An international mobile operator in Spain decided to launch a new kind of bet: by sending a 1,45 euro text message before a Formula 1 Grand Prix with the name of the local pilot (whose team they sponsor), one can win 1.000 free call minutes.
Well, they sponsor the guy, so they are paying two times, right? They´re actually building another point of contact with the brand. Yet one gets intrigued:
The driver in question is running for the Championship, so the probability that he wins the race is quite high–albeit sometimes
being humiliated by his newcomer team mate and the Ferrari guys (go Kimi!).
For the enthusiastic Spanish F1 (read Alonso) fans, it´s almost as good as straightforward “buy 1.000 minutes for 1,5 euros”. In any case, one can anticipate that those 1.000 minutes cost the operator less than 1 euro. Obviously. Mobile operators are not charity organisations.
The question is: why don´t others do the same? Since it costs them nothing, don´t they have anything to gain by putting up these “freebies”? Also, customers think “1,5 euro for 1.000 minutes on a 90% sure deal? Wow! Cheap!”
And since they think it´s “such a good deal”, they will spread the word through their social networks! And people like to join operators that offer freebies. It´s a known fact! How much they like to join?
Well, that´s for us at Xtract to find out!
