Why tho? Freebie heads.

[Love Zhaoying]

13 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Always hit the "Paste as plain text instead" that pops up when you copy/paste.

From an economical standpoint, why does lelOOtka drop freebies heads each christmas that every single account in SL and their 5 freshly created alts will have ,unconditionally,? I still don't understand it. Is it to get everyone wearing lelutka and when the stuff isn't free anymore, new people see that head and be like? WHERE COPY? * buys the head which used to be free"? Surely it's something i'm not getting.

I'd think that they're losing out on money because of the sheer volume of people who make an alt JUST to use those free heads as a way to make a gold standard avatar, then they never buy another head again. LOL.... The numbers are insanely high.

At least they didn't say "loosing out on money"..

[InnerCity Elf]

17 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

At least they didn't say "loosing out on money"..

Or l00sing... I was wondering if the OO in the brand name was a double upper-case O to obfuscate the brand name, or a double zero to imply their take on the brand's quality (which I find great, I have both free and paid for L. heads), but typing out both OO and 00 here, it definitely seems to be two upper-case "O"s...

😅

Edited January 23 by InnerCity Elf

[Zalificent Corvinus]

1 hour ago, InnerCity Elf said:

or a double zero to imply their take on the brand's quality

Taking into account their post in the peeve thread declaring that the freebie heads "look weird", I'd assumed this was their reason.

The constant misspelling of "seksy" also suggests they disapprove of people trying to look good too.

I find the hint of "How dare they not subscribe to the dogma of Nothing Should Be Free" kind of annoying also.

 

I don't see why somebody want's to complain about a brand giving away free product to people who want to look nice, unless it's because they can't look nice EVEN with paid-for product.

 

Whole thing sounds like sour grapes to me.

"Why do dirty alts get free seksy when I can't have seksy even when I pay lots! Waaaaaaahhhh! Free Stuff R BAAAAAAD!"

 

Meh.

Edited January 23 by Zalificent Corvinus

[Rowan Amore]

13 minutes ago, Zalificent Corvinus said:

Taking into account their post in the peeve thread declaring that the freebie heads "look weird", I'd assumed this was their reason.

The constant misspelling of "seksy" also suggests they disapprove of people trying to look good too.

I find the hint of "How dare they not subscribe to the dogma of Nothing Should Be Free" kind of annoying also.

 

I don't see why somebody want's to complain about a brand giving away free product to people who want to look nice, unless it's because they can't look nice EVEN with paid-for product.

 

Whole thing sounds like sour grapes to me.

"Why do dirty alts get free seksy when I can't have seksy even when I pay lots! Waaaaaaahhhh! Free Stuff R BAAAAAAD!"

 

Meh.

It's particularly amusing since the OP is probably an alt who was created just in time to grab the free heads!  

[Modulated]

Lelutka has been around for many many many years, and giving away stuff-especially very well made heads on the level as the ones they sell is extremely generous. Just enjoy it.

[Luna Bliss]

15 hours ago, Midnoot said:

Surely it's something i'm not getting.

The best way to sell your content is to have quality content out in the world for others to see -- it's free advertising. So they flood the market with free heads to entice others into purchasing them.

[Theresa Tennyson]

15 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

In marketing terms, I think it's called a loss leader. The hype for 2 weeks each year gets thousands of people into the store, many of whom wouldn't have gone there otherwise. It also creates good will toward the brand, and makes some of those who got a free mesh head be more inclined to buy one later. Then so many people have the free heads (often the first mesh head they've had), that skin makers want to sell skins to fit them. We don't want to all look exactly the same after all. Thus it creates a big market for EvoX skins, which in turn creates a big market for more EvoX heads.

And that also meant that skin makers would be encouraged to use Lelutka's proprietary UV instead of the formerly more common ones used by their competitors.

[UnilWay SpiritWeaver]

12 hours ago, InnerCity Elf said:

A not unimportant point, I think, is also that people who start with (a free) L head, will be hesitant to buy another brand, once they are ready to splurge. "Learning" a new HUD and stuff is daunting.

I didn't find that sort of thing daunting but... it was great marketing.

