Yellow Pages goes the testimonial route
Yellow Pages has launched Testimonial – a new campaign created by Clemenger Proximity Melbourne featuring real business owners who have benefited from advertising in the directory.
The TVC builds on the brand’s strategy of justifying to its advertisers that their investment in being in the directory is money well spent.
The ad features 23 real business owners from all over Australia, who advertise with Yellow Pages. No paid talent was used . They describe in their own words how they have benefited from it. They paint numbers on a large yellow canvass which relate to the results they have achieved.
Its nice and all, but by no means a classic like “not happy Jan” and “Goggo Mobile”. I guess some markets’ advertising needs to be pragmatic…
Um… I didn’t see that kind of response. I just listed with a new site.
http://www.bloo.com.au I think it’s brilliant.!
They’re advertising everywhere in Perth, They listed me in google and have a “click to call” product where my customers can contact me for free.
This is my little plug for them.
cant remember the last time i actually opened up the yellow pages.
businesses are better off spending that money on paid search on google and using true local. take advantage of the google stimulus package with $75 free credit too.
I have no barrow to push. Don’t work for the agency or the client. Don’t work on any direct competitors.
This ad works for me on a number of levels and I think it’s a really good effort at maintaining the relevance of the YP in the current marketplace, certainly within specific business examples and target groups. It feels to me that the use of the talent demographics and the selection of businesses is highly deliberate and in keeping with the relevance positioning, as well as being a reflection of who the current users of the print YP most likely are (i.e. older, stick to their local environment etc). There’s no one here who’s hip, planning global domination or walking around with a bluetooth ear piece. Nice strategy and casting.
So, does it work for everyone? No, and I don’t think it’s meant to. Obviously as time and technology goes by, products like the printed YP will need to adapt further or perish under the Google juggernaut.
Thats my comment above. I don’t mind giving my name to my opinions…just pushed the button way too quickly!
The Yellow dinosaur, ads great they always are as they have $$$ and want to keep people paying to be listed.
I get these books wrapped in plastic dumped at my door each year and i guess that proves reach when your selling ad space.
But like most people reading this, it goes in the bin[recycling after plastic removed]
This year i even emailed the dont send me one next year list..I wonder if I’ll still get one?
Keep the spin going, but i think little businesses are getting smarter and dont just have local paper and yellow pages to promote their business any more.
mal,
“…most people reading this” are not the target market as per the point I made above about specific business examples. If you’re reading this you probably don’t run a local driving school or contract out mini-skips. I’ve run my own business and for me YP weren’t relevant because all my business came from personal referral as I would expect from the industry I’m in.
No one said local paper or YP are the only options for small business. Not even the ad says this. To clarify, the ad is targeting listings and I think reflects the demographic of the user. Obviously, thats not you.
Rachael,
sorry I think you missed what i was saying. We are not in disagreeing.
I was saying people like you have wised up.Why pay inflated ad rates when it doesnt deliver clients. [in your case WOM]
Or they may deliver 8 million books. [so you pay to advertise to that many people] when only a fraction of those are actually used.
My point was people have now have so many more channels and options than 10 years ago.
I think we are really talking about two different things.
Mal
Coupla things.
The ad focuses on response, not reach as a metric, which is something I fundamentally agree with and I think somewhat lessens the impact of your argument.
Secondly, like I said, I don’t have anything to sell that might lead me to use words like ‘dinosaur’ or ‘spin’ in relation to this conversation. I was trying to take the conversation away from the barrow pushers and inject some independent critical thinking.
And you?
Rachael, no need for the condescending tone.
We seem to be talking about different things, which i have tried to show.
I wasn;t referring to Yellow pages ad..which i said is great creative etc etc.
Each of those[real] people in the ad pays to advertise in the YP.
That amount is based upon the reach, so my point is YP has massively overstated reach as they deliver YP books to all households and businesses if they want them or not. Therefore inflating the real numbers of people the person business will reach.
So businesses are paying a premium they dont need to.
Secondly i was calling the Yellow pages the the yellow dinosaur NOT you,meaning the print version is extinct.
Independent thinking…i have no problem with, but we were talking about different topics.
you the ad , me the ad rates charged to customers by yellow pages. clear
Rachael & Mal,
By being front of mind, your debate has achieved one small, positive outcome for the brand. When I got home last night, there was a large pile of Yellow Pages Local sitting in my building’s mail room. For the first time in the two and a half years I’ve been in the country, I took one.
Cheers,
Tim
Tim,
great outcome and I’d expect you to be appearing in stage two of the news ads.
real people real books
Your points are well made Rachael – well considered and well expressed. I make it Rachael 1 – Mal 0.
Regarding the “rate based on reach” issue, isn’t this a lot like the difference between CPC and CPA in the online world? It’s not how they set the ratecard, it’s how much they charge that is the issue. At the right price I’d buy a medium that would reach all 21.5m people – you’d be mad not to as you just never know who might be interested in your brand, product or service.
A little maths. Typical click-through-rate is 0.3%. With around 7.25m households and 21.5m people, you would only need 21,750 households around Australia or 64,500 people to “act” and you’re on par.
My yellow pages is sitting under the monitor. Don’t think I will be using it any time soon while I still have online connectivity!
In fact I don’t even use Yellow Pages Online because it’s so difficult to find what you are looking for and they just keep shoving paid adverts in front of you.
If your business targets 60+ people, the book would work for you. But I would like to see a study showing how many under 30’s have even opened a Yellow Pages book in the last 5 years.
It’s over priced and it under delivers. Even if they have testimonials from 50 different business people, that’s just a drop in the ocean when compared to how many other people have used it and it’s not worked.
Mal, it’s not personal but I do I tend to become condescending when I am being patronised by commenters who clearly have a vested interested in the subject but don’t openly disclose that fact. This topic for some reason had become a broad decrial of the YP as a product versus the whole of the internet…and in my view, this misses the point. Also your comment ‘people like you have wised up’ threw me a little because I always thought I was pretty smart in the first place but there you go. BTW, It never occurred to me that you were using the word ‘dinosaur’ as an insult to me, although of course the ‘kids’ in my office will find it hilariously on point no doubt! I was trying to point out that when you use words like those you are exposing your lack of objectivity