Thread: provide free lessons for activia the yogurt drink people

I got a call from activia the Yogurt drink people today. The summary is they want teachers to honour vouchers they issue for a free bellydance class, with no fee. Yes that right, teach for free. The man on the phone said it was an excellent opportunity for me. I told him I am doing quite well, and don't need to use this to recruit students, plus I don't give away classes for free as I pay the bills with my income.

I could understand if it was a not-for-profit wanting support, but this really takes the biscuit. I am outraged at the sneeky language the guy used, it took asking a number of questions to get the whole nasty truth.

I do hope that no-one else is saying yes to this.

And he was serious? This wasn't a joke just to jerk your chain?

This would be a good time to remind everyone that when someone says free classes/performances are "good exposure", a useful response is, "Yes, but people DIE of exposure!"

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

I got a call from activia the Yogurt drink people today. The summary is they want teachers to honour vouchers they issue for a free bellydance class, with no fee. Yes that right, teach for free.

Is Jamie Lee Curtis doing their commercials for free?

I could understand if it was a not-for-profit wanting support, but this really takes the biscuit.

Maybe they think they are. http://www.dannon.com/dannoncares_dannon_Institute.aspx
Aw, bless their corporate little hearts. They only want people to have healthy lifestyles...that include consuming vast quantities of Groupe Danone products their entire lives.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Is Jamie Lee Curtis doing their commercials for free?

Exactly what I thought when I saw the title of this post.

Sheesh!

DON'T DO IT, TEACHERS!

Deborah

Will they give each free student and all instructors yogurt for life, gratis?
"Hello Activa? I'm concerned about my students and want them to have a healthy lifestyle. Will you please supply them with a lifetime supply of yogurt for free? Because I care about them? No? Its a product you sell for profit? That's your business? Hmm, OK then."

I think this is like when you get a free trial week at Bally's or Curves, which I have seen as a promotion on food products. I don't think Bally's or Curves Corporate gets much cash for that deal, and the individual outlets almost certainly get no cash. But the giveaway is so similar to their own teaser deals, that it's not a big deal to offer it on the back of a cereal box or something.

Activia has a bright idea here, but isn't taking into account how small most bellydance businesses are. I'm guessing most dance teachers don't have room in their classes for hordes of non-paying customers that likely only have a passing interest in the art - that's why we haven't seen a "free Fred Astaire ballroom class!" offer on any grocery products.

I remember when the belly dance ad came out..that was almost a year ago. They are little behind the curve. I mean I appreciate the commercial, and thanks so much ...but a year later?

Just wow. Presenting this as a win-win is absurd. For the customer to get the free class pass, she has to buy the product. Dannon makes money. One of three things happen:

1. Free class pass is never used (majority)
2. Free class pass is used but a customer is not created.... "that was fun!... next!"
3. Free class pass is used and customer signs up for regular classes (super super minority)

But still, Dannon has sold yogurt, which is why Dannon is proposing this little venture.

This is not about getting women to bellydance and supporting dozens of small dance studio businesses.

This is about selling yogurt on the backs of those small businesses. Either they didn't think this through very well or they think we're stupid.

I work in PR and unfortunately, I see things like this come up ALL the time in planning sessions for different companies and products (and I live to shoot them down before they get out the door). Unfortunately, Activia's PR group must not have a naysayer like me in the bunch ;-)

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

I got a call from activia the Yogurt drink people today. The summary is they want teachers to honour vouchers they issue for a free bellydance class, with no fee. Yes that right, teach for free. The man on the phone said it was an excellent opportunity for me. I told him I am doing quite well, and don't need to use this to recruit students, plus I don't give away classes for free as I pay the bills with my income.

I could understand if it was a not-for-profit wanting support, but this really takes the biscuit. I am outraged at the sneeky language the guy used, it took asking a number of questions to get the whole nasty truth.

I do hope that no-one else is saying yes to this.

thank you for the heads up !

You mean to say that they sold yoghurts with vouchers before they actually lined up the class suppliers? Now, that surprises me far more than the fact they're trying to con teachers into delivering classes for free. I hope this ends up in a monumental headache for them, due to narky unsatisfied customers.

In all honesty, I would be willing to give a *discount* to coupon holders, if Activia were willing to list me on their website as a participating instructor. Not free tho- yikes! Perfectly willing to mail in a voucher for payment, but I can't imagine them paying $10-$15 for a coupon found in a yogurt container (not exactly a big money maker there!)

Originally Posted by Lara L

In all honesty, I would be willing to give a *discount* to coupon holders, if Activia were willing to list me on their website as a participating instructor. Not free tho- yikes! Perfectly willing to mail in a voucher for payment, but I can't imagine them paying $10-$15 for a coupon found in a yogurt container (not exactly a big money maker there!)

Exactly, this is more typically how a coupon works! The business who redeems the coupons (say, a grocery store) sends them back to the coupon issuer (like a yogurt manufacturer) and gets a check.

Listing me as a participating instructor might be of SOME use to me, I'd be willing to offer their customers some kind of discount -- like $5 off -- in exchange for that.

I was approached and to me it seems an OK deal. My classes are drop in and I use big studios, so I can accommodate more people quite easily. I don't have to pay any more for the studio if I have ten people or thirty, all my costs are fixed. Likewise, it's no harder for me to teach more people than fewer. So if I get someone through the door with a voucher it's absolutely no cost or trouble for me. And I may get an extra long term student out of it.

The PR co said the voucher holders have to phone to book first so I won't get flooded with freebies. To me it seems like free advertising. And like all advertising, I may get a great response, I may get nothing. But at least I haven't had to pay for it...

Originally Posted by CharlotteDesorgher

I was approached and to me it seems an OK deal. My classes are drop in and I use big studios, so I can accommodate more people quite easily. I don't have to pay any more for the studio if I have ten people or thirty, all my costs are fixed. Likewise, it's no harder for me to teach more people than fewer. So if I get someone through the door with a voucher it's absolutely no cost or trouble for me. And I may get an extra long term student out of it.

The PR co said the voucher holders have to phone to book first so I won't get flooded with freebies. To me it seems like free advertising. And like all advertising, I may get a great response, I may get nothing. But at least I haven't had to pay for it...

This makes sense to me. Advertising is an expense. I felt the same way about my Groupon offer -- I'll lose a ton of money on those customers, but it's less than I would have spent on advertising to get that many people in the door. And I only spend on people who actually give me a try.

This deal wouldn't work for me at all, though, because I don't allow drop-ins and only teach in sessions.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

This makes sense to me. Advertising is an expense. I felt the same way about my Groupon offer -- I'll lose a ton of money on those customers, but it's less than I would have spent on advertising to get that many people in the door. And I only spend on people who actually give me a try.

This deal wouldn't work for me at all, though, because I don't allow drop-ins and only teach in sessions.

This makes sense to me too- if you're set up to handle it, more power to ya- What I can't figure out is why people with deep discounts or free offers are so demanding.

Back when I was teaching 3 days a week, I donated some gift cards as door prizes to a non-profit- the winners then asked me (pestered me for months, honestly!) to schedule new classes for when it was convenient for them. Yep, pay rent and rearrange my schedule for people who aren't willing to pay me. I told them I would be willing to add a class if they used the gift cards as a discount on continuing classes or if we could find enough paying customers to cover costs (including paying me!) but they didn't seem so keen on that option!
I can just imagine what kind of phone calls I'd have to deal with now that I'm down to one night a week.

"What I can't figure out is why people with deep discounts or free offers are so demanding."

thats why, i also said no.