By Phil Ricci, The World: by Phil

“How much would someone have to pay to lick a subway poll?”

“Eww.” my wife said, a clear look of discuss on her face. “Why?”

“Cause…how much would it cost?” I pressed.

“I don’t know…a lot.” she retorted.

“Dollar amount please.” I replied with a sheepish smile.

“I don’t know…ten thousand.” She shot back quick.

“Wow! Just to lick a poll?” I asked sincerely surprised as I hit the Submit button. The results came back…my wife has really high standards. The average person only needed a grand to perform that disgusting little task; and I am definitely average. It went on like this for another half an hour or so, I asked a question of “how much would it cost”, or “what would you pay” and my wife and I would laugh, ponder, answer and see where we fell to the rest that answered. Our source of new found entertainment: HowMutch.com.

What is it?

HowMutch is a social (Connected to Facebook and Twitter for now) game that basically asks the user to place themselves in a series of situations and answer the time honored question: “What’s your price?” Ranging from licking a subway poll to not using the Internet for a whole year…and more. Look, we’ve all heard the line “Everyone has a price”, but usually those are in movies involving a bad guy trying to bribe a wavering hero from stopping some horrible event, thus creating a major moral conflict question that the hero must overcome…this isn’t that, but still cool.

Who made it?

The two behind the scene at HowMutch are Co-Founders Ari J. Greenburg and Gabe Baldinucci. However in a brief one off conversation with Greenberg, Baldinucci’s experience is what led to the creation of the site, “ The idea came from my co-founder, Gabe Baldinucci who used to work at Virgin Group where he helped to launch new brands and products.” A concept that goes way farther then just silly questions. “At Virgin, Gabe and his team spent a lot of money on consumer research and Gabe thought that maybe there was a better way to collect this data while also offering a fun interactive experience to users.” Greenberg said. And that sums it up nicely.

It’s not just Fun and Games….

While HowMutch is very much a game, it has a points system for every question you answer, ask and has a leaderboard (which I have been doing well on, Thank you), it holds that other purpose as well. 

Mixed in with questions of poll licking and brandishing an Apple logo somewhere on your body, are the more pointed “How much would you pay for… a burger from a famous restaurant, or a set of nick knacks from a well known store.” Say Sotheby’s? In essence, HowMutch is a free fun way to tell these businesses what you think they’re, or their product is, worth.  More so, it’s a new cost effective and engaging tool for businesses to test out what consumers feel the worth of a potential new product or line could be.

Big and Small Unite!

One of the first things that I thought when I was sitting down to write this overview of the site was “Wow this is a great thing for small businesses!” We all know that corporations will spend millions in research or branding, but what about the small or mid sized business that don’t have that kind of budget?

The world is an ever changing thing. With the new found power of social media the ability to reach consumers has really shifted. A properly placed tweet or blog post could not only draw attention to you, but even propel your brand to heights never befor imagined. HowMutch offers an opportunity for small business owners to get their brands out, products known and begin to really give them a larger market value.

So I guess what I’m saying is…

Good Job. I really like the way the site works, the ease of its design and the concept behind it. As its use grows so will its interaction and gaming components. As long as it allows itself to stay as equally silly as it does useful, I think it will be a great addition!

Until Next Time…

Pubished originally for Want&Blog.