Deseret Digital Media harnesses ad power of Internet

SALT LAKE CITY -- If you regularly visit KSL.com, you've probably noticed something new in the last few weeks: the "deals" button at the top of the page. It features discounted prices on a variety of products and services. A new deal comes up every day.

So far, it's been very popular among web users, but there's more to this than just a good deal. It's an important step in terms of a media company reaching its audience.

The first KSL Group Deals offer sold nearly 2,000 passes to the Utah Olympic Park for alpine slide and zip line rides.

Media companies sell ads to stay in business. For decades it was a print ad for the newspaper, and 30- or 60-second spots on radio and TV stations.

That's changing.

"When you look at our company, we've been connecting buyers and sellers for 70 years whether it was through TV or radio," said Mike Petroff, vice president of ad products at Deseret Digital Media. "The KSL classifieds is one of the largest marketplaces in the intermountain west, and now were taking it a step further with the deals products."

Attracting viewers and customers -- that's what keep media companies and their advertisers in business. Deseret Digital Media, which oversees KSL.com, is taking the power of the website's reach even further.

"KSL.com has 3.8 million unique visitors each month and we are averaging about 500 or 600 deals that are sold every day, so there's a lot of potential," Petroff said.

Besides looking for news, weather and sports information, web users are also interested in where to eat, shop, find bargains -- the list goes on. Making all that accessible no matter where you are is key to growth.

So this week, DDM finalized a deal to purchase the website frogzog.com. Frogzog is a mobile coupon service where you can have deals sent right to your cell phone. Now that technology will help deliver deals from KSL.com.

"Hey I'm looking for pizza, I want to go to the movies, I want to buy a tennis racquet," said Bill Quick, general manager of KSL Deals Unit, about deal seekers. "We tell them what deals are available on it, and they get an offer right to their phone."

The deal arrives in the palm of your hand in seconds with nothing to print. All you do is take the phone to the merchant, show them the coupon on the screen and you're all set.

It's quick, easy and yet another way advertisers can reach consumers.

"It's the next disruptive media," Quick said. "As television was to radio and the Internet was to television, mobile is the next platform."

For media companies struggling of late with declining ad revenue, this is a significant step in increasing the audience and improving the bottom line.

"This isn't taking away dollars that are being spent on TV or radio or online at KSL.com. This is new money," Petroff said. "And it's highly profitable, there's a great margin in it, so this product is really exceeding our expectations."

E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com