• Marketing is an ever-evolving and challenging field; constant innovation can take you forward. 
• Freemium and Making Marketing Fun can be great ideas if used correctly. 

Marketing your business, product, or service can be daunting; here’s a series of great marketing ideas part I for comprehensive success. Business owners and entrepreneurs invest strategically in marketing strategies. Some bring results, while some don’t. Brint Marketing Solutions brings you a series of great marketing ideas explained with case studies and insights to help you. 

One size only sometimes fits all. Similarly, a great marketing strategy might only work for some. Understanding the strategies, knowing best what would work, and including the best tactics to scale your business beyond your dreams is highly recommended. For instance, giving away freebies and making the marketing fun can be great options. 

How Freebies or Giveaways Can Be Helpful

Contrary to popular belief that says there’s no free lunch, there are multiple examples where businesses successfully used this giveaway tactic for marketing. Giving away the product the company invested so much in for free, also called freemium, sounds counterintuitive, but in some cases, it could be the only way to establish a new market. 

It can be used intelligently if the product is revolutionary, but the market does not exist, or there’s fierce competition. Asking money upfront for a revolutionary product might be a barrier, but allowing them to use it firsthand for free could create a market. There are multiple examples where companies sell products for a cheaper price but make money in peripherals. 

Real-World Examples Where Businesses Benefited from Giveaways Marketing

There are multiple real-world examples where businesses have used freebies or giveaway methods for success. Everyone knows that carmakers sell cars relatively cheaply but charge exorbitant prices for genuine spare parts. Experts advise companies to understand that not every product leaving the production line should have a price tag; some products can lay the groundwork for upcoming or related products. 

Gillette: The Best A Man Can Be Marketing

Gillette needs no introduction; it’s now one of the best men’s grooming brands. When King C. Gillette invented the safety razor, he was still working elsewhere. It was the time when razors needed sharpening before every shave, so he invented disposable razors. Also, a way to make blades and razors to hold them. 

Manufacturing blades was easy but would only have been profitable by selling them in millions. Gillette wanted men to switch over from cut-throat old razors to disposable razors. They gave away thousands of razors with blades to provide a safe razor experience. Once the masses got the taste, there was no turning back. 

Multiple examples are similar to Gillette, some of which are discussed below:

• Dropbox offered 2GB of free storage, which initially hooked the subscriber, and most upgraded to paid plans. Slack initially allowed free plans with unlimited messaging for small teams, allowing them to experience the platform and upgrade to paid plans for additional features. 

• Spotify provides free access to a vast music library, but with ads, tempting users to buy their premium subscription. Canva also offers a freemium model providing access to design templates, photos and fonts, while paid plans unlock premium features and content. Duolingo is a free language learning app providing free bite-sized lessons, luring users to buy paid plans for faster and personalized learning. 

• Zoom offers a free plan allowing 40 minutes of free meetings with up to 100 participants, but their paid plan offers larger meetings, webinars and integrations. Evernote offers a free plan with basic note-making and syncing features. Paid plan offers features like offline access, document collaboration and increased storage. 

If a brand decides to apply this freemium model, it must first identify the product or service that carries long-term commitment, with either peripherals, spares or other consumables. Businesses must ensure that before incorporating freemium, they have intellectual property rights like patents so nobody enters the market with a knockoff. 

Make Your Marketing A Fun Endeavour

Marketing is considered a tedious process, but it can be beneficial if the marketer manages to make the marketing fun for customers. The concept of viral marketing, better known as word-of-mouth marketing, generates more business than all traditional marketing methods combined. 

The main aim of making marketing fun is not to be too serious; it’s more like trying to subtly put the brand name among the audience. It is said that perfect marketing is marketing without the intent of marketing. Simply put, it’s selling the product without trying to sell it.

It is a powerful way to engage an audience, boost the brand recall value, and build a lasting connection. There are multiple real-world examples where brands made memorable ads that resonated with brands even after the product went out. At the same time, some ads are so memorable that they become even more popular than the brand itself. 

Radisson Hotel: The Duck Story

Radisson hotels are famous for their predominantly business clientele; these people spend a lot of time in their rooms. Spending more time in the room allows them to catch up with work, and they avoid sightseeing. The hotel chain hit on placing a plastic duck to play with in the bath. 

Interestingly, the duck came with a note that said guests were welcome to keep the duck, take it home, or have it delivered anywhere in the world. The hotel added the logistics costs to the final bill. But this small initiative allowed thousands of these ducks to bring smiles. A classic example is where Radisson sold themselves as a family-friendly brand without selling themselves. 

Old Spice’s famous campaign, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, sparked humor and unexpected online interactions that turned a classic brand into a social media phenomenon. Duolingo gamified the learning process, making it fun and engaging. Quirky mascots, playful animations and humorous communication by Slack made workplace communication more enjoyable. 

Oreo’s Dunk in the Dark campaign used playful packaging, social media engagement, and interactive challenges to create a fun quotient around the product. With their extreme sports sponsorship and high-energy content, Red Bull sparked a sense of adventure, and Give You Wings resonated best with the brand. 

Businesses and brands should work on doing something fun. They should also ensure that consumers can pass on their experience. They hit the right note if they establish a tangible connection with the audience. Also, the brands must be careful that they don’t get distracted from the brand image in an attempt to make the marketing fun. 

At Brint Marketing Solutions, our experts are actively researching great marketing ideas. We are bringing a series of blogs where we will be exploring case studies and exploring ideas for marketing. Brint Marketing Solutions can provide expert digital marketing solutions if you are interested in taking your business forward.