Parade Adds Online Rewards

Sunday newspaper magazine Parade is launching an online rewards program, ParadePerks, giving its offline advertisers added exposure to readers online.

ParadePerks is designed to engage users by offering rewards points when they interact with trivia games, sponsor promotions, and information about advertisers’ brands and products.

“ParadePerks allows advertisers to take the lead in educating consumers and incenting them as visitors progress through the learning and buying process. The ParadePerks approach of creating brand and product experts results in richer lead generation and increased sales,” said Christie Emden, a Parade spokesperson.

A mini-site or “showroom” sponsorship offers advertisers a custom page to feature company- or product-specific content, with video capability and room for product photos. Mini-site sponsors can add a company- or product-specific trivia component, which rewards visitors for learning more about their products. All visitor interactions are tracked at the user level, and non-personally-identifiable information is used to target ads behaviorally.

“The uniqueness of ParadePerks lies in the true connection that is created between consumers and advertisers,” Emden said. “Through the ParadePerks rewards interactions and the behavioral-tracking technology, advertisers can more effectively fill the gap between their advertising and the intended response of a consumer.”

Hoover and Bose are advertising on ParadePerks at launch. It is not clear whether the online sponsorships are a free value-add for these existing Parade advertisers. According to Emden, “Their involvement is part of their overall advertising commitment to Parade.”

Advertisers can also choose sponsor content sections or rewards, buy banner ads, or send targeted emails to the ParadePerks list.

ParadePerks will be formally launched with in-book promotion beginning November 27.