Aside from my joke about 'free sample for future addicts' it's just getting the product out there. Lots of people see great quality mesh heads, and want one for themselves.

The free sample is just that, a free sample. If you don't mind being part of a clone army and having to take on random Jedi every now and then... sure. Keep using the freebie. But most people eventually want their own look.

Either wait a whole year for the next handout, and get the one everyone else also has, or buy one that a lot of people have, but not everyone, on your own schedule.

And once you buy in... then your alt needs one. And maybe you need another for that other look, and so on.

Less an issue now but for a while a big thing was skin compatibility. Likewise addon compatibility. So you start wanting to stay in brand because it works with all your stuff. The exact same reason many (but not all) people stay loyal to a given mesh body.

 

[missyrideout]

23 hours ago, Midnoot said:

I'm thinking more along the lines of psychological warfare.

Sure, but not in the way you mean. Releasing the first round of free heads was a massive flex that drastically accelerated their complete takeover of the head market.  I mean, up until then many big brands had been steadfast about not even having Black Friday sales for the reasons you list.

Edited January 24 by missyrideout

[Midnoot]

12 hours ago, InnerCity Elf said:

Or l00sing... I was wondering if the OO in the brand name was a double upper-case O to obfuscate the brand name, or a double zero to imply their take on the brand's quality (which I find great, I have both free and paid for L. heads), but typing out both OO and 00 here, it definitely seems to be two upper-case "O"s...

😅

11 hours ago, Zalificent Corvinus said:

Taking into account their post in the peeve thread declaring that the freebie heads "look weird", I'd assumed this was their reason.

The constant misspelling of "seksy" also suggests they disapprove of people trying to look good too.

Even after admitting  that I own like 6 of their heads? 8 not counting the free ones? o`o

10 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

It's particularly amusing since the OP is probably an alt who was created just in time to grab the free heads!  

I WAS conveniently created around the same time as the give away, wasn't I? 

10 hours ago, Modulated said:

Lelutka has been around for many many many years, and giving away stuff-especially very well made heads on the level as the ones they sell is extremely generous. Just enjoy it.

I am, thoroughly.

 

But I was still curious to what other people thought about their methods.

[Zalificent Corvinus]

10 minutes ago, Midnoot said:

Even after admitting  that I own like 6 of their heads? 8 not counting the free ones? o`o

Hmm.

"Waaaaaahhhhhhhhh I paid full price for 6 heads, why do those filthy poor people get one for FREE? It's just not fair! By the Sacred Dogma of the Holy St Ayn of Rand, poor people should get nothing! Wahhhhhhh"

 

12 minutes ago, Midnoot said:

I WAS conveniently created around the same time as the give away, wasn't I? 

Breaking news, most people don't create a new alt just to get a free lelu head.as there are so many other costs involved in meshed up alt.

 

Also, from what I've seen of SL, the so called "vast tidal wave of alts" is every bit as imaginary as the "vast tidal wave of bots" that Captain Oldbie's like to moan about. They were the generation of SecondLifers who made dozens of alts, every time the last names list got refreshed with a new batch.

 

Residents had far less reason to do that, since "all the good names are already taken".

 

[Dorientje Woller]

On the other hand: We got the free head, who cares if the creator is cutting in his fingers?

[Midnoot]

17 minutes ago, Zalificent Corvinus said:

Hmm.

"Waaaaaahhhhhhhhh I paid full price for 6 heads, why do those filthy poor people get one for FREE? It's just not fair! By the Sacred Dogma of the Holy St Ayn of Rand, poor people should get nothing! Wahhhhhhh"

 

Breaking news, most people don't create a new alt just to get a free lelu head.as there are so many other costs involved in meshed up alt.

 

Also, from what I've seen of SL, the so called "vast tidal wave of alts" is every bit as imaginary as the "vast tidal wave of bots" that Captain Oldbie's like to moan about. They were the generation of SecondLifers who made dozens of alts, every time the last names list got refreshed with a new batch.

 

Residents had far less reason to do that, since "all the good names are already taken".

