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Wednesday 10 March 2010

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THE FREE WAY

Giving products to consumers for free will become even more fashionable in 2008, says Matthew Lynn

Most business people like to think of themselves as hard-headed, no-nonsense, look-at-the-facts kinds of people. The truth, of course, is the other way around: they follow trends as slavishly as anyone else.

The latest fashion, and one that will become even more ubiquitous in 2008: free. Look around you and you’ll notice that, increasingly, products are being given away for nothing. Indeed, so influential has the free phenomenon become that Chris Andersen, author of the influential The Long Tail, is planning his next book on the subject.

There are adverts all over London for eBay’s Skype, boasting of free phone calls on mobiles. One American company has already started offering free phone calls in exchange for targeted ads. Michael O’Leary, the pugnacious boss of Ryanair, talks of his ambition to get rid of ticket prices completely. It can’t be long before one of the budget airlines decides collecting £5 from you isn’t worth the trouble.

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