i announces new partnership with Starbucks

Partnership is next step in i’s successful quality newspaper growth strategy

Britain's most innovative quality daily newspaper, i, has partnered with Starbucks in a deal that will see i sold at 600 Starbucks locations from 1 October.

Starbucks will provide i to its customers from Monday to Saturday and will also sell The Independent on Sunday.

The partnership with Starbucks will allow the paper to reach and build greater awareness amongst busy 25 – 44 year old professionals.

The listing in Starbucks coincides with another four-week burst of TV from 2October. The TV activity will also be accompanied by additional investment across video on demand and student media as well as direct mail and four weeks of nationwide street sellers.

The marketing plan has been developed with an emphasis on driving consumer into retail for trial as previous research have shown that once consumers try i, many are converted into regular readers.

The latest August ABCs revealed impressive figures for i’. The headline sales figure of 281,318  is not only i’s largest circulation to date, but i is also the only quality national newspaper seeing a growth in sales. The figures reveal growth of 0.4 per cent month-on-month and an impressive 47 per cent growth year-on-year. Paid for sales of i continue to outsell The Guardian.

Andrew Mullins, Managing Director of i , The Independent and The London Evening Standard said; "Starbucks is a perfect fit for i . Starbucks is a high quality iconic brand and an important fixture in the everyday life of busy modern urbanites. i was specifically designed to meet the needs of this audience. The combination of quick break with a coffee and a catch up on the news perfectly fits with Starbucks concept of a third place between work and home. It also should help i reach many lapsed and infrequent newspaper buyers who now so rarely go into newsagents."

"We are genuinely delighted to be in partnership with Starbucks and believe the relationship will evolve and become mutually beneficial."

Stefano Hatfield, Executive Editor i, said:

"August’s figures show that i’s audience has grown massively over the last 12 months, particularly impressive in the last month which has seen the stunted and decreased growth of all other quality UK newspapers. As i approaches its second anniversary, we continue to provide quality journalism to our readers in the concise and easy to read format they love, and look forward to welcoming new readers to i."

Click here to read the full i Editor's letter

Ian Cranna, Head of Marketing, Starbucks said;

"This is a great partnership for Starbucks. In just under two years, i has quickly established itself as a reliable and convenient news source and we're excited about making it available to our customers."