ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

An advertiser's guide to what's new at The Seattle Times Company

Posted September 2006

The Seattle Times Company's print and deliver programs enhance Great Harvest Bread Co.'s fundraiser for children

Before the Great Harvest Bread Co. started working with The Seattle Times Company, something was missing from their advertising program: an effective method of letting the households around their nine Seattle-area stores know about current promotions. Great Harvest is a bakery using old-fashioned recipes and natural ingredients to make an assortment of breads and sandwiches. They had long run newspaper ads but wanted something more targeted for a promotion they were conducting in tandem with Children's Hospital. Area stores teamed up to offer bread in the shape of bears fashioned from whole-grain wheat, with all proceeds being donated to the uncompensated care fund at the Seattle-based hospital. To help ensure fundraising and business goals were met, the bakery wanted an eye-catching and large format circular saturated with color that also increased foot traffic in each of the participating stores.

Enter Savings Source and ZIP X-PRESS, The Seattle Times Company's highly effective and affordable solutions that provide ZIP code targeting and nonsubscribers in King and South Snohomish counties. Savings Source is a full-color, all-advertising wrap that carries advertising inserts, including ZIP X-PRESS print and deliver single sheets. The Savings Source package is delivered on Wednesdays in The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspapers, and via mail to nonsubscribers. Both Savings Source and ZIP X-PRESS are easy and affordable, with The Seattle Times Company handling the ads every step of the way. Expert staff copywriters and graphic designers craft the marketing message based on the advertiser's objectives, helping ensure optimal response. And lead time is less than two weeks for ZIP X-PRESS, and as little as nine days prior for Savings Source. Advertisers hail the single sheet format of ZIP X-PRESS as an excellent advertising vehicle for great values and coupons. Plus, consumers have learned that the packet of sales and deals only come around once a week and thus make a conscious effort to retain the entire product.

The results are undeniable. A 2006 survey of consumers who use Savings Source found that:

• 94 percent of survey respondents read advertisements in the wrap in the past month
• 60 percent of respondents read every issue of Savings Source they received in the past month
• Seven in 10 people responded to the advertisements found in Savings Source or ZIP X-PRESS

Using advanced segmentation analysis from Claritas, Inc., the industry leader in marketing analytics, The Seattle Times Company determined that many of the top users of Savings Source and ZIP X-PRESS include a mix of singles and couples typically less than 45 years in age.

While the numbers speak for themselves, so does the commitment by Great Harvest Bread Co. to ZIP X-PRESS single sheets. The 30-year-old bakery kicked off the program in 2005 using the print and deliver program and expanded it in 2006 to a month-long promotion. Future plans call for an expansion of households receiving the promotion, a task easily accommodated by the ZIP X-PRESS program. Locations from Everett to Federal Way display the 10 x 11 inch sheets that picture a bear that children can color in. Those who bring back a charming bear receive a complimentary cookie while their drawing is sent to brighten the halls at Children's Hospital.

For more information about Savings Source, ZIP X-PRESS or other turnkey and affordable advertising options, please contact your account executive or call 206/464-2400.