Chilled X Purina: A Collaboration in Motion

Over the past year and a half, Chilled Agency has built a strong working partnership with Purina, delivering campaigns across a growing portfolio of its brands and products. From Gourmet and Purina ONE to Felix and PRO PLAN, we’ve supported multiple launches and activations across the UK, taking each campaign from planning through to live delivery.

The numbers speak for themselves… Across our work together, we’ve handed out over 300,000 samples across 19 strategically selected UK locations, supported by a team of 20 dedicated brand ambassadors. Importantly, 60% of that team have worked across multiple Purina campaigns, giving us a core group of people who genuinely understand the brands and products they’re representing.

Building Knowledge With Every Campaign

One of the biggest benefits of an ongoing partnership is that we don’t start from scratch every time.

Each activation gives us more insight into what works – from the locations and environments that deliver the strongest engagement, to the type of sample, messaging and activation set-up that gets the best response.

For example, we’ve learned that shopping centres can offer a stronger environment for engagement than busy commuter locations. That premium looking activations help reinforce product quality. And that the right amount of product information on each sample can make a real difference to how consumers respond.
Rather than treating each campaign in isolation, we use our debrief process to capture those learnings, evaluate performance and feed them directly into the next brief, meaning the partnership gets smarter with every campaign.

The Right People, Not Just More People

Brand ambassadors are so much more than simply putting people on the ground.

The person representing a brand is often the only human interaction a consumer will have with it during an activation, so getting that person right matters. Depending on the campaign, that might mean someone highly knowledgeable and confident explaining a product, or someone whose strength is creating quick, friendly interactions in a high footfall environment.

Our recurring Purina team allows us to take this a step further. Product knowledge, experience and understanding are retained from campaign to campaign, reducing repeated briefing while creating a more confident and informed team on site. Our role exceeds simply handing someone a sample, our team educate, engage and give consumers a reason to take an interest in the product.

Adding Creative Value

While sampling has been a major part of our work with Purina so far, Chilled is much more than a sampling agency.

Our wider expertise spans creative campaign ideation, experiential activations, pop-ups, set design and build, staffing, logistics and end to end live delivery. We’re constantly looking at where we can take a brief beyond straightforward distribution and create something that gives people a reason to stop, engage and remember the brand.

Our experience creating bespoke campaigns for other major brands (from full creative pop ups to large scale public space activations) gives us the ability to bring that thinking into our work with Purina too.

In short, we consider not just how many samples we can put into consumers’ hands, but the experience surrounding that interaction: What will make someone stop? What will start a conversation? What will help them understand the product and make the brand stick in their mind afterwards?

One Team, From Brief to Live

Working across multiple Purina brands also allows us to create efficiencies behind the scenes.

From the brief through the build right through to the live event, we can carry knowledge forward, work with trusted suppliers, retain experienced staff and reuse or reskin existing activation assets where appropriate. That cohesive approach creates economies of scale across planning, suppliers, staffing and delivery, while reducing unnecessary production and waste.

It also supports a more sustainable way of working. Rather than producing entirely new event infrastructure for every campaign, reusable kits and adaptable assets can evolve from one activation to the next, an approach that delivers both environmental and commercial value.

A Partnership That Keeps Getting Stronger

Our partnership with Purina is building momentum…we’re just getting started!

As our relationship with the worlds leading pet care brand continues, we’re excited to keep pushing beyond traditional sampling, combining creative thinking, smart planning, brilliant people and live experience to help Purina brands connect with consumers in ways that have real impact.

Author
Jaron Hill, Creative Lead