The View | 'Bait and hook' still a classic strategy for most businesses
Concept still applicable to a variety of marketing strategies because what people think about a product is often more important than the product
One of the worst-kept business secrets is that computer printer manufacturers are really in the business of selling printer ink.
It is therefore of great interest to learn that one of the major players in this field, Epson, has decided to break ranks and sell printers at a realistic price and equip them with ink tanks that offer the prospect of considerable savings for consumers over the lifetime of use.
Instead of selling proprietary cartridges, the new Epson printers will come with an ink tank that can be refilled at well below cartridge cost.
It remains to be seen whether the other big players in the printer market, i.e. Canon and Hewlett-Packard, will follow. Epson has been brave to strike out on its own because its new printers will be something like three times the price of those it is currently selling.
As a safety net, it will still be offering cartridge-using printers. The fear is that buyers may instinctively shy away from the much higher upfront cost of the new machines without bothering to calculate possible longer-term savings.