By George Anderson
Perhaps Gap should have chosen the Leo Sayer hit, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, for the theme song of its most recent promotion with Apple's iTunes.
The promotion was simple. Shoppers walk into a Gap and try on a pair of jeans. Whether they buy the jeans or not they walk out with a card that can be redeemed for a free music download on the Apple Music Store.
Gap spokesperson Erica Archambault said the goal of the promotion was "to get people in there and into our jeans."
The promotion (cue the Sayer tune), said Ms. Archambault, has been "phenomenal" with Gap's customers "responding really well."
Adam Hanft, chief executive of Hanft Unlimited, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution there is a reason why many who try on the jeans are converted to buyers even if that was not their intention going in. "There's a sort of phenomenon of, once the consumer takes a step halfway toward the purchase, they're likely to go all the way," he said.
Mr. Hanft liked the Gap/iTunes promotion because: "A lot of times incentives (price off discounts) just reduce the value of the brand, cheapening it. This adds value."
Consumer behaviorist and author Roger Blackwell told the Journal-Constitution he thinks others are likely to follow Gap's lead with similar promotions.
"I'm sure people will watch this closely, and if the results are as impressive as I expect them to be it may send [retailers] back to this strategy," he said.
Moderator's Comment: What is your analysis of the Gap/iTunes promotion? What does it take for this type of promotion to be effective? Do you expect others to follow with similar so-called "freebie" deals? - George Anderson - Moderator