The "$0 with a Twist" strategy 🌀
How to make free stuff go viral (+my favorite examples)
One morning in 2018, Domino’s did something strange.
They offered free pizza for life (100 pizzas yearly for 100 years) to anyone who tattooed their logo on their body. The marketing team expected maybe 3-4 people would actually do it.
Within 5 days, over 350 people had Domino’s logos permanently inked on their skin.
All for free pizza. And a story they’d tell forever.
The magic happens when people pay with effort, not money 💦
Most marketers think “free” is powerful.
It is not.
Free stuff is forgettable.
What’s truly valuable is when people have to earn something through an unexpected challenge – do something slightly ridiculous (but achievable) to get the gift.
I call this the “$0 with a Twist” strategy:
Offer something for free, BUT make people do one ridiculous thing to get it.
15 brilliant examples that went viral 💻
Some of the most viral marketing campaigns in history follow this exact formula: