Readers of the Sacramento Bee are in for a treat – if they’re buying from a newsstand that is.
Thanks to a company called Innovative Newspaper Marketing Concepts, the Bee’s newsstands do much more than dispense newspapers. The “talking news rack” delivers a 15-second recorded message each time a newspaper is purchased. The “scrolling text news rack” has an LED unit mounted on it that displays a message to consumers as they walk by.
Whether audio or visual, the message is completely customizable: breaking news in today’s paper, a message from the editor, contest promotions, even advertisements. INMC CEO Jody Cline said the Sacramento Bee purchased approximately 100 units last year, and has since seen an 8 percent increase in single-copy sales. The Bee even published a story about its use of the product. “It’s proven to work,” Cline said.
Recognizing the need for newspapers to market to their consumers, Cline remains optimistic that his products will catch on.
“My idea for the whole unit is to look for someone savvy to link up with Raley’s [a local grocery store], and have Raley’s buy the news rack,” he said. “Then the prompt would say, ‘Thank you for shopping at Raley’s; your coupons are inside the paper.'”
via Buy a Newspaper, Hear an Advertisement.
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