"Most transactions hae an upside and a downside, but when something is FREE!, we forget the downside. FREE! gives us such an emotional charge that we perceive what is being offered as immensely more valuable than it really is."
- Dan Ariely, author
Predictably Irrational
Why do FREE?
"Free" engenders a sense of surprise, delight and excitement to your customers
"Free" is a welcomed invitation to generations of shoppers weary of price promotions
"Free" is the most powerful strategy to help your customers feel better during difficult times
"Free" also triggers powerful cultural norms regarding reciprocity
...At minimum, your customer will feel they owe you the favor of returning
How to do FREE right
Deploy free as an alternative to traditional price and promotion programs
- Free is always unilateral
- Free should never be predictable (e.g., every Monday)
- Free should never be tied to any other promotion (e.g., Purchase $10 worth of X and get a free Y)
Google recently announced a plan to sponsor free Wi-Fi to holiday travelers in 47 airports across America until January 15th. This is the best kind of FREE - something unexpected, very useful, and entirely unilateral.
We've written about unleashing the power of free in our latest download, Big Ideas and Things We Like (Plus Bacon). Download it for a great read on things to come in 2010.
Also keep your eyes and ears to HartBeat, our online newsletter, in the coming weeks as we expound further on the Power of FREE.
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