The Kmiec Ramblings

It was Reagan who said,

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

He understood that walls keep us apart. Walls exist to stop the flow of knowledge, ideas and human connection. It is the lack of walls that has fueled the growth of Facebook and Twitter, while the existence of walls has crippled Microsoft and MySpace.

Now, this is not to say that walls can’t protect us or be built to protect our treasures. Walls have a place in our society. As I wrote here, I actually applaud the idea of a wall:

I was reminded this morning of one of the best chapters in the “Last Lecture,” titled, “Romancing The Brick Wall.” Randy Pausch eloquently and pignantly writes, “Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.” I couldn’t agree more.

The key here of course is that on the other side of the wall is something of value. In essence, the effort involved in scaling the wall is equal to the reward on the other side. If you will, there’s a certain mutual exchange.

It’s this concept of mutual exchange that publishers have seemingly forgotten. Last week, I was reminded of how far publishers still need to come and how silly their approach to pay walls are.

For those not in the know, the term “pay wall” refers to the approach being taken by companies where you pay for access to their content. Some companies take a 100% approach to this, where all the content is behind the pay wall, while others offer a hybrid model that allows for some content to be free and some (generally content considered to be more premium) is behind the wall. This isn’t new. Companies have been using a variety of pay wall approaches for more than a decade. Of late, though it seems that there’s been a shift from rationale thinking and approaches to pay walls, toward ridiculous and unbalanced approaches.

Let me explain; for years AdAge.com had a great pay wall model. Fresh content was made free to users (it was ad supported), but archived and older content required a pay subscription. In my opinion, it was a great way to demonstrate to visitors that they completely grasped the idea of mutual exchange and wanted to create an environment where ideas, insights and knowledge would thrive. This approach was smart and balanced.

Of late, AdAge seems to be experimenting with different thresholds for their pay wall. While this post focuses on them, let me say, there are 100s if not 1000s of companies experimenting in the same manner. Last week, nearly every piece of content on the site seemed to be placed behind the pay wall. I was perplexed. Clearly, it had to be just me, right? It was a cookie glitch or something. I checked with several folks in the office and we were all having the same “problem.”

Putting all the content behind a pay wall would make sense if AdAge’s content was truly premium. But, when you consider that sites like AdRants and Mashable, in addition to the great collection of agency blogs out there, have better and more importantly FRESHER content, how can AdAge justify this model? This is a clear case of a company disregarding the concept of mutual exchange. In a 24/7, real-time, always on demand world (yes, I just stuffed all those buzz words into one sentence), AdAge and the like have three options if they want to remain relevant:

Provide better, fresher, more premium content – that in a perfect world offers different viewpoints and voices. If they do this, a pay wall…heck even more of an aggressive pay wall makes sense.
Keep offering the same voices and same frequency of content. In doing so, maintain a status quo.
Tear down more and more of the pay wall. This would make even MORE of the content available and in theory attract more visitors.

Pay walls are here to stay. They won’t go away. They can be a good thing. But, companies need to remember the idea of mutual exchange when they put up those pay walls. If they forget about it, they might find themselves alone, behind a wall that serves no purpose, because no one is trying to get in.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. We’ve heard that phrase for decades. As marketers and consumers that idea has been reinforced hundreds of times. If you want something you’ve got to be willing to pay for it. Pay of course is a broad term and isn’t restricted to money. You’ve heard the phrase, “no pain – no gain.” There’s no money exchanging hands, but you are making trading time and sweat for physical and health results.

I’ve always called referred to this idea as the concept of mutual exchange. When you give something you get something. In theory what you get should be equal to what you give. Want a coupon? Give your email address. Want a Coke? Hand over $0.99. Every day we’re engaging in a form of mutual exchange.

It’s a simple concept. But, lately it seems that people and companies are taking gross advantage of the concept. For example, the airline industry. The nickel and dime-ing for things like checking luggage, charging for water, or my personal favorite charging for bathroom usage, doesn’t seem consistent with a mutual exchange, does it. What about the financial crisis? People who were doing the “right thing” – borrowing only what they needed, not over-extending, and still paying their mortgage are not getting a fair shake. Where’s their “bail out.” Essentially they’re being punished for doing the right thing, while others are being rewarded for doing the wrong thing. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?

But, not everyone is failing at the concept of mutual exchange. In fact some are going over and beyond the call of duty. There’s no finer example than the Hyundai Assurance program.

If the auto industry is going to turn around it’s going to need to fix the balance of the mutual exchange. Hyundai is doing this in spades. The Hyundai Assurance program states ever so eloquently:

A decade ago Hyundai pioneered America’s Best Warranty™. Now we’re providing another kind of confidence. Finance or lease any new Hyundai, and if in the next year you lose your income*, we’ll let you return it. That’s the Hyundai Assurance.

At Hyundai we think it’s easier to find a job when you’ve got a car. That’s why, for a limited time, we expanded Hyundai Assurance, and we’ve added…something extra. A plus, as in Hyundai Assurance Plus. If you lose your income, we’ll make your payments for 3 months while you get back on your feet, and if that’s not enough time to work things out, you can return the car with no impact on your credit.

We’re all in this together, and we think it’ll be a little easier to get through it with a good set of wheels.

The key piece of copy is “we’re all in this together.” As I wrote in my contribution to The Project 100, “we all have a role to play in the community.”

Now, more than ever companies and consumers need to realize that the concept of mutual exchange works both ways. You, as a consumer, have to be willing to pay a fair value and yes even provide some information if you want to get a fair deal from a company. The flip side is true as well – companies, now is the time to right your wrongs and be willing to give a little to get a little. Yes, that could mean sacrificing a few percentage points of margin to make it happen.

Lennon and McCartney had it right, “in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.”

Tag Archive: Mutual Exchange

The Lunacy Of Pay Walls

Mutual Exchange