Sometimes Free is Costly, and Sometimes Not

This past weekend I had the rare experience of getting two "Free" experiences in the same day. The word free implies without cost. That assumption only extends to financial costs, because there is no such thing as a free lunch. The two experiences that I had were starkly different in contrast with one another.

The day started out with a walk to the Maryland Zoo, in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, MD. My fiance and I wanted to see how the Maryland Zoo stacked up to some of the other zoo's we had been to. As we crossed the footbridge over 83, the cars were stacked one after another for as far as we could see. This was the first sign that the "Free" day at the zoo could end up being a costly day at the zoo. After being turned away from one gate, because that would be too easy to allow people to use a convenient gate, we walked half way around the park to the main entrance. That's where the line of cars from 83 was backing up to. We stood in line for about a half hour with the massive crowds of Free seekers. When we finally made it in the main entrance, you have to walk all the way across the zoo to get to the animals. When we did get to the animals, it was like all the zoo's I remembered. Their habitats were in disrepair, many of the exhibits were empty, and the animals on display looked defeated.

While the trip to the zoo didn't cost me any money, there was an opportunity cost. I enjoyed the walk in the park with my fiance, but standing in lines to see comatose animals at a dilapidated facility was time I could have used to study for the GMAT (God I will be happy when that is done). Beyond the personal cost something else struck me about the experience. The goal of the "Free" zoo day, was to give people the opportunity to experience the zoo at no financial cost, in hopes that people would enjoy themselves and become members. With that goal in mind, the free part was less important than the experience part. The "Free" got me to the zoo, but once I was in the zoo my experience was that I couldn't wait to get out, and not come back.

Free experience #2, enter the savior of free. That same night a friend of mine told me that supergroup Wilco was going to be streaming their new album. Not just streaming a song, they were streaming the album in its entirety, before it has been released to the public. Wilco was prompted to make this seemingly generous move, because 4 of the tracks from the upcoming released had been leaked and spread through the internet.


Passionate Wilco fans, of which there are many, could easily get the Sky Blue Sky album by clicking on a few sites. The free album delivered exactly what it promised and more. Wilco was able to stop the bleeding of the pirated tracks by offering all the tracks to true fans. While there is certainly a potential to lose some control of the album release, the amount of buzz gained will more than make up for that. Wilco has thousands of their fans running around screaming about listening, to the newest, latest, greatest, album. They are the marketing that Wilco couldn't buy if they tried. One also has to wonder if the leak was not somewhat intentional.
So there it is. If you are going to give something away for free, think long and hard. That generous act of free could hurt, or could advance your cause immensely.