Belo's Weir: Quality Will Keep Deals Alive

SAN FRANCISCO — Expect major changes in the multibillion-dollar daily deals segment in the next two years, industry experts agreed Tuesday at a lively panel discussion on the second day of the ILM West conference here.

Panel members Ezra Kucharz, president of CBS Local Digital Media; Joe Weir, GM interactive for media advertising giant Belo Corp.; Mike Rothman, GM of Thrillist.com; and Mike Tavani, cofounder of industry upstart Scoutmob.com, told hundreds of conference attendees that the discounting space was crowded with competitors and needed to find different ways to reach consumers.

Daily deals sites offer major discounts, at this point primarily day-only deals, of 50% or more off restaurant bills.

But that's not to say the booming business has reached its zenith. Instead, the insiders spoke of new initiatives that they expected to keep their momentum going.

CBS Local’s Kucharz said his company was moving ahead with offering discounts on other consumer purchases.

"We're opening it up to all kinds of deals, not just daily," he said.

launched this time last year

"Deal quality wins," Weir said.

Rothman said Thrillist would be offering discounts off travel experiences, not just hotels, in 13 markets.

He said his target audience — young professionals — were "turned on" by exclusive-access events such as invitation-only parties in unusual locales.

Scoutmob differs from its larger competitors by offering its discounts at no upfront cost to consumers.

Groupon, the leader in the deals space — which went public in early November, offers similar 50% off discounts for a fee.

"Deals 1.0 used payment to show intent," Tavani said. "Our thought was, 'location was a more powerful intent.'"

Scoutmob recently reached a deal with Foursquare, the location-finding mobile service, to bring its deals to more people.

"They actually approached us about that," Tavani said. "We are hoping to get in front of their 15 million early adapters."

But Tavani said success would not change Scoutmob's no payment in advance model.

"The merchants are paying us a flat fee," Tavani said. "We thought it was more sustainable for the local businesses … it's a much lower amount than a revenue split."

Kucharz said the industry would see a further concentration on local deals delivered by mobile phone for the next 24 months.

"The level of personalization is going to be fantastic," he said.

ILM West wraps up on Wednesday with forums on mobile advertising.