6. Sampling where representative groups are con Washington Coffee was first intro duced in Atlantic City, and was sampled there for several months during the summer convention sea son. The manufacturers found, as they expected, that from this sampling a demand for the coffee was soon created in many parts of the country. The Dur ham Duplex Razor was also sampled at Atlantic City, when a large national convention was held there. Everyone who attended the convention was given a full-size razor with a handle made of papier mach', and carrying one blade only. As most safety razor manufacturers make their profit on the sale of the blades, in order to use the razor more than a few times the recipient was compelled to buy blades from his local distributer. Colgate & Company does ex tensive sampling of its different products at the large and more representative conventions.
Fairs of all kinds are often used by manufacturers as suitable occasions for sampling.
7. in consumers' brands of flour have been pushed in new territories by house-to-house canvassers who call on the house wives, explain the merits of the flour and give a cook-book for an order for flour, to be filled by the purchaser's own grocer. Products demonstrated in this way are usually sold at the full retail price by the canvassers. Twenty Mule Team Borax and many kinds of baking powder have been introduced in this manner. It may be argued that this is merely direct-to-consumer selling, and not sampling at all. It is purely a form of advertising, because the method of sale is too expensive to be continued after the in troductory period, and it has more in common with sampling than with any other kind of advertising.
8. Lectures and manufacturers employ lecturers and demonstrators to appear before women's clubs, schools of home economics and other groups of women, to explain their products, and in cidentally, to distribute samples to the people pres ent. Aluminum kitchen utensils have often been sampled in this way. Sometimes, also, the names of the people present at the lecture are taken in order that each person may be followed up by mail.
9. Sampling in food manufac turers furnish free to all the leading restaurants in a city a sufficient amount of their products for one or two days' supply, and then advertise in the newspa pers and in other ways the particular days at which tliese foods may be found on the menus of the res taurants. This was the plan used in Cream of Rice in Chicago. Uneeda Biscuit was sampled at the Inside Inn at the St. Louis World's Fair in a similar manner.
10. Sampling influential manufac turers find they can make no progress without the as sistance of certain influential groups, such as doctors and dentists. These manufacturers provide for sys tematic sampling to those they wish to influence.
Tooth powders and pastes, for example, are largely sampled in this way. National distribution has often been obtained practically by means of this kind of advertising alone. The entire effort is centered on getting the good-will of dentists, for instance, who frequently distribute to their patients the free sam ples sent to them for this purpose, and who, it is hoped will recommend the use of the sampled preparations.
11. Sampling direct by manufac turers obtain lists of the most influential people in each community and send them samples of their prod ucts, accompanied by letters explaining the use of the goods. That is usually done after obtaining lists from dealers; some manufacturers, however, find it advisable to make up their own lists. Pluto Water has been introduced in this way in many territories. The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company has also used this plan in introducing many of its products.
A variation of this scheme is to send samples only when they are asked for. The Horlick's Malted Milk Company sends letters to special lists of prospects, with each letter enclosing a post-card for the pros pect to use in asking for a sample if he is interested enough to give it a trial. This method of sampling eliminates waste, and is therefore preferred by many advertisers.
Consumers are sometimes used in compiling lists of people to whom samples are to be sent. The Mentho latum Company for a time inclosed in each package of mentholatum an addressed post-card for the pur chaser to use in sending to the manufacturer the names of friends who might be interested in the product. Sometimes a manufacturer makes a small gift to cus tomers who cooperate with him in this way.
12. Sampling at factory "house When a manufacturer builds a new factory or estab lishes a new branch office or warehouse, if his prod uct is of the sort that can be sampled, he often in vites the public to a "house warming," and distributes samples to all who attend.
13. Sampling by using are given for the return of wrappers and coupons from many kinds of goods. When a product carries pre miums, it is common practice for a canvasser to go from house to house, explaining the goods, showing the premium—a set of silverware, perhaps—and tell ing the housewife that the premium will be given free if she collects a certain number of wrappers or cou pons from the manufacturer's products. To enable her to start collecting, the canvasser may give her a free sample wrapper or a complete sample of the goods, or he may give her a sample on condition that she purchases more of the goods from him or from her dealer. One soap manufacturer reports that this is the most successful sampling scheme he has ever used.