Groupon has some fresh competition nationwide. Cumulus’ daily-deals rival SweetJack is rolling out an ad blitz for SweetJack 9/17 in 37 cities including NYC, LA, Seattle, DC and Philadelphia, The NY Post reports.
The campaign is being done with Clear Channel to grab up market share in online discounting market dominated by Groupon and Living Social—in exchange for Cumulus stations being added to CC’s iHeartRadio.
Formed a year ago, SweetJack sells promotions to local merchants and advertises them over the air and online.
“[Groupon and Living Social] haven’t had a third competitor that has the alignment of a national media platform,” Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey told The Post. “We think of the radio business ultimately as a business that connects merchants with customers.”
Dickey says SweetJack is a natural way for Cumulus to leverage its 570 stations, which have nurtured relationships with local vendors and merchants for years.
What’s more, its alliance with Clear Channel’s 850 stations allows them to reach a combined 250 million radio listeners daily, giving SweetJack a promotional edge over rivals. Dickey said the split on the SweetJack partnership with Clear Channel can differ by market but is generally 50-50.
SweetJack is aiming for $100 million in revenue over the next year, with an eye toward having 20% of that figure end up on the bottom line.
Meanwhile, Groupon has lost roughly three-quarters of its market value since going public in November at $20. Still, it remains the biggest daily-deals player.
RBR-TVBR observation: As we’ve reported, GroupOn-type deals are still a pretty good hit with customers, but not so much with merchants. Many customers are fair-weather deal scavengers that use up a deal and never return. The merchant then loses money. By offering SweetJack in combination with radio’s promotional voice, the trend may be able to be turned. Pair the good offer with some good creative and promotions and the customers may get hooked. We hope Cumulus and CC can figure it out and get some major NTR bucks from SweetJack.
