The makers phero colognes/perfumes - an Appeal

[CJ01]

All makers of fragrances normally provide samples of their products for people to test and tryout. Now why have the makers of the various phero colognes not made any point of doing the same.
I´m sure that NOBODY still buys APC, Lure, Realm etc for their next-to-nothing mone contents right? And why should anyone invest $50 or even $30 in a cologne which might be dreadful on themselves?

Providing little samples would also be a much better form of advertising and marketing and much more correct than sending out spam mail ( eg APC).

Bruce, what are the chances of getting the companies to sending you such samples (- 1 or 2 ml sized ones would be sufficient), so you can send them out, along with orders to check them out? That´d be great!

What does everyone else think of this idea?

CJ images/icons/cool.gif

[Whitehall]

While you and I would love to get free samples, I doubt it would be a wise business move for the manufacturers.

Most of these companies are pretty small potatoes and free samples are going to be expensive marketing proposition for them since it will involve new packaging (at least). A large number of users will seek to be \"freeriders\" and will use the samples in lieu of purchased product - just like I try to do with mainstream fragrances. Perhaps a tightly controlled distribution through retailers like Bruce could limit this but that would put the responsiblity (and cost) on Bruce to distribute, mail, and restrict. Do the manufacturers\' distribution channels want to take on this effort? I doubt it although the free single samples of Excite wipes is one positive precedent.

Sure, I\'d love free samples, but I\'m not holding my breath. This Forum is a lower cost substitute that works well for me, but then I can afford to experiment with $30 or $50 bucks occasionally based on the advice available here.

Joseph Whitehall MBA

[Bruce]

Hi,

There is something very mysterious about this forum. News breaks here almost before I know about it myself. As it turns out there is a sample-sized version of one product coming out in about 6 weeks. I don\'t want to mention the name yet for various reasons, but I couldn\'t keep my mouth completely shut when I saw this thread.

As Whitehall mentioned, free samples are a marketing approach mainly available to massive corporations that can take the loss, and since pheromone products often take a few weeks to \"reveal their greatness\" to users, really all you can hope to gain from giving out samples is that the potential customer will personally get the \"phero buzz\" and seriously love the fragrance. A good analogy might be the herbal extract St. John\'s Wort. You have to take the stuff 3X/day for several weeks before you detect any change at all, so it would be pretty silly to give out small packets with a daily dose in them. That said though, I have always dreamed of free samples of a phero product that delivered a nice \"buzz\" and smelled fantastic, and I think my dream is soon to come true.

The secret to getting the project off the ground was to figure out where the money was going to come from for the project, since the manufacturers are certainly not in a position to pay for them. The answer was that I\'m going to pay for them myself. The \"why?\" is that I worked out a deal where I can advertise Love-Scent.com on the packaging. Actually, it is a long long story that started years ago, but hey, I\'ve shot off my mouth enough already.

Cheers,
Bruce

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Didnt you know bruce CJ me jambat and a whole heap of others are psychic really we are and we put it up before it happens to get some stuff going images/icons/laugh.gif like i said raised androgens levels raise brain functioning to the psychic level allowing us to rule the world and making very silly things happen as well like lots of DIHL from everyone else aroudn us.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

It seems that a lot of these pheromone companies out there that use spam are either out to make a quick buck off something that works and that also has the effect of slowing down interest because those people get suckered in and then say that the stuff doesnt work because they have no access to good quality products in the first place.

Apparently a lot of people still buy yes etc.

[CJ01]

Whitehall, I don´t mean getting free stuff as such and the idea was not about trying to scrounge off anyone. The idea with making small samples available is very common, logical and useful to the manufacturers, big or small.

It´s also not quite true that only the large companies do this kind of advertising. But some little companies have become big over the years of course.

One good example I can think of is Chanel. Coco Chanel started promoting her perfume by wearing it herself and when someone asked her what she was wearing she would give them a small bottle as a gift. And that´s how it started, we all know what became of this one!

Besides my suggestion was that Bruce should get such samples from the manufacturers of APC, Lure, Realm etc so he can send them out with orders already placed (like the xcite wipes). As for the companies - the don´t have THAT many retail outlets and if they chose a few good and reputable ones like Love-scent they can only make gain from this type of promotion.
You´re right of course it means investing a bit of money but this is always required and a little investment if done carefully can be very profitable.

Another alternative for letting people (ie US) would be to make samples and offer them for sale. I wouldn´t mind spending 50 cents or so for a reasonably sized sample. But I am not willing to spend loads on a fragrance that in the end makes me gag.
I know Bruce has a reall great money back guarantee but there´s 2 problems if I send back a bottle of say Realm. 1. It costs a fortune for me to send it back across the Atlantic and 2. Bruce will be stuck with an opened bottle of cologne and in the end nobody has won much.

Just out of interest, how many ml are in one bottle of APC or Realm?
What I´m basically saying is their marketing techniques suck a bit.

PS as for the packaging-all they need is those vials and that´s it.

Bruce thanks for `shooting your mouth off´
images/icons/tongue.gif I´m really curious now I want to know more!
CJ images/icons/smile.gif

[Nutt]

Bumpity bump!

Any news on this bruce? Maybe I missed it, maybe it\'s still in the works or maybe you forgot it with all the -dienone talk, forum trouble etc: But I thought It was worth some bumpage images/icons/laugh.gif

[Watcher]

Hey nutz leave it alone if i remember correctly bruce chucked in some free samples of wipes with orders earlier this year but its a good idea though although costly and for international orders a bit ? but if they go big like they probably will with most perfumes in the next couple of years then youll get phero samples at youre nearest dept store soon enough ( the big companies i hear are already working on it as is the body building and supplement industry.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Bruce, how about SELLING a sampler-pack??
Like a sett of small vials containing 1-2ml of each product at a good price and individual sample vials at a slightly inflated price(so that the pr/ml. price is lower in the full-size bottles(so that you don´t loose income because of people buying a sampler for that \"one\" party instead of the full-size)

Satan

[Bruce]

Atually, there are some samples on the horizon. They will come in little plastic/foil? packets like ketchup comes in. One of those two will be SOE.

Also, LaCroy is overhauling their \"nHance\" wipe into a formula that is so similar to the scented Edge that the name will be changed to \"Edge Wipes,\" and these wipes will be used extensively as free samples. As Watcher mentioned, we used to give away wipes with orders, but since the reorder info pointed to the manufaturers website, it was useless trying to make them work as samples. The new Edge wipes will have the love-Scent.com URL printed on them.

So, we\'ll have those soon for starters.

Satan, I like your idea about the sample pack.

Bruce

[CJ01]

That´s what I suggested ages ago !