Silicon Prairie News

Yesterday, the Omaha World-Herald (OWH) threw their name in the hat for daily deal offerings serving Omaha. Although their launch trails that of major players Groupon and LivingSocial, they have an existing audience, ad sales team, and, of course, a strong local brand that will accelerate their version, Daily Deal Omaha, to the forefront.

"What makes Daily Deal Omaha different is our reach," said Pat Lazure, president of OWH's World Interactive Group, via email interview. "Not only do we share the deal with tens of thousands of opt-in email subscribers, but we also feature each specific deal event in our printed product, as well as on top of every page on Omaha.com."

Lazure said the placement on the top of Omaha.com pages translates to approximately 500,000 page impressions per day. Add in OWH's print circulation of over 180,000, and as an advertiser you're given a pretty attractive package for a cost, according to Lazure, which is similar to Groupon and LivingSocial's. Daily Deal Omaha's value increases again when you compare it to OWH's traditional advertising rates.

In comparison to the coupon models of Groupon and LivingSocial, Daily Deal Omaha mirrors Groupon – when a certain quota of coupons is sold the deal becomes active.

Yesterday's Daily Deal Omaha was 50 percent off a $12 giftcard to the popular locally-owned ice cream parlor, eCreamery. That deal sold 157 coupons. Today's deal, however, hasn't been as sweet. So far it's sold 11, but reaching the 10 coupons sold mark did activate the deal.

To learn more about Daily Deal Omaha, I conducting the following email interview with Lazure, who works to develop new products for OWH readers and advertisers.

Silicon Prairie News (SPN): What is Daily Deal Omaha?

Pat Lazure: Daily Deal Omaha is a collective buying product that features something cool to do each day – at an unbeatable price. It is only a deal if enough people join that day, so everyone is encouraged to invite their friends.

Why did you decide to get into this route of advertising?

Lazure: We are constantly looking for new and innovative products for our readers and our advertisers. We have offered deals and coupons for years, but only until now, with the emergence of some new technology, has a product such as this been available.

How are you leveraging your existing audience and advertising base?

Lazure: We’re throwing a lot of advertising firepower at this by featuring each specific deal event in our printed product, on Omaha.com, on our mobile WAP site, and on our iPhone app. In fact, soon Daily Deal Omaha will have its own iPhone app as well.

Who is selling and publishing the daily deal – your existing staff or new hires?

Lazure: We are leveraging our existing sales team and their local market knowledge and relationships to sell the daily deals. That stated, we expect to use this product as a way to form relationships with new advertisers as well.

What are your plans to keep Daily Deal Omaha competitive in the coming months?

Lazure: We are committed to finding the most compelling local deals, focused on growing our email base, and leveraging our trusted brand name to differentiate ourselves within the market.

What software are you using to publish and send out the daily deals?

Lazure: We recently started using Constant Contact and have been very pleased with their service.

Do you have plans to offer this to your audiences in rural Nebraska?

Lazure: We are currently assessing all opportunities for growth.

Reflecting on your market research, what were your major takeaways? Is this a fad or the start of something bigger?

Lazure: I think the desire for someone to get a deal has, and always will exist. I think this space will continue evolve as it has, with new technologies and innovation. In the future, I foresee a greater emphasis on targeted deals, whereby daily deals will be delivered to people based upon their individual tastes and preferences.

Do you have any other thoughts?

Lazure: Again, thanks for helping us share our story. This is a very interesting and rapidly-evolving space. The barriers to entry are very few, but the competitive forces are very strong. I’m very excited and equally curious to see how the daily deal landscape evolves – both on a national and local level.