The Concept of FREE – but is it really?
Written on November 12, 2008 – 9:53 pm | by ozjourno
When King Gillette first started flogging disposable razor blades in the early 20th Century, giving away razors as freebies to generate blade sales, I bet he didn’t realise the marketing phenomenon that still exists over 100 years
later.
The Freebie. These days free takes many forms. Free to download, free to join and even free online storeage.
However, how much of it is really free? Much of the “free” is supported by advertising content. Do a Google search and you have click-based advertising, with some of these affiliate driven advertisements, third parties trying to make a dollar off the internet.
Communication has changed with the new generation, with as few words as possible being written and even those are shortened into SMS or Text Speak. A new language has mutated, developing new products to support the novelty, leaving some of us a little bewildered as we try to learn what our kids are saying! It’s not all that gr8.
This new communication feeds the technology addictions that many are falling prey to.
With the many changes taking place in media, will the media business model be able to evolve and mutate? The public radio model has started to use the internet more enthusiastically, adding value with podcasts, whilst still following the business model’s sponsorship and membership criteria.
The notion of FREE has never been more misleading & manipulative. Facebook, a free social network, even involves viewers with what advertising will appear on the advertising side-bar, with a ‘thumbs up or down’ voting system that even asks for a reason!
So next time you think you are avoiding advertising content – look again, it sneaks up on you. Possibly the newest form of subliminal advertising?
Tags: advertising, content, free, subliminal
