E-MARKETING TOOLS 505E-sampling gives marketers the option to carry out extremely accurate one-to-one demo-
graphic, geographic and psychographic targeting, whereas traditional sampling is oft en
based on convenience targeting (street corners, shop) or neighbourhood clusters (mailbox
sampling). Th ere is also less waste or duplication as ‘one sample item per household’ can
be controlled and consumers make a conscious choice to request a sample themselves. As
targeted users can be part of a marketing database that tracks their behaviour and engages
them over time, e-sampling is less of a one-shot and more part of a CRM campaign.
Companies can also get real-time, instant consumer feedback on usage and likeability of the
sample without high costs or much eff ort.^77 For some businesses, e-sampling can be com-
pletely handled online, for instance soft ware companies providing free downloads or demo
versions of their soft ware, oft en with an expiration time of 30–60 days. Online music and book
stores like Amazon allow their customers to sample 30-second clips of music or fragments of
books before ordering.^78
E-coupons are the online equivalent of print coupons and can be redeemed online (on
e-commerce sites) or printed. Th ey can be delivered via e-mails or via a website. Just as with
e-sampling, they off er the ability to monitor the user’s online shopping behaviour (if
redeemed online) and can reach an audience that would not bother to cut out print coupons
in newspaper or magazine ads. Apart from these advantages, online couponing can also save
money compared with offl ine printing costs and advertising costs. E-couponing also makes
it possible for the advertiser to experiment with split-run tests (choosing which off er/design
combination has the best response results and then quickly adapting the coupon’s value or
message) and to make immediate and automatic responses by tailoring the coupons to the
demographic profi le of the consumer. Research has found that about 48% of the web population
uses online coupons.^79 In 2010, online coupon sites emerged as an important channel in driv-
ing consumer behaviour in Europe. Th is growth was the highest seen in any region in 2010,
bringing the reach of coupon sites in Europe to 9.6% of all Internet users. Th e sizeable growth
can largely be attributed to Groupon, which was not a signifi cant player in Europe in 2009.
Groupon, a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certifi cates usable at local or
national companies, was able to establish a presence in more than a hundred European cities
in 2010 and now reaches more than 12 million visitors a month, approximately one-third of
the total market.^80 Google reports that 95% of smart-phone users have searched for local
information, proving that location-based, deal searching is vital to digital couponing.^81Samples are usually one-way, unrequested offers from marketers. Online sampling mostly involves signing up to get
freebies yourself, but an offer during spring 2011 for Kleenex let people send free packs of tissues to friends and
family via Kleenex.com and through signups at participating retailers. They could also send virtual Kleenex tissues to
Facebook friends – social sampling at its best. Kimberly-Clark sent more than 1 million actual mini-boxes of tissues
in North America and thereby enabled all these consumers to become ambassadors for the brand. People could
also track online how their samples inspired others to follow suit. The longest ‘chain of sharing’ involved 34 cycles.
The ‘Softness Worth Sharing’ campaign, aimed at introducing a new, softer version of the tissue, has lifted market
share by 1.7 points. Nielsen data show Kleenex’s share up 3.9 points to 49.9% compared with the period before the
campaign. Kleenex promoted the social sampling via TV, print, digital and social media advertising. TV and digital
ads appeared to produce the most activity.^82BUSINESS INSIGHT
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