Free as a marketing strategy

The Duct tape Marketing blog has an interesting article on the use of 'free' as a marketing strategy.

As I was reading this the postman arrived at my door. He had something from my health insurance provider, basically a note saying "We are giving away free health and fitness  advice and a free pedometer. Just return the card to get this"

Attached was a tear-off card, already addressed to a freepost number - which meant I didn't need a stamp - prefilled with my details. All I needed to do was fold the card, lick the edges to seal and drop it into a post box.

How simple is that? I bet they get a HUGE response to that initiative: They used the word "free". They made it easy to reply and they didn't put any obstacles in the way that would deflect me from doing this ("Oh, i need to put a stamp on", "Oh, I need to fill in my details for some marketing list", etc.)

How many of your marketing campaigns are so simple and effective...?

Posted via email from The Posterous Cafe