Canadian Retailer - Winter 2015 - 34

RETaIl advERTIsINg

"The flyer is a permanent record.
You see people adding flyers to
their shopping list, price-matching with it in-store, and holding
onto it as a reminder. Mobile may
change that, but until then the
paper flyer is still the preferred
reference point."
- KELLY LEVSON, Newspapers Canada

consumer choice rules

the staying power of paper
Will the ability of digital to target and tailor
ConSUmeRS USing
flyers even more precisely lead to paper's depRinT FlyeRS
%
mise? Not so fast, says Michael Chase, Chief
74
Marketing officer at St. Joseph Communications in Toronto. The company has a media
53%
44%
publishing side and digital properties, so
more
often
Chase isn't partial.
"We come at it from an omnichannel perAbout
spective," he says. digital-always in your
same
printed online Catalogues
amount
hand, always logged in-has its place. So does
flyers
flyers
paper. "our large retailers live and breathe by
81% of Canadian consumers are
74% of today's Canadian consumers
using printed flyers about the same
the flyer, and that's because consumers are
use printed flyers, compared to online amount (69%) or more often (12%),
choosing it," says Chase.
flyers (53%) and catalogues (44%).
compared to a year ago.
Walmart Canada distributes 10 million flyers a week. Jennifer Holgate, Vice President of
Marketing Communications there, understands digital's value, flyers more valuable than online or email, and
and says the company does tinker with the distribution of their it wasn't close.
paper flyers to test the impact. But paper is retaining its place:
For instance, the study revealed that com"it will continue to be a strong core of our marketing program," pared to store websites, consumers look to
says Holgate. "When we place a flyer in the market, we see the print flyers significantly more to learn about
return," she says.
deals (3.3 times more), compare price and value
"We've heard forever that the flyer will go away, that it's a options (twice as much), research the range
mass medium and we want one-to-one," says Chase. "What of products available (1.6 times more) and rewe're seeing more and more is that a combination with a print search which stores carry the product they're
program is more effective than just digital."
looking for (1.6 times more).
Chase also senses a certain degree of digital fatigue among
consumers. "When you get a lot of email blasts that are not part of the shopping experience
directed to you personally, that are selling you products you
in the Metroland survey, more than half
don't need or want, that's not one-to-one."
of consumers said flyers are a valuable part
a 2014 survey commissioned by Metroland Media and pro- of their life. Habits may change, but for now
duced by BrandSpark international found that a strong major- paper flyers also fit squarely into the shopping
ity of ontario consumers not only rely on paper flyers but pre- experience for consumers.
fer them to digital versions. The researchers noted that some
"The flyer is a permanent record," says levson.
marketers feel pressure to shift to digital advertising and on- "You see people adding flyers to their shopping
line flyers. However, the consumers surveyed consider print list, price-matching with it in-store, and holding

81%

34 |

caNadIaN RETaIlER | Winter 2015

Canadian Retailer - Winter 2015

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