If you are wondering what happened to your Abbotsford Times, Chilliwack Times, Langley Advance or Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows Times last week, the four-page wrap around in front of the local news on the Glacier Media Group papers was an announcement about the BC-based newspaper chain’s partnership with SocialShopper.com.
In a press release issued June 27, Glacier Media’s President of Lower Mainland Publishing, Alvin Brouwer, said, ““We are very proud to have SocialShopper as part of the Glacier family. We have specific ideas on how to differentiate this space and now with the size and caliber of SocialShopper’s customer base combined with our own we have a significant position to build on.”
It is the third major attempt that Lower Mainland publishing has made to add relevance to their products in the digital world in recent years. The first attempt was to add a business directory to all of their websites and charge for advertising in it. The next was a technological change which allowed readers to scan some newspaper ads from the physical newspaper itself and thereby gain access to the advertisers’ websites.
Editorially, their websites still publish content from their newspapers.
This latest attempt involves special offers and marketing campaigns which offer deep discounts from local business to users who push the deals out across social media to all of their Facebook friends. If enough people sign up for the deal, it is approved and the user gets their discount.
According to the press release, “”This partnership demonstrates our commitment to making SocialShopper a top player in the local social commerce industry. Our talented and passionate team have done a great job thus far and now partnering with Glacier Media Group will give SocialShopper the resources, scale and reach to take our business to the next level while providing even better offers, products and services for our customers and business partners. We see huge potential in the multi-billion dollar local commerce space and are excited to capitalize on this incredible opportunity,” said Ehsan Baloochy, Founder and CEO of SocialShopper.”
Glacier’s share price has been taking a slow but steady beating over the last year dropping form over $2.00 a share to less than $1.60 in the last weeks of June when it rebounded slightly.
For more on Glacier Media Group click here.
For more on SocialShopper.com click here.
