"When you're trying to create an exciting environment for a sampling event, having enthusiastic, energetic people will always grab the attention of shoppers," says Adam Hollander, partner at The Field Marketers, a marketing company in San Francisco. "Marketers should take the time to choose people who have experience working with crowds, interacting with consumers."

The Field Marketers recently developed and executed an interactive sampling program for a major soft drink maker that required a group of high-energy people. Located at the entrance of various retail stores, the sampling team encouraged consumers to fill out trivia questionnaires and sing songs on a karaoke machine in exchange for T-shirts, hats and coupons good toward the purchase of the beverage within the stores.

Hollander describes the sampling team that was chosen as "very lively and fun and in general, the type of people who can get an unexpecting consumer to suddenly stand up in front of a crowd and sing."