 

What are you even on about at this point ? XD

[Dorientje Woller]

55 minutes ago, Midnoot said:

What are you even on about at this point ? XD

Frankly, does it matter for which reason a creator is giving out a free head, a free outfit, a free whatever ...

[InnerCity Elf]

6 hours ago, Midnoot said:

But I was still curious to what other people thought about their methods.

And I was still curious about your choice of alternate spelling of Lelutka.

[Psyche Starling]

Because people go, "Wow, this is a good-looking head with lots of great features! But it's not exactly the look I want." So then when they decide to find a different head, they're already well-disposed toward Lelutka and know their way around the HUD and own some skins for it.

I have 3 free lelutka heads (5 if you count the male ones I got for my alt) and I just bought one full price a few weeks ago for a specific look.

[Psyche Starling]

11 hours ago, Zalificent Corvinus said:

 

 

Breaking news, most people don't create a new alt just to get a free lelu head.as there are so many other costs involved in meshed up alt.

 

 

Yep. I didn't make alts to get the heads, I got the heads for alts already in existence. 

[Dorientje Woller]

All joking aside, handing out a free head or having a mega sale on mesh heads can bring the attention/awareness back to a store, a creator. LaQ & LOGO are the best examples. Both were, to be honest, falling behind to the Genus, Lelutka and Catwa heads. Since the sale at LaQ & the free heads at LOGO, both are back under the attention of the users in SL. And to be honest, it's business 101, even in RL, if you want to be succesfull, you have to invest in your products.

Edited January 27 by Dorientje Woller

[Chery Amore]

It's not only about a free good looking and good quality head. They have basically cornered the market for women for makeup and fitted accessories. My makeup folder is mostly organized and everything works on lelutka. I don't have neck seams or strange differences between my head and body any longer.  I love my fitted earrings and knowing the mesh hair I buy is going to fit against the scalp well.

I haven't bought a head in awhile .. from any brand, but if Lelutka did come out with one in the future that I thought was "me" I would have it on my list (hopefully closer to a big sale of course).

 

 

 

[AmeliaJ08]

6 minutes ago, Chery Amore said:

It's not only about a free good looking and good quality head. They have basically cornered the market for women for makeup and fitted accessories. My makeup folder is mostly organized and everything works on lelutka. I don't have neck seams or strange differences between my head and body any longer.  I love my fitted earrings and knowing the mesh hair I buy is going to fit against the scalp well.

I haven't bought a head in awhile .. from any brand, but if Lelutka did come out with one in the future that I thought was "me" I would have it on my list (hopefully closer to a big sale of course).

 

 

 

Yep.

They didn't just give away heads but basically ensured an entire ecosystem that supports their products came into being... and since everyone had a head they all wanted the makeup, the skins, the add-ons... everything. It could be argued that they've replaced the basic SL UV map, in commercial terms this is absolutely true.

Also someone who already owns a freebie Lelutka head is quite likely to be impressed enough with the product - since it is genuinely good - that they would feel a lot more comfortable dropping the $3900 or whatever it is for a different model, SL fashion being as addictive as it is.

I've been burned on expensive mesh heads before but never felt that with any Lelutka EvoX product, they're the gold standard and come without annoying bugs or anything like that.

 

 

Edited January 27 by AmeliaJ08

[Clem Marques]

On 1/23/2024 at 1:30 AM, Midnoot said:

why does lelOOtka drop freebies heads each christmas that every single account in SL and their 5 freshly created alts will have ,unconditionally,?

It's charity, they want to save us from using other freebie heads and looking like this:

(Sorry, I just had to... I know it's free, but there are better free options out there)

But in all seriousness, it's a fantastic business strategy.

Boosts the number of Lelutka users, gives creators a reason to make items using the Lelutka UV maps (which in turn makes people feel like buying a Lelutka head is the only option if they want to use certain products on their avatars.) It also makes some people feel left out in case they don't have a Lelutka head, since everyone else has one - peer pressure works in their favor, and then they give those people the opportunity to switch to their brand with the Black Friday sales and the holiday gift heads.

The end result is that their brand has completely taken over the market of bento mesh heads and became the new standard for that product.

I feel bad for anyone who tries to compete with them.

Edited January 27 by Clem Marques

[PJBear Bitey]

On 1/22/2024 at 8:44 PM, JUSTUS Palianta said:

If you just select it with your mouse, you can read it.

I did. It's still unreadable.

[PJBear Bitey]

On 1/23/2024 at 8:36 AM, Rowan Amore said:

Always hit the "Paste as plain text instead" that pops up when you copy/paste.

From an economical standpoint, why does lelOOtka drop freebies heads each christmas that every single account in SL and their 5 freshly created alts will have ,unconditionally,? I still don't understand it. Is it to get everyone wearing lelutka and when the stuff isn't free anymore, new people see that head and be like? WHERE COPY? * buys the head which used to be free"? Surely it's something i'm not getting.

I'd think that they're losing out on money because of the sheer volume of people who make an alt JUST to use those free heads as a way to make a gold standard avatar, then they never buy another head again. LOL.... The numbers are insanely high.

With much appreciation, thanks.

[Vanity Fair]

On 1/22/2024 at 9:17 PM, Persephone Emerald said:

I don't spend much in SL, but I'll grab free stuff like crazy. The thing is, sometimes when I'm grabbing free stuff I also decide to buy something. If I hadn't gone into the store for the freebies, I wouldn't have bought anything there, so offering freebies works.

I have 4 avatars who each have free mesh heads, but I've also bought 2 Lelutka heads and one Akeruka one because I wanted those particular heads too. ( I'm counting $L 1 heads as freebies, btw, but if enough people pay $L, that adds up to real money for the creator too.) 

Now, using the drug dealer analogy Unilway used above, your first sample is free, but after you get a taste for it, you'll pay for more.

This. THIS! One category of freebie that this fashionista will pick up for EVERY. SINGLE. ALT. is free/cheap Bento mesh heads, because you never know when you are going to want to switch heads, and it's nice to have options. (I also tend to pick up free skins, particularly if they come with the body skin, OR use the Velour body skin tones. I don't bother anymore with any freebie skins that require me to purchase a non-Velour body skin separately.)

So yeah, I went a little crazy last December, picking up the free/inexpensive heads from LeLutka, Akeruka, and LOGO.

Somebody could write an article in a business journal about how Catwa was overthrown by LeLutka as THE mesh headmaker on the grid. And, I must confess, after fighting with the HD lips and lipstick HUD for the umpteenth time with Vanity Fair's signature Catwa Kimberly head, I paid a visit to LeLutka to pick up some demo heads to play around with. You best believe that Vanity, when she buys a new head, will be buying full-price at LeLutka! That's the beauty of freebies; you learn how to use the product, see how much easier it is to use (better than the competition), and then, when you're ready, the sale is made!

For example, I was stopped in my tracks when Genus released the new mature men's M002 head at a discount at the current shopping event. I have an old wizard avatar, for whom this would have been *perfect*, so I picked up the demo, along with the skin, to try it out. I eventually decided not to buy it, HOWEVER, the fact that I even considered trying it at all was informed by my previous good experiences using the free Genus 4K head on several female alts. Giving away a free head is a savvy marketing move to get market share.

 

[Vanity Fair]

11 hours ago, Dorientje Woller said:

All joking aside, handing out a free head or having a mega sale on mesh heads can bring the attention/awareness back to a store, a creator. LaQ & LOGO are the best examples. Both were, to be honest, falling behind to the Genus, Lelutka and Catwa heads. Since the sale at LaQ & the free heads at LOGO, both are back under the attention of the users in SL. And to be honest, it's business 101, even in RL, if you want to be succesfull, you have to invest in your products.

And yes, the recent 99%-off sale at LAQ got my attention! I landed up buying a number of heads for a number of my alts that had a different look to them from what I've seen elsewhere on the grid. Any yes, that particular sale was a smart move, since it raised awareness of the LAQ brand! Here are two examples of heads I bought during that sale from LAQ, Bree (top) and Rain (bottom):

Edited January 27 by Vanity Fair