SMARTER
SAMPLING.

Sampling in bars,
without ambassadors

Prepared for AB InBev
100+ Accelerator Cohort 8

Sampling works.
Proving it is
the hard part.

Up to

1%

of revenue goes
to sampling

Estimate from the
Head of AI & Emerging Tech, Diageo

The old way	Gratis’ way
How many samples?
“About 60 today.”	53 over 87 minutes per timestamps.
Who tried it?
“Some college kids.”	62% male. 31% Latino. Median age 24.
Did sales increase?
“Probably, everyone loved it.”	12% increase over 4 weeks post-sample.

“We don’t track
impressions,
because we can buy
impressions.”

Marcel Marcondes
Global CMO, AB InBev

ANA Masters of Marketing
Oct 2026

Point-of-sale: about 29% of measured alcohol marketing spend (FTC) · Up to 50% of temporary POS materials are thrown out (OnTrak)

Sampling without
ambassadors

01

Real-time
Insights

POS data links each sample
to sales at the venue.

02

High
Efficiency

Venue staff serve the sample.
No ambassador needed.

03

Lower
Footprint

No ambassador travel.
Less printed material.

From impression to counted action

Bar TV showing the Michelob ULTRA Zero offer with a filled glass and a real guest-demo QR code

Michelob ULTRA Zero TV offer: A free pour, on us

Try the live demo Watch the 2-minute demo video

Michelob ULTRA Zero filled-glass offer screen

Guest registration screen with name and formatted phone fields

Your answer is recorded; show this screen to staff and have ID ready

1Scan
2Confirm 21+
and register
3Staff check ID
and pour
4Venue paid
through its POS

500+venues

200K+samples

$3.2M+paid to bars and restaurants

9POS integrations

At scale,
and measured per pour

+115%

Denver · Don Julio

Sampled product sales
during the campaign.

+29%

Oklahoma City · Pacifico

Paid sales vs baseline.
Still +13% the month after.

77

Pittsburgh · Dogfish Head

Paid units from a new placement.
Promoted on TV screens, no print.

Observed against each venue’s own baseline, not controlled tests.

Engagement you can count

Venue

Receipt-level sales

Measure lift and brand performance.

Menu and pricing data

Measure brand positioning.

Consumer

Demographic details via confirmed
mobile numbers.

23%

opt in to
brand updates

24%

answer the
post-sample survey

Hours of coordination,
down to minutes

Ambassador event

Billed for time.

4–7hours

of internal coordination
per event.

Gratis

40%

cheaper than a national
sampling agency

About $4 per verified sample, plus the drink.

30–40 minutes to set up a campaign.

Automatic reporting.

4–7 hours: Constellation Brands field marketing lead. 40% cheaper: Diageo.

Why a zero-alcohol pilot

Smart Drinking has made no- and low-alcohol beer a priority.

01

Did they
try it?

Every sample recorded
on the bar’s POS.

02

Did they
buy it again?

Full-price repeat orders.

03

Did it replace an
alcoholic drink?

One question before the pour:
“What would you have ordered otherwise?”

The pilot

One U.S. market. One zero-alcohol beer.

01
One market
Michelob ULTRA Zero,
for example.
02
About 20 bars
Bars that already
carry the beer.
03
Four weeks
One event a week per bar.
About 3,000 samples.
04
Before and after
Compare sales 30 days before, during and 30 days after.

Offer runs on the bar’s TV screens and digital signage instead of print.

What success looks like

First-time triers

Full-price repeat orders

Sales before, during and after

Footprint savings

Proposed pilot budgetabout$38,700

$13,500 in platform fees and up to $25,200 paid to venues. No markup.

If it works, national, market by market.

Every connected bar can be reactivated for future campaigns.

Running this well takes POS data, payments,
and reaching the right consumer.

Ayan Roy

CEO

Built a beverage alcohol analytics venture with Nielsen, harmonizing POS data across 25,000 venues.

Christopher Caruso

COO

Employee #3 at Nielsen’s programmatic advertising arm.

Nathan Adamson

CPO

Led product for Walmart’s digital banking platform.

Donald Hanson

Head of Engineering

Integrated every major POS system at OpenTable.

Engagement
you can count.

One zero-alcohol beerOne U.S. marketThree monthsAbout $38,700

Ayan Roy, CEO

ayan@gratisiq.com gratisiq.com

SMARTERSAMPLING.

Sampling works.Proving it isthe hard part.

Sampling withoutambassadors

Real-timeInsights

HighEfficiency

LowerFootprint