That’s Entertainerment

That’s Entertainerment

The coupon book seems to have entirely beaten the financial crisis, says Communicate magazine.

November 28, 2009 9:23 by Sam Potter

While the business may have lost one merchant, every month it recruits more. The annual nature of the publications makes this difficult, but The Entertainer has sidestepped this issue with the help of the internet. Thanks to a website introduced this year, new outlets can provide similar offers to purchasers of the book, and also make use of The Entertainer‘s database to invite customers to opening nights or special promotion events.

“We’ve just started moving in an online direction,” says Benton. “It’s exactly the same kind of voucher but you have to buy the book and put a membership code in (which appears in the book). You get five or six different promotions each month, and you print off the vouchers. We have brunches, hotel nights, and restaurant openings.”

This online direction may offer some interesting avenues for The Entertainer, but lurking down them may be some potentially unwelcome competitors. Websites such as PromosME.com are offering new challenges to the company’s dominance. But Benton is upbeat.

“Competition is always good,” she says. “At the end of the day, it’s about what the people want. It’s a lot easier said than done to look after 1,500 merchants, making sure that the mechanics are right and that every one of them accepts the buy-one-get-one-free. Yes, we have had a couple of companies try to do similar things, but I believe whoever is the first to do something will always survive.”

First seen in Communicate magazine.

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