TVN's 'Watch & Win' breaks product sampling ground: Burbank company testing consumer response with video-on-demand offer.

'PRODUCT sampling" conjures up images of women in lab coats at the end of a supermarket aisle, but TVN Entertainment has successfully translated the concept to the video-on-demand market.

TVN, a major VOD provider based in Burbank, held a month-long "Watch & Win" campaign that consisted of a contest in which digital cable subscribers watched a movie trailer to enter.

More than 2.6 million VOD-enabled subscribers received promos about the campaign via cable spots and direct mail. Of those, 8 percent entered the contest. After viewing a "Watch & Win" trailer, 17 percent of them went on to purchase that particular movie. Furthermore, 31 percent of the customers who had not purchased a VOD movie in the past three months or longer eventually purchased a "'Watch & Win" title.

"Many digital customers aren't aware of their VOD service and have never tried it," said Amy Kan, vice-president of marketing of TVN. "The campaign tells customers where to find their on-demand service, removes many of the barriers to entry and "allows exploration of the on-demand space at no risk. In addition, our results show that once a consumer tries VOD, they are more likely to make a purchase."

The three films with trailers in the contest were "Inside Man" from NBC Universal, "Poseidon" from Warner Bros. and "Just My Luck" from Fox.

Like most product sampling exercises, this one is part direct sales, part consumer research. TVN plans to repeat the contest later this year, but based on experience, the company will try to get more support from cable operators and movie studios to increase VOD usage.

Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [e-mail], or at [phone], ext. 237.