Zip code-profiling, part II

As an avid coupon-clipper, I walk over to the convenience store each Sunday morning and pick up a copy of the Dallas Morning News for its weekly TV guide and its coupon inserts. Occasionally, the latter are not in there, but I get a paper anyway for the former. I've found that before big holidays, the coupon supplements are usually not included.

We also get coupon inserts in the area newspaper, the Herald-Democrat out of Sherman and Denison. I merrily clip away and file them and sometimes notice that where I usually have two of any one coupon, sometimes I just have one. But not until last weekend did I make a study of it.

There are two major players in the insert game around here, Smart Source and Red Plum. Once a month (I think), Proctor and Gamble has a special insert. The P&G inserts are the same, no matter the paper. The other two are not.

Printed on the spine is a listing of the papers they are inserted in. In each case, the Dallas Morning News was on one and a grouping of smaller papers on the other. Let's start with the least interesting of the two, the Red Plum.

Put out by Valassis of Livonia, MI, this insert had different covers, but the same back page (Eye Masters). The cover of the DMN was from Unilever and began an 11-page section of their products. This was not included in the H-D supplement. The remaining coupon ads were in a different order and there were a few in the DMN that were not in the H-D.

While small town/rural areas had been left out of the Unilever (think Dove soap) ad, we were offered much more in the Smart Source supplement from News America Marketing. Not more in the way of manufacturer's coupons, but more in the way of services and devices. None of the following appeared in the DMN version: Amish mantle, hearing aids, foot pain remedy, commemorative plates, bedwetting, compression hose, home security, acne meds, butter cookbook. On the other hand, urbane Dallas was treated to an upscale-looking hair product I'd never heard of. (How would I? It's not advertised in my paper.) Again, the front pages were different, but the backs the same, this time from Pearle.

I think this interesting. Where I live determines what advertisers think I need or want. For what it's worth, I wouldn't order/use any of the "extras" listed above. Both of the Smart Source inserts advertised Inaugural coins and postal covers. I wonder how effective this all is.

I emailed Valassis, and while I received notice that they are received my query, I've never had an answer.

So, I continue to be zip code-profiled. At least I can walk to a C-store, pick up a paper, and know what all I'd be missing if I lived Dallas. Except... we get an different edition of the DMN, too.