Friday, October 26, 2007

Customer-determined value based on quality offering & quality experience

Amid all of the talk of music downloads, we were bound to get some kind of real innovation. And it has come from a legendary rock band, Radiohead. Their new album out now, is being offered for download at a “you name it” price.

You read that right - you pay what you think the product is worth. You could get it for free. You could pay $100. Whatever you decide.

This new plan is certainly an interesting one, being touted as a social experiment. I doubt it will affect profit margins much - a tour and traditional CD for sale will come out later. But it is a clever test in new media, one in which illegal downloads seem inevitable and unenforceable. Why not leverage that if you can, and in a way that customers can get behind.

You’ve heard of voting with your dollar? What a great application of that concept.

Read more here.

3 comments:

Patrick Smith said...

Here's to turning the system upside down. I paid £6 for it. It's a great download.

melanie said...

thanks to patrick, i get to listen to radiohead for free off of his itunes.

you know, i always used feel terrible not paying for things i found valuable. but then i realized that instead of money, i could do other things to support the cause like:
-tell all my friends
-go to an event that supports them
-put it on my myspace, etc.

i wouldn't have listened to the new radiohead had it not been for free. what i found is that i really like radiohead! i've told my friends about it, and you bet i'll be on the look out for a concert or tshirt.

sometimes a free product is the gateway to an awesome experience.

melanie said...

the results are in!
more than 60% of people downloaded the new album for FREE.