Circulars: A Media of It's Own or?

The level of circulars distributed for various retailers has increased steadily during the past decade. Even retailers that earlier relied primarily on price and location as marketing parameters have introduced circulars Circulars vary in size and distribution frequency, but they share the end-user as the primary target. Another interesting characteristic is that suppliers to the retailers using circulars often contribute financially to the development, the printing and the distribution of the circulars. Thus, it is not unusual that the retailers make a profit from the circulars. Furthermore, the supplier’s participation in the circulars is often an integrated part of the trading terms governing the relationship between the supplier and the retailer. But the suppliers’ participation in the circulars have not been examined before We don’t know what tasks they perform (from layout to distribution), who is paying for what, how is the circular placed in the total picture of marketing communication – as seen from the retailer’s point of view and from the supplier’s point of view. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the circular as a media, and if it’s not a media, then what is it?