Gillette, Sky TV and Freebie Marketing

You may think of Gillette as the the shaving business that throws lots of money at David Beckham and tells us "It's the best a man can get!" Now a division of Proctor & Gamble it's very...well, ordinary.

But Gillette didn't start out that way. Started by King C. Gillette in 1895, what a great name, this was an innovative business. Gillette really exploited the concept of freebie marketing, in that you give something away to sell the consumable. Gillette would give away the razor to sell the blades. They still give away their latest product the Fusion Power. Same marketing tactic for over a 100 years!

Yesterday, I received an email from Sky TV telling me that they will give me a Sky+ Box and install it for free. All I have to do is sign up for one of their programme mixes.

Razor blades and TV programmes sold the same way for a 100 years. Now I accept that these are consumer products, but what can you give away to sell the consumables, maybe it's seminar, book, mp3.

What can you give away as a freebie that will keep people coming back over and over again? Time to think.