While print advertising continues to lag behind the overall ad market, several segments within print advertising are showing renewed strength in 2010. This includes preprint advertising or free-standing inserts (FSI’s), which grew by 12% percent during the first quarter of 2010, according to a recent report from Kantar Media. “We’re definitely seeing a rebound in FSI’s from a piece count perspective,” says Brian Fischer, VP of operations at Fisher Printing, which specializes in preprint advertising. The increase is coming from both mid-size general merchandise retailers as well as grocery stores, Fischer reports. “People are feeling more confident” about the economy and, as a result, “businesses are more willing to spend on advertising,” Fischer says. The Kantar Media report indicates total advertising expenditures for the first quarter of 2010 rose 5.1% from a year ago, marking the first quarterly increase in ad spending in two years. “Where we planned to be flat or up a little bit this year, advertising is up more significantly than we had expected,” states Kristin Sullivan-Stoesser, who is director of data solutions at Tribune 365, the national sales arm The Tribune Co. “There are a million media options out there in the marketplace today but I think the old standbys like TV and print are still really good,” Sullivan-Stoesser continues. One reason why advertisers continue to put their money into FSI’s is because it is easy for advertisers to track who is receiving their ads, Sullivan-Stoesser notes. Another is that consumers want them. The Tribune Co. initiated a program last year that offers lapsed home-delivery subscribers to the newspaper an opportunity to receive the preprint ads only. “We had a goal of enrolling 40,000 people in the program and we reached that goal in no time because people definitely want to get the print ads,” says Sullivan-Stoesser. The program targets markets that advertisers are interested in – where residents are big spenders, for example – and where the circulation has declined more than advertisers wanted. Also spurring interest in FSI’s is the growing ability to do more targeted programs. Macy’s tested a program through The Tribune Co. this winter that enabled it to reach more of its best customers with its offers. By combining Macy’s customer data with The Tribune Co.’s data for all the various products it distributes in the two markets that were included in the test, the media company came up with a strategy for how to optimize the distribution of the FSI’s so as to increase penetration among Macy’s customers. Typically, a preprint program is allocated to paid subscribers first and then to other customers until all the pieces have been distributed. “Macy’s saw really great sales results” from this test, reports Sullivan-Stoesser. But the biggest benefit, she insists, is going to be when, after several more tests, the retailer is able to look at the data and determine which of its customers are more responsive to print. Macy’s recently completed a second test of the program in the same markets and will conduct another one this summer.