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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark CMG" data-source="post: 3114017" data-attributes="member: 10479"><p>Yup.  And every now and again someone comes along to a company that is doing great utilizing loss leaders and free content to maintain an almost perpetual buzz about their company and drive sales on their primary products, and that person gets it in their head that there is an intrinsic value to the freebies and loss leaders.  They lose sight of the acquired value built up over time through the constant barrage of marketing and through their policy of benevolence, goodwill, and free counsel.  It'll be interesting to watch what happens when that balance is upset.  They not only risk the loss of the traffic to their direct marketing (when you go to them for the freebies, they can freely tell you about the other products and need not advertise elsewhere) but they also lose the ability to directly tap into your consciousness (through direct polling and surveying of their traffic and by indirectly assessing your activity on their site and elsewhere with cookies and whatnot).  I'd imagine that upseting that balance can be devastating to some companies and nearly impossible to set back up again if it is shifted or lost.</p></blockquote><p></p>