Talkback: Advertising? No it’s tryvertising

Forget those wee sachets sandwiched between the pages of the glossies. Forget free samples at supermarkets.

Sampling is no longer old- fashioned - with a new name, and a few new ideas thrown in, it's the latest thing: tryvertising.

Here's the twist: Tryvertising is all about getting samples to the right people at the right time and in the right place, says Amsterdam-based agency Trendwatching.co.

Overseas, that has taken some truly wonderful forms. If you are the kind of person who might buy a US$385,000 ($545,000) Maybach from Mercedes Benz and you stay at the right hotel in New York or San Francisco, you could be allowed to borrow one. At the other end of the transport spectrum, passengers waiting in Dutch bus stops got to sample cups of fresh-brewed coffee from machines installed by Senseo Coffee Machines.

In New Zealand, direct marketer Publicis Rainger has splashed the term liberally over its newly-formed direct response company txt2Media.

It launched what it dubbed a new tryvertising television commercial format called txt2taste at the weekend. Client Nestle is giving away thousands of samples of Maggi Noodle Temptations to viewers who text in a request. They are then are directed to a website where they register for delivery - and offer up personal details for the privilege.

The idea comes up a bit short on the tryvertising front - for a start, it's a mass audience rather than a targeted one - but, as the database grows, txt2Media hopes to be able to slice and dice the information to facilitate targeted sampling. Expect txt2Try, txt2Testdrive and, of course, txt2Buy.

I'm just a humble consumer, but I've wised up to the fact that my personal details are worth something. So the key will be: what do I get from this? It would take more than a few dollars-worth of noodles to get me to sign up for spam.

But with txt2Media claiming 12,000 responses in the Maggi offer's first few days, it seems the door to the hearts and minds of other consumers may be more easily opened.

Phone facts

Mobile phones are more important to young people than TV, new research by Aim Proximity shows.

The research, commissioned by BBDO Europe and Proximity Worldwide, looked at 3000 mobile phone users aged 15-35 in 15 countries (not New Zealand). It found:

* Twice as many would keep their mobile over their TV if forced to choose.

* Up to 20 per cent, depending on country, admit they've answered their mobile during sex.

* 38 per cent would go home for a forgotten phone before they'd go back for a wallet.

* 63 per cent wouldn't lend their mobile to a friend for the day.

* Most importantly from a marketer's point of view, 78 per cent leave their phones on and in reach for 16 hours or more a day and 53 per cent have responded to a brand promotion on their mobile.

I can see a time when advertising to mobile phones will lead to more owners reaching for the "off" button.