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Utility premium

Ladies' note book and calendar : compliments of World's Dispensary Medical Association [1909]

wellcomecollection.orgarchive-open-access

The pattern

This still is filed under Utility premium.

Define

The free thing is kept because it works (a calendar, a tool, a template) and the brand rides along.

Mechanism

Usefulness as media. Frequency of use is frequency of exposure. Distinct from a keepable card: here the object has a job.

Verdict

We can give something people will actually use next week.

Read the pattern

Why it works

By stripping out the long-form copy of previous editions, the advertiser maximizes the actual utility of the booklet. The user has more space to write, making her more likely to keep the book for the entire year, exposing her to the repeated, subliminal micro-copy at the top of each page.

Steal this when

You want to maximize the retention of a promotional item by maximizing its actual utility and keeping your advertising unobtrusive.

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