COUPON/DAILY DEAL IMPACT ON RADIO INDUSTRY
There has been an explosion in Deal a Day companies led by Groupon and Living Social. BIA/Kelsey estimates 2010 revenue for the industry at $873 Million and revenue continuing to grow in double digits. Deal a Day sites continue to add markets and many are establishing a local sales force. Coupons are attractive and can result in businesses attracting new visitors through the offer. In addition, business owners can easily quantify and measure the quality of the response, e.g. did it lead to other product sales. There has been criticism as to whether the bulk of coupon buyers are existing customers, while in part true, it also contributes to existing customer loyalty.
While some would argue that Deal a Day companies should be lumped in with Direct Mail, I believe Deal a Day companies do compete with radio for marketing dollars. Their establishment of a local sales force is highly troubling to the radio industry already struggling to eek out positive revenue growth. Many companies such as www.tencoupons.com, Deal Current, Second Street Media, Tippr, TownHog and others are aligning themselves with radio. These radio aligned Deal a Day companies will help those more innovative radio companies obtain a share of this market and reduce the risk of revenue loss.