You’d think that during a time when the market is crashing, some businesses are closing up shop, and there are suddenly hundreds of thousands of people without a job, it’s not the best time to launch a whole new brand.
But personal care brand incubator, Arfa, decided to go forward with their March launch despite the circumstances. Hiki is their first brand, and it sells everything deodorant and deoderant-ish, like body wipes and body powder.
What’s striking when you go on their website is not only the beautiful and fun branding, but also the fact that all of the prices are slashed — to $0.
In their letter that is displayed in a banner at the top of their website, they explain why they made the decision to launch everything for free. They stated, “While we are a startup with limited resources, what we do have are HIKI products ready to ship, and a fundamental belief in the power of empathy to help people feel better.”
Primarily, the decision was made to help hospital/medical workers — whether they’re a nurse or a janitor. While all products are free, they just have to pay $2.50 out of the $8 shipping/packing/credit card fees.
Non-medical workers are able to enjoy the deal as well. They have to pay just $5 of the above-mentioned fees and nothing else if they share a positive message on social media and tag @arfabrands as well as use the hashtag #todayimfeeling.
Other than the goal they shared of just trying to make people feel better during a scary and stressful time, this is also a great opportunity to get free promotion and loyalty from customers who are not buying now but may be more likely to in the future.
It’s clear from the numbers that they are losing money on this deal, but it might pay off in the long run. I mean, I’ve seen countless articles online, and now there is this one, too, so that’s all free PR for them.
I, for one, am going to order my free deodorant and will absolutely consider buying from them in the future.
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Hannah Michelle Lambert is the Social Media + Events Coordinator at Worthix, as well as the host of the monthly CX News Recap segment. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
