Thorntons driving trial of their NPD

How Thorntons used product sampling to drive trial of their NPD and tied in insights to gain consumer feedback.

About Thorntons Pearls

Thorntons Pearl has a smooth milk chocolate shell that reveals a delightful centre of taste and texture. Launching with caramel and hazelnut flavours.

The Goals

Their goals for this sampling campaign was to drive trial of their new product and to increase brand awareness through sampling.

The Strategy

Alongside the sample a voucher insert was distributed to track ROI and to drive traffic in-store to purchase the product. They also included our insights platform Try.Love.Buy to gather valuable insight and feedback from consumers on the new product.

Here were some of the findings:

97% of respondents indicated that they had not tried Thorntons Pearls before. This suggests the sampling campaign was successful in reaching new customers.

89% indicated they would probably/definitely purchase Thorntons Pearls. Suggesting the campaign was successful in getting most consumers onto the buying journey.

77% of respondents stated they agreed/strongly agreed that Thorntons Pearls are different from other brands on the market.

84% of respondents stated that they had not heard of Thorntons Pearls prior to receiving the sample. Therefore sampling with HelloFresh and Glossybox introduced knowledge and awareness of the product.

72% of respondents indicated that the last time they consumed a Thorntons product was within the last year or over a year ago. Therefore sampling provided the opportunity to remind consumers of the brand.

57.3 NPS Score This indicates most of the respondents are advocates for Thorntons and will shout about it with their peers.

Consumer feedback:

‘They are absolutely delicious! Wouldn’t hesitate to buy these as a gift for someone they’re that tasty!’

‘The texture is very smooth and the taste is not oversweet. Overall a great chocolate and a gift or treat I believe I will buy for others in the future.’

‘I enjoy foremostly of course the flavour. Secondly I like the bite sized aspect so you can have as little or as many treats as you feel like at the time. Good for sharing. would make a lovely gift.’

‘Loved the sample going to buy some this afternoon!’

By having Try.Love.Buy included in their sampling campaign they were able to validate the audience, provide usable quotations for marketing on likes & enjoyment.

The Outcome

Having Try.Love.Buy on their campaign allowed Thorntons to gain insights and feedback on their NPD.  The results from TLB highlight that the majority of respondents had not seen Thorntons Pearls advertised or consumed a Thorntons product recently. Therefore sampling allowed the opportunity to increase brand and product awareness and remind consumers of Thorntons.