Communications company Media General and daily deal service Groupon announced a partnership October 11 allowing the media company to offer locally branded deals to its consumers and advertisers.
The partnership gives Media General the opportunity to let advertisers add local Groupon deals to their promotions on the company’s numerous platforms, including 18 network-affiliated television stations, 20 community newspapers and more than 200 specialty publications and their affiliated web sites.
The first of Media General’s properties to begin offering Groupon promotions is the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which kicked off the “Richmond Daily Deal” this week, providing e-mail subscribers with a daily offer from a local merchant. Consumers can also see the “Daily Deal” on the newspaper’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Advertisers only pay for a Groupon deal if a threshold of consumers redeems the offer. At the same time, it can help the media company drive additional traffic to its local media sites.
“We have been aggressively integrating social media with our local sites, and products like the ‘Richmond Daily Deal’ are great examples of how we leverage the social connections of our audience and local property to increase our reach and site engagement,” said David Park, VP of new operations and digital media at Media General. “Partnerships like the one Media General has with Groupon provide yet another opportunity for our local properties to provide valuable connection between local buyers to local sellers.”
Under the arrangement, Groupon sales representatives conduct all deal negotiations with local advertisers, and the company also produces the creative for the daily promotions. Media General distributes the e-blasts to consumers who have opted to receive them.
“We are only days into our launch, but so far the reaction has been very positive,” said Park.
