Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2007

The 5th annual FSI Distribution Trends Report is issued by Marx Promotion Intelligence, a TNS Media Intelligence company. 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.

“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, chief operating officer, Marx Promotion Intelligence. “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. This compares to activity in 49 out of the 53 Sundays in 2006. In 2007, the post-New Year’s promotion week of January 7 had the greatest combined weight by delivering a total of 147 pages. The pre-Thanksgiving week of November 4 was also heavily weighted with 133 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 three key principles of frequency, weight, and reach, provide important insight into category, competitor, and brand strategies.

Overall FSI Activity
During 2007, over 197 billion pages containing more than 257 billion coupons were delivered via FSI coupons in Sunday newspapers. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) activity dominated these trends 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 Non-Food 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 Non-Food 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.

CPG INDUSTRY FSI ACTIVITY

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2007

Top 10 Categories for New Product Activity
FSI coupon support was included as part of 441 new product introductions across the CPG industry in 2007, as tracked by Marx Promotion Intelligence. Food categories contributed 312 of these new items led by Cereals, Beverages and Snacks. Non-Food categories contributed an additional 129 new items led by Household Cleaning Products and Home Paper/Plastic.

TOP 10 CATEGORIES FOR NEW PRODUCT ACTIVITY

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2007

This level of activity 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
Three of the top 10 categories for new product introductions were also among the top 10 categories for overall FSI activity in 2007. Household Cleaning Products led all categories in overall FSI coupon activity and ranked number one in new product introductions among Non-Food categories for the second year in a row. Snacks ranked second across all categories for new product introductions and was the top-ranked Food category for overall FSI activity. The top 10 categories accounted for 32.4 percent of all coupons distributed across the CPG industry.

TOP 10 FSI CATEGORIES (by Coupons Dropped*)

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2007
*Coupons Dropped equals the actual number of coupons distributed in FSI inserts for manufacturers’ brands.

Top 10 Manufacturers
The ranking of the top 10 manufacturers changed slightly in 2007. Procter & Gamble retained the top position. Reckitt Benckiser PLC moved up two spots while Unilever dropped down to the sixth position. Kraft foods also moved up two spots along with L’Oreal which broke into the top 10 in 2007.

TOP 10 MANUFACTURERS (by Coupons Dropped)

Source: Marx Promotion Intelligence 2007

About Marx Promotion Intelligence
Marx Promotion Intelligence, a TNS Media Intelligence company, is the definitive source for Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon intelligence and is the leading provider of consumer promotion insights. Through our industry-leading ProMotion PLUS Services, our clients are able to remain ahead of their competition by effectively identifying emerging product trends, retail partnership opportunities, critical category dynamics, and competitive promotion tactics. Marx Promotion Intelligence supports our clients’ overall marketing, research, category management, and brand planning needs. You may request a copy of the complete Marx 2007 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 number two 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