Interesting piece in The Business by Matthew Lynn about the trend towards giving away things for free. He mentions the companies offering free phone calls, Michael O'Leary's desire to offer free flights and, of course, the free newspaper phenomenon and the freedom of online news.
He concludes: "In marketing, 'free' is an even more powerful word than 'new'. There are dangers. Customers might just take the free products and ignore the add-ons and upgrades you were planning to sell them. But then all business is risky - and that piece of advice really is free."
