It is a ‘free’ market!
By Peeyush Agnihotri

THE dessert is getting heavier than the supper. Visit a shop to buy cold-cream and you get an inhaler free. Things have come to such a pass these days that a consumer and a daddy of twins share a similarity — both usually make an effort for one but end up having two.

Probably, the very idea of giving freebies started with our very own desi milkman, who always poured in roohnga (some "extra" quantity) to retain his clientele. Today, the concept remains the same. Only the products have changed. Internet service providers promise a costly watch, chocolate companies give storybooks, wafer-sellers give toys and a lot more.

Want to purchase a car? Buy underwear instead — chances are that you might win a car in the lucky draw. Planning a honeymoon? Answer a quiz of a popular TV serial and who knows you might end up in Mauritius or Pattaya.

Use any product, tangible or intangible. Nearly every product promises more than the money’s worth. The "freebies mania" has reached such a crescendo that dotcom ventures, like the freesite.com and contests2win.com, have hit the cyber world. Some city schools, too, distribute freebies with their admission forms. A paging company plays bingo with its subscribers in the morning and gives gifts to winners. Pray, the tribe swells.

Competitors are hitting each other below the belt and rather than investing in R&D to improve the quality of product, cost-effective methods are being devised to woo the consumers.

"End -users sovereignty is now being accepted," is how Prof. P.P. Arya from Panjab University Business School puts it. "Even market leaders like the MUL, had to give gold coins with every car purchased last year to capture the new market and consolidate the present one. Interestingly, now the competitors have forgotten their actual products and have started concentrating on who gives what as free stuff. Business rivalry, thus, has found another plank," he says and adds that once monopoly is established, the freebies vanish.

Companies are playing the gallant suitor and it is a no-holds-barred contest to retain consumer loyalty. "The very thought of being a winner makes a person swell with pride. The glint in the consumer’s eyes and a smile on his lips is all we look for. Our gifts are never sales-based and we want people to recognise us," says Alankar Nagi, who is working with a filling station.

A scooter company came out with crorepati hungama scheme recently. There was a prize assured along with every purchase in the probability ratio of 1:10 . "The company gave away 70,000 watches, 7,000 cameras, 700 music system, 100 prizes of one lakh each and a prize of Rs 1 crore, " says an assistant general manager of a scooter agency.

Truly, the consumer is on cloud nine. Naresh Kumar, a Chandigarh-based businessman, who won Rs 1 lakh in the Bajaj crorepati hungama scheme says: "Due to superstition, I did not want to purchase a scooter on Saturday but was compelled to buy owing to some pressing circumstances. Saturday proved lucky for me and I was overjoyed when I won Rs 1 lakh." And what does he intend to do with the prize? "I’ll sell my car, add a lakh to it and buy a Santro instead," he adds with bourgeoisie pride.

For others, wherein two manufacturers tie up to capture the market, the strategy is simple. Distribute a lesser known product with a well-known one to enter a market and create a consumer base. A piggy-back tie-up. Or increase the quantity at the same price. Not to forget the hackneyed usage of word new with the product after introducing a few cosmetic changes.

Whatever be the strategy — such ploys remain successful only in the case of FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods) where the loyalty is not fixed. If the product is of "technical" nature, like film-rolls, for example, consumer base is not eroded. "People have some pre-conceived notions and whatever be the ploy, customers usually stick to their brands ," says Pritam Singh, a camera film-roll seller.

There are others who give half the name of a prize in one pack and only if a buyer is lucky enough to get the other half in another pack of the same product, does he get the prize. Innovation and marketing they say, produce results. To keep the consumer occupied mentally and to augment the sale is the sole purpose of every corporate house. But what if the promises turn out to be false?

"We can take the company to task under the Consumer Protection Act or the MRTP Act," says Pankaj Chandgothia, a city-based lawyer and a consumer rights activist. But then, phony promises are not usually made, for who wants to kill the goose which lays golden eggs? Certainly not the businessman. He knows all that a consumer needs is a tickle in his underbelly so that he purrs contently. Didn’t we say that customer is being treated as a tomcat?