The Problem With Free Beer

Free culture makes the modern web tick but it's a concept that the marketing industry struggles with because, borrowing the famous analogy of Richard Stallman, it is still thinking free as in free beer, not free as in free speech.  After all, the marketing industry gives away huge amounts of stuff for free every year.  Free film about products aka adverts, free pamplets aka direct marketing, free information aka PR, even free product aka trialling (which is sometimes literally free beer).  All of these things are offered for the world to consume – at no financial cost to the man on the street.  However, this type of free doesn’t buy much on the social web.  And the type of free that does can seem like a very risky, and therefore expensive, option to big brands.  It’s the type of free that means people are allowed to, indeed encouraged to, react, change, tweak and augment the gifts the brand is offering.  It’s the type of free that comes with a label reading please add your thoughts to this and pass it on.  Not the free that comes with a legal notice saying please pass this on to everyone you know and keep your thoughts to yourself – or else.  The free speech approach is often just dismissed as acidic hippy talk which doesn’t reflect commercial realities.  But in fact, that’s lazy thinking.  Black boxes of content sent onto the web are seriously expensive because they cost a lot to make but are also destined to sink without trace.  However, items that are despatched web wise with the blueprint and assembly instructions included at least have a chance of being picked up by communities of passionate folk, who will add the essential personal touch that makes the P2P world turn.  Alternatively, you can keep on giving away the free beers and be very popular.  Just don’t expect anyone to hang around once the barrel is dry.

Comments

[Rory MacDonald]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm glad we cleared that up. The number of times you describe free culture in terms of Free Software/Open Source and even though the repeat back to you core concepts verbatim, they are clearly still thinking free beer.

There is nothing new in using free beer for marketing. Free brands on the other hand, that is radical.

[Rory MacDonald]

I'll just repost that so that it makes sense, sorry having a mindblindness day:

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm glad we cleared that up. The number of times you describe free culture in terms of Free Software/Open Source and even though people repeat back the core concepts to you verbatim, they are clearly still thinking free beer.

There is nothing new in using free beer for marketing. Free brands on the other hand, that is radical.

[James Cherkoff]

Thanks Rory, amen to that!

[Marenda]

Well said.

[James Cherkoff]

Thanks Marenda!

[Charmaine]

Good words.

[James Cherkoff]

Thanks Charmaine!