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Log inCompanies offering free gas to attract business
Companies offering free gas to attract business
by Outspoken on Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:05 pm
Companies offering free gas to attract business
By DINESH RAMDE
AP Business Writer
MILWAUKEE - Two magic words are turning consumers' heads lately. Not "Get rich" or "Lose weight." Try "Free gas." Businesses from banks and hotels to golf-club makers and blood-donation centers are offering promotions that involve free gas — generating more attention and goodwill from price-stunned drivers than traditional promotions might deliver.
For example, Callaway Golf Co. is giving away gas cards worth as much as $100 with the sale of certain drivers. Guests who book three nights through hotels.com will get $50 gas cards. And TCF Bank, based in Wayzata, Minn., is giving $50 gas cards to customers who open checking accounts.
The trend will grow in the short-term as more businesses jump on the free-gas bandwagon, predicts Baohong Sun, a marketing professor at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
"A lot of companies, when they make decisions they don't think independently," Sun said. "They'll jump into whatever their competitors are doing, so more companies are likely to mimic this strategy."
She expects the trend will fade by summer's end.
Some companies, such as sporting-goods makers, don't have obvious ties to gas prices. But others, such as hotels, have found that guests who arrive by car are especially seduced by the idea of a free fill-up.
Doug Symes, 48, knew he wanted to plan a summer vacation in Wisconsin Dells, a tourist hotspot in south-central Wisconsin. He debated staying at one of two resorts, and his decision was clinched when he heard that one, the Kalahari Waterpark Resort, offered a promotion that includes a free $40 gas card.
"The gas card wasn't the only thing but it definitely helped the decision," said Symes, whose hometown of Burnsville, Minn., is about a 225-mile drive from the Dells. "Gas is on everybody's mind, so it does get your attention."
Most promotions have been under way for only a week or two, not enough time for companies to gauge how effective they have been.
Reservations at Kalahari are up 5 percent this summer over last year, general manager John Chastan said.
"It's hard to tell how much of that is because of the gas card, but in general we're doing pretty good," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080608/ap_on_bi_ge/free_gas_promotions;_ylt=ApGkwC__dfjINAxM_z6o2mms0NUE
By DINESH RAMDE
AP Business Writer
MILWAUKEE - Two magic words are turning consumers' heads lately. Not "Get rich" or "Lose weight." Try "Free gas." Businesses from banks and hotels to golf-club makers and blood-donation centers are offering promotions that involve free gas — generating more attention and goodwill from price-stunned drivers than traditional promotions might deliver.
For example, Callaway Golf Co. is giving away gas cards worth as much as $100 with the sale of certain drivers. Guests who book three nights through hotels.com will get $50 gas cards. And TCF Bank, based in Wayzata, Minn., is giving $50 gas cards to customers who open checking accounts.
The trend will grow in the short-term as more businesses jump on the free-gas bandwagon, predicts Baohong Sun, a marketing professor at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
"A lot of companies, when they make decisions they don't think independently," Sun said. "They'll jump into whatever their competitors are doing, so more companies are likely to mimic this strategy."
She expects the trend will fade by summer's end.
Some companies, such as sporting-goods makers, don't have obvious ties to gas prices. But others, such as hotels, have found that guests who arrive by car are especially seduced by the idea of a free fill-up.
Doug Symes, 48, knew he wanted to plan a summer vacation in Wisconsin Dells, a tourist hotspot in south-central Wisconsin. He debated staying at one of two resorts, and his decision was clinched when he heard that one, the Kalahari Waterpark Resort, offered a promotion that includes a free $40 gas card.
"The gas card wasn't the only thing but it definitely helped the decision," said Symes, whose hometown of Burnsville, Minn., is about a 225-mile drive from the Dells. "Gas is on everybody's mind, so it does get your attention."
Most promotions have been under way for only a week or two, not enough time for companies to gauge how effective they have been.
Reservations at Kalahari are up 5 percent this summer over last year, general manager John Chastan said.
"It's hard to tell how much of that is because of the gas card, but in general we're doing pretty good," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080608/ap_on_bi_ge/free_gas_promotions;_ylt=ApGkwC__dfjINAxM_z6o2mms0NUE
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