Saturday, March 5, 2011

Research Studies, Product Sampling and it's Rich Rewards

Sometimes, being tech savvy is a wonderful, wonderful thing. You find your way onto all sorts of interesting websites where you can give your opinion on the world, trending issues in business, fashion, tech gadgets, and so much more. Some of these websites reward your candor with coupons, or incentives like Amazon gift cards, or cold hard cash. The really GREAT sites, do all of the above as well as provide social change by sparing some of the change you earn (or matching it) to give to a charity of your choosing. In addition, the more you interact with their customers (ie: retail conglomerates, telecommunications magnates, even credit card companies) and give your HONEST feedback, the more "points" you earn and the more activities you are presented with on said website.Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't read one of my many many many posts about Crowdtap- Where Consumers & Brands Collaborate on Facebook, or Twitter, or just my mad ramblings in person then I highly recommend you click that little link, or google them and take a tour.

 I've done SurveyMonkey, and SurveySavvy, and Valued Opinions and I get called for research studies where I taste test food, or try out one of the market's leading computer giants newest products to tell them where they are failing to connect to the consumer. This is not my first dance with consumer marketing, but yet it is my most favorite. Sure I'm also a member of HouseParty where you can host parties in your home (get it... house party) and you get to sample products for free, and you get goodies to share with the guests you invite to your home. To date I've had 2 of these house parties; one for EA Sports where I was a very lucky recipient of an EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii, and the other was a VERY fun evening for myself and about 10 girlfriends thanks to Durex, and a very special lady: Chrystal Bougon of BlissConnection.

Needless to say I have experience giving my opinions on products, food, technology and everything in between. I enjoy it thoroughly and not just for the monetary rewards, as those are usually minimal, in comparison to the fun I have doing it. It's nice to know you have a direct impact on brands, you impact the way they think, how they market and who they market to, as well as the impact they have on the environment in doing so.

My latest score (because I think of these free products as a definite score to be had) was with Old Navy, and being a part of their Denim Devotee Sampling through CrowdTap. At first I was worried that I wouldn't get to participate as it seemed they had picked many many many many women to take part, and things like this are usually quite limited. Old Navy isn't going to make money by giving away a few thousand pairs of jeans, or even tens of thousands...... but what they DO make money off of is the referrals of all these women who get the jeans for free, and share the extra coupons with their friends.You see, Old Navy is betting on the old adage that women tend to buy more than one of something they fall in love with when it comes to clothing. They would be correct. I've been known to buy every color of a top I absolutely adored, or multiple pairs of jeans that not only made me look thinner but made my ass look good. Both events have happened at Old Navy more than once.  So to say I was ecstatic to receive my coupons in the mail today, would be a vast understatement. I was elated!

Then came the daunting realization, one that is enforced into our (women's) brains every day through magazines, tv shows, models, fashion week etc, you need to be at least 5'6" to pull of ankle length jeans, or conversely if you're under that height your weight to height ratio better fall perfectly on the BMI scale, less you risk looking like a bloated puffin waiting for a flood. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking these jeans, or Old Navy for cow-towing to the masses, and the fashion world for following a trend that everyone else is marketing to. It's just not ever woman can pull off every trend. Personally, even though I did find a pair of ON Ankle Jeans that fit me (though I think I look very silly in them, unless I roll the cuffs even higher and swear I'm only going to wear them with flip flops) and I took them home; I found it would be a vast disservice to Old Navy if all I did was praise them. They need to hear the truth, even if it means that *I* may not like the particular style of pants much, I'm still going to share my coupons with friends who will look good in them, and I'm still going to rave about Old Navy for even giving us this opportunity! How many other brands out there are plying their willing clientele with free clothing just for good reviews, word of mouth referral and praying for it to rack up on the back end with a healthy "in the black" quarter or year end? None.

I am a 30 year old woman, who is 5'1" when I'm being completely honest, and who fluctuates from a size 16-18. Most definitely a plus sized petite gal who has ALWAYS had a difficulty finding her style in a world of size 2-10. Though today's equivalent is 00-8. I truly appreciate Old Navy for carrying in all their stores, clothing up to a size 20, and then more plus size options online. This is a brand who has taken a risk to try and please as many customers as they can, while still providing quality goods. Most stores are very selective in their target market and they make no excuses or apologies for it. Lane Bryant: size 14-32, and while I can find pants/jeans here that fit and are usually in style, my top half is much smaller and I can never wear their dresses/or tops without feeling like I'm drowning. I used to be able to shop at New York & Company, as they carried up to a size 18 regularly in their stores. At some point they changed their formula for sizing and their version of an 18, is much more akin to a size 14 elsewhere. No big deal, they still have my allegiance when it comes to tops/sweaters and accessories, and when I lose enough weight to fit into their pants again, I'll be happy. The great thing about Old Navy, that I will never complain about: is that I don't have to segment my shopping with them. I can buy all sorts of separates there and find a size that will fit. I may not always like the size listed on the tag (as they too over the years have either changed where clothing is made, distributors, or sizing charts) but I will always find something that fits.

So to you Old Navy, I say keep up the great work. I am an individual who will not always like every piece of clothing that sits on your shelves, but I will support you to my fullest for being able to provide women like me (short and curvy) with a place for one stop shopping. Regardless of whether or not I look good in your latest trend sensation, I will always, and gladly suggest you to my friends. The 3 women I'm sharing my other Free Pair of Ankle Jean coupons with are ecstatic, and cannot wait to get their hands on them. Hopefully I'll get some statements out of them in the near future, and see what they think about the item of clothing. We're all quite different in our styles, ages, and height/weight, so you should have a very close version of a random sampling as you can get.

If you want to know how you can get free samples, do house party demos, be a product evaluator, taste tester or research study participant than please check out the following websites. There are many many more than what I have listed here, but these are the ones I've proudly, and productively been a part of.

www.houseparty.com
www.crowdtap.com
www.surveysavvy.com
www.nicholsresearch.com/
www.valuedopinions.com/
www.beezag.com

Cheers and Happy Participating!

Quinn