Want to Make a Sale? Give 'em an iPod

Oct. 11, 2005 — -- Avoiding Internet ads and deleting spam e-mail has become a predictable daily routine for many people, scanning through inboxes to delete the usual pile of unwanted junk -- Viagra ad, get-rich scheme, free iPod offer, weight loss product … wait, a free iPod? Sign me up.

As the popularity of Apple's family of digital music devices has steadily grown, more and more companies have begun using the iPod to drum up business and lure potential new customers. And they're finding that offering free iPods is one of the few promotional incentives that cuts through the clutter.

The trade magazine Incentive, which monitors business promotional programs, recently listed the iPod Mini as the top motivational electronics product in the country. Banks, credit card companies, soft drink makers, small businesses, even real estate agents have found that offering a free iPod or credit toward Apple's iTunes music service can help bring customers in the door.

"It was the top electronics product, by far the top MP3 product, and one of the top 50 products overall," said William Flanagan, Incentive's editor in chief.

Joel Sartori, a marketing manager for a software company in Vermont, was checking out the local forecast on the Web site http://www.weather.com this summer when he noticed an advertisement for a free iPod shuffle in connection with a credit card promotion from Citibank. Usually, Sartori said, he's very wary of Internet ads offering anything free, but he found the iPod promotion enticing.

"I normally never sign up for those things, but it seemed attainable, and it was from a legitimate company," he said.

The offer required that he spend $500 on a new credit card within the first three months of use, and then he'd automatically qualify for the shuffle, which retails for $99 to $129.

Using the credit card in place of his normal debit card spending, it took him three weeks to make $500 worth of purchases. He's now just waiting for delivery of his iPod shuffle. Sartori said the ease of the promotion was one reason he joined, but the lure of iPod itself was just as big a draw.