Posted Feb. 27, 2008
Valassis Communications Inc., the nation's largest provider of preprinted newspaper inserts, debuted a new brand and Web site last month, www.RedPlum.com. The site allows users to print coupons for products and services by entering a ZIP code and without registering.
The portal is being promoted across all of the company's products, including its freestanding newspaper inserts, polybags and direct-mail packages. The RedPlum brand replaces ShopWise, the direct-mail product Valassis acquired in March 2007 when it purchased ADVO Inc., then the country's largest direct-mail media company.
According to Greg Bogich, VP/New Business Development for Valassis, the site augments and complements but does not replace newspapers, which he said are "still a very powerful medium."
RedPlum joins several existing online coupon providers, including CoolSavings.com and Coupons.com, and Bogich says its content will help it stand out from competitors. Two weeks after launch, the site had more than 10,000 different coupons.
Despite the growing number of online options, the consumer packaged goods industry and other companies continue to invest in printed coupons.
Nearly 260 billion coupons were distributed through newspapers' Sunday inserts in 2007, a 1.5 percent increase compared to 2006, although the total number of pages dipped 1 percent, according to Marx Promotion Intelligence, an affiliate of research company TNS Media Intelligence. On average, TNS found, inserts reached almost 70 million households weekly. (Presstime)
