Lifeway Foods on March 11 launched The Lifeway 25th Anniversary tour, a national sampling program to promote the immune-building and digestive properties of its line of Kefir products. Kefir is a creamy, milk-based smoothie-like beverage that is packed with probiotics that foster digestive health.

The 11-week tour kicked off at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim and will travel to 10 cities before wrapping in New York City when Lifeway ceo Julie Smolyansky will ring the closing bell at NASDAQ in mid-May.

To promote its new portable hydraSense ToGo nasal saline inhaler, Merck is activating sampling teams on the streets of Montreal and Toronto from now through March 18. In each city, a team of three brand ambassadors deploys from a branded Ford Transit van in high-traffic areas to hand out samples of the new easy-to-carry individual doses, mini packs of tissues and hot chocolate to warm chilly consumers. In addition, the brand is handing out up to $5.50 in coupons, good toward any hydraSense product.

Mention the Consumer Electronics Show, that annual tech fest held in Las Vegas each year, and visions of paper-thin TV screens, tiny handheld gadgets and other innovations dance in our heads. This year there were light-up cereal boxes, self-cooking soup and floor-cleaning robots getting funky to the Black Eyed Peas. But a Trojan twisting vibrator and Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cups? Not your typical techy fare for sure, but uh, stimulating, to say the least. Ahem.

Stopping busy commuters in their tracks can often be a marketer’s biggest challenge. But when brands turn to innovative partnerships and engaging product sampling techniques, the high volume of meaningful touches they make can significantly increase sales and brand loyalty. Though the trick is giving consumers something worth stopping for, it’s equally important to have a backup plan in case they can’t. Microsoft and pen manufacturer BIC enticed hurried commuters to slow down this winter with memorable engagements at bustling train stations and busy airports.

Insurance company GEICO is getting on the NASCAR bandwagon with a recently signed five-year sponsorship deal that allows it to rebrand the camping areas at seven International Speedway Corporation race tracks. At the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, the brand set up The GEICO Caveman Campgrounds for tent campers and the GECKO Shores at Lake Loyd for larger Class A Motorhomes across from the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. During the event, GEICO provided the NASCAR tent campers and RV communities with free Wi-Fi with access for up to 65 users at one time.