Black Box, the country’s biggest in-home marketing business, has launched its new Members’ Recommendation Awards to help products stand out at the point of purchase. Black Box developed the awards after analysing the results from its 100,000 customer surveys.
Sampleco Black Box General Manager, Clinton Beuvink, says the exercise revealed some clear favourites when it came to brands and products. “After looking at the feedback we have received we found our customers have been really impressed by some of the products they tried through Black Box,” he says. “This is highly insightful information for the brand owners and marketing managers as it highlights which products delight consumers and the reasons why.”
Products that scored 90% or more in certain consumer recommendation thresholds are awarded a gold medal, while products that achieved 80-90% will get a silver medal. Survey questions included “willingness to purchase” and “recommendation to others.” Less than 30% of products trialled in Black Box have met the medal criteria, so this is the “cream of the crop”, says Beuvink.
Today’s retail environment is highly competitive and when it comes to making brands and products catch the eye of the consumer, every little bit counts, says Beuvink. “Getting a consumer to pick your product over a competitor is quite a feat,” he says. “Consumers are faced with a huge variety of choice making it difficult to know what to buy.”
Beuvink says a product with a Members’ Recommendation Awards sticker will give consumers confidence about what they purchase. “People have become very selective and savvy and we believe Black Box medals will help increase the awareness and interest in a product, ultimately lifting sales.”
Black Box taps strongly into social media which has become a powerful marketing tool to drive brand awareness and engage with consumers. “We have experienced first-hand how people tell their friends and family about the things they love,” says Beuvink. “These types of endorsements are very powerful because they come from someone they trust which carries more weight than one coming from a source they’re not familiar with.”
The gold and silver sticker-bearing products are mainly recognisable household name brands ranging from food and beverages to household cleaning. “The consumer is the ultimate winner of the Members’ Recommendation Awards as we hope these awards will prompt manufacturers to up their game as they strive to capture consumers’ imaginations,” says Beuvink.
The Members’ Recommendation Awards gold and silver products are available in supermarkets, petrol stations, pharmacies and cafes nationwide.
For more on Sampleco Black Box, visit: www.sampleco.co.nz
About Black Box
Black Box launched in 2014 and has quickly grown to a membership of over 140,000 New Zealanders. Members are sent full-sized samples of products tailored to their lifestyle. After using the products, members are then required to complete surveys on the products they received. In its first year, Black Box delivered more than 100,000 boxes to its members and is on track to deliver 150,000 boxes this year.
