Sunset for the flyer?
For now, it is just a streamer in the wind. But if the chatter in New York is anywhere close to the truth, a cataclysmic change may be coming in printed media -- the decline of flyers and free-standintog inserts in newspapers. On top of declines in classified and the apparent flight of ad dollars to the online realm, it would be serious bad news for beleagured publishers.
This may seem somewhat remote from the magazine business, but it has to be remembered that at least three of Canada's major magazine publishing companies -- Transcontinental, Quebecor and St. Joseph Corporation -- derive a significant part of their cash flow from the lucrative flyer printing and distribution business.
A story in MediaPost says that an executive at a major agency spilled that a major retailer was going to slash its flyer spending in 2007. As one industry observer said: "It doesn't really matter who it is. Once one of the big retailers does it, even in small doses, you could see a stampede away from the inserts."
This may seem somewhat remote from the magazine business, but it has to be remembered that at least three of Canada's major magazine publishing companies -- Transcontinental, Quebecor and St. Joseph Corporation -- derive a significant part of their cash flow from the lucrative flyer printing and distribution business.
A story in MediaPost says that an executive at a major agency spilled that a major retailer was going to slash its flyer spending in 2007. As one industry observer said: "It doesn't really matter who it is. Once one of the big retailers does it, even in small doses, you could see a stampede away from the inserts."
posted by D. B. Scott at
8:16 am
3 Comments:
Judging by the amount of flyers that are stack in the weekend edition of my community newspaper (which seems to grow on a weekly basis), I don't see the flyer market declining anytime soon. Flyer insertion is a low-cost, direct form of advertising, often with measurable results. Traditional ads in print media cannot offer these benefits.
I agree that most community newspaper are fat with flyers, now. And they are low cost. However, the suggestion was not that the flyer budget would somehow be diverted to traditional ads, but that big players like Wal Mart and Lowes may be planning to use some or all of that money for other things, like internet advertising. It doesn't make much sense, but that doesn't mean it might not happen.
I agree, it doesn't make much sense. I don't know about the other readers here but many people look forward to receiving these weekly flyers, they have made this habit forming. To divert all funds from flyer to internet (or other more conemporary forms of advertising) would be a questionable move in my opinion. This being said, the results of newspaper flyer insertion may not be the same in the US as it is here.
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