes a ton of sense. As you think about some of those emerging brands, I know you say you like to work with them. They're probably like you said, a little more nimble. They're scrappier. Budgets are just different than your big, big organization. So any advice for some of those brands that are like have product market fit? Like I did the, you know, I've done the farmer's markets. Like I'm retail ready. I'm on a few shelves. I want to do sampling, but I don't know anything about it. I'm brand new. They're coming to you for the first time. What are the questions you're asking them? What are the things that you'd be like, you've got to figure this out before you even attempt sampling?
Laurel (23:51)
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, it really just goes back to the objectives and what they're trying to do. Most of the time, they're trying to sell product and get product to move. So you can start by being pretty scrappy and going to places like farmers markets. I think that's really great. You want to always look at your investment and what you're getting out of that. Sometimes for these smaller brands, actually several times we've worked on campaigns where they just expanded their shelf presence or they just, you know, got on shelf and let's say it's Walmart or Target or Whole Foods, and we will do programs that specifically are around these retail stores and build an incentive into them to go purchase. It's a little bit, again, it's a little bit maybe similar to what you do in your business, but it's really looking at, so for example, we worked with the food brand. They didn't have a lot of samples to work with. We really, really thought hard about who is their target consumer? What are they gonna be these best moments and places to reach them? And then how can we get as close as possible to the store? So they actually gave us their list of, which we often get of store lists and what their facings are. And we wanted to go to locations that maybe had a few more facings of this product so they can introduce more of the SKUs.
So we just kind of get a little bit more in the weeds and really like, how are your dollars going to work best here? And then you can really get down to too, is there's shipping involved, there's some fulfillment involved. So unfortunately that's part of the cost you have to pay too. So how can we minimize that and really build an efficient program and put as much into trial as we possibly can?
Emily Steele (25:18)
Yeah, and I assume some brands are just so much easier to sample than others. Like you think about, like, if got like a soup brand, like, okay, that's a little bit different than a bar, you know? So I assume some brands just don't have the ease and luxury of being something you truly like open and eat on the spot, like a classic snack. So I think some of those hurdles are just like, you're gonna have to overcome them if that's the path you want to take. But I'm sure you've worked with all types of different products and brands and have stories and advice for all of them. So my suggestion is just to talk to you about that firsthand. you're, you know, you're curious of sampling even works for a product that you have and you're listening to this as a CPG brand. But, yeah, I love that you've just worked with so many different types of brands that either are trying to get what like national awareness, but some probably really focus on specific geos or specific retailers. And so I wanted to use this time on the podcast to share at least the high level of how you operate, what you do, but I always think some of these unique situations are probably best, like getting on a call with you and your team, right? Yes.
Laurel (26:46)
Yep. Yeah. I mean, I think that's the best too, because we can kind of help the brand think about things as well by just asking questions. So yes, and we are working with a soup brand.
Emily Steele (26:53)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. really? Okay. Any intel? Like, how do they think about sampling?
Laurel (27:02)
Well, this is a, it's a very easy to prepare, easy to eat. And the way that it's packaged, it's not in a can, it's in a pouch. So these are things that we think of in the sampling world. We can't do trial size per se, but they're still smaller servings. They pack really nicely. Yes. And then we've done a couple of campaigns for this particular client, but just looking at I think I mentioned earlier, like eating on the go. So we're like, okay, where can we find these occasions? Who eats on the go more often than other people? And how do we reach them? And then how do we reach the retailers?
Emily Steele (27:31)
I was like, moms, I'm like, I am always eating in the car. Never thought I would be such a car eater, but I'm like, I was like, I always love like a clean car, but I'm like, I can't overcome this. It's just what we're gonna do.
Laurel (27:43)
Yeah. And then there you are in the captive environment with the product, the car.
Emily Steele (27:53)
Yep, exactly. No, I love that. I love it. What's next for AHA Marketing? Anything in the pipeline you can share or think about as we wrap.
Laurel (28:03)
I mean, I'm just super, super excited to be honest. I have a really great team and that's what's extremely important to me. And I think everybody really enjoys what they do. So as far as what's next, we're just continuing to grow, plan on growing even more next year. Looking at, we're always building new sampling networks and that's always fun for us. We have a couple on the horizon for next year. Also, maybe looking at bit more some digital tools that we might be activating alongside our campaigns. And yeah, and just growing with our current clients and new clients.
Emily Steele (28:36)
Fantastic. I love it. Well, thanks so much for spending time sharing what you're doing in the world, how you help CPG brands and all the value you create. Appreciate you.
Laurel (28:54)
Thank you. And I really enjoyed watching your success too over the years. So it's a pleasure.
Emily Steele (28:58)
thanks, Laura. Yes, thanks for being on the show today.
Laurel (29:03)
Absolutely.
