Converting the Cheapskate: How Hand Sanitizer & Shower Products Turn A Naysayer into WOM Ambassador

I usually don’t buy it.  Yes, I am a cheapskate.  I’m a product of an Irish father whose parents’ spending habits were shaped by the Great Depression.  If you don’t need it, you can’t spend money on it.

So how does a brand break through to me, a self-proclaimed tightwad, without couponing or deep discounting?   And beyond winning my dollars, how do I convince others to purchase as well?  One possible tactic:  cause-related marketing combined with free sampling.

This past weekend I participated in Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer in San Francisco.  The walk is a two-day event, held in nine different cities at various times across the U.S.   Thousands of women and men, who must raise $1,800 to participate, are rewarded with the task of walking 26.2 miles the first day, camping in a park overnight, and walking another 13.1 miles the following day.  (Just for fun, this year the organizers of the San Francisco walk stretched the route beyond the official marathon race parameters…but I digress.)  Because of the required fundraising goal, this event – along with the race’s national sponsors – Avon, Reebok, and Genentech BioOncology (a client and my husband’s employer) – serves as a major fundraiser for breast cancer research. The San Francisco walk alone contributed more than $5.5 million to organizations established to fight breast cancer and find a cure for the disease.

Throughout the walk, the Avon brand name spotlighted the trail.  You found it on the official t-shirt and on the inflated arch at the Start and the Finish lines of the race.  But more importantly, at every port-a-potty there was Avon vanilla-scented anti-bacterial hand soap and Avon SPF 40 sunscreen.  And to my surprise and complete elation, at the end of day one I found that each stall of the temporary showers   contained Avon shampoo and conditioner, Avon body wash and Avon lotion.   Very appropriate – and product sampling at its best!

Honestly, if it weren’t for those little toiletries sprinkled at strategic places over the walk, I don’t think I could have crossed the 40+ mile finish line on day two.

Using Avon products for two days has me thinking, “Where can I find my closest Avon representative?” and I really don’t care about the cost.  And once I walked under the Avon Arch, I found myself discussing the sampling products with my fellow walkers, friends and contributors, and encouraging them to purchase Avon and promote the brand that supports the walk.  Given Avon’s help to end breast cancer, I am ready to spend and endorse the brand that gave me incentive to finish.

So what about you?  What persuades you to spend? And – going one step further – does it encourage you to convince others to spend as well?

*This post was guest authored for Fleishman-Hillard Word of Mouth by Beth Ward