Free - Part 2

Back in February I posted a blog called, "Free." At the time I was blown away by Chris Anderson's article in Wired Magazine.

In the article Chris explains how businesses like Google are based on offering free services.

I just got sent a New York Times article about something that the agency Porter Novelli is doing. In a nutshell, they created an agency within their agency (a "pop-up") called, "Jack & Bill." Staffed by 8 young account reps averaging 26 years of age, they offered their agency services to 5 clients for free.

I am in love and in awe of this idea. When I read the article I thought to myself, "I hope no one sees this." I mean, how can I compete with free? Why would anyone pay me for my services if a top agency is giving away a similar offering? But then I remembered the Wired article and realized how genius this idea is. Secondly, how great is it that they are giving young staff members the chance to own something. They may fail, but what is the downside? The client didn't pay anything, right? Sure, there is a danger of clients walking away saying, "Well, you get what you pay for." But once again, it is free!

Get this...

Jack & Bill and its clients found one another in a way that turned upside-down — or perhaps pop-up-side-down — the traditional pitching process for selecting a public relations agency. Typically a client calls in several agencies to compete for an account; in this case, the partners of Jack & Bill asked potential clients to audition to win the pop-up’s free services.

Wow. Imagine clients auditioning for your services. What a spin that is. That is what FREE does. It reverses the order of business.

I see the flaws in this business approach and I could site numerous ways I would do it differently, but kudos to Porter Novelli for trying something different. You just don't see that every day.