Ready-to-bake cookie dough brand Doh! is preparing to hand out 12,000 free samples at London Waterloo after generating more than £200,000 in sales during its first eight weeks on supermarket shelves.

The BakeAway-owned brand will stage its first major sampling activation at the station on 21 July as part of its wider ‘You Doh-serve This’ marketing campaign.

Running from 7am until 9pm, the event — dubbed ‘Watergoo’ — will offer commuters samples of Doh!’s Double Choc Chunk and Salted Caramel products.

Shoppers will also receive vouchers offering £1.50 off an in-store purchase at Tesco or Asda.

Doh! launched in April across Tesco, Asda and Ocado and is set to expand into Co-op stores from 27 July.

The brand is sold in supermarkets’ chilled aisles and is designed to be cut, shaped and baked at home.

BakeAway is supporting the launch with a £500,000 marketing investment, which it described as its largest spend behind a new brand.

According to figures supplied by Doh!, the range generated almost 300 per cent of the sweet dough category’s net value growth during its first weeks on sale, helping offset declines elsewhere in the market.

After seven weeks, the brand had secured an 8.6 per cent value share and a 6.8 per cent unit share of the category.

Following an increase in distribution, Doh! said it accounted for 21 per cent of category value and 18.5 per cent of unit sales during the latest four-week period.

The Waterloo giveaway has been timed to coincide with the publication of consumer research commissioned by the brand examining shoppers’ attitudes towards indulgence.

The survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 79 per cent believed life was too short not to enjoy an occasional sweet treat, although 52 per cent said they had previously talked themselves out of buying one.

More than half of respondents, at 56 per cent, believed Britain had an unhealthy relationship with enjoying food, while 28 per cent said they felt they needed to “earn” a sweet treat.

Some 14 per cent said they had counted or considered calories the last time they ate one.

However, the research suggested treats remained a frequent purchase, with 34 per cent of consumers eating something sweet every day and 32 per cent doing so several times a week.

Younger shoppers appeared more conflicted about indulgence than older consumers.

Just 47 per cent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 said they enjoyed a sweet treat without having second thoughts, compared with 69 per cent of those aged 65 and over.

Almost half of consumers aged between 18 and 24 reported feeling some guilt when eating a treat, compared with 24 per cent of over-65s.

Women were also more likely to report feeling guilty, at 49 per cent, compared with 28 per cent of men.

Doh! senior brand manager Denise Henson said: “We wanted to understand what is really stopping people from enjoying a treat before we put samples directly into commuters’ hands.

“Our research shows that the appetite is there, but a lot of shoppers still feel they need permission to indulge.

“The ‘Watergoo’ activation is about meeting people at a moment in their day when a small treat genuinely lifts the mood, and giving them a reason to follow through at the shelf.”

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