By Dori Kleber

For the AJC


JoAnn Ramsey had never eaten pizza from a Stevi B’s restaurant. But one recent evening, she stood in line for half an hour to get her first taste. Why? Simple. It was free.

Ramsey heard about the giveaway on her favorite radio station. She was so unfamiliar with the Stevi B’s chain she didn’t even know where to find one.

“I had to look it up in the phone book,” she said.

That made Ramsey exactly the kind of person Stevi B’s hoped the promotion would bring in.

“There are still a lot of folks out there that aren’t familiar with Stevi B’s, so the goal is to get people to try the product, because we believe that our product is better than a lot of other products out there,” said Karl Jaeger, managing director with Argonne Capital Group, which owns the pizza buffet chain.

The Stevi B’s promotion is just one example of a trend among fast-food and casual restaurants, which are increasingly willing to give away the goods to get people through their doors.

Ken Bernhardt, professor of marketing at Georgia State University, attributed the rise of the freebie to today’s tough economy. When money is tight, people shy away from risks, including the risk of buying something they’ve never tried. A giveaway overcomes that fear.

“ ‘Free’ is the most powerful word in the English language as far as marketing is concerned,” Bernhardt said. “It does generate action and overcomes inertia.”

If a restaurant believes it offers a superior product or a better value than competitors, a free promotion can get people to take the initial taste that will convert them into paying customers.

Bernhardt said this was the rationale behind McDonald’s coffee giveaways this summer. A consumer magazine rated McDonald’s coffee better than the brew at Starbucks, so if a giveaway could get coffee drinkers past their resistance to try McDonald’s, it was reasonable to think the burger chain could win enough new customers to easily pay for the product it gave away.

Businesses are willing to absorb short-term costs — and put up with a few freeloaders — to make long-term gains with new and current customers.

Denny’s spent $5 million on food and advertising when it gave away two million of its Grand Slam breakfasts the day after the Super Bowl, according to a company statement. But the expense paid off by getting people reacquainted with Denny’s restaurants, and the company said customers responded with an outpouring of gratitude and good will.

Some giveaways pay for themselves by increasing customer traffic and sales. That’s what happened at Chick-fil-A on Labor Day, when the chain offered a free chicken sandwich to anyone who showed up wearing clothing with a sports logo.

Nationwide, the company gave away about 2 million sandwiches, according to corporate spokesperson Mark Baldwin. For the second year in a row, the promotion turned what is normally a slow sales day into a busy one. Customers bought so many milkshakes and waffle fries that the bottom line showed a profit.

Baldwin pointed out that while the company made money on its giveaway day, the primary goal was not to boost single-day sales but to win repeat business, especially from people who may have been wooed away from Chick-fil-A by other fast-food restaurants offering a similar product, often at a lower price.

“We’re never going to play that dollar menu discount game,” Baldwin said. “We’d rather give it away,” confident that consumers who come in for a taste will be won over.

Bernhardt supported Chick-fil-A’s refusal to discount its prices.

“As soon as you price your product at 99 cents, it’s very difficult to get [customers] to pay $1.79 later because you’re establishing what the product is worth with your price,” he said. “Discounting the product damages the brand.” In contrast, when you give away the product, you don’t change the customer’s perception of its value. “Nobody would expect it to be free next time,” he said.

Another strength of freebies is the way they promote themselves.

Young people spread the word via online social networks and blogs, and media outlets share the news with bargain-hungry audiences.

All of the buzz can become too much of a good thing, as it was when Oprah Winfrey invited millions of viewers to get a free sample of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s new grilled chicken in May. So many would-be customers swarmed KFC locations that the chain couldn’t feed them all, forcing the company to issue rain checks and an apology.

KFC’s blunder is the worst-case outcome for a giveaway, Bernhardt said. “You do a promotion to try and get good will, and all you do is walk away with egg on your face and a lot of ill will,” he noted.

Matthew Loney, president of Stevi B’s, said his restaurants had a complaint or two from people who showed up after the giveaway was over, but overall he considered the promotion a great success. The restaurants gave away hundreds of pizzas, and he was sure he earned some new customers. The promotion generated so much excitement, Loney said Stevi B’s probably will do it again next year.

Don’t expect too many repeats, though. As the economy improves, Bernhardt predicted consumers will see fewer freebies. “There may still be some related particularly to new products,” he said, “but if business is good, they would rather not give away their food.”

Fast-food freebies

Boston Market. Two kid’s meals free with adult purchase. Through Oct. 31. www.bostonmarket.com .

Great American Cookies. Free chocolate chip cookie with sign-up to e-mail club. Through Oct. 31. www.greatamericancookies.com .

Buca di Beppo. Free serving of spaghetti with purchase of pasta or entree. Oct. 26. 2335 Mansell Road, Alpharetta. 770-643-9463, www.bucadibeppo.com .