Holiday SHOPPING is just around the corner and the good news is that last year retail sales were up about 4.7% in December. This is the perfect time to do some direct product sampling to people in the Holiday Spending mood.

“81% of consumers admitted that receiving a sample convinced them to purchase a product.”

Give a holiday gift to your customers and drive in-store traffic by participating in the NEW Holiday Sampling Program. The Holiday Sampling Program is an opportunity to distribute YOUR brands to a large group of consumers at Holiday Events. Samples (or coupons) will be collated into 20,000 Holiday themed drawstring bags and distributed person-to-person by our Street Team Elves – 2000 per venue; such as:

Baltimore – The Mayor’s 40th Annual Christmas Parade
Chicago – McDonald’s 77th Anniversary Thanksgiving Parade
Dallas/Fort Worth – Children’s Medical Center Holiday Parade
Detroit – America’s Thanksgiving Parade
Los Angeles – The Hollywood Christmas Parade
Los Angeles – Comcast America’s Childrens Holiday Parade
Minneapolis – Holidazzle Parade
New York – Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Philadelphia – Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade
Seattle – Macy’s Holiday Parade

Shoppers are bombarded with hundreds of messages everyday but none as effective as direct sampling of your product. Sampling is the best way to gain loyal customers who will continue to purchase your brand. Take advantage of the holiday shopping season, and let Cosmetic Promotions help increase your sales with our NEW Holiday Sampling Program. Simply fill out our Holiday Sampling Program Signup and let Cosmetic Promotions get your sample out to the consumers giving them a reason to buy your products.

Please contact Tracie Gilbert at 877-665-1640 or tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com for more information.

Our annual Hispanic sampling program is a way of promoting Rite Aid’s health and beauty products at 10 community events in Hispanic markets. 2,000 bags are distributed at each event to women in attendance. The bags contain a variety of samples and coupons from Smooth ‘N Shine, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, Halle Berry Fragrance, Benefiber, Kiss Nails, Fantasia Hair Polisher, Lactaid, L’Oreal, S by Shakira Fragrance, Bio Oil and select bags contain a special $100 gift card to Rite Aid for the recipient.

On June 24th, we did exit sampling after the MANÁ Concert in Los Angeles, CA. The world’s biggest Latin rock band brought thousands of fans to downtown LA as they opened the first of a record-setting 4 sold-out nights at the Staples Center. For almost three decades MANÁ has been one of the most popular Mexican pop/rock groups. Winning 4 Grammy’s and 5 Latin Grammy’s to date; the concept behind MANÁ has been a world-music mix of Latin and pop rock. After a long hiatus, MANÁ returned to the stage with an innovative show where they performed songs from their new album “Drama y Luz”, which reached #1 on the Latin Billboards. We had a table setup right outside of the Staples Center with a Rite Aid banner hung in front to attract the crowd as they were leaving the concert. The attendees were pleasantly surprised to see Rite Aid on site. There was a rush of people and they couldn’t wait to open up their bags to see what was inside. We handed out all 2,000 sample bags in less than an hour.

On June 26th, we participated for our 6th consecutive year in the San Juan Bautista post-parade concert in Camden, NJ. It is considered the largest summer event in the region with over 30,000 attendees. The parade is a well-known, family-oriented, cultural and educational event, which always takes place on the last Sunday in the month of June. It displayed a mixture of Latin rhythms and dances from around the region, marching bands and decorated floats that lead into Wiggins Waterfront Park for a grand slam summer concert with the partnership of the largest radio station in Philadelphia. The concert offered a fun-filled day of Latin sounds, exhibits as well as the flavors and aromas of ethnic cuisine. As parade-goers entered the park they were greeted by our team at the Rite Aid booth distributing the sample bags. Our team was able to educate thousands of attendees on the Rite Aid Beauty Guarantee and answered lots of questions about how the guarantee works. Many ladies were not familiar with it and said they would definitely be shopping at Rite Aid soon for their beauty needs. The event was a huge success and before night fall all 2,000 bags had been distributed.

