CASE STUDY

Innovation and brand consultant, Anisha Motwani, believes that free trials or sampling as a strategy is mostly prevalent and successful in categories that have deep seated habits and have high frequency of consumption. Brand switching in this category require attitude and behavior changes and free sampling influences customers to try new brands and thus increasing the probability of purchase. Such categories could include newspapers, food products, etc. Free trials can also be found in case of expensive offerings where consumers prefer sampling before making a final commitment……

Success of Reliance Jio in the intensely competitive Indian telecom market brings forth the strength of trial marketing strategy, even in the service industry. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd offered free sampling of Jio's voice calling, text messaging, and data services, and acquired stupendous 100 million subscribers, of which it continued to retain 72 million even after the free trial period ended.

Conventional wisdom suggests that brand that indulge in trials and discounts erode brand Value. Here's the reality though. People value brands. But people also seek value for money ……

Source: https://www.ascdegreecollege.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Marketing-Management-Indian-Cases.pdf

With reference to the case study answer the following question:

Identify and explain suitable element of marketing mix that has been discussed here.

Element identified — Promotion Mix (specifically, Sales Promotion)

The element of marketing mix discussed in the case study is Promotion Mix, more specifically, the tool of Sales Promotion through free trials and sampling.

Explanation:

Promotion mix consists of all activities aimed at persuading customers to buy the product. Its various tools include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, publicity, direct selling and public relations.

Sales Promotion refers to short-term promotional activities used to increase sales. It includes tools like displays, demonstrations, free samples, fashion shows, exhibitions, prize contests, coupons, and 'buy one, get one free' offers. Sales promotion supports advertising and personal selling.

In this case study:

• Anisha Motwani highlights that free trials and sampling are effective sales promotion strategies in categories with deep-seated habits and high consumption frequency, such as newspapers and food products.
• Reliance Jio successfully used free sampling of its voice calling, text messaging and data services in the highly competitive Indian telecom market.
• Through this trial marketing strategy, Jio acquired 100 million subscribers, of which 72 million were retained even after the free trial period ended.

This demonstrates how sales promotion (a tool of promotion mix) can influence customers to try new brands, change buying habits and increase the probability of purchase, ultimately building a strong customer base even in service industries.