Free Prize Inside! The Next Big Marketing Idea (1st edition)

Citation

McGillicuddy, K.M. (2005), "Free Prize Inside! The Next Big Marketing Idea (1st edition)", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 234-235. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760510605353

The author up Free Prize Inside by calling it “… a book about how every single one of us can create ideas that make our products and services remarkable”. Isn't this what many of us strive to do every day in our marketing roles at various companies? In his book, Godin challenges the more traditional ways of accomplishing this and leads us to a new way to make our products and services truly remarkable, and as a result, very successful.

Companies have traditionally turned to elaborate advertising campaigns and big innovation initiatives in creating remarkable, memorable goods and services that provide successful growth for the company. But times have changed, and these two growth‐providing “staples” are no longer working for many organizations. The reason? Everyone is using them! Not only is it more difficult competitively to lead the pack using winning ad campaigns and innovative concept development, but consumers themselves have grown accustomed to and thus bored with great ads and a variety of “differentiated” products.

Godin makes interesting, valid points about advertising and innovation. The basic premise of advertising is one of “interruption” – we interrupt the magazine reader with a print ad, we disrupt the television viewer with an advertiement between program segments. Consumers are inundated with such interruptions – they have even taken steps to avoid them, such as the do‐not‐call lists for telemarketers, who attempt to break up a consumer's dinner with a great marketing offer. The chance of your ad being so remarkable that it will get noticed amidst all this advertising “noise” is very slim. And regarding innovation … again, the marketplace is inundated with patents and interesting ideas. R&D to get to the next big thing is very expensive, and it is becoming more and more difficult to predict whether your big idea will make it in the world amidst all the others.

So what can we do to grow and prosper in our respective industries?

Godin presents a third method for achieving growth: soft innovations. These are “the clever, insightful, useful small ideas that just about anyone in an organization can think up”. These lead to the free prize – the peripheral problem you solve with your product or service that become ”… the second reason to buy the thing, and perhaps a first reason to talk about it.” There are many examples listed; some of the more familiar include vitamin water (fortifying bottled water with vitamins and minerals – the water is the reason you buy, the vitamins become the “buzz”) and General Mills' Go‐gurt (a healthy, familiar snack in on‐the‐go packaging, fun for kids and convenient for adults). The product or service itself is not remarkable, but the presentation, positioning or added soft innovation is what makes it stand out from all the rest.

The process by which we can reach these soft innovations is called “edgecraft”, and Godin discusses this method extensively. Edgecraft “… allows individuals and teams to inexorably identify the soft innovations that live on the edges of what already exists”. This is different from traditional brainstorming and is much more straightforward – simply find a “free prize” such as those found in the two products listed above and take them all the way to the “edge” – as far as the target consumer dares you to go. These edges are the ideas that will probably evoke strong reaction (sometimes negative) from your peers, but often go on to become the most talked‐about, successful new thing. Consider Halloween supermarts, a McDonald's located in a jail, disposable cameras, or a Chevy truck with a 300 horsepower engine … all ideas that raised eyebrows in their respective companies, yet can go on to become great successes.

If this works so well, why isn't everyone doing it? There are many reasons, most of which will be all too familiar to the reader: Most organizations are resistant to change, many companies operate under the assumption that the best ideas only come from the top levels of the organization, many of us are insecure about being vocal with new viewpoints and methods, and it is difficult to champion such out‐of‐the‐box ideas in our peer groups.

While Godin provides solutions to the problems above, I must admit, I still felt slightly discouraged after my initial fascination and interest in his methodology. It is one thing to embrace such an exciting, meaningful methodology while reading a book in the comfort of our living rooms, and quite another to champion it day after day in the workplace, with little support in many cases and outright resistance in others. We all must all be realistic in terms of how our companies work and in our personal comfort level of pushing the envelope for new things. The reader may find him/herself sighing and thinking, “This is exciting and brilliant, but I can just imagine what would happen if I attempted to operate this way in my own company”.

Godin redeems himself in this area, however, by providing some very practical ways to approach “reaching the edges” and championing the next great idea. The list is realistic and applicable to nearly every category of product or service. He suggests creating edges that:

• •

  create conversations (putting yellow ribbons on trees);

• •

  confound expectations (invisible braces on teeth);

• •

  satisfy real needs and wants (aromatherapy skin lotion);

• •

  address overlooked senses (Jack in the Box drive‐ins);

• •

  address overlooked markets (TiVo);

• •

  highlight the free prize (antibacterial wipes for kids);

• •

  change the structure of the market (McKinsey's targeting of non‐profit organizations);

• •

  are worth noticing (JetBlue);

• •

  obsess on one element (waterproof laptops); and

• •

  talk in a different tone of voice (Kubrick collectible Legos).

When reading this section, the reader will immediately begin crafting exciting “free prizes” in his or her own line of work. It is a great reference section to peruse whenever the need arises for some creativity and innovation on a specific project.

Overall this book is an easy, quick read that makes the reader really think. You will find yourself nodding and smiling as familiar products and services are described along with the reasons that make them great. “Why didn't I think of that?” quickly turns to “I'd like to think of something like that!” as the reader is presented with a new way to turn the everyday into something memorable. The book is highly recommended for anyone in a traditional business management role, particularly useful for those in product development, consulting, or anyone who coaches a team of people and would like to champion more innovation and positive thinking in the group. It is also a great resource for anyone working in a more “traditional” industry or product/service category who needs to breathe new life into something that has become commonplace to the general public.

As Godin points out, we are all marketers now in this day and age no matter what our title or job function, and we must all “market” our respective departments, processes and ideas in order collectively to help our organizations grow. It is a team effort, but it needs a champion willing to go to the “edge” and move everyone towards this new path to success. Perhaps you can be that champion. All the best in finding the “free prize” that makes your product or service the next big win for you and your organization!