COVID-19 significantly changed consumer grocery shopping behaviors, including product sampling, an important tactic for the consumer-packaged goods industry. What’s more, 36 percent of shoppers don’t plan to sample products in-store post-pandemic, according to Sampler research.
FrontLine Marketing, a consumer marketing and merchandising activation company and division of Acosta, has launched the FrontLine Marketing @Home program, powered by Sampler. Created to meet changing consumer demands, FrontLine Marketing @Home is a direct-to-home, digital sampling platform that drives awareness, trial and engagement for CPG companies among targeted consumer groups.
“Sampling is a tried-and-true strategy to drive trial and conversion, but the pandemic permanently changed the availability and approach of traditional in-store sampling programs, making it much more difficult for CPG brands to reach consumers,” said Derek Bowen, president of marketing services, North America at Acosta, an integrated sales and marketing provider in the CPG industry. “It was important to Acosta and FrontLine Marketing to develop a solution that helps CPG brands get noticed as consumer priorities continue to evolve — and our new program does just that. FrontLine Marketing @Home, powered by our technology partner, Sampler, offers brands a new and effective way to expand product sampling and increase awareness by utilizing digitalization to connect with their target consumers.”
FrontLine Marketing partnered with Sampler, a provider of digitally-targeted, direct-to-consumer product sampling, to develop the program. The partnership allows FrontLine Marketing to tap into Sampler’s enterprise-grade digital sampling technology, leveraging 700-plus consumer segments to precisely engage shoppers within a network spanning a reach of 59 million.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Acosta to help their clients build direct relationships with shoppers in our now digital-first world,” said Trey Geiger, director of strategic partnerships at Sampler. “As consumer behavior has transformed over the past year, driving targeted trial and gathering valuable consumer data and feedback is more critical than ever.”
FrontLine Marketing @Home enables brands to convert consumers from “trier” to “buyer” and even brand advocate, while also allowing them to dialogue with consumers, leading to deeper insights companies can leverage for positioning, packaging, targeting and cross-selling.
Acosta is based in Jacksonville, Florida.
