The Innovation Diaries

There is something intensely gratifying in discovering how much what you know and what you say is really worth. From the appreciation of colleagues and clients to the respect of friends and family, our self-worth is the venture capital of our personality. But how does that work for companies? Many brands claim coast comfortably along on the notion that they have something valuable to sell us, but what about the value of what have to tell us?

Fortunately, there is value and there are useful clues in what all of us have to say. And in the case of the Amsterdam free newspaper Amsterdam Weekly, they have taken that to heart, literally. With an unwavering belief in the fact that their content is worth a decent amount to their loyal readers, they turned fundraising into hostage taking: future pages are divided into blocks that readers can buy and only the blocks sold will be printed.

Did it work? Absolutely and beautifully. But there is more than funds to raise here: an innovative way to drive consumer goodwill. Buying blocks was not only wholly rewarding in that it released the paper’s content from this unique hostage situation but it was also hugely gratifying as it promised goodies aimed at the interests, likes and loves of their readers.

The notion that in the Culture of Free you can build exceptional reciprocal relationships deserves the unconditional attention of those in the commercial circus: there is no shame in selling what you have to say (even if you are free) as long as you don’t forget to express your heartfelt gratitude to those who provide you with the ever-essential flow of cash.