High school coaches in 18,000 U.S. schools will get samples for student athletes through a new contract for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.

The association’s deal with sports marketing shop Octagon Marketing North America will put product samples in the hands of 50,000 coaches, to distribute to their players, a combined 5 million students in all. From there, a brand’s image can build throughout the schools.

The collaboration brings resources to coaches, too, said Bill Purdy, director of corporate sponsorships for the association.

“Octagon understands sports and the marketplace and is very much attuned to our members’ responsibility for overseeing the health and welfare of their student-athletes,” Purdy said in a statement.

Norwalk, CT-based Octagon recently began sampling Playtex Sport tampons through women’s athletics programs in high schools and colleges. An accompanying on-line promotion awards student scholarships and money for teams (PROMO Xtra, Jan. 30).

“Given the influence student-athletes enjoy among their peers, programs directed to them have the potential to reach a larger segment of the student body,” said Octagon vice president Janet Nicolini in a statement.

Brands that court student athletes count on that wider reach, with athletes giving brands a halo effect.

Procter & Gamble saw that happen in 2001 when it took Old Spice Red Zone deodorant into locker rooms: A tie-in with the High School Football Coaches Association sent Red Zone marketing kits, including samples and branded premiums, to football coaches at 4,000 high schools. Coaches could nominate a weekly “Red Zone Player”; a national ad campaign lauded top players in USA Today. The trial rate was 81%, far above P&G’s average at the time of 53%. 360 Youth handled the program, which expanded to 15,000 schools in fall 2002 (PROMO November, 2002).

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