We love supplying sampling staff to Birmingham’s Grand Central Station, formerly known as New Street Station. This article explains why you should love it too! And why it is the perfect location to promote your brand, products, and services. Push’s sampling staff are all experienced, skilled and professional. They get your samples into the hands of your target audience and create positive memorable interactions with the public.
Train stations are great places to sample because they receive thousands upon thousands of people through their doors every day. Commuters, tourists, railway workers and just some of the people who pass through train stations. Some may be dashing through to make an appointment or connecting trains, but other people may have time to kill waiting in the station before their train. This is where product sampling can be effective! Companies should take advantage of traveller’s waiting time to grab attention and get them invested in their brand.
New Street Station
But why send sampling staff to Grand Central (New Street) Station in particular? Well, it is one of the busiest and largest railway stations in the United Kingdom, serving as a vital transportation hub connecting various destinations across the country. Its location in the middle of the country means that Birmingham connects the North and South of the country (the less said about the chaos that is HS2 the better). It is a critical interchange for journeys to London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and more.
Integrated into the Grand Central (New Street) station complex is the Grand Central shopping centre. It contains an array of shops, restaurants, and cafes. New stores and eateries are constantly opening in the station so the public is enticed to return again and again.
Moreover, the station is connected via a walkway to the famous silver-disc-covered Bullring shopping centre. It is also a short walk away from a variety of Birmingham destinations such as Broad Street, Brindley Place, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Utilita Arena, Birmingham Library, and the German Market (over the festive season). It is also near to the O2 Academy, Hippodrome Theatre, and even more. Visitors to these locations often stop off at the station for a quick bite to eat or drink before carrying on to their next location.
Additionally, the station is home to the Commonwealth Games Bull! It is named Ozzy after local legend Ozzy Osborne from Black Sabbath. This bull is a new local landmark and attracts further visitors to the New Street station.
Grand Central (New Street) station, therefore, attracts a widely diverse number of people. Making it an ideal product sampling location.
Product Sampling Staff
Product sampling staff distribute free samples or branded goodies to members of the public. The theory is that people will be enticed by a free sample, be wowed by the product, and then go away and purchase it for themselves. Branded goodies will be taken away and act as free advertising for the brand. Examples of branded goodies are keyrings, stress balls, fans, caps, etc.
Our product sampling staff can be hired to sample all sorts of beverages. From soft drinks to alcoholic beverages, and frozen drinks to hot and steaming. We work with several well-known brands in the UK such as Campari, Absolut, Aperol Spritz, and Camden Town Brewery. There are several extra considerations when sampling alcoholic beverages, see our article here for more information. We also have trained mixologists and baristas available for hire.
Furthermore, our staff can distribute food samples. We have staff with Level 2 Food hygiene certification available to sample edible produce. It is vitally important that all ingredients are clearly labelled to prevent any allergic reactions. Food samples also need to be stored and presented appropriately.
Other common products that can be sampled include cosmetics, fragrances, and magazines.
Our Sampling Staff At New Street Station
Push’s product sampling staff have often worked at New Street Station. All of our staff are professional, personable and skilled. Below are some examples:
1. Mentos
We supplied twelve of our finest brand ambassadors and sampling staff for the “Who Says No to Mentos” Campaign. The experiential campaign aimed to bring people together and open a conversation up through the product.
Our sampling staff were tasked with sampling sweets to the general public passing through the station. The brand ambassadors were provided with branded Mentos uniforms and usherette trays and worked both inside and outside of the brand new station – Grand Central Station Birmingham.
An experiential element to the campaign was created which included a giant interactive Mentos tube which was placed outside New Street Station in Birmingham. There were 3 photo stations throughout the station which our staff were tasked with encouraging the public to record GIFs of themselves, which were then displayed on the Media Eyes, situated at the entrance to the station. The largest Media eye was situated over the main entrance to the station concourse from the pedestrian plaza, adjacent to the Bullring Shopping Centre. The animations rolled over 60 seconds, containing 8 of the latest GIFs per 60 seconds. 1000s of live, one-on-one interactions were created that allowed the Birmingham public to create connections with the Mentos brand.
2. West Midlands Railway
In 2018 Push Promotions supplied several teams of sampling staff to work at the West Midlands Railway free coffee giveaway event. Our experienced brand ambassadors were assigned to various stations around the West Midlands including Wolverhampton Train Station, Walsall, and, of course, Birmingham.
Small teams of staff were present at each train station to giveaway empty cups and vouchers which could be redeemed at either Leon in Birmingham New Street or Centenary Lounge in Birmingham Snow Hill for a free cup of coffee. The price of the coffee was the equivalent of an ‘Evening Day Return’ ticket with West Midlands Railway- highlighting their value for money.
All staff wore branded t-shirts and coats to fully represent the brand.
Other Birmingham Promotional Staff
As well as New Street Station, we also provide promotional and sampling staff to other Birmingham locations. For example:
- Promotional Models for Secret Cinema photoshoots in and around Birmingham city centre and Birmingham NEC.
- Here to Help Staff at the Caravan, Camping, and Motorhome Show at Birmingham’s NEC.
- Registration Staff to a Specsavers conference at the ICC Birmingham.
- A Brand Ambassador to work at a Pavegen stand in the Bullring
And many more- see them here.
New Street Station Sampling Staff
So there you have it- why product sampling at Birmingham New Street/Grand Central Station is such an effective and alluring promotional tool. We work with our clients to find a staffing team for every budget. We also handpick each member of staff for every event to ensure that they are the perfect match for your company. Moreover, as we were founded in Birmingham, we have lots of local staff on our 3000+ database, so can often save you money on staff transport and accommodation costs.
Contact us today for more information!
