Apple unveiled the newest iphone 6 with a big idea, an almost Hail Mary idea: Let’s give away a U2 album to everyone! Now at first glance it doesn’t seem like a horrible idea. U2 is big band with legendary album sales, and it’s their first new album in five years. Of course, U2 agreed because Apple was willing to pay $100 million for the album. But then something funny happened. Everyone freaked out. Turns out people didn’t really want the album. Only 2 million people downloaded the album, so it cost around $50/album. Apple had to create a site so people could remove the album from their iTunes libraries and phones. It was a disaster.
The whole concept behind this is the old adage: you have to spend money to make money. Apple thought they could earning great publicity for their phone and went with it. But it totally flopped. The real winner in all of this: U2.
In this case U2 was taking advantage of Apple’s business model. They knew Apple had 500 million iTunes users. That’s a huge market to take advantage of. U2 acted like the savvy consumer who uses their credit card wisely. They spend money, pay it off, collect interest, and build their credit by using their card for basic supplies, they already have the money in the bank for. Many credit cards even offer points rewards that can be saved for luxury items like trips or movies.
Using a credit card in your regular budget can be a smart way to take advantage of big institutions that want you to use their product. You just have to be smart about it like U2 and use it to you benefit.
So put those groceries on the credit card, and gas, and that movie. Then go home pay it off, build your credit, and earn some reward points while you’re at it. Then play or delete your free U2 album. You’ve earned it.