What Is Co-op?
Co-op (cooperative) advertising is a partnership established between the manufacturer and retailer to share the cost of advertising at the local level. Co-op advertising is NOT something else to sell. It is a way to sell. By using co-op, you can help your advertisers get more exposure without increasing their ad budget. If a retailer does not use all of their accrued co-op funds, they are essentially throwing away money. Every year, an estimated $12.8 billion in co-op advertising goes unused.
How does it work? Retailers can accrue co-op funds based on their purchases from a manufacturer. When the retailer runs an ad featuring the manufacturer’s product, the manufacturer reimburses the retailer for a predetermined portion of the ad cost up to the accrual amount.
Example: Retailer ABC has accrued $500 with Benjamin Moore and runs an ad featuring Benjamin Moore paint. Retailer ABC’s ad is $1,000 but only costs them $500 because Benjamin Moore will reimburse them for the other $500.
Is it really worth my time? Yes! Yes! Yes! Everybody wins with co-op!
- Your newspaper sells more ad space.
- Your advertisers increase store traffic and sales.
- The manufacturers sell more products.
In addition to helping your current advertisers, co-op can help you gain new customers. There are many manufacturers that will reimburse 100% of the ad cost up to the accrual amount. Now, that’s an easy sales pitch–“How would you like to run this ad for free?” Using the Advanced Co-op Search feature, you can search for plans based on reimbursement amounts and your media type.
Request a personalized co-op assessment to see what your revenue potential is. We’ll even give you three local co-op sales leads.
You can also download the co-op overview for more information.
