Yes Pub, a French experiment

Exactly one year ago, France began experimenting with the Yes Pub program in the territories of 14 voluntary collectives. The principle is simple: in the test areas, the distribution of unaddressed printed materials is prohibited, except for those who have explicitly requested it through a "Yes Pub" sticker affixed to their mailbox. After an initial phase of information and distribution of the Yes Pub sticker, the experiment was launched in September 2022 for a duration of 3 years. Steering and evaluation committees will regularly monitor the experiment and its impacts, both economic and environmental.

Ecology and CSR Approach

According to the French Ministry of Ecology, 894,000 tons of unaddressed printed materials were distributed in the country in 2019. At the beginning of 2022, the website Planetoscope estimated the total marketing budget invested in France at €2.8 billion per year, with €400 million spent unnecessarily. With the constant increase in paper costs, these expenses would have continued to rise if nothing had been done to limit the distribution of unaddressed printed materials. Environmental issues are becoming increasingly essential for brands, and are considered as such by consumers. Announcing the reduction of paper printing for a retail network is therefore an excellent way to demonstrate ecological goodwill.

Efficiency and ROI

Abandoning paper communication to redirect budget towards digital is also a pragmatic and profitable choice. Multichannel and multilocal solutions like Arago are particularly suited to the challenges faced by retailers.

Reaching increasingly connected consumers

Firstly, because customer habits have changed. While they continue to frequent physical stores massively, they prefer using the internet for information. 86% of internet users search for local businesses, their products, and services online.

Capitalizing on interactivity

Using digital leaflets costs less: more and more retailers are integrating them into their websites. These formats also have the advantage of being able to incorporate interactive features, such as call-to-action or lead generation.

Refining targeting

The precision of targeting offered by digital campaigns, both geographically and socio-demographically, helps to limit audience loss. Points of sale can communicate only within their catchment area and in a chosen manner, based on factors such as travel time, for example.

Personalizing the message

Digital campaigns also allow for optimization features (DCO), such as customizing the message for each local area.

Leveraging the power of the media mix

The complementarity of different online formats, combined with offline campaigns, is a tremendous asset. By applying a multichannel strategy, a retail network enables its points of sale to track prospects throughout the conversion funnel.

Measuring performance

Calculating the ROI of a paper leaflet campaign is very difficult. However, digital formats allow for precise reporting: reach, click-through rates, conversion rates. Such information also enables the implementation of real-time A/B testing strategies to optimize campaigns.

A win-win solution for network heads and their points of sale

The Yes Pub experiment does not mark the end of paper communication, but rather a rebalancing to adapt retail network communication to today's usage patterns. Democratizing digital communication for local businesses offers them the same opportunities as national advertisers. And for network heads, it is also an opportunity to increase their revenue by taking a commission on the devices offered to local stores.