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Hello. My name's Sue Barnard. I've come to talk to you this afternoon about that old marketing perennial, the free gift. I work as a marketing consultant, on a freelance basis, and I thought that I would begin with an anecdote. One of the companies I work with is a major manufacturer of consumer durables, and so I need to keep in touch with the latest campaigns being launched by rival groups, as well as seeing how our own efforts are looking. So I'm a keen reader of weekly magazines. Although I'm actually based in Manchester, last week I happened to be with some clients at their sales conference, which was being held in Wales. On the way there, waiting at the station, I popped into a newsagent for a browse, to pass the time. The March issue of Prime magazine immediately caught my eye because the cover said 'Free Gift this Issue: Free Diary'. And it puzzled me because I had seen the same issue on sale in Manchester without any gift. Clearly, people in Wales were getting the same magazine, but all packaged up in a special plastic jacket with this gift inside. Why, I wondered, were people in my area losing out? |
