TABLOID-SIZE CIRCULARS PREFERRED: ADVO SURVEY

RICHARD TURCSIK

WINDSOR, Conn. -- Consumers prefer tabloid-size supermarket circulars to those done broadsheet-style, a survey of shoppers conducted for Advo here has revealed.

Advo's second Annual Review of Circular Advertising Practices, released today, also found shoppers prefer having items in the circular grouped by aisle. Among the other features they favor in circulars: recipes, simplified coupons and space for shopping lists.

"Our findings show that by listening to the voice of the consumer, grocers can increase their advertising circulars' effectiveness while spending less money. Our findings should also prompt retailers to think innovatively and develop new circular formats that appeal to consumers' time-saving needs," said Joe Durrett, Advo's president and chief operating officer.

Advo's survey found that while 70% of all circulars are of a broadsheet style, they are preferred by only 18% of consumers. By comparison, 52% of consumers prefer an 11-inch by 17-inch tabloid size, but currently only 28% of circulars use that format.

The survey results also show consumers prefer having 30 items listed on a page. Current tabloids have an average of 19 items and broadsheets have 34.

"If retailers drop from broadsheet size to tabloid, and put 30 items per page, most of them could end up getting more items in and saving money," he said.

Durrett told SN that by switching to tabloid sizes and using thinner paper, retailers can save money on ever-increasing postal rates.

"Since the postal rates went up in January we've seen some circular reductions and a lot of the clients are interested in making sure that they are getting maximum value out of the page. We have also noticed that they are using lighter paper or trimming

the edges. If you're sending thousands of papers it really adds up, and the consumers do not find paper quality to be a critical issue," he said.

The survey revealed that 86% of consumers surveyed liked the idea of a circular arranged by aisle layout.

"We took a couple of ads and arranged the ads as you would find it in the store. The page is almost laid out like aisles, and here's what's available in each aisle. It gets you to shop the entire store. It tells you where everything is, and consumers love it," Durrett said.

Stores that do not have a cookie-cutter format could use neighborhood marketing and tailor their circulars for individual stores, he said. "It might cost more, but a 3% increase in customers would do a lot," he said.

Advo's survey found that consumers prefer finding meat and produce items listed every week, standard grocery items listed every two weeks and videos and other nonfood peripheral items listed once a month.

"In most areas grocers are doing a pretty good job of following that, with the possible exception of nongrocery where it is mentioned more frequently than consumers would have wanted. In a sense it's robbing space from what consumers would have wanted.

"On the other hand, many of these advertisements are paid for by co-op funds, so it might be justifiable. But a good grocer should look at co-op justification. Unless he is really more than covering his expense, there is probably an opportunity here to do more with fresh goods than some of the grocery nonfood items," he said.

Shoppers also liked circulars that contain weekday meal recipes (79%), special meal recipes (73%), a shopping list (70%) and a weekly menu planner (66%).

Although the survey did not delve into the popularity of "clipless" coupons, a whopping 84% of shoppers liked Advo's new MasterCoupon device, although it is not yet being used by retailers. When placed in a circular, a single MasterCoupon would allow shoppers to take advantage of several offers. It would be used for internal sales and would not be sent to a clearing house.

This year's survey also updated information from the initial poll. Last year's survey found customers liked buy-one-get-one-free sales, though only 24% of supermarkets offered them. That number jumped to 54% this year, although still representing only 6% of featured items.

Advo is the nation's largest full-service direct marketing services company and the largest distributor of grocery circulars. The study was conducted for Advo from November 1994 through January 1995 by Pert Survey Research, Bloomfield, Conn. For its survey, Pert questioned 603 consumers in the Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis, Dallas, Orlando, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., markets.