Great sampling: A “Cutter” is more than just a pitch in baseball.

A little down time with the blog due to some travel and a Dell meltdown that I should have foreseen.  Lesson learned:  Back up often!!

But anyway, we’re up and running again and I thought I’d throw out a post about a great little piece of sampling done last night at Jacobs’ Field, the home of the Cleveland Indians.  A 4-2 win for the Indians puts them up 2 games to 1.  But as a marketer, that’s not what I remembered when I saw the highlights. 

A little background for the non-sports world:  It was the first game at Jacobs Field since an invasion of midges pestered Joba Chamberlain and the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the first round of the Divisional playoffs. “The Bug Game” was still fresh in everybody’s minds last night.  In fact some called it the Indian’s secret weapon in their win over the Yankees.

Cutter, an insect repellent brand of Spectrum brands based out of St. Louis, MO seized upon the marketing opportunity by handing out small repellent towelettes to all 44,402 fans in attendance.  Fortunately the weather stayed just cool enough to keep the midges down.  But the Cutter brand had made just as much of a statement in the stands as the Indians did on the field.   All for pennies worth of product to each fan. 

“We’re keeping the midges on the mound,” said Stephanie Strawbridge, hired by Cutter to wear a black and yellow bumblebee costume and pass out the bug repellent near the stadium. “That’s our secret weapon.”

Midges breed on the outskirts of lakes during warm fall weather. When temperatures reached an unseasonable 80 degrees on Oct. 5 with the Yankees in town, the bugs visited the ballpark just in time to distract Chamberlain into throwing two wild pitches as the Indians came back to win 2-1 in 11 innings.

Temperatures were only in the upper 60s Monday, but Gary Ramey, a divisional vice president for Cutter, which is made by St. Louis-based Spectrum Brands, was hoping it was warm enough for the pests to come back out.

What a great way to expose over 44,000 fans to your product, even if it proved unnecessary.  Sampling that is relevant and meaningful at the point of use.  It has all the makings of what great sampling programs should strive for.  Add a small dose of PR and you’ve got yourself an experience worthy of conversation.

2 Responses to “Great sampling: A “Cutter” is more than just a pitch in baseball.”

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