HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Over the years, the most common type of newspaper-retailer partnership has been the coffee and a newspaper promotion. However, the Herald-Mail Company started with the common promotion and built on it to include a mystery-shopper promotion, reader contest and retailer competition as well. They also included two partners: retailer AC&T, a convenience store chain in their market, and The Hagerstown Suns, the local minor league baseball team.

The promotion provided an opportunity for readers to make a combo purchase of a Herald Mail newspaper and coffee or the newspaper and fountain drink for only .99 daily and $1.99 on Sunday. To further entice the customer, the promotion also offered weekly prizes of $200 and a grand prize of $1000. “Spot Woolie” (the Hagerstown Suns mascot) ads containing an entry form and promoting the newspaper and drink special ran daily in the Herald Mail. Readers dropped off the entry form in a box at the AC&T store. The contest ran from May 25 to July 6.

To gain further mileage from the program, photos of the five weekly winners and the one grand prize winner ran in the Monday newspaper. In addition to the reader contest, the newspaper established a competition among the 15 AC&T stores by offering $250 to the store with the greatest percentage sales increase in year over year sales.

The initial concept created a hometown promotion with local favorites for a low cost. AC&T funded the mystery-shopper program and the reader contest while the Hagerstown Suns contributed baseball tickets and merchandise.

AC&T and the Herald Mail have worked together in the past creating updated display units, and AC&T has allowed the newspaper to sell home delivery subscriptions through the kiosk program in their stores.

The increased traffic from the contest brought AC&T a jump in coffee and fountain beverages purchases, which have a higher profit margin than bottled beverages.

(Source: Newspaper Association of America)