Situation

Zicam had four goals they wanted to accomplish with their sampling program:

• Positively promote Zicam Cold Remedy, with travelers in mind
• Grow trial and top of mind awareness of the brand
• Foster relationships with target consumers via sampling
• Grow sales through consumer education and trial

They wanted to accomplish these goals by specifically targeting their Active Defender, described as confident, self-reliant, and optimistic; they stay on top of all their responsibilities (without being overwhelmed).

Tactics

Zicam sampled for 15 days inside Chicago O’Hare International Airport during the cold and flu season in 2016 and 2017 with AMI. AMI staffed this engagement program with a team of brand ambassadors trained on the benefits of Zicam products located in a high traffic, post-security environment. All sampling items included coupons to be redeemed at point of purchase.

Consumers were encouraged to interact and take photos with the Zicam Cold Monster resulting in thousands of “shares” on twitter.  The most recent campaign included Card Isle kiosks where passengers could create, print, and mail greeting cards to their loved ones.

Results

Success. Over the two campaigns, we distributed 100% of our distribution goal of 150,000 samples and coupons and had over 5,000 Monster interactions.  “The airport sampling program through TradeX/AMI was an excellent way to meet our target during their time of need.  The spend was efficient, Brand Ambassadors personable, and the recommended pacing worked perfectly for our number of samples. This program exceeded our expectations for Trial, Brand Awareness and Social Pickup and we are looking to expand the program for next year.” – Tanner Puckett, Zicam