Astra Sweets Gains Real-Time Customer Insights
Astra Sweets Company was developed from a gingerbread factory, which was started in 1924 by the Van Deun Company. Four years later, the foundations were laid for the production of sugar products, which is still continued today.
When Founder Jan Van Deun passed away in 1950, it seemed that the company would no longer play a role in the confectionery market. A turnaround came when the Groep Vanherpe bought the factory and renamed it Astra Sweets Ltd.
In 1999, Vanherpe took another important step, taking over two sugar processing factories in the Netherlands from Cadbury Schweppes: Faam and Frisia. Faam was producing wine gums and liquorice in Breda, and Frisia was manufacturing marshmallows in Harlingen. Both businesses continued under the name of Astra Faam Ltd. In August 2000, the last activities for the production of gingerbread were sold on and Astra Sweets started focusing exclusively on manufacturing confectionery.
Engaging Consumers Like Never Before
As a market leader in the Netherlands’ soft sweet segment, Astra Sweets’ brand Frisia manufactures successful variants of marshmallows, foam sweets and sherbet filled flying saucers, all in easily recognizable packaging that is eye-catching and consistent. But, Frisia decided to get more creative in order collect first-hand consumer feedback.
Typically, an on-pack promotion highlights a compelling contest or offer to attract attention and induce product trial on crowded retail shelves. Additionally, putting a promotion on the actual product package eliminates the cost and limitations of using in-store signage. Done correctly and creatively, this retail tactic can also be accomplished without having to reprint costly packaging.
Similarly, instant coupons and buy-one-get-one-free promotions have been the mainstays of package-based promos. However, Frisia has taken on-pack engagement to another level, leveraging ever-present smartphones and tablets.
Increasing the Value of an On-Pack Promo
Instead of a costly reprint of Frisia packaging, Eline van Muilwijk, Marketing manager at Astra Sweets NV/Astra Faam BV, and her team, printed 20,000 inexpensive stickers that were adhered to the front of the candy pack. The black and white QR code looked out of place on the colorful package, but in a good way.
“We really think the presence of the QR code signaled to consumers that there was something special going on, and helped draw their attention,” she continues. To compel consumers to take the survey, Frisia would reward participants with a large box of its mini marshmallows.
People who are interacting with your product are valuable sources of information. An on-pack promotion, by definition, uses the package itself to initiate the interaction — with both long-time, loyal customers and prospects alike. Traditional e-mail surveys, on the other hand, depend on a database of existing e-mail addresses, eliminating the chance of collecting feedback from new or prospective customers. And, e-mail reduces the likelihood that respondents will be taking your survey with package in hand.
“Asking customers who have our actual package in front of them was essential for this effort,” says van Muilwijk. “We wanted to ask consumers specific questions about our packaging for Frisia Mini Marshmallows. Using the candy box to invite them to give their input was much more effective than using the e-mail surveys we’ve used in the past. We got insights and feedback about our packaging we could never have gotten with an email survey.”
Frisia selected Survey Anyplace, a mobile tool that lets anyone easily create surveys and quizzes that people take on their own `smartphone or tablet while they’re in the middle of interacting with a product or service — without having to download an app. These mobile surveys and quizzes collect in-the-moment customer feedback, event evaluation, marketing research, sales leads and more. Respondents’ data is streamed instantly to a secure centralized location, guaranteeing real-time, objective data.
“We love how easy it is to create a survey on the Survey Anyplace site,” says van Muilwijk. “We uploaded the Frisia graphic elements we wanted, and they were incorporated into the mobile survey design automatically.” van Muilwijk’s team purposely kept the survey short and fun, to make taking the survey painless for their consumers. “Nearly everyone has a smartphone or tablet,” she adds, “so using mobile surveys to get the information we needed made perfect sense.”
Frisia’s Sweet Success
The immediacy of the on pack promotion, and using a mobile survey was one of the reasons Astra exceeded its 0.3% response goal for this effort.
“We were thrilled to get a 2.2% response rate,” van Muilwijk adds. An added bonus: Astra actually collected e-mail addresses and other contact information during the survey, growing another marketing channel.
To take the survey, consumers either scanned the QR code with their mobile device, or entered the URL into their mobile’s browser to get instant access to the survey. In a few swipes, they’d answered the questions and even entered answers to an open-ended question about how they use the mini marshmallows. Each respondent’s answers were uploaded instantly at the end of the survey. Frisia’s campaign was also independent of any retailer assistance, requiring no special in-store displays or signage, and no data-related retailer effort whatsoever. Frisia could track survey responses in real time and will use the information in future marketing and product development efforts.
Respondents were also encouraged to take a photo with their mobile device of how they like eating the mini marshmallows (pictured). “This provided an unprecedented way to ‘have a look’ into someone’s kitchen, or anywhere else he or she is eating them,” van Muilwijk adds. “It’s a seamless functionality only a mobile survey could offer, and these photos can be shared in social media, for yet another promotional bonus.”
“Using an on pack promotion, combined with the fact that our consumers nearly all have a smartphone or tablet, helped us not only implement the effort quickly, but also helped us collect incredibly useful information with a very limited budget,” van Muilwijk says.
