It was probably Threshers that started it. From there it was rife, quickly moving in hours from office to office round the country. Then it reached mothers at the school gates. In no time it was in most households of every classification nationwide, with the recession giving it a boost, helping it to grow and spread like a pandemic.
I'm not referring to a virus but a change that has spread virally throughout the social classes in the last year or so - downloading, cutting out and redeeming money saving coupons.
As the leading fixed fee promotions company, we see data on response rates to more promotions and offers than virtually anyone else in this industry. We continually analyse the trends and research the factors behind them because our business depends on predicting future response accurately.
What we have noticed in the last 12 months is a substantial increase in coupon redemption levels. Many people who in the past would ignore coupons have, due to recessionary economic pressures on the household budget, started to download, cut out and redeem these, and other money saving promotions. They have seen significant cost savings and have now become habitual coupon redeemers. There are now even highly popular websites publicising all the vouchers and savings available to make it easier to find out what's on offer.
It is a trend that is maintaining its momentum and, as yet, shows no signs of reaching a plateau. And our forward view is that, when shoppers feel they can release the purse strings, they will continue to cash in the coupons as they are now.
We sense that there has been a systemic change in attitudes to coupons among the mothers who chat at the school gates or along the touchline. They now think that cutting and redeeming them is no longer just the habit of the less well off or of older people brought up to be penny conscious after the Second World War. It is now just good common economic sense.
As a result, when shopping patterns settle, coupon redemptions will not drop back to the pre-recession levels but to levels significantly higher.
Overall, response is far more unpredictable than ever before and currently few comparable promotions are performing as they did even six months ago. It makes business harder for us. But most importantly, this has major implications for agencies and brands that look after their own redemptions and use historical data from pre or during the recession to predict response and plan their budgets.
Before embarking on a new offer they should now, more than ever, treat their previous figures with great caution and try to add a "recession factor" if they have enough evidence, into their calculations. They should also look closely at how they would cope with the financial and practical consequences of under or over estimating redemption. Or seek advice from experts who have a far wider databank of current redemption knowledge.
Viral marketing, downloading and the recession have together created a significant change in consumer behaviour towards promotions, especially money-off coupon redemption, which will prove to be long lasting.
And it is not just brands, agencies and coupon handling houses that will have to adjust to this new reality. Retailers and their checkout operators will see that Britain will be more like America where families of all classes often arrive at stores with a handful of coupons. We are now a nation of coupon cashers.
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