FREE, free free!
Got your attention didn’t I?
Now don’t be bashful. You see every manufacturer, every marketing man, every advertising man and every other man on the street knows ‘free’ works.
What makes it work is a loaded question.
Most marketers just say “ Why it works? What do you mean why? I mean really… why ?”
Which means they don’t really know.
There are others who will say that ‘why’ does not matter as long as it works. After all Adam bit into the apple didn’t he?
But certain people just won’t leave well enough alone. They still want to know why ‘free’ works
Sigmund Freud might say it was a deep rooted tendency acquired in childhood.
Probably because Mommies and Daddies did all that clothing, feeding, taking care of and raising you free.
In exchange of which all you had to do was just grow up quickly, bawling as little as possible along the way!
So when you are offered something free, it creates a feeling of great parental security!
Another theory is that in this cold, materialistic, feeling less world, ‘free’ is a warm, welcoming, feeling that makes one feel it is okay to be broke and therefore attracts (broke!)people to it.
There is also the school of thought that says ‘free’ works because it is a well organised political movement.
Free is part of the word freedom – meaning independence. In this case possibly independence from monetary restrictions.
Needless to say there are not many takers for this theory!
(At this point I would like to mention that those with alternate theories of why free works may write to me at: shabnampathak@hotmail.com)
A poor man will probably explain the attraction to free easily. He can’t afford most things that are not.
And the rich man got that rich by accepting everything that was free!
Or maybe free is just a reward for those tired legs that traveled blocks to get to that last store that offered something free. Just hope that store was not giving it free with stilettos!
Whatever the reason, ‘free’ works.
What David Ogilvy preached many years ago as one of the ten commandments of good marketing copy is now common knowledge.
Along the way ‘sale’ and ‘special offer’ too have amassed a great fan following.
The words ‘sale’ ‘special offer’ and other such phrases have become the shining lights by which many run their businesses.
These businesses, like dormant volcanoes, unleash their fury during these ‘sale’ periods.
Media presence shoots up. Staff and services are spruced up. The smiles come back on.
And once the sale is over they go back to a quiet, retired existence.
Besides increasing sales, ‘free’ has other abilities too.
Free passes and invites to shows, movies and events can increase great love for the source of the passes.
Never mind if the show is conducted in the dialect of a foreign language. Or it was so badly organised it started four hours late.
At least the passes were free.
Free lunch or dinner at an event can make it amazingly successful.
And never, ever underestimate the power of a free drink!
It is known to have secret powers that makes fools out of friends and informants out of colleagues.
Correctly said, if you want to know the true character of a man, look at his expression when something free is offered!
What do you think?