Tryvertising

Try It. You Might Like It. Innovative marketers experiment with the hands-on power of real people. They call it "tryvertising." By Thomas Mucha, April 14, 2005 Every salesperson is told the customer is always right. But can marketers think the same way? A group of innovative companies is trying a marketing innovation that links old-fashioned product sampling with a customer experience. Called "tryvertising" -- a blend of "try" and "advertising" -- it tries to cut through the clutter in today's noisy, crowded, and competitive global economy. Examples already abound. The Ritz-Carlton offers guests unlimited use of a new Mercedes-Benz, while the Fairmont San Francisco lets its customers tool around in Porsche Boxsters or Cayennes. The Mosaic Hotel in Beverly Hills does the same with Mini Coopers and Mercedes. In Europe, Ikea has partnered with the French Etap Hotels chain to outfit rooms in the Swedish company's trendy furniture, while Hotel Pelirocco in Brighton, England, features the latest Sony (SNE) videogames at its PlayStation Bar. New Jersey-based Vacation Connections places product samples -- Crest, Oil of Olay, Tums -- for customer trial on Carnival Cruise Lines ships and in Las Vegas resorts. In Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, Nike (NKE) operates Runner's Lounges, where amateur athletes can experiment with various shoe models. And Denver-based Qwest Communications (Q) last week launched ConQwest 2005 -- a massive "urban treasure hunt" game across five U.S. cities, where teenage players use Qwest communications technologies (cell phones, camera phones, etc.) to win cash prizes. "We developed this to allow a very important consumer segment to use our technology in a meaningful way," explains Geoff Kann, the project's director. "It goes a lot further than advertising." "Tryvertising works because it's actually about letting consumers experience a brand, a product, or a service before they buy," explains Reinier Evers, founder of Trendwatch.com, an Amsterdam-based agency that identifies global marketing and advertising trends. "It's a soft, hands-on introduction vs. just the messages and visuals of normal advertising." And, best of all, it's one that stars real people like you and me. Tryvertising is part of the burgeoning word-of-mouth marketing industry, in which companies and their marketers actively help average consumers spread product or brand awareness. This is a consumer-centric world of blogging, search-engine marketing, and even websites that help consumers get their hands on free stuff, such as www.thefreesite.com and www.freebiesplanet.com. The idea is to get real consumers to trust real consumers who do the marketing for you. If your friend tries that soap on her wonderful vacation to the Bahamas, she'll tell you how great it is, and you'll believe her because, well, she's your friend. It's a radical shift away from getting starlets like Paris Hilton and Elisha Cuthbert to use your product in public, and marketers think it will work because of the growing cynicism toward such advertising. "Celebrity endorsements and traditional media placement is old advertising," Evers says. "It's message-based information coming from semitrusted or irrelevant sources and based on claims, not proof or experience." Proponents say tryvertising will become more common as marketers discover new ways to exploit it. Airports? Coffee shops? Bookstores? "A captive audience looking for something to read, listen to, or figure out could well be receptive to really learning something about you," Evers says. "This may also work well for slightly complicated products that need some time to be understood or appreciated." Evers and others like him are onto something here. Product samples have been around forever, while modern marketers Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) make good use of this tactic by allowing iTunes shoppers to sample 30 seconds of a song and book shoppers to read the first chapter of a book online. And everyone knows that friends are more trusted than strangers or celebrities. So tryvertising is on solid marketing ground, especially as the 30-second spot and other more traditional forms of advertising suffer from a fragmenting media world and TiVo (TIVO). But to work well, these experiences need to be relevant to the right consumers. The pioneering examples above are effective because the products either match the experience (runners and Nike, cell phones and frolicking teens) or happen when a customer is primed for relaxation or fun (who wouldn't want to race down San Francisco's legendary hills in a souped-up Porsche?). So, executed properly, tryvertising should have a bright future. But if Evers and others are right, you may have no choice but to figure this out. Tryvertising, they argue, isn't just a tactic. It's a major shift in marketing philosophy based on a fundamental change in the relationship between companies and consumers. "There's not even a 'relationship' anymore," Evers says. "There's a cold, calculating, experienced, and demanding consumer, and there are humble companies. So introducing yourself and your products by letting people experience and try them out first is a very civilized and effective way to show some respect."