Deals 3D: AT&T Interactive Enters Daily Deal Space

David Krantz, president and CEO of AT&T Interactive, announced the launch of AT&T’s “Deal of the Day” program this afternoon at the BIA/Kelsey Deals 3D conference. The program is being offered initially in three markets: Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Los Angeles.

Krantz emphasized that deals are a natural extension of local advertising. Ergo, a full-line local advertising company needs to be a player in the deals space. (“We think of deals as just another type of advertising.”)

The new AT&T offering appears to be well thought-out, incorporating “best of breed” features and capabilities seen elsewhere in the deals space.

AT&T finds itself well-positioned in terms of the key elements that are needed to succeed in this space, with:

� A strong local sales force (AT&T Interactive has some 5,000 salespeople in the U.S.)
� Access to consumers (through owned and operated sites, as well as partner sites). Here, AT&T has YP.com, which ranks as the No. 35 most visited website with some 74 million monthly uniques. AT&T has 300+ partners online and mobile publisher sites and applications (it just added Foursquare, for instance).

But Krantz doesn’t foresee deals dominating advertising by SMBs (no “dealmageddon”). He explained there are four elements a business needs to advertise (of which deals is just one):

� Awareness (contextually placed ads)
� Directional (online profiles in directories and search engines)
� Presence & Social (an established online presence)
� Promotions (includes several elements, including everyday savings, loyalty programs and daily deals)