Inserts branch out beyond print fliers; Papers cite `invited media' status as samples cut intoclutter, get items from cereal to CDs into right hands.(Special Report: Newspapers)

Byline: PETE WETMORE

One person's clutter is another person's marketplace, at least in the free-standing inserts delivered with more than 58 million newspapers every Sunday.

That Sunday marketplace is offering an ever-wider variety of pitches from advertisers. Options for marketers taking a ride in an FSI range from one-page color fliers and slick booklets, to bound catalogs, die-cut cardboard, DVDs and CD-ROMs that offer a digital twist to print advertising.

That creativity extends to the sample, a tactic especially useful for product introductions. Current technology allows samples to be placed among the other inserts or in their own pockets that are part of a polybag.

In the last few years, preprints have seen growth as high as 10%. For newspaper advertisers, the strength in FSIs has helped offset persisting, significant …