A few weeks ago I bought myself a new printer, and to be honest the price astounded me. For somewhere around $50, I got a brand new colour printer, with a scanner, a few miniature ink cartridges and several other features Ill never use. I went home happy, somehow the gods of retail were smiling down on me and I got a score. Then I went to buy ink.
Another $50 later I returned home feeling like an idiot!
Turns out I was duped by this long-since-dead, moustachioed man
King Camp Gillette (that’s really his name), not only invented the disposable razor, but popularized a form of marketing that will likely endure as long as the shaving tools that bear his name. King saw a great opportunity with his disposable razor blades. Once someone bought the razor (far more expensive than the blades) they then had to purchase the relatively cheap blades for life. What he realized was that even though the razor was relatively expensive, the profit to be made from the blades once someone was a Gillette razor user, was far in excess of any profit that could be made from the razor. This is known as freebie marketing, or more commonly, as the razor and blades model. Based on that principal Gillette set up promotions offering massive discounts or even free razors. Though the razors were sold at a loss, the sales of blades more than made up for it.
A century later, those jerks at HP are pulling the same move on me with printers and ink! As I began thinking more and more about this principal of freebie marketing I realized just how widespread its use is. From free PVRs with cable contracts to discounted game systems with overpriced games, it seems the freebie model is alive and well. Though we may all feel slightly used when were out buying $30 ink cartridges and $20 razor blazes, the one thing that cant be denied is that freebie marketing works.