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Hungry Like a Wolf

For what almost seems an eternity these days I feel as though I have been continually reading and hearing about how tough it is for people in today's economy.

Hearing how consumers aren't spending, and reading how business is finding it tough. How the future; how everything seems so uncertain; and how the conclusions drawn for the causes of these problems will often point to anything and everything except ourselves.

Understand what you expect you get.

Of course these are tough times and so what do we expect? Low revenue results, business owners reluctant to commit to long-term advertising contracts, salespeople wanting to dump rates, and owners of media properties wanting to sellout.

Generally these are the things we tell ourselves, the things we set ourselves up with everyday even before we leave our homes.

I bet you've read or seen a book entitled something like "How to Sell in Tough Times" yet doesn't the title immediately introduce a problem into our heads?

Have you ever read a book called "How to Sell in Easy Times?" Of course not.

Why aren't there articles and books with titles like "How to Sell. Period", or "How to Deal with the Truth", or "How to Take Responsibility"? Do we always need an out-clause, something to abrogate us from the responsibility of it all?

Of course the future is uncertain. What else could it be? Since when was the future ever certain for any person, place, or thing?

So where then should we look for answers to problems large and small? Where can we find the solutions to our complaints from ailing sales revenues to global affliction?

I am reminded of a Native American anecdote.

The story tells an old Cherokee telling his grandson about a fight that is going on inside him.

"It is between two wolves," he said. "One is evil: full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego."

"The other is good: filled with joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, acceptance, and faith."

The grandson thinks about it for a while, and then asks his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replies, "The one I feed."

This week try to look up, or inwards, but stop looking down.

Digital Coupons Top Newspaper Printed Ten to One

Coupons.com recently issued new data that shows digital coupons grew 100% during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, while free standing inserts in newspapers rose 8.4% for the same period. The data shows that more than $ 1 billion in digital coupon savings was printed or loaded to a store loyalty card via the Coupons.com network in the last 12 months, outpacing the growth of coupons distributed in newspapers 10 to 1.
Growth is attributed to several key factors, including

• Continued consumer adoption of online printable, save to store, loyalty card and mobile coupons
• Increased use of digital coupons by brand marketers, manufacturers and retailers

Representing 20.8% of the U.S. population, 46.8 million American consumers are now using online coupons, up from 40.2 million in 2008. Of the 46.4 online coupon users, 12.9 million do not read any part of the Sunday newspaper, an 18% increase over 10.9 million in 2008, says the report.

Searches on Google for "Printable Coupons" increased 67% over a year ago. In addition, consumers are sharing coupons within their networks and brands are using them to entice and reward followers. In a report by Razorfish, the number one reason consumers followed a brand on Twitter or liked a brand on Facebook was access to exclusive deals or offers.

Research shows that even if economic conditions improve, 8 out of 10 U.S. adults plan to continue to engage in couponing activities. In addition, users of digital coupons have higher household incomes and are better educated than users if newspaper coupons and the general population, dispelling the perceived low-brow stigma of couponing.

Consumers who print digital coupons:

• Have an estimated average household income of $96,000, 14% higher income than the U.S. average
• With household income of over $100,000 are twice as likely to have redeemed coupons printed from an online source than adults with household income less than $35,000
• 33.4% have a college degree, compared with 28.9% who use newspaper coupons and 26.1% of the general populace
• With college degrees are almost twice as likely to have used coupons in the past six months as those who didn't graduate from high school.

For the first half of 2010, Ready to Eat Cereal was the most popular category for both online printable and coupons accessed via mobile apps, and was the 7^th most popular category for coupons saved to the loyalty cards. Dairy & Eggs was the top category for Save to Card coupons. The variance in the top categories for Save to Card coupons is attributed to the fact that brands geo-target campaigns to areas where local supermarkets carry their products.

Georgia tops the list of most active states using digital coupons both via Web browsers and mobile apps. based on the Coupons.com Savings Index. Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Utah round out the Top Five for states using digital coupons via a Web browser, while Oklahoma, Alaska, Missouri and Tennessee round out the Top Five for states using digital coupons via mobile apps. The  states in the South and Midwest dominate the top ten spots on both lists.