Other shoppers remain in business, such as American Classifieds (Thrifty Nickel) and many locally or regionally-owned Pennysavers. The name “Pennysaver” goes back to the 18th Century, and is not exclusive.

Our guess is that OpenGate didn’t see a clear path to profitability and decided to simply pull the plug (apparently, without paying final wages.) Core advertisers and consumers have many alternative options on Craigslist and other sources, and OpenGate didn’t seem to have a plan that would have upgraded Pennysaver to a hyperlocal, searchable and mobile-oriented model. That’s where things need to go.

We look across the aisle, for instance, to Cox Target Media’s Valpak, a coupons and advertising business. It has thrived on a hyperlocal publishing strategy, and has developed a robust digital strategy. Valpak has just announced a great Apple Watch app. But PennySaver wasn’t going there.

Theoretically, we still find Shoppers an appealing alternative sales channel. They are generally 100 percent commission, and many products could theoretically be added to their bundle (Google, et al). WebVisible, at one time, teamed up with American Classifieds to pursue such a model. PennySaver, itself, teamed up with Antengo, a mobile classifieds service. But that was discontinued when OpenGate came on board.

The post GoodBye Pennysaver: Is There Life Left in Shopper Publications? appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The program for BIA/Kelsey National is building quickly, with many great new speakers, as well as a slew of conference “extras.” Taking place March 25-27 in Dallas, BIA/Kelsey National breaks new ground in the local ecosystem, exploring key trends and opportunities in local for national brands. BIA/Kelsey forecasts that national brands will spend $68 billion on local marketing by 2018.

More than 40 speakers are now slated to join the National program which is being co-chaired by Third Act Marketing CEO Gregg Stewart, our longtime go-to expert for national-local advertising. The event also features The GoLocal Awards, honoring the best in national brand marketing targeting local users; a Before the Bell Innovation Tour at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center’s Treehouse, which is sponsored by Speakeasy; a special edition of Demos and Drinks, showcasing some of the industry coolest technology; a Women Leading in Local session, featuring Happening’s Angela Giovine and Tina Paprone; and special evening events to be announced.

Key speakers just announced include Google‘s Brendon Kraham, Director, Mobile Global Sales and Strategy; Pricewaterhouse Coopers‘ Daniel Eckert, Managing Director, Emerging Tech; YP‘s Melissa Burkhardt, VP, Search and Yield; Valpak President Michael Vivio; The Weather Co‘s Ryan Davis, VP, Local Platform; TvB‘s Steve Lanzano, President and CEO; Mediavest‘s Jason Dailey, SVP; Operative‘s Lorne Brown, CEO; and longtime industry leaders Robyn Rose and Warren Kay.

These industry leaders join previously announced industry leaders including keynotes from Facebook‘s Jon Czaja, Director, Small Business (North America); Geary LSF’s Karen Kovaleski, President and CEO; BizHive’s Dave Walker, Chairman; and Kenshoo’s Aaron Goldman, CMO. Other speakers include Grant Moise, SVP, Niche Markets, The Dallas Morning News; Ethan Selzer, VP, Retail and Regional Advertising, The Washington Post; Rick Hanna, CEO, Mspark; Travis Arthur, VP, ReachLocal; Corey O’Donnell, VP, Brand Management, Yodle; and C. Lee Smith, CEO, Sales Development Strategies (AdMall.)

Brand leaders joining us include El Pollo Loco’s Mark Belanger; Chick Fil-A agency rep Rod Ulrich (Richards Group); U-Haul’s Elnora Cunningham; Brooks Brothers’ Mike Walker; United Van Lines’ Keith Dailey (UniGroup); ServiceMaster’s Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling, VP and CMO; Rooms to Go’s Rob Crigler, VP, Digital Marketing; and All My Sons Moving & Storage’s Ormondo Gomez, CFO.

Tech and Agency leaders on the podium will include Advice Interactive Group’s Bernadette Coleman, CEO; Speakeasy’s Mike Orren, CEO; Where2GetIt’s Manish Patel, CEO; LocalBizNow’s Todd Webber, CEO; Simpli.fi’s Frost Prioleau, CEO; Location3 Media’s Andrew Beckman, CEO; MomentFeed’s Robert Blatt, CEO; Placeable’s Ari Kaufman, CEO; and SOCi’s Afif Khoury, CEO.

