Freebies: Fallacy of Building Brand Loyalty

Why we don’t do freebies -

Many of us remember prettily packaged samples from the department store. I know I had a collection back in high school (mostly because they were cute and my budget was small).

A quick search on reddit reveals that people have BIG feelings about brands and giveaways. But mostly about perfume brands - they don’t expect Tiffany’s to give away silver, or COACH to give away sample leather-goods.

Maybe that’s an unfair comparison. Scent IS really subjective. However there is a cost to produce the wee samples, a cost of production that is passed onto the consumer. The freebies might lead to sales, but how many have to be distributed to make one sale?

The literal cost isn’t the only consideration. Those samples (and their packaging) is the equivalent of single use plastic. You can’t really reuse the dainty glass phials, and the plastic caps aren’t recyclable. Practices at Alchemy align with my own big feelings about keeping pricing fair and minimizing Alchemy’s contribution to waste.

Occasionally, an ‘influencer’ will reach out to ask for products to review in exchange for _______. Alchemy isn’t looking to go viral. We just want to connect with the folks who Get It. Which is why when someone shouts out something we make, the joy is authentic! You can count on the fact that we didn’t trade product for kudos.

That said: If you’re already placing an order, please request a sample of something. Because Thank You.