A Thanksgiving Day paper change for The Enquirer
We are giving readers an early start to The Enquirer’s most-anticipated – not to mention its largest – edition of the year.
To help readers navigate the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season, single-copy sales of The Enquirer will begin appearing at more than 900 retailers around Greater Cincinnati on Wednesday evening, Nov. 25. It means you won’t have to wait until Thanksgiving morning to get a head start on Black Friday shopping.
This is a first for us, and we’re excited about serving our readers in a new, ambitious manner.
Recognizing the strong consumer demand for our Thanksgiving Day edition, we strategized ways to make it easier for our customers to have access to valuable content and the fattest pile of coupons and advertising inserts of the year.
Our solution was simple: Let’s get it to hundreds of single-copy racks starting around 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve.
Live updates: Thanksgiving Day papers arrive in stores
That means valuable advertising content from up to about 900 retailers – comprising as many as 1,000 pages of deals – will be showcased in that Thanksgiving Eve edition. (Most home-delivery subscribers will see the same deals that Thursday morning on your doorstep.)
To make it even more exciting, we’re providing a new twist: I will be out Wednesday evening and playing a Thanksgiving Eve version of Santa Claus.
I’ll be heading out to three stores, one each in Butler and Warren counties and in Northern Kentucky, on Wednesday night. I’ll surprise three lucky readers as they purchase the Thanksgiving Day edition of the paper, giving them a $500 gift card to either the new Liberty Center retail complex in Liberty Township, Kenwood Towne Centre or Florence Mall.
Where exactly will I be that night? You’ll have to follow along at Cincinnati.com, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/enquirer) and on Twitter (@Enquirer). Look for the #BIGEnquirer conversation and follow me at @OhioRAG.
Our Newsroom also is getting involved in a significant way to ensure you’ll get much more than essential Black Friday advertising content. You will find:
- Your complete shopping guide – from the weather, store hours, parking and traffic tips.
- Our incredibly popular “Dress the Turkey” contest will kick off that day. Our “turkey template” will publish, ready for your crayons, paints, feathers and creative flair and flourishes. What better time to “dress the turkey” than the extended Thanksgiving break? Winners will be published in our Dec. 20 edition and on Cincinnati.com.
- A keepsake 20-page special section focused on the Cincinnati Reds. This commemorative issue will capture the memories and vibrancy of an All-Star summer with a special look-ahead to the Dec. 4-5 Redsfest event at the Duke Energy Convention Center and the fast-approaching 2016 season. This will be a must-have for Reds’ fans of all ages and you’ll find it only in The Enquirer and at Cincinnati.com.
- A comprehensive holiday Things to Do list, spotlighting movies and Greater Cincinnati holiday attractions and traditions.
- And if you’re a crossword puzzle fan, brace yourself: You’ll find the biggest crossword of the year in our edition that day.
Our Thanksgiving Day paper traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season. This year, our #BIGEnquirer initiative will have more useful content, savings and helpful tips for those wanting to get their holiday season started right and experience a season of savings rather than a season of headaches and hassles.
Dress the Turkey contest to return
Look for single-sale copies at these retailers: UDF, Kroger, Meijer, Walmart, Speedway, Walgreens, Thorntons and Remke.
The Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Day editions require Herculean efforts by hundreds. Our press run is expected to be more than 200,000 stuffed copies.
And this is just the start of a new holiday push by our Enquirer and Cincinnati.com staffs. Additional promotions, partnerships and content to help shoppers navigate the holiday shopping season will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Enquirer has been a Greater Cincinnati tradition for nearly 175 years. As consumers' expectations and technology changes unfold, we, too, must evolve. I care deeply about ensuring we provide relevant and engaging news and advertising content when, where and how our customers want it – in our print editions and across the digital space.
Our large distribution speaks to how relevant The Enquirer remains to our communities and customers, and our plan to distribute the #BIGEnquirer a day early speaks to how we are constantly evolving to meet the needs of our advertisers and readers.
As always, thanks for reading us and look for me Thanksgiving Eve as our special single-copy edition hits the street.
Here are the numbers to know about #BigEnquirer:
- 900+ racks across the region
- Up to 1,000 pages of deals
- Up to 900 retailers
- 20 pages of a special collector's edition for Reds fans
- 3 chances to win $500