Over the past 10 years, we’ve helped brands put their products into people’s hands over Christmas and New Year. While marketing teams may be winding down, customers are gathering over meals, travelling and celebrating, making the festive period one of the best opportunities for product sampling.
For brands, those moments create opportunities to introduce a product when people have a reason to enjoy it. A drink arriving with a festive meal or a welcome pack waiting at a holiday rental can become part of the experience.
Here are four campaigns we’ve delivered to inspire your next Christmas or New Year activation.
How Aperol Spritz became part of festive meal deliveries
A festive meal gives a drinks brand a chance to show where its product belongs. For Aperol Spritz, the opportunity was to introduce the drink alongside food people had already chosen for an enjoyable night at home.
Across December 2021 and January 2022, our product sampling in Australia placed 17,500 three-packs alongside food deliveries in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Another 8,500 three-packs went into Providoor meal boxes in Sydney and Melbourne, bringing the total to 26,000 three-packs.
The presentation mattered. Each pack came with a fresh orange, branded bag and flyer or recipe card, giving customers guidance to enjoy the drink as intended. The product arrived with an occasion already attached to it.
The campaign increased brand awareness and engagement and supported a 12% increase in sales. For other brands, it demonstrates the value of considering the whole experience around the sample. The right food pairing, presentation and serving information can make a product easier to try.
Aperol Spritz samples paired with food deliveries and Providoor meal boxes.
How Canadian Club joined the holiday welcome in New Zealand
Arriving at a holiday property is a moment of transition. Bags are coming through the door, plans are being made and the stay is about to begin. Canadian Club’s 2023/24 activation placed its Soda & Lime product into that setting.
Our product sampling in New Zealand covered holiday areas across Gisborne, Matakana, Omaha, Mount Maunganui and Queenstown. Christmas and New Year were key occasions within the wider activity.
Guests arrived at their accommodation to find a 10-pack of Canadian Club Soda & Lime and a product information flyer waiting for them. It was a welcome surprise at the start of their holiday, giving them something to share as they settled in and began their celebrations.
Rather than relying on guests to discover the product during a shopping trip, the activation introduced it at a moment when they could enjoy it together.
This Airbnb sampling approach put Canadian Club directly in front of guests as they arrived, creating an immediate reward and a memorable start to their stay. With fewer competing messages than in a busy retail environment, the product had room to stand out. The 10-pack also gave guests something to share throughout their holiday.
The activation achieved an engagement rate of over 40%, showing how a well-timed welcome can encourage guests to interact with a brand. For brands planning a similar campaign, the starting point is the guest experience: think about what people will appreciate on arrival and how your product fits the plans they already have.
Canadian Club 10-packs and product flyers in holiday accommodation.
How Cadbury Puds turned a takeaway into a festive treat
Seasonal confectionery has a limited window to make an impression. For Cadbury Puds, the opportunity was to get the product into people’s hands during the festive season, with a clear moment to enjoy it.
During the 2023 festive season, our product sampling in the United Kingdom brought Cadbury Puds to customers through dark kitchens and food delivery partners in London, Suffolk and Essex. The campaign used networks operating through Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat to place the chocolate alongside meals customers had already ordered.
For customers settling in with their takeaway, finding a free chocolate in the bag added an unexpected treat to the evening. Cadbury Puds arrived at just the right moment: dinner was already sorted, and dessert was ready to enjoy afterwards.
It gave customers a chance to try the product without seeking it out or making another purchase, while creating a small festive moment they could associate with the brand.
The campaign increased awareness and engagement with Cadbury Puds and achieved 35% purchase intent. For snack and confectionery brands, it shows how distribution can do more than deliver a sample. Choosing the right setting gives the product a natural place in someone’s day.
Cadbury Puds supplied alongside takeaway meals during the festive season.
How Great Northern Zero reached people at dinner and on holiday
Christmas and New Year also create opportunities for non-alcoholic drinks. Great Northern Zero’s December 2021 and January 2022 FMCG sampling campaign in Australia used two settings where people could try the product as part of an existing plan: a meal at home and a holiday stay.
We adapted the format to each setting. For meal deliveries that didn’t already include a drink, a single bottle of Great Northern Zero arrived as a welcome addition to the order. It gave customers something they could enjoy straight away with their meal, rather than a sample they needed to save for another occasion. At holiday properties, guests received a six-pack to share during their stay. Each sample also included a double-sided A5 flyer with product information.
Food deliveries accounted for 80% of distribution, with Airbnb placements making up the remaining 20%. Most samples were distributed in Sydney and Melbourne.
By placing individual bottles with meal deliveries that didn’t already include a drink, the campaign gave Great Northern Zero category exclusivity in those deliveries. Six-packs in holiday properties gave guests a product they could share during their stay.
The campaign shows how the same product can work across different channels when the quantity and presentation suit the occasion.
Great Northern Zero single bottles with meals and six-packs in holiday accommodation.
Make your product part of the moment
The best product sampling doesn’t feel like an interruption. It arrives at a moment when someone can genuinely enjoy it: a drink alongside dinner, a chocolate after a meal or a welcome gift waiting at a holiday stay.
That’s what makes sampling so powerful. It can be shaped around the occasion, the audience and the experience, so your product becomes a natural part of what people are already doing. Instead of simply telling customers why your product is worth trying, you give them the chance to discover it for themselves.
Start with the moment your product suits, then build the channel, pack size and presentation around it. When everything comes together, a sample can do more than introduce a product. It can create a memorable experience people associate with your brand.
Planning a Christmas or New Year activation? Talk to our sampling agency about getting your product into the right hands over the holiday period.