The Client:
Two daily newspapers owned by 21st Century Media, the Morning Journal of Lorain, Ohio and the News-Herald of Willoughby, Ohio. Their combined daily circulation is 54,355 and Sunday circulation of 58,514.
The Problem:
Both papers occasionally run auctions for high value prizes which readers bid on using “money” printed in the newspapers. The auctions are popular and engage readers, but require too much hands-on management.
Tom Pottorff, the Regional Circulation Director was looking for a promotion that would generate the same level of excitement and reader engagement as the auctions – but without all the logistics problems and overseeing.
He found bestbingopromo.com and decided to try it out for an early fall promotion.
How it Worked:
The bingo cards were inserted on Sunday, Aug. 23rd and the game ran for 7 weeks. Readers were asked to cut out the daily call numbers and paste them onto the bingo cards. The first person to bring their completely covered card won the Grand Prize, a weekend getaway to NE Ohio Wine Country including meals, wine, transportation to and from a winery and an overnight stay. The second coverall card won a $200 gas card.
The Results:
During the seven-week promotion, the two papers experienced a healthy boost in daily sales with an average weekly increase of 298 daily papers.
Pottorff was very pleased with the huge community involvement and reader engagement.
“BestBingoPromo offered an easy-to-run promotion that got people excited and gave us a really good boost in sales. We’d like to plan a spring bingo game and then look at it again next fall.”
In Review
We talked with Tom Pottorff about the results and how he might fine tune the promotion the next time.
- He will put together a sponsorship package that will tie the prize in with the sponsor a little better – possibly a garden tractor from a garden supply store or free oil changes or tune-ups from a car dealership. This plan should make the package even more attractive to the sponsors since it will create additional advertisement.
- A prize that is targeted by season might have even more appeal – like offering lawn service or the garden tractor in the spring when readers have dragged out that old mower that just won’t start.
- Timing a Fall promotion a few weeks after schools starts when readers are back in their routine will probably work better and will probably get an even higher level of participation.
- They would also like to partner with a radio station for the next bingo promotion in order to reach non-newspaper readers.
- Hand out additional bingo cards to the sponsor to help attract more foot traffic and boost the value of the sponsorship even more.