Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2006

The 4th annual FSI Distribution Trends Report is issued by Marx Promotion Intelligence, a division of TNS Media Intelligence. Marx Promotion Intelligence is considered the industry standard for tracking FSI coupon activity. Free copies of the comprehensive Marx FSI Distribution Trends Report are available through the Marx Promotion Intelligence website at www.tnsmi-marx.com.

“FSIs are a cost-effective advertising medium to deliver consumer impressions since the consumer chooses to ‘opt-in’ and receive the message, and then actively engages with relevant products and offers,” said Mark Nesbitt, chief operating officer, Marx Promotion Intelligence. “Consumers continue to seek out FSIs to be exposed to new products, gain additional product information, benefit from purchase incentives, and plan their shopping trips.”

FSIs maintained consistent frequency with activity in 49 out of the 53 Sundays in 2006. The pre-Easter promotion week of April 2 had the greatest combined weight by delivering 144 total pages. The pre-Thanksgiving week of November 11 was also heavily weighted with 128 pages of FSI promotions. On average, FSIs reach almost 70 million households on a weekly basis, with household reach varying across national, regional, and local brands. The dynamics among the above three principles of frequency, weight, and reach, provide important insight into category, competitor, and brand strategies.

Overall FSI Activity
During 2006, a record level of almost 200 billion pages containing more than 253 billion coupons were delivered via FSI coupons in Sunday newspapers. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) activity dominated these trends accounting for 67.4 percent of total FSI pages, followed by Direct Response with 23.4 percent and Franchise Restaurant at 9.2 percent. However, CPG activity was down 2.3 percent versus 2005, while Direct Response and Franchise Restaurant increased 11.2 percent and 4.4 percent respectively.

Within the CPG industry, the Non-Food segment had a 2.7 percent increase in coupon circulation while the Food segment pulled back 3.9 percent. The Average Face Value increased across both the Non-Food and Food segments, up 3.6 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. These trends indicate that manufacturers are continuing to leverage FSIs, but increasingly use them to deliver high-value offers that encourage brand trial and generate category excitement.

CPG INDUSTRY FSI ACTIVITY

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2006

Top 10 Categories for New Product Activity
FSI coupon support was included as part of 384 new product introductions across the CPG industry in 2006, as tracked by Marx Promotion Intelligence. Food categories contributed 237 of these new items led by Snacks, Cereals, and Beverages. Non-Food categories contributed an additional 147 new items led by Household Cleaning Products and Vitamins.

TOP 10 CATEGORIES FOR NEW PRODUCT ACTIVITY

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2006

This reinforces how manufacturers are continuing to integrate FSI coupons as part of their new product introductions. A more complete analysis of leading practices was presented in the Marx ProMotion GuidePoint© entitled: “New Product FSI Promotion: A Look at Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) FSI Promotion Tactics in Support of New Product Introductions.”

Top 10 FSI Categories
Five of the top 10 categories for new product introductions were also among the top 10 categories for overall FSI activity in 2006. Household Cleaning Products led all categories in overall FSI coupon activity and ranked number one in new product introductions among Non-Food categories. Snacks ranked first across all categories for new product introductions and was the top-ranked Food category for overall FSI activity. The top 10 categories accounted for 30.7 percent of all coupons distributed across the CPG industry.

TOP 10 FSI CATEGORIES (by coupons distributed*)

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2006

*Coupons Distributed equals the actual number of coupons distributed in FSI inserts for manufacturers’ brands.

Top 10 Manufacturers
The ranking of the top 10 manufacturers remained unchanged in 2006 with Procter & Gamble retaining the top position. Procter & Gamble continued to leverage the P&G brandSAVER^TM vehicle as its primary FSI distribution method, but complemented these efforts with additional promotion support for select brands in other leading FSI vehicles.

TOP 10 MANUFACTURERS (by coupons distributed*)

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2006

*Coupons Distributed equals the actual number of coupons distributed in FSI inserts for manufacturers’ brands.

About Marx Promotion Intelligence
Marx Promotion Intelligence is the industry standard for tracking Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity. Marx provides the finest companies in America with web-based strategic insights and tactical tools that are state of the art. You may request a copy of the complete Marx 2006 FSI Distribution Trends Report at the company website: www.tnsmi-marx.com

About TNS Media Intelligence
TNS Media Intelligence is the leading provider of strategic advertising intelligence to advertising agencies, advertisers, and media properties. The company's tracking technologies collect advertising expenditure and occurrence data, as well as select creative executions, for more than 2.2 million brands across 20 media. Established in 23 countries with more than 16,000 customers, TNS MI is part of the TNS Group, ranked #2 worldwide in marketing information and the world’s largest custom research company. The U.S. headquarters are in New York City with sales locations in major markets throughout the United States. www.tns-mi.com
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