RPM REPORTER: PRE-MIX SAMPLING, VICTORIA STATION

Word on the experiential grape-vine had it that some Diageo Pre-mix sampling was taking place in the midst of Victoria Station, so I headed down to check it out. As I stroll towards the activity, I see a hub of people surrounding a small space dressed to look like a kitchen/living room with polished wooden floor and breakfast bar set-up. In one corner, sit two red chairs surrounding an edgily designed table made entirely of pre-mix cans, and in the other I see a faux fridge with magnets and kitchen cabinets providing a backdrop to the bustling sampling activity. The faux fridge connected to a real one at the back, and staff seemed to be taking samples to and fro from here. Nice touch.

As I approach, a man dressed in a smart uniform of white t-shirt emblazoned with a large pre-mix graphic and black trousers approaches. “Can I interest you in a sample of Pre-mix?” he says smiling. After challenging him to name all the flavours (he struggled a little) I’m given a stamp on the hand, a colourful leaflet offering 50p off my next purchase and a sample. The leaflet was particularly well designed; the type that any student would keep to stick on their wall with instructions on how best to serve. Made up of all the Pre-Mix flavours, it folded out like a finely crafted piece of origami.

The member of staff carried on to be extremely informative, telling me that I could buy the cans the cheapest from Asda and that the stand had been busy all day. In particular he told me he’d given samples out to more women than men, although I couldn’t help wondering that his gleaming smile had something to do with it.

Having done my research, I knew that there was a game to interact with and a goodie bag to be had. Unfortunately I did have to ask to play the game, but it’s likely that the stand was so busy it was difficult for staff to oversee it. I insisted though that I wanted to play, and a lovely member of staff sat me down on the comfortable sofa and explained how the rules went. Attached to the pre-mix table were the entire variety of pre-mix cans without their labels, and whoever placed the correct labels onto the right pre-mix cans the quickest won. Out came the stop-watch, and I manically began matching up the labels, challenging a fellow consumer. Low and behold I won- and came eighth on the winner’s board.

Despite only being 2 minutes long, I actually really enjoyed this clever brand interaction and turns out I wasn’t the only one. I noticed in amongst my shrieks of enjoyment that the game attracted quite a bit of attention, and was a great way to educate people about pre-mix. In fact I’m pretty sure as a result I could name every flavour. I was then asked to fill in a form in order to get my goody bag, which contained a can, branded ice-cube mould, another coupon and a branded drinks mat. I really thought this was a great selection of items to take home and enjoy, which was of course the whole idea behind the campaign; Diageo want consumers to drink pre-mix in the home very much like they would beer and wine.

I continued to have a few cheeky chats with the staff, who told me that the biggest attraction aside from the samples was the pre-mix designed table. “People love it- I’ve heard loads of passers-by saying they like it” and one even told me, “the sofas are a nice place for people to sit- there aren’t any places to sit in a station, so we have a lot of people chilling out on them”.

The interaction I had with Diageo Pre-mix must have been about 7 minutes in total, but it was enough to educate me on the flavours, have a taste, and get some great, useful branded produce to take home. A brilliant sampling campaign all round.