Program Details: The morning newspaper and a cup of steaming coffee are natural partners. When six new coffee shops opened in downtown Traverse City within twelve months, the Traverse City Record-Eagle decided to take advantage of this "morning" momentum. Working with Noveautes USA, the paper offered gourmet coffee to new and old subscribers who signed up for twelve months of Record-Eagle home delivery using automatic bill payment. The "Whole Latte News" consumer offer targeted well-educated, business professionals with an annual household income of $50,000 or more. The choice of incentive, gourmet Gevalia® coffee (distributed exclusively by NouveautesUSA™), helped drive home the core selling point of the campaign – the price and duration of the E-Z Pay subscription. For $12.00 per month for 12 months, new customers received 12 packs of Gevalia® coffee.
The Record-Eagle promoted the campaign with full-color, quarter page ads every day for three weeks inside the Record Eagle. Smaller ads were used in niche publications and entertainment guides. In addition to print promotion, a pop-ad was featured on the home page of www.record-eagle.com. The campaign ran in March in hopes that on those cold, damp days, the prospect of hot Gevalia® coffee would motivate people to respond.
Objective: Add 200 new EZ Pay (automatic bill payment) subscribers
Improve brand image
Increase daily circulation of the newspaper
The Traverse City Record-Eagle, the only daily newspaper in their market, leveraged the coffee craze sweeping northern Michigan to target their core audience of potential subscribers and increase their daily E-Z Pay subscriber base.
Supplier: Nouveautes USA
Sponsor Assocication: IMA
Results: And people did respond!
Over 400 new people signed up for twelve months of EZ Pay home delivery during the three-week campaign.
Increasing the number of EZ Pay subscribers not only increased newspaper circulation, but also cut down the cost of collections and related bad debt.
Aligning with a high end product, Gevalia® coffee, enhanced the Record-Eagle image. Focus groups conducted after the campaign found that the incentive packaging, delivery method, and surprise bonus gift of six Ghirardelli® chocolates all contributed to the “more than satisfied rating” the campaign received.
ROI was strong. The Record-Eagle invested approximately $35 per item and received $144 in total for a 12-month subscription. The newspaper did not have to abnormally discount their product and, in fact their perceived value upscale image was enhanced with their choice of incentive.
• "The Whole Latte News" campaign not only increased subscribers, the paper received impressive industry recognition, as well. The promotion won first place in the Idea Exchange at the Ottaway Newspapers Group, a division of the Dow Jones & Co., Inc., 2005 annual conference.
The Record-Eagle plans to continue to use "The Whole Latte News" program to increase subscriber retention and welcome new residents in the area.
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