Consumer healthcare PR practitioners have found, indeed, that "some things in life are free" as the traditional advertising method of offering free samples has become wildly successful on the Web.
An informal look at the freebie sites of the Web show that more than 50 percent of the "free" items are from the categories of health and beauty.
Many healthcare organizations and PR agencies are picking up on the trend of offering freebies online. Account executives at Ketchum Public Relations in Pittsburgh, for example, hit the jackpot last year when they promoted a toll-free telephone number to call for those wanting free samples of client SmithKline Beecham's new toothpaste, Aquafresh Whitening.
By finding the right Internet Usenet group, executives were able to market free samples of toothpaste online without creating an expensive Web site. The agency instead placed a free posting on alt.consumers.free-stuff and netted more than 500 calls in the first three days.
To pull off the PR ploy, Ketchum execs had researched various news groups and found that this newsgroup was one where people chatted about free products and where to get them.
As a result, SmithKline Beecham used a low-tech method to track its foray into cyberspace with Aquafresh Whitening. When callers to the toll-free number gave their names and addresses to receive free 4.3-ounce tubes of the brand, they were asked about how they had learned of the offer.
Of the 1,338 (out of 1,772) callers who said they had seen the number, 59.1 percent indicated they had seen the number on the Internet on a Usenet newsgroup -or bulletin board - dishing out "free stuff."
The Internet marketing of Aquafresh Whitening was meant to hit on some progressive PR by supplementing a large conventional broadcast and print ad campaign by Grey Advertising in New York, Aquafresh's agency, according to Gillian Hamburger, a former account executive at the Ketchum Public Relations unit of Ketchum Communications in Pittsburgh.
Rich McWilliams, associate brand manager for Aquafresh at SmithKline Beecham in Pittsburgh, said the campaign was a success because Aquafresh Whitening is new and "people on the Internet are probably more likely to try new products because people who use computers may be more willing to look at new things."
The pharmaceutical was also able to track the comments of people using the products. For example, they found most of the browsers were pleased to get a regular sized tube in the mail instead of a coupon.
Marketers from Pittsburgh-based Bristol-Meyers Squibb, makers of Pepcid AC, specifically designed its Web site to attract "freebie" people. "We are now on every site because we made it known that we were giving away something," said Roger Mills, PR spokesperson with Bristol-Meyers.
Mills said that while antacid is not popular with all age groups - the response for a free container of Pepcid AC was surprising. Its site is getting more than 30,000 hits a day and has distributed more than 5,000 coupons for the drug.
Linking to Freebie Sites Is Key
Almost all marketing/PR practitioners agree that usegroups, in coordination with "freebie sites," is the right way to go when publicizing free samples. According to Kris Freidrich, president/CEO of Hot Coupons (http://www.hotcoupons.com), more than 30,000 food, restaurant, retail, travel and automotive service accounts try to lure people on their freebie site with free samples, two-for-one coupons and discounts.
"The key to doing this is just not giving away free stuff but getting information about the people who are accessing the site," he said. "Find out who they are, how old they are, what their income is and how they spend it."
Freidrich is working with MetroMail, (http://www.metromail.com) a Chicago-based direct mail firm in creating a new Web site that personalizes the coupon process. For example, browsers will be asked a series of questions on their interests, likes and dislikes in order for targeted specials and freebies to be sent to them.
"Why give out whitening toothpaste to a 12-year-old who would rather have a bubblegum-flavored toothpaste?" said Daniel Hamburger, VP of strategy for MetroMail. "With our new site, everyone is happy." (Ketchum, 412/456-3846, SmithKline Beecham, 412/928-6862, Bristol-Meyers, 800/890-8771)