Marketing on the Internet

Case #4
Website: www.Myxertones.com

1.) Which of Chris Anderson’s principles of the free economy apply on this site. You
can find these summarized in the free pricing summary posted on our course
website.

Advertising model-When I first went to the site I was a little confused because it explicitly said that it would generate free ring tones and wallpaper for you cell phone.  When you go to the information page (“Learn”) it blatantly says:
“Almost all of the content is free, as we’re advertising supported. There are NO hidden subscription fees.”

Although, it could also be considered a labor exchange site because they encourage users to upload their content to be shared among users. So not only can you upload your own music, you can use others, as well as purchase premium content.

As I am going through the site, I cannot help but be skeptical and I am wondering now if they have some sort of agreement with Verizon, because it made me check a box if I had Verizon (I do) and they only way to get the ring tone is if I download from a URL on my cell phone-and to do that, I have to access the internet via my cell phone at either $1.00 for 24 hour access or $5.00 a month access.  So, this is turning out to be not so free for me after all.

2.) Does the organization offer both free and paid versions of its products/services? If
so, briefly explain how they differentiate these.

There is even a service that allows you to make your own ring tone (ie. A song from, say, your itunes library that you can upload to your cell phone and offer online to other myxertones users-for free.  There are charges though for ‘premium’ products-that are set by the artists themselves, such as already made ring tones of popular songs.  Those prices range from $0.99 to $2.99 per item.

Also-the website service is free-but there are the charges you incur from the texts you receive from the site as well as using the internet on your cell phone (regular price you are charged for a text on your cell plan).

I must say: this is the coolest website I have seen in a long time.  It is seriously no joke! I mean, I had to pay the $1.00 to use the internet on my cell phone, but after I did that, I didn’t have to go to the web on my phone and type in a URL each time—they were just sent to my mailbox, and I can save and use them right away.  The quality is amazing, not to mention- YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!!!

3.) How does this organization generate revenues and profits if its primary
products/services are free?

Since this site is part of the advertising model, they use different types of offers, but they aren’t very intrusive or annoying like those annoying flashing, blinking, obnoxious ones you can get on other sites.  It is a pretty clean look.

When I signed up for the free offer, they sent me a text with a verification code to finish, and there were a few offers for products-I had to respond yes or no to before I could move on

Also, I noticed there were not an abundance of annoying ads along the side, although there is one long horizontal banner on the top, and there are one or two on the right side panel.