BrainTrust Query: Are we creating too many promotion channels?
During my visit to the ARTS pavilion at the National Retail Federation Big Show this year, one of the vendors I ran into was Third Solutions, Inc. They are another contender in the digital receipt arena, but they have combined their digital receipt offering with a personalized marketing campaign that delivers electronic coupons over either their website or the retailer's. Customers don't have to clip coupons, which are delivered automatically at checkout time.
The promotion aspect sounds like another company we highlighted last year, Zavers.com, which offers a way for manufacturers to distribute consumer POS coupons electronically. This got me thinking about how difficult it is becoming for advertisers to reach consumers through the retail channel. If each retailer signs up with a different software house to manage their electronic coupon offer, how will advertisers keep up with the fragmented marketplace? It is similar to the effort on data synchronization, where retailer-specific requirements for adding new items make it difficult for manufacturers to introduce new products.
To some extent, Google AdSense and DoubleClick take care of this issue for the virtual world. Google advertisers contract with Google; websites offer display space; Google places the ads, and pays the website when users click on the link. The advertiser only deals with Google, but their message is distributed across various websites. DoubleClick provides broad distribution and management of banner ads for advertisers in online publications.
Paper coupons can be distributed a variety of ways. Free standing inserts, direct mail, in-store promotion, and third party affiliations can all be used to distribute paper coupons and the same coupon can be redeemed at many retail locations. Right now, electronic promotions require the advertiser and consumer to log into a specific website in order to present or select their promotions. There has to be a better way.
Discussion Questions: Is there an industry-wide answer for the convenient distribution of electronic coupons? Is there an opportunity here for advertisers or an independent company to act as an "electronic coupon broker"?