Free Food advertising: Please grade this business idea

[biz123]

Why not give out free food with a business's message on it? For example, you could give out free bottled water on a hot day with the company's message on it. Or you can give out free Pringle chips with the company's label. Each individual food item would be around 10-20 cents with the company's label somewhere on the packaging. That means that to target 5,000 college students would cost $500-$1000, depending on the food. By giving food away for free, I don't think you'd have to worry about police giving you trouble because you're not selling anything.

A full page ad in my school newspaper costs around $600. The school says that's it's circulation is 14,000 but I would guess that around 8,000 people actually pick it up. Even fewer take the time to look at a full page ad amongst all the other ads.

Furthermore, when giving food away for free you can say something like, FREE bottled water, courtesy of PNC. That, is much more personal and welcoming than an ad in the school newspaper. You can also have double promotions on the same food item. One company can be on the label and one can have a message saying something like "throw me away at Chuck's Restaurant" to get a free burger.

[SmallBusinessOwner]

Each individual food item would be around 10-20 cents with the company's label somewhere on the packaging. That means that to target 5,000 college students would cost $500-$1000, depending on the food. By giving food away for free, I don't think you'd have to worry about police giving you trouble because you're not selling anything.

How much does it cost to design, print, and re-label, ship, refrigerate, and pass out 5000 free bottles of water, and what is your time worth to do that? I just don't see how this would be worth the effort, unless you're getting closer to a buck per bottle, not .20 cents.

[Skipper]

It's an interesting concept but it could get labor intensive. This might be getting too far from your intention but maybe, as a trial run, set up a co-promotion with popular local business, like a "Chucks Restaurant" or Bob's Bar. You work out a deal, like 2 bucks off a burger, buy one get one half off, 1/2 price beer or whatever. You then have coupons with your company name on them to pass out. "$2 off a Chucks Burger from your friends at ABC Company." You're getting exposure and Chucks Burgers is getting exposure. No need for buying inventory, or storing or shipping it. Print up a bunch of coupons and you're off. Just a thought. Best of luck!

[biz123]

Guys, thank you for your replies.

The water bottle was just an idea I threw out there. I know that storing all that water might very well make it impossible to do. Instead of water you can do smaller items, like those mini pringles cans. Or, when it's raining, you can hand out free ponchos. Or you can hand out those mini bottled waters. The labels don't have to be all that big, just a sticker here and there saying that this free product was courtesy of so and so. Stickers aren't expensive to make. You can make them with a home printer. I wouldn't re-label anything, just slap on some stickers.

Also, the coupon idea would work but I feel that people appreciate it more when they're getting something physical. We're constantly bombarded with coupons. Imagine getting a nice snack around lunchtime courtesy of a company. Imagine a company giving you a poncho when its raining. The company expects absolutely nothing in return. That free love, I think, will do more in building positive brand associations than any newspaper ad or billboard. And that love, I think, would eventually work both ways, from companies to consumers and vice-versa.

Yes, I know that this is very labor intensive, handing out stuff to 5,000 or so people. But then again, it's targeted advertising and it's results can be tracked.

There are already companies which give out free branded things...

Here's one giving out free notepaper for example:

http://www.springwise.com/marketing_..._for_students/

Here's one giving out ad sponsored notebooks:

http://www.springwise.com/marketing_..._for_students/

[rejoice]

it's promotional merchandise with a new angle... i like it

[ashleyg]

This is a nice offline marketing strategy. During this Yuletide season, you can find more ways and reasons than one to do this. It's an advertising with a twist, and I believe this can be very effective. Anybody wants to do business with a company with a good heart, don't you think?

[biz123]

I'm glad that you guys like the idea. This idea would fit perfectly with Christmas, something which I didn't think about. Although it can be used year round.

Essentially what I'd be doing, at least I hope I'd be doing, is diverting money that goes to the school newspaper and giving it back to the students. Sort of like Robin Hood.

[biz123]

Guys, any more input would be much appreciated.


The more I think about it, the more I realize that the distribution of thousands of any type of promotional item (food, water, poncho, etc) is going to be the key factor in getting this to work. It would take many man hours to actually distribute thousands of items. My solution....

My campus is actually part of a city. Why not ask businesses around campus to be my distributors? I can post flyers on campus saying something like, if it's raining, get a free poncho at so and so. If it's 90 degrees or above, get free water at so and so. The businesses would probably be more than happy to get more traffic in their stores. They key would be to get enough distributors so that anyone wanting the free item could get it within a minute. Now the problem is to prevent people from hoarding all the free stuff. I guess you can direct people to a website giving them a redeemable coupon for a certain time period.

[Skipper]

Good thought on the "hording" and the website coupon might be a good idea. Also, the local businesses might enjoy the added traffic when people come in for a free poncho (for example) but will it be worth their time and hassle? I've got no idea on actual numbers but say 100 people come in for a free poncho and 1 person buys a candy bar...will that be worth it for the business? I guess any and all exposure is good exposure. I'm not sure exactly how to phrase it...I guess my thought is...how do you make it worth it for the business that's handing out the free stuff? It's a cool idea...I'd like to see where you go with it.

[biz123]

I've been thinking more about sponsored food give aways. You can give away free Krispy Kremes in the throughout the day. If 3 sponsors sponsor a Krispy Kreme giveaway the cost per donut for each company would be .14 (probably less). Have the sponsors logos be on the napkins. Or, for much less expense, you can pass out numbered flyers (with the sponsors names on the flyer) which are redeemable for one donut. The more sponsors you get, the less each sponsor would have to pay. Krispy Kreme donuts are very easy to store and don't need heating or cooling. You can distribute the Krispy Kreme boxes to the "distributors". The store distributors get foot traffic, companies get good exposure, and you get profit (depending on how much you want to charge per sponsor and, perhaps, per "distributor").

Every day can be free Krispy Kreme breakfast day! Or, more realistically, you can hand out the donuts at the donuts on special occasions, such as at the end of finals week, Christmas (as ashleyg mentioned), or Thanksgiving.

The stores which would most likely want to be the distributors for Krispy Kreme giveaways are those that sell stuff like magazines, snacks, and drinks.

[LabelGuy]

How about adding a removable label to an existing product, like a water bottle.

Arrange to have your removable ad label placed on a water bottle or other food product.

Labels can be as little as 1¢ each depending on quantity, plus the labor to apply them.