United States Beverage Sampling (Non-Alcoholic) Benchmarks Report for Experiential Retail Marketing

Beverage sampling campaigns heat up as iconic brands introduce new product flavors.

Portland Marketing Analytics (PortMA), an established full-service market research firm, releases insights into Non-Alcoholic Beverage Sampling through a comprehensive experiential retail marketing benchmarks report. 

Portland, ME, USA – With no age restrictions or limitations, the Non-Alcoholic beverage industry has long had success with sampling events. Getting people to experience a beverage product using their senses is one of the best ways to generate product awareness. In addition, beverage sampling is instrumental when bringing a new product to market or increasing existing sales of an under-performing product. In the Beverage Sampling report, sampling efficiency benchmarks from several recent Non-Alcoholic beverage campaigns can be analyzed to serve as a point of comparison.

According to Chris Clegg, President and Research Director at PortMA, “After looking at dozens of experiential marketing campaigns and analyzing data from tens of thousands of consumer engagements, we start to see trends that smart brands can use to learn from others mistakes.”  Chris goes on to say, “Not all beverage sampling programs generate a positive return-on-investment.  But those are looking closely at the venues, markets, and consumer profiles who are most responsive. Then, they use this data to do more of what is working well and less of what is not.”

For example, this summer, Coca-Cola announced an extensive sampling campaign to promote their “new and improved” Coke Zero flavor. The iconic soft-drink company started rolling out a refreshed recipe and bold new packaging in July. Now, a nationwide sampling and marketing campaign to challenge customers to see if the new Coke Zero flavor is indeed the “Best Coke Ever?” is starting to take shape.

MarketingDive.com reports that as part of this sampling campaign, Coca-Cola plans to implement Coke Zero sampling fridges in locations across the United States, offering customers the opportunity to try the drink for free. Gaining access to these free products is easy as consumers have to scan a QR code to unlock the sample. Additionally, many of these Coke Zero in-person sampling campaigns are set to take place at large events. Some events include the “Best of Harlem” block party on September 12^th and several college football games, NASCAR, soccer, and PGA Tour stops.

Throughout PortMA’s Non-Alcoholic Beverage Sampling Report, activations from 570 event days were combined with 10,915 consumer exit interviews. Consumers sampled a non-alcoholic beverage at each of these activations. As a result, many of the non-alcoholic beverage brands detailed in this report come from Coffee & Tea, Juice & Juice Drinks, Milk, Soft Drinks, and Water categories.

This report features benchmarks relating to consumer reach, impact, and return-on-investment for experiential marketing activations within the Non-Alcoholic beverage industry. In addition, several demographic segments are used to outline each of the reporting insights.

Tags: Beverage Sampling, CPG Drinks, Sampling, Non-Alcoholic, Beverage