H & S Practices for Field Marketing Sampling Campaigns

Sampling Campaigns can be a highly effective form of field marketing providing they are used in an ethical and safe manner.

Field Marketing

Good practice in sampling campaigns will include safety of samples, effective presentation of samples, good health and safety practices, equipment safety and awareness of environmental hazards.

We have already touched on good examples of ethical attributes for field marketing campaigns here.

If your business/company does not adhere to basic ethical elements of field marketing, your sampling campaign could fail.

Safety of Samples

The safety of your customer or consumer is paramount when undertaking a sampling campaign. Therefore extreme care must be taken when preparing samples from the early planning stages right up to handing out the products.

An example of this may be a food product that contained dairy products. The ingredients of the product must be explained in detail to every customer to avoid any allergic reactions.

Likewise if part of your campaign is to give sweets to children then consent from a parent or responsible adult must be required. You won't know if a child is diabetic or has any other dietary requirements so always check first if it is suitable to give any of your products to children. Further information about food safety around children can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BverkBofnfo

  

Responsible sampling sounds basic but there are elements which will not be so obvious. Guidelines to responsible sampling campaigns can be found via the Direct Marketing Association at www.dma.org.uk

Health and Safety

It can be a law breaking offence to not adhere to health and safety regulations. If your sampling campaign involves food products then temperatures must be kept under food hygiene guidelines. For example if you giving out ice cream samples at an outdoor event, a freezer van must be used to store the product.

The temperature of the ice cream must be maintained but the temperature in the freezer van must also be kept within guideline limits. Therefore the van's engine must be regularly run to keep the temperature cooling units at the appropriate level to store the ice cream.

Sampling Campaign

Any staff administering food products as part of your sampling campaign must have a hygiene certificate and must also be supplied with the equipment to keep their workstation clean. This can include disposable plates, knives, cups and hygienic wipes.

Safety Equipment

Any equipment or apparatus that you use in a sampling campaign must be safe and checked. If you are using any stands or stages, these must be made of fire retardant materials to make sure that they meet fire regulations. Any electrical leads or wires must be kept clear and organised to reduce any risk of tripping or injuring someone.

The same principles apply to using any props in your campaign. For example if you have a visual display, which may include strobe lighting, you must clearly state this before anyone takes part in your demonstration/campaign.

Environmental Hazards

These need to be taken into account to make sure that no props, leaflets or rubbish is left at a venue, which has been used for a sampling campaign. One of the most common forms of environmental hazards when running sampling campaigns is to distribute leaflets, once the consumer has read the leaflet, they maybe drop the leaflet which is littering; this needs to be cleared up, not only from a legal perspective but also a clean site will give a good image of your brand or company as a whole.

Some councils will demand that organisations and companies holding sampling campaigns need to hold a licence for handing out leaflets. The Clean Neighbourhoods Environmental Act 2005 is enforced frequently to reduce littering of leaflets and other environmental hazards.

Field Marketing Sampling Campaign

The act restricts the areas where leaflets can be distributed, and both the company and consumer can be fined if they are found to be littering leaflets in these areas. There are some exemptions for charities, religious groups and political events; check what is allowed and more importantly what is not.

If your field marketing sampling campaigns stick to these legal and ethical practices, your product is more likely to be a success. You will also be safe in the knowledge that your product has been handled in the best way and that all health and safety measures have been adhered to.