BY JAGDEEP KAPOOR

Brand marketing does not only start or stop by creating awareness. Infact unless the brand moves forward from awareness to trials and from trials to repeats the brand would not have progressed in terms of sales, market share or profits.

My Brand Mantra is "Sample To Sell Ample". This means you need to move awareness through to trials and from trials to repeats through the important weapon of sampling.

But first, let us discuss the actual orientation of doing the' deed' of generating trials and ensuring brand trials growth.


I would discuss this strategic weapon in 3 parts "the why", "the try" and "the buy". In order to get a good broad sense, I would be looking at the entire process across 5 categories namely FMCG, Consumer durables, Pharmaceuticals, Services and Industrial products.

Let us begin with the first step of "the why" Why should anyone buy a brand? Why should anyone switch from another brand and come to your brand? There are many whys which the Brand Managers should think about, because if he doesn't do so you would be left wondering, why his sales and market share are not growing. The answer to the whys is to have core values through a clear brand positioning. These core values, must be sampled by prospective consumers, so that they are able to move ahead and experience the brand. If the brand marketeer, answers the why extremely well, then the "mental sampling" would have taken place that means, the mind would have sampled, the core values and the brand positioning of the brand. This gives the first step, if you want to use my brand mantra "Sample To Sell Ample" in order to increase trials.

In each industry, there is the sampling by the mind or mental sampling takes place. If a consumer wants to buy a Mercedes or a Toyota or a Santro or an Indica or a Maruti or a Scorpio. The first Sampling is done by the mind. When the mind is comfortable and has the answer to the why, then you are in a positioning to move to the next step. Similarly, it could be for an OTC product or a new brand of Tea or even a new brand of insurance or housing. This is equally applicable to existing brands to induce new trials.

The next step is "the try". This is the physical sampling or the sampling by the physical senses Unless “the why” is answered it may not be possible to go for "the try". Thus, only after the mental sampling does the physical sampling take place.

In the case of "the try" sampling comes into full fold. For example, in food products, whether it be a soft drink or a papad whether it be a soap or any FMCG products, the physical try makes the brand move forward. In case of industrial products, demonstrations and initial runs of the machine Would constitute the try. Even in the case of the consumer durables or pharmaceuticals, the physical experience will make the brand move forward. It could be trying on a shirt physically or a dress or a television set or a compute)' or it could be the actual clearance by a doctor of a medicine before he starts prescribing.
The third step is "the buy", which I would call financial sampling or purchase sampling, In this case, the actual buy takes place where money is exchanged for goods or services. Another thing is that, Without "the why" and without "the try" there may not be any "buy".

Thus sampling should be seen in 3 stages. The first stage being "mental sampling" the. second stage being "physical sampling" the third stage being "financial sampling", thus trials takes place in 3 stages "the why", "the try" and "the buy".

If this is practiced, in a strategic manner, trials will definitely move forward, penetration will increase, if the product or service is good, repeats would take place.
It is important for every brand to realise that it is not enough only to be liked or remembered but to ensure that the. Actual ' deed' of trials is performed. It is only after trials that the consumer would start becoming a part of the brand world. Otherwise, the consumer would remain apart from it.
Therefore, it is important that to induce trials you must sample to sell ample.

Across brand categories and brand ideas, it is important that brand experience gets initiated through brand trials. So brand marketeers should folIow my shaastra of performing the 'deed' by inducing trials through my 3 step "the why", "the try" and the buy".



Copyright © 2005, All rights reserved with Jagdeep Kapoor – Managing Director, Samsika Marketing Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
No part of this document may be modified, reproduced, stored, deleted or introduced in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (Electronic, Mechanical, Photocopying, Recording or Otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of the document.

The author is Jagdeep Kapoor, Brand Guru and Managing Director of the successful Samsika Marketing Consultancy.
Tel: (022) 28477700/7701 (022) 28470214/15
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E-mail : jkapoor@samsika.com