Coupons Inc. Explores Technology for Incentives: COO
Coupons Inc. is ramping up its efforts in the interactive coupon promotions business with a new chief operating officer and larger plans to use technology to reach consumers with coupon offers.
The company last month hired Brian Weisfeld as its first COO. In his new role, Weisfeld is charged with running the company’s day-to-day operations and its marketing, finance and human resources areas. He relocated to the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA, from New York for the position.
Before joining Coupons, Inc. Weisfeld worked as executive vice president of operations at Westcon Group, a technology distribution company. There he oversaw the company’s worldwide operations, logistics, human resources and its Australia and New Zealand divisions. He also led the company’s active merger and acquisitions activity. Prior to that, Weisfeld was senior vice president of operations of Imax Corp., the giant-screen theatre company.
Weisfeld hiring comes at a time when Coupons, Inc. is ramping up its reach into other channels beyond its consumer coupon savings Web site http://www.Coupons.com, which receives more than 7 million unique visitors a month. The firm plans to explore mobile couponing and social networking sites as other avenues to offer coupons, Weisfeld said.
With a soft economy and consumers’ increased desire to save, consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are looking for new ways to reach shoppers and bring in new users to increase frequency, he added. And technology is the key.
“The core of our business is online, but we are always looking at different angles to expand that core,” Weisfeld said, who joined Coupons, Inc. in early August. “Anyway we can get coupons into the hands of users are areas we are looking at.”
Already, Coupons.com announced a deal in June to put clients on the Yahoo Go mobile content platform. In addition, the firm is also considering in-store couponing as another venue, Weisfeld said.
“With the economy, consumers are looking for more coupons and more couponing opportunities,” he said. “Primarily, that is the incentive they want to see. And this company is in position to deliver it.”
Coupons Inc.’s clients and licensees include top consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers, such as Johnson & Johnson, General Mills, Kimberly Clark, Kraft Foods, Clorox and Kroger.
