I have seen several IGA supermarkets promoting free News Corp. newspapers for shoppers who spend $20 or more in-store at the IGA.
One newsagent told me that in their situation, two doors away from an IGA running the promotion, they have seen News Corp. sales decline – they think because of the promotion.
I get that News Corp. does what it needs to do to achieve circulation / readership goals for ad revenue targets. I think the regularity of these deals speak to challenges for the company getting people to pay for its product.
What is a newspaper worth? Shop here and you pay $2.00. Shop at IGA for it’s free if you spend more than $20.00.
What diminishes the value of the newspaper product further in my opinion is the mechanic of the free paper at the IGA. The offer is not consistent. Sometimes it is offered while other times it is not. The wording is especially inconsistent.
That checkout counter offer of the free paper opens conversations about the papers and there is where brand damage can be delivered. Simply by offering a free News Corp. paper invites a response. Given the extent of growing negative feelings toward News Corp. in some locations this year, I would have thought that opening the door for sharing opinions was not ideal.
A quick check of Twitter shows plenty of people talking about the latest News Corp. giveaway, like this one:
My local IGA has a new deal :
if you spend $20 you get a free Murdoch ‘newspaper’, not one person took one!😂😂😂
and an elderly lady behind me said to her friend maybe I should grab one to line my kitty litter tray.
GOLD!!!#NewsCorpse— I Can’t Breathe #BlackLivesMatter (@KarolinaVoit) November 3, 2020
And this one:
Overheard at an IGA supermarket. Checkout staff. “You get a free newspaper as you’ve spent over $30”. Shopper. “I’d rather just have a free plastic bag”. @theheraldsun #NewsCorpse #cantgiveitaway
— onhold (@iratecaller) September 21, 2020
Yes, these types of deals have been around for years. That does not mean we should ignore them and consider the challenge they present to retail newsagents.
Oh, and some in News Corp. may say the free paper today could convert someone who goes on to purchase from the newsagent in the future. To this I would say, show me the evidence of this. Like the claims for trickle-down economics, I suspect it is wishful thinking not backed by evidence.