A new service allows people to sign up for “free” long distance service if they agree to listen to advertising pitches over the phone. One company, Eagle’s Eye Clothing, claims a 27% response rate to a free turtleneck offer it made to subscribers in Pittsburgh, where the FreeWay service is being tested.
According to Martin Healy, vice president for consumer marketing at Broadpoint Communications, which developed FreeWay, people can subscribe to the service over the Internet or by calling a toll-free number-the more popular option. Subscribers get two free minutes of long distance for each advertisement they listen to.
Since FreeWay asks subscribers for demographic information, the service plays ads suitable to their interests. Furthermore, the subscribers are 100% pre-qualified. If they were not willing to listen to the messages, they would not have signed up for the service.
Healy will not release the exact number of subscribers to FreeWay, but did say that people are signing up faster than they can be hooked up. Publicity helped expand a local program into a national one.
The system is accessed with a personal identification number. Subscribers also get to choose how many messages they want to listen to. Advertisers, for their part, only pay for messages played.
In addition to Eagle’s Eye, Vermont Teddy Bear, the Pittsburgh Symphony and satellite TV company DSTV, some 11 other local, regional or national companies use the service, says Broadpoint’s vice president for media marketing Lisa Baker.
She goes on to quote DSTV chairman Michael Renton, who commented on CNBC that for him, FreeWay is the salesman’s equivalent of pinpoint bombing. Baker adds that anecdotal response from subscribers is just as enthusiastic.
“They’re so thrilled to get long distance for free,” Baker explains, adding that many FreeWay subscribers are tired of rate wars and confusing bills.
At the moment, only national long distance is available. Healy hopes to expand the system not only to international long distance, but also to wireless phones and videophones.
He also mentioned plans to expand FreeWay’s interactive voice response capabilities. Healy suggested subscribers would soon be able to press a button to order a catalog or to be put through to an advertiser.
Network