Will we see you in Dallas? You may register here.

The post BIA/Kelsey National, March 25-27, Dallas: All Star Lineup, Program appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Cox Target Media announced its acquisition of Savings.com, an online coupon website, and its British-based sister site, Savoo.co.uk today. Terms of the deal are undisclosed. Cox Target Media also owns and distributes Valpak coupons. Its print coupons from national and local retailers are mailed to more than 44 million homes a month. Savings.com gives online shoppers access to offers from national and online retailers. More than 5 million users access the site per month.

The acquisition also expands alternative revenue models, something Cox Target Media President Michael Vivio mentioned during ILM West last December. Under the traditional model, Valpak businesses pay for the ads up front and hope to receive a profit on the back end. Now, Valpak and Savings.com will offer national merchants pay-for-performance advertising that lets marketers drive sales with lower upfront costs. Savings.com also brings high-level email marketing and the ability to build loyalty databases around specific products and services to Valpak’s print-based model.

Savings.com and Savoo.co.uk will continue to operate independently but work together with Valpak to share resources, leverage technology platforms, and promote consumer engagement. Loren Bendele, founder and CEO of Savings.com, will continue in his current role.

Also worth noting today is Valassis Communications’ acquisition of Brand.net, an online display, video and mobile advertising platform. Valassis Communications is a direct mail company that is building out its digital display offering — Valassis Audience Network.

The post Cox Target Media Merger Creates Coupon Giant appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

ValPak now routinely features TV shows within its coupon offerings. This week, for instance, it has a Delta Airlines Sweepstakes associated with promotions for “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Mike & Molly.” In San Diego, the sweepstakes promotion is alongside more typical ValPak promotions for Sears Home Services, Alladin Parking and North County Pavers.

Eventful is going a step further and really pushing hard on the games mechanics for multiple social media promotions. The site has always had a “Demand It” feature for users to solicit events to their town. Now, Demand It has been expanded with eight weekly competitions. Each will enable users to “play” various contests, while being exposed to marketing for movies, TV shows, records, new books or even politicians, liquor and deal-a-day sites.

This week, for instance, the competitions include bringing author Ned Vizzini to a school; winning the premier showing of “Paranormal Activity 2,” a scary movie; being one of three schools to host Cox Cable and MTV’s “Challenge Day”; or five others (including Kiss).

CEO Jordan Glazier tells us “the local targeting capability of the Internet and direct e-mail marketing services like Eventful helps agencies appreciate the benefits of local focus. They are increasingly including local as a requirement within their buys.”

Using services like Eventful, Glazier says that “brand agencies have the opportunity to impact commerce for their clients across strategic segments and markets in ways that historically have been restricted to promotional agencies.” He adds that Eventful is capable of targeting by age, gender, presence of children, household income, city and neighborhood, and types of favored entertainment.

The post Movies, TV Shows, Concert Acts Using Local Online for Promos appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Groupon has a roaring head start in the deals of the day category for groups, with more than a million users. We’ll hear all about Groupon from CEO Andrew Mason at next week’s Marketplaces conference in San Diego, where he is keynoting. But there are now countless imitators adding their own deals.

New York-based 8Coupons.com, which aggregates coupons from content partners such as Valpak, Money Mailer and RedPlum’s SuperCoups, has now put them all together in one spot (great idea). 8Coupons launched the top 10 U.S. cities last month, and now has 55 different Group Buying “Deals of the Day” Web sites in 100 cities. Based on what we are hearing around the industry, many more sites are likely to enter the space soon.

The post Group-Based ‘Deals of the Day’ Sites: 55 and Counting appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Groupon has a roaring head start in the deals of the day category for groups, with more than a million users. We’ll hear all about Groupon from CEO Andrew Mason at next week’s Marketplaces conference in San Diego, where he is keynoting. But there are now countless imitators adding their own deals.

New York-based 8Coupons.com, which aggregates coupons from content partners such as Valpak, Money Mailer and RedPlum’s SuperCoups, has now put them all together in one spot (great idea). 8Coupons launched the top 10 U.S. cities last month, and now has 55 different Group Buying “Deals of the Day” Web sites in 100 cities. Based on what we are hearing around the industry, many more sites are likely to enter the space soon.

The post Group-Based 'Deals of the Day' Sites: 55 and Counting appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.