“The whole effort — with the photos and real-time responses, and how quickly, inexpensively and painlessly we created and implemented the mobile survey — couldn’t have gone better,” van Muilwijk concludes. “We definitely plan to repeat this kind of promo in the future.”
When Founder Jan Van Deun passed away in 1950, it seemed that the company would no longer play a role in the confectionery market. A turnaround came when the Groep Vanherpe bought the factory and renamed it Astra Sweets Ltd.
In 1999, Vanherpe took another important step, taking over two sugar processing factories in the Netherlands from Cadbury Schweppes: Faam and Frisia. Faam was producing wine gums and liquorice in Breda, and Frisia was manufacturing marshmallows in Harlingen. Both businesses continued under the name of Astra Faam Ltd. In August 2000, the last activities for the production of gingerbread were sold on and Astra Sweets started focusing exclusively on manufacturing confectionery.
Engaging Consumers Like Never Before
As a market leader in the Netherlands’ soft sweet segment, Astra Sweets’ brand Frisia manufactures successful variants of marshmallows, foam sweets and sherbet filled flying saucers, all in easily recognizable packaging that is eye-catching and consistent. But, Frisia decided to get more creative in order collect first-hand consumer feedback.
Typically, an on-pack promotion highlights a compelling contest or offer to attract attention and induce product trial on crowded retail shelves. Additionally, putting a promotion on the actual product package eliminates the cost and limitations of using in-store signage. Done correctly and creatively, this retail tactic can also be accomplished without having to reprint costly packaging.
Similarly, instant coupons and buy-one-get-one-free promotions have been the mainstays of package-based promos. However, Frisia has taken on-pack engagement to another level, leveraging ever-present smartphones and tablets.
Increasing the Value of an On-Pack Promo
Instead of a costly reprint of Frisia packaging, Eline van Muilwijk, Marketing manager at Astra Sweets NV/Astra Faam BV, and her team, printed 20,000 inexpensive stickers that were adhered to the front of the candy pack. The black and white QR code looked out of place on the colorful package, but in a good way.
“We really think the presence of the QR code signaled to consumers that there was something special going on, and helped draw their attention,” she continues. To compel consumers to take the survey, Frisia would reward participants with a large box of its mini marshmallows.
People who are interacting with your product are valuable sources of information. An on-pack promotion, by definition, uses the package itself to initiate the interaction — with both long-time, loyal customers and prospects alike. Traditional e-mail surveys, on the other hand, depend on a database of existing e-mail addresses, eliminating the chance of collecting feedback from new or prospective customers. And, e-mail reduces the likelihood that respondents will be taking your survey with package in hand.
“Asking customers who have our actual package in front of them was essential for this effort,” says van Muilwijk. “We wanted to ask consumers specific questions about our packaging for Frisia Mini Marshmallows. Using the candy box to invite them to give their input was much more effective than using the e-mail surveys we’ve used in the past. We got insights and feedback about our packaging we could never have gotten with an email survey.”
Frisia selected Survey Anyplace, a mobile tool that lets anyone easily create surveys and quizzes that people take on their own `smartphone or tablet while they’re in the middle of interacting with a product or service — without having to download an app. These mobile surveys and quizzes collect in-the-moment customer feedback, event evaluation, marketing research, sales leads and more. Respondents’ data is streamed instantly to a secure centralized location, guaranteeing real-time, objective data.
“We love how easy it is to create a survey on the Survey Anyplace site,” says van Muilwijk. “We uploaded the Frisia graphic elements we wanted, and they were incorporated into the mobile survey design automatically.” van Muilwijk’s team purposely kept the survey short and fun, to make taking the survey painless for their consumers. “Nearly everyone has a smartphone or tablet,” she adds, “so using mobile surveys to get the information we needed made perfect sense.”
Frisia’s Sweet Success
The immediacy of the on pack promotion, and using a mobile survey was one of the reasons Astra exceeded its 0.3% response goal for this effort.
“We were thrilled to get a 2.2% response rate,” van Muilwijk adds. An added bonus: Astra actually collected e-mail addresses and other contact information during the survey, growing another marketing channel.
To take the survey, consumers either scanned the QR code with their mobile device, or entered the URL into their mobile’s browser to get instant access to the survey. In a few swipes, they’d answered the questions and even entered answers to an open-ended question about how they use the mini marshmallows. Each respondent’s answers were uploaded instantly at the end of the survey. Frisia’s campaign was also independent of any retailer assistance, requiring no special in-store displays or signage, and no data-related retailer effort whatsoever. Frisia could track survey responses in real time and will use the information in future marketing and product development efforts.
Respondents were also encouraged to take a photo with their mobile device of how they like eating the mini marshmallows (pictured). “This provided an unprecedented way to ‘have a look’ into someone’s kitchen, or anywhere else he or she is eating them,” van Muilwijk adds. “It’s a seamless functionality only a mobile survey could offer, and these photos can be shared in social media, for yet another promotional bonus.”“Using an on pack promotion, combined with the fact that our consumers nearly all have a smartphone or tablet, helped us not only implement the effort quickly, but also helped us collect incredibly useful information with a very limited budget,” van Muilwijk says.
“The whole effort — with the photos and real-time responses, and how quickly, inexpensively and painlessly we created and implemented the mobile survey — couldn’t have gone better,” van Muilwijk concludes. “We definitely plan to repeat this kind of promo in the future.”