The next event we are scheduled to be at is on July 31st during the Junta Hispana festival at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York. Junta Hispana is a unique Hispanic Heritage event celebrating all 20 Spanish- speaking countries. Working with the consulates, tourism and cultural offices, the beauty, culture, heritage, music, dance, food, arts and uniqueness of each country are brought to one event. The stage features performances for the entire family to enjoy. They have a food court with a variety of cuisine from the different Hispanic countries. Rite Aid will have a Pharmacy onsite where visitors can learn about medications and health issues along with receiving free health screening. The sample bags will be distributed to the ladies as they visit the Rite Aid booth. Rain or shine the lines form early at each of the different plazas and continue all day. No matter where you are inside of the venue there is something to do or learn about the different countries represented.

South Florida Walgreens (March 6, 2010) – CosPro Agency recently held another successful demonstration at Walgreens locations across southern Florida. The event promoted and demonstrated the new CoverGirl Lash Blast Length mascara in order to amplify product sales and create product awareness.

The product was incredibly well received by consumers. Fourteen stores sold 152 pieces averaging eleven pieces sold, per store, in only four hours! The closure rate was very high; for every three makeovers done, two of those made purchases. Over sixty percent of customers made purchases that day and thirty percent said they will definitely be purchasing Lash Blast Length in the near future. In addition, twenty percent of the customers didn’t know the product beforehand so it was a great event for product awareness. With the chance to try a new product before buying, an enticing gift-with-purchase and knowledgeable demonstrators to help customers make educated decisions – this event was a hit!

Additionally, at least one beauty advisor per store was trained on the product and will be able to assist customers for future sales. And almost all (99%!) of the customers agreed that they enjoyed the event and would love to see more product demonstrations and sampling.

For additional information on samplings and demos please email Kristin Bocox at kristin@cosmeticpromotions.com or call (877) 326-7776 ext 501.

The CosPro professional demonstrators promoted L’Oreals hair products and provided FREE color consultations at 15 Rite Aid locations during July. The Everpure line and Feria Hair Color were the center of attention during this promotion which was sponsored by Lucky Magazine.  The event resulted in 761 products sales; averaging 15.5 pieces sold PER STORE! For every 10 demonstrations, 8 products were sold. There were also 2,500 samples of Everpure distributed which will result in future sales once the customer try this sulfate-free line.  Many customers were also thrilled with the color consultations done learning what color is right for them, over 900 consults were performed. 

As retailers looked for ways to combat  the slowing Back to School Sales, CosPro Agency coordinated an effort across various brands to introduce several products to the Winn-Dixie customer during that time period.  Professional makeup artists conducted over 6,500 demonstrations in 25 top Florida Winn-Dixie stores over 4 weekends. The event featured products from Wet n Wild, Maybelline, Nailene, Olay and L’Oreal to name a few.

The event was pre-promoted in store and Winn-Dixie sent out emails to their Loyalty Club members. The event resulted in over 1,100 immediate sales translating to almost 12 sales per store!  Customers were thrilled to receive a gift bag filled with goodies and coupons and over 7,200 were distributed during the event. In addition, customers could sign up to win a Beauty Basket Raffle. The event was so successful Winn Dixie plans to do an encore in upcoming months.

The RITE AID Glam Camp program delivers fun and exciting product samples straight into the hands of teens at local community events throughout the nation. The program, in its 3rd year, is completely facilitated by Cosmetic Promotions Inc (CPI) – a national marketing and promotional company that specializes in promoting beauty products for mass retailers and vendors.

On November 28th through the 30th, Cosmetic Promotions handed out Teen bags on behalf of Rite Aid at the Miss Teen PA USA Pageant. The pageant took place at the Hyatt Regency in Pittsburgh, PA with an attendance of 2,000 each evening. Girls ages 14 to 26 from across Pennsylvania participated in the swimsuit, evening gown and interview competition. The girls who win this pageant will go on to compete for Miss Teen USA.

The bags were filled with products and coupons geared towards the teen market. There were 1,000 bags handed out and the girls commented “I love this lip gloss!” , “Do we get to keep the bags?” , “This is great!”, “Oh, I needed that!”. The coordinator also commented, “Once again the bags were a success” and they are looking forward to sampling with us again next year. The Miss PA Teen and Miss USA pageant welcome the Glam Camp Bags and put in a request for them every year.

