Rick Edmonds at Poynter.org says the surge in coupon clippers brought about by the current economic crisis has been good for the inserts side of newspaper advertising.

The New York Times was the latest to note the trend in a feature Monday. I especially liked the photo of "coupon queen" Susan Samtur sorting her clippings into an accordion file case. The picture suggests that there is a tactile appeal to clip-and-save, plus a sense of planning and control, quite different from being the passive recipient of a random barrage of online ad messages.

 

Indeed, the Times article, like one in the Wall Street Journal and a Biz Blog post of mine in February, suggests that online start-ups are trying to grab a piece of the action but make up only a tiny half a percent share of redemptions, so far.