Case Studies
Free Products Promote Sales – A Fulfillment Warehouse Story
Using a fulfillment warehouse to offer Free products can be profitable. Just ask the Egg Farmers of Canada or BzzAgent, a word-of-mouth media firm based in Boston, MA. They each take a unique and highly strategic approach to product give-aways. And they get results.
Word-of-mouth is the latest buzz amongst marketers and BzzAgent (www.bzzagent.com) operates at the forefront of this trend. Essentially, BzzAgent supplies everyday consumers with an opportunity to experience new products and share their honest opinions with friends, family members – and the brand, itself.
Here’s how it works. At BzzAgent’s website, consumers sign on to be an agent. They provide demographic information which is used to determine which word-of-mouth campaigns they are best suited for and the agent chooses which ones they actually want to do. Then the product is delivered to them. Dare Marketing manages the Canadian warehousing and fulfillment for BzzAgent.
Dare receives the products for each campaign by the case load. They then source and determine the best packaging and fulfillment process for each – a breakable bottle requires a different process than a durable good. Once all is ready, they deliver the product to the agent so the person can form his own honest opinion about it, and then relay that opinion to others. This word-of-mouth system increases the buzz around products. It is estimated that as few as 5000 agents may ultimately reach as many as 237,000 consumers.
While BzzAgent wants to get the right people chatting about a product, the Egg Farmers of Canada’s objective is to increase the consumption of shell eggs. Representing the 1100 egg producers in Canada, their key message is that eggs provide lasting energy. One of their most effective marketing tactics has been to provide microwave egg cookers to consumers. Through direct mailings, magazines, and on their eggs.ca website, microwave egg cookers are offered to Canadians for a shipping and handling cost of $5.99. The price is a bit of a qualifier. It ensures that the cookers are ordered by those who will crack eggs into them. To date, over 15,000 Canadians are satisfied customers. Dare manages the complete fulfillment warehouse process. They warehouse the cookers, receive the order, process payment, package and mail the cookers to the consumer.
There are many product give-aways but few that are highly targeted and strategically managed for real results. BzzAgent and the Egg Farmers of Canada, along with their fulfillment warehouse partner, Dare Marketing, delivers products to the right people at the right time – for exceptional results.
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