Thought Leadership

2011 Year-End Coupon Analysis

Get the numbers, analysis & perspective on where the year-end 2011 coupon trends landed in this video presentation.

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Marketing Smart to those Living Smart

In 2011, coupon redemption continued to increase, even while distribution and offer values were down. Consumers remain aggressive in acquiring and redeeming offers that are both appealing and accessible. They're offer conscious but they're not "cheap." You could say "frugal," but "smart" would be even more accurate; they're willing to pay what they have to in order to get what they really want. More and more it's about living a better life than they had pre-recession — it's "smart living."

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Promotions: an Ingredient in the Smart Life

Certain events have a way of causing folks to wax poetic. And the recession that started sometime in 2008 and, arguably, is over now, is one of those events. From "the New Normal" to "Coupons are Cool" to "Extreme Couponing" this era of frugality has spawned a language all its own. The latest -- and in my view one of the more interesting -- turns of phrase comes from Michael Cross who wrote a piece over at CPGMatters.com about the emergence of "Smart Living."

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Kantar: FSI Distribution is Down

The folks over at Marx, Kantar Media have just published the highlights of FSI distribution for 2011. The big story from the guys who offer competitive coupon tracking is that fewer coupons were distributed in 2011 via the FSI. 6.5% fewer, to be exact. And that's after two consecutive years of significant increases in distribution.

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Too Much of a Good Thing?

Growth is good, if you're talking about your company's bottom line. But even then, steady and sustainable wins the race. The challenge is when growth is unpredictable and sporadic — the more so when that growth affects a cost to your business, like coupon redemption.

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How will the year end?

The fourth quarter is typically one of the strongest for coupon redemption, which usually makes it the wild card in determining how the level of coupon redemption for any given calendar year. And 2011 is no different. Inmar reports that the first half was fairly flat (Q1 was down 3% compared to the same period in 2010, but Q2 was up 4%). However the third quarter was up significantly at 13%, driving coupon redemption up about 5% for the first three quarters versus the same period in 2010. So where will coupon redemption land this year?

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