One of the Nation’s Largest Black Art Expos, the Philadelphia International Art Expo, celebrated twenty four years this weekend at Temple University. The aisles were filled with people interested in buying, selling and enjoying works of African American art of all kinds. The Expo was more than just traditional art however; book fairs, writing workshops, live poetry and music, a job fair and even a comedy show were among the many events that took place at the Liacouras Center throughout the weekend (November 13-15). We were onsite Saturday afternoon and were able to greet many happy faces. The ladies receiving the gift bags were very excited about the samples enclosed and couldn’t wait to see if they were winners of one of the $100 gift cards being given away. It only took a few hours to distribute all 2,000 bags. This Expo served as the kickoff of the October Gallery’s 25th Anniversary Celebration taking place next year, which they hope we can also be a part of.

African American Females Targeted at Various Community Events

HARRISBURG, Pa. (May 19) Rite Aid has teamed up with Cosmetic Promotions Inc., a national marketing company that specializes in beauty, to promote its beauty department to African American females by attending a series of 10 community events in five key African American markets. The initiative builds on Rite Aid’s African-American promotional effort, dubbed Beauty the RITE Way.

The program is in its 5th year and involves sending Ethnic models to various conferences and festivals distributing 20,000 beauty sample bags to female attendees.  This year’s bags include products from RITE AID beauty vendors including  Jergens, Just for Me, Softsoap, Blue Star Ointment, Smooth ‘N Shine, Soft Crème, Maybelline Mineral Powder, Mane’n Tail and Fantasia Hair Polisher.  In addition, some of the bags contain a prize of a $100 Rite Aid gift card. 2,000 bags are distributed at each event to female attendees only.

On May 16th the BTRW sampling program traveled to the Pan-African Festival near Bowie, Maryland. This year’s them was “FROM ANTIQUITY to GLOBAL UNITY”; uniting families while raising the awareness of issues that affect people of African ancestry and featured special guest speaker, actress Lynn Whitfield.  The festival featured tasty ethnic and traditional foods, Caribbean and Gospel music and African attire Fashion Show. As families entered the festival they were greeted by the BTRW models at the RITE AID booth distributing the BTRW sample bags and the lucky recipients commented on how they couldn’t wait to try some of the new items. Halfway through the day, with more than four hours left to enjoy the festivities, all 2,000 bags were handed out and RITE AID was invited to come back next year.

On May 23rd, Beauty the RITE Way sampling models will attend the second day of the NY/NJ African American Statewide Parade and Festival which begins in Weequahic Park. There will be a RITE AID booth with banner at the event and announcements will be made throughout the day advertising the free BTRW bag available at the RITE AID booth. Over 500,000 are expected to attend the weekend’s festivities. There is a carnival, retail booths, live music, games and pony rides as well as a Hip Hop Tour. Also, there will be numerous booths featuring mouth watering soul food. The Heritage Festival will end on Memorial Day, May 25th.

The Gospel Jam 2009 at Wayne State University in Michigan will attract 5,000 African Americans. This year’s Gospel Jam will feature an evening of urban poetry, a gospel concert and the main attraction – the gospel dance competition. Proceeds from the event will go to benefit My Sister’s Keeper, nonprofit organization – developed to assist single-parenting mothers in Wayne County. The Rite Aid banner will hang at the main stage and to flyers will be distributed on campus promoting RITE AID and the giveaways in advance.

The entire program is completely coordinated and executed by Cosmetic Promotions Inc who secures the bags, the vendors, and the venues for the program.

Glam Camp Program is a hit at Teen Community Events

Harrisburg, PA RITE AID stores, working with Cosmetic Promotions Inc, a national beauty marketing and promotion firm, attract Teen shoppers to their stores by attending various Teen events around the Nation. For the 2^nd year, CPI sends attractive young models along with high-value giveaways to targeted events happening in 5 of RITE AID’s strongest markets that match up with a high teen population. The giveaway is a custom designed “Glam Camp” duffle bag that contains 12 beauty product samples and coupons from RITE AID’s vendors such as Jergens Natural Glow, Jesse’s Girl Eye Dust, Clearasil Daily Face Wash,  Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste,  John Frieda Clear Glaze,  Hawaiian Tropic Oil Free Faces, Maybelline Volume Seduction Lip, Wet n Wild Lip Gloss, Ban Solid Deodorant, Got2Be Smooth Operator Hairspray, Yes to Carrots Sample, Playtex Gentle Glide Slender Tampons and a Seventeen Magazine Subscription Card. The Glam Camp bags are also a gift themselves as they are a pink and black small duffle bag with a hip logo that can be re-used for school, events, or hobbies.

