Gannett has now publicly announced that it has expanded its Deals Chicken platform to 10-15 markets, and will be in 57 markets where it has newspapers and/or TV stations.
The company obviously enters a crowded marketplace, but will likely become an immediate contender for several reasons. These include the strength of its local media outlets, existing merchant relationships, and an (often underrated) ability to cross promote deals. Its ability to scale product development is also impressive. Gannett now has over 30 products in its stable. Its various moms-oriented verticals and Datasphere-managed hyperlocal sites should be especially helpful.
We talked with Gannett Digital head Josh Resnick last month about the rollout. Resnick said the company considered several brands, but decided to roll out with Deals Chicken, which has done well for AZ Central for about a year. “The brand resonates, and consumers like it,” he said.
He also noted that the company will work with a deals platform first developed by its Clipper Magazine coupon subsidiary, which is branded Doubletake Deals. Using Clipper’s platform makes sense since it was created to serve multiple local markets at once.”That’s the nature of Clipper’s business,” said Resnick.
The choice to go inhouse differs from other media companies such as McClatchy, which has opted to work with Second Street Media, a white label company. “We’ll do a lot of experiementation,” notes Resnick. “ We are in so many local markets. Each one is a product innovation lab. Resnick also expects some success right out the door, becoming a “Top 3 player” in each of its markets in a matter of time.