the task
Rio Mare wanted to raise awareness of their products’ quality amongst Waitrose shoppers, not just claim it. That meant putting their Tuna in Olive Oil and Mexican Tuna Salad directly into shoppers’ hands at Waitrose Bluewater for them to try and turning that first taste into a basket item through genuine, unhurried conversation with every shopper at the stand.
the solution
Over eight days, from Sunday 12th to Sunday 19th July, we took over the Waitrose Bluewater front of store activation space with a brand presence shoppers couldn’t miss. An oversized Rio Mare can sampling table anchored the space, framed by a branded backdrop, an Ape van FSDU, a branded spin to win game, a standard FSDU and a branded floor sticker marking the spot.
Brand ambassadors served two products from the Rio Mare Waitrose range: Tuna in Olive Oil served in a savoury croustade, and Mexican Tuna Salad served in a bamboo boat. Rather than rushing people through, the team used each conversation to talk through the products, the brand and the benefits of olive oil, often spending up to five minutes with each shopper on the quieter weekdays.
A Rio Mare spin to win game ran throughout the activation, with every shopper getting one spin for the chance to take home a branded wooden chopping board or tote bag. It drew plenty of interest and the dwell time at the stand gave Brand Ambassadors the chance to talk through the brand and product benefits properly, and to understand what shoppers usually bought when it came to tuna.
Rio Mare Marketing Manager
the results
The campaign figures told a compelling story. Waitrose shoppers tend to be very engaged with quality ingredients and Bluewater’s pull as a destination store meant they’d usually make a trip of it rather than dashing in on a quick top-up run. That gave the team an audience already leaning towards the brand, with the time to fully engage. The Rio Mare activation turned Bluewater into the site of a sales record, driven by engaging, quality conversation with almost every shopper who stopped by.
Brand ambassadors handed out 3500 samples across the eight days, but the real shift happened on the quieter weekdays. With plenty of time to talk shoppers through the range properly, those conversations converted at a rate few sampling campaigns ever reach, with almost every taster going on to buy.
That shift showed up fast. By day four, Rio Mare Tuna in Olive Oil was up 14,700% week on week at the store, breaking Waitrose Bluewater’s activation sales record outright.
The spin to win game kept the momentum going, with prizes split almost evenly between tote bags and chopping boards and shoppers happy to linger for their turn to play.
Shoppers were vocal about why they were buying Rio Mare. “You can really taste the difference in quality here,” said one, while another simply put it: “it’s so meaty.”
The sampling did the selling. The spin to win kept people around long enough to have that all-important conversation, and together they proved just how powerful engaged, unhurried conversation can be for Rio Mare and its premium products.