RITE AID Glam Camp was excited to be involved in this year’s 94.5 WPST Prom Expo which happened on March 22^nd in Hamilton, NJ.  The 1^st 500 event attendees to arrive received the FREE Glam Camp Bag valued at over $25. The event was promoted heavily in advance on the radio as well as on the PST website.  There was a “Pimp your Prom” contest which offered PST listeners a chance to win a complete prom package for 5 couples including limousine, dresses, tuxedos, make-over and spa services! In addition to the contest, vendors and sponsors had the opportunity to showcase their business, products and services. The Expo PST’s Totally Interactive Night Show host, Shinn, hosted the event. “Even though we didn’t win the ‘Pimp my Prom’ we loved the Rite Aid goody bag” said one attendee; “There is such great stuff in here. I will use all of these; especially the Jergen’s bronzing lotion.”

Another popular event is the annual US Spirit Cheerleading Event held in Columbus, Ohio this past March which had a target audience of teen girls 15-to 19 yrs of age. The Glam Camp bags were handed out over the three days of competition to 1500 attendees. The RITE AID message was promoted via banners at the event to over 3500 participants and almost 8000 spectators.  The event coordinators  felt the free Glam Bags were a big success and perfect fit for the event’s participants and look forward to having RITE AID there again next year.

“Thank you so much for allowing US Spirit the opportunity to work with you in distributing the free Glam Bags to our cheerleaders. The girls absolutely loved receiving the Glam Bags and the moms liked the idea that it wasn’t the usual “junk” but rather items the girls need and will put to good use”, gushed Jen Schenck, US Spirit Coordinator “Each day, the free Glam Bags added much enthusiasm to our already excited cheerleaders. We knew the Glam Bags would be a treat for them, but the wonderful response far surpassed anything we had anticipated!”

The Glam Camp program has been very successful for RITE AID and their vendors. One vendor’s website hits went up 244% after the first bag distribution and continues to grow with each event. “I can always tell when the bags have been distributed” says Jesse Lawrence of Jesse’s Girl, an exclusive RITE AID brand of cosmetics; “because I get so much web traffic the next few days”. Other Glam Camp programs include Back to School Makeovers in 200 stores and a tie in with Seventeen Magazine featuring 8 vendors. All programs are completely coordinated and executed by Cosmetic Promotions Inc. The company secures the vendors, the bags and all the venues for distribution.

Cosmetic Promotions, a National marketing and promotion company, completed a 6 month customer response survey on in-store demonstrations. The survey was conducted during several events in various retailers between 4^th Quarter 2008 and 1^st quarter 2009.

Of the almost 3000 people surveyed,

• 60% had never tried any of the products demonstrated before
• 35% intended to purchase immediately based on the demonstration, another 56% intended to purchase later (less than 9% had no purchase intent)
• 96% would like more of the same event at that store

The age group breakdown was as follows:

• 25% – under 25
• 44% – 25-50
• 31% – over 50

The events are usually conducted by a professional makeup artist and features brands such as Cover Girl, Wet n Wild and Neutrogena in mass drug, food or merchandiser stores.  Markwins Company hired Cosmetic Promotions to do over 500 in-store events during this period on their Wet n Wild and Black Radiance brands and to introduce their new Beauty Benefits Brand. At a recent Beauty Benefits event, sales average 3 pieces per hour with a closure rate of 150%. The closure rate is figured by dividing the number of sales by the number of makeovers performed. 82% if the customers had never tried or heard of the brand prior to the event and the company is happy with the results.

At a recent Neutrogena Cosmetic event held in Meijer’s stores, sales were almost 6 pieces per hour with a 277% closure rate. Of the 67% who had never tried Neutrogena, more than 2/3rds made a purchase during the event.

To further encourage customers to stop and participate, these events usually include a drawing for a Beauty Basket. Customers can also opt in to be notified of future events by checking that box on the entry forms, so these events also provide a valuable mailing list for the customer. In addition, the makeup artists take time to train the store associates on the brands so sales continue even after the event is over.

For more information on how you can benefit from such an event, contact Kristin Bocox with the CosPro Agency at 877-326-7776 or kristin@cosmeticpromotions.com.