After Eight Orange hires Admedia for mass sampling

Jennifer Whitehead,, brandrepublic.com, 07 October 2003, 07:00AM

LONDON - Nearly a million After Eights will be given out in a sampling campaign to introduce the new orange-flavoured chocolate from Nestle.

More sharing options

The sampling campaign is the first to be run by Admedia's new promotions and sampling division. Admedia is best known for specialising in washroom advertising.

Nestle will also be backing the launch with a television advertising campaign, to be created by J Walter Thompson, in the run-up to Christmas.

Admedia has arranged a deal between the chain of Ask pizza restaurants and Nestle to present diners with one or two After Eight Orange mints with their bill, along with a promotional card.

It is estimated that an average of 1,500 people will be targeted in each restaurant each week during October.

Philip Vecht, joint chief executive of Admedia, said: "What makes this sampling unique is that it targets consumers in an ideal environment and at the right time, ie after lunch or dinner, when many are craving something to satisfy their sweet tooth."

After Eight Orange is the first time that there has been a flavour for the brand other than the traditional mint. It will be launched in 300g and 450g packets, priced at £2.66 and £3.90 respectively.

Nestle says that if a year's worth of After Eights were laid flat, they would cover the equivalent of 328 football pitches.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum here.