Challenge
Tigris has been contracted by PMA Canada to staff and manage an ongoing alcohol sampling campaign in both Calgary and Toronto for close to two years. The program was launched in Toronto in May 2012 and with much success, lead to an additional campaign in Calgary commencing in September 2012. The campaign was focused on Appleton Rum and a secondary brand, American Honey, was added to the sampling portfolio in Nov/13. To date over 350 events have been executed in just over 18 months. The majority of events are on-premise but a small handful have also taken place off-premise at LCBO locations during special occasions. In addition to recruiting the promotional models, Tigris also turnkeys the events with set up and tear down of supplies/POS as well as storing them between events.
Solution
As if rum and bourbon isn’t sweet enough, Tigris also coordinated 100 alcohol sampling executions, both on and off-premise for Mark Anthony in BC from Jun-Dec/12. The sampling program launched with Calypso Vodka and later expanded to include Palm Bay and the infamous Mike’s Hard lemonade. Over 7,000 samples were distributed throughout the 100 executions and our team contributed to over 3500 (approximately $50,000) in sales revenue. And we’re not just experienced in liquor! Tigris is a wine connoisseur – and an approved vendor with the LCBO. Since 2009, we have worked with Churchill Cellars and Whitehall Agencies to supply temporary sales staff to sample exquisite wines from around the world – to introduce customers to different brands and of course, directly increase their sales onsite. Until they merged with another distributor, Tigris supplied teams of sales staff to Churchill Cellars, at LCBO locations, ranging from 5 to 25 tastings per month from November 2011 until April 2013. Prior to this initiative, we also executed a product launch for Billyrock (single serving wine in a can) for Whitehall Agencies from Nov-Dec/09. Tigris deliverables include: – recruit, train & schedule teams of smart-serve certified promotional models and sales staff ranging in size from 12 to 40+ locally and nationally – collect product knowledge from the client to create a training packages for the team – routine scheduling and event preparation – logistical support and management of required onsite materials – pre-call inventory checks and detailed post-sampling reporting
Results
Product Sampling Objectives & Results: the objectives for on-premise alcohol sampling are predominantly experience based. The goal is to offer the customer a unique and memorable experience to raise awareness and loyalty – to in turn impact sales long term. Off premise is far more tangible with specific quotas (e.g. 2 cases of wine or 12 4-packs). Tigris is happy to meet and exceed the expectations of our clients – and their return on investment – over the short and long-term.
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