FSI Coupons Deliver 257 Billion Consumer Offers in '07

MINNEAPOLIS -- More than 197 billion pages containing 257 billion consumer offers were delivered through Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupons in Sunday newspapers during 2007, according to the Marx Promotion Intelligence 2007 FSI Distribution Trends Report, released yesterday by Marx Promotion Intelligence here. These FSI coupons represented more than $320 billion in consumer incentives.

Average Face Value increased to a new record level of $1.26, up $0.07 versus 2006, the report found.

"Marketers continue to leverage FSIs as a cost-effective advertising medium to deliver consumer impressions and to create purchase intent for their brands," said Mark Nesbitt, c.o.o., Marx Promotion Intelligence, in a statement. "Additionally, many retailers align quality merchandising support with these FSI promotions to improve overall promotion effectiveness and to increase incremental sales. FSIs continue to be a source of news about product categories to the consumer and to be a driver of category trips for the retailer."

FSIs maintained consistent frequency with activity in 48 out of the 52 Sundays in 2007, the report found. This compares to activity in 49 out of the 53 Sundays in 2006.

In 2007, the post-New Year's promotion week of Jan. 7 had the greatest combined weight by delivering a total of 147 pages. The pre-Thanksgiving week of Nov. 4 was also heavily weighted with 133 pages of FSI promotions.

CPG activity dominated coupon trends last year, accounting for 69.0 percent of total FSI pages, followed by direct response with 22.0 percent and Franchise at 9.1 percent. CPG activity is up 1.2 percent versus 2006, along with Franchise, which also increased 2.7 percent. However, direct response decreased 8.8 percent versus 2006, which is the first decline in activity for this industry since 2003.

Within the CPG industry, the nonfood segment had a 3.9 percent increase in coupon circulation, while the food segment pulled back 1.8 percent. Record levels were set for average face value within both the nonfood and food segments, with a 5.8 percent increase to $1.54 for the non-food segment and a 5.1 percent increase to $0.87 for the food segment.

These trends indicate that manufacturers are continuing to leverage FSIs, but are increasingly using them to deliver high-value offers that encourage brand trial and generate category excitement, according to Marx Promotion Intelligence.

FSI coupon support was included as part of 441 new product introductions across the CPG industry in 2007. Food categories contributed 312 of these new items led by cereals, beverages, and snacks. Nonfood categories contributed an additional 129 new items led by household cleaning products and home paper/plastic.

Free copies of the comprehensive Marx FSI Distribution Trends Report are available through the Marx Promotion Intelligence Web site at www.tnsmi-marx.com.
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