Linear SC Below The Line Ad Agency Green Retail Branding Promotions How To

How To Develop an FSI (Free Standing Insert) - Part I

Large retail, chain stores are a necessary channel of manufactured, consumer goods. Having the widest selection and best prices, these stores offer consumers most every product desireable. A fundemental promotional tool in the marketing mix is to promote products with Free Standing Inserts (FSIs) which publicize new product features usually with cents off coupons.

Free Standing Inserts
The Free Standing Insert (FSI) is a publication, typically several pages long, that is distributed by inserting it into a newspaper. The Free Standing Insert is printed on its own paper and is frequently sized differently than the newspaper. Free standing inserts have become a tradition in the Sunday paper, and many people wait until they get the weekend paper in order to check prices. Using the Free Standing Inserts, consumers can compare promotions of several brands at once without having to leave home.

How To Win Customers with Online Coupon Programs

Marketing tactics come and go, but no matter what business you’re in, one thing remains a constant: Customers love coupons. Thanks to the increase in the number of Americans online (more than 70 percent of the population), consumers are embracing online coupons as a quick and easy alternative to spending an entire Sunday clipping them from the newspaper.

Since 2005, online coupon usage has grown 39 percent, according to Simmons/Experian Research and Coupons Inc.; and businesses are cashing in on the myriad ways online coupons can be used to reach consumers: e-mail that provides a printable coupon for $5 off in-store, banner ads that offer a 10 percent discount for new customers, or e-newsletters that offer a promotional code for free shipping. Online coupons are even going mobile with companies such as Cellfire that allow you to target customers via text messaging.

With so many avenues to reach consumers, it’s no wonder online coupons are growing in popularity. Here are three ways your business can use online coupons to pump up sales and create loyal customers.

How To Develop Tie-Ins for Alcohol Products

Wine or alcoholic beverages have unique state by state legal requirements. Many alcohol (Wine, Spirits, Beer) companies with national distribution will promote a partner brand for the main reason of offering a consumer promotion, usually in the form of a cents off coupon in states that prohibit promotional savings on their own (alcohol) brand.

How To Search A Business Name

Q: Are there resources to help figure out whether a business name is already taken? What do you do if the name you want is already claimed?

- J.B., Chicago

How To Improve Agency & Client Communication

If you're an agency or client working together to support trade and consumer programming, then you've got to be working smarter, harder and more effectively. A few key steps to keep in mind for good group dynamics:

1. Client direction.
Keeping the agency moving in the right direction may require more information than you think. A hands off approach to creative solutions can be a shot in the dark. Spend time up-front and have the agency submit their plan with both client and agency input. See if the agency has a preferred process. If not, does the client offer any training that can educate the agency in how its company/groups function.

How To Develop UPC Codes

Universal product codes — UPCs — are the 12-digit numbers that appear under the barcodes on many U.S. products. They are given out by GS1 US, a nonprofit group that sets standards for international commerce.

Here’s how it works: Businesses pay to join GS1 US, and in exchange, it assigns each member its own identification number that appears as the first part of its UPC.