Banks Use Giveaways to Boost Market Share

The Globe and Mail, Keith McArthur, 13 November 2006The free toaster is back -- with a 21st-century twist.Banks today are giving away everything from free trips to iPods in an effort to boost market share in the increasingly competitive world of retail banking.The nineties' focus on long-term brand-building activities led banks to abandon the product giveaway, popularized in the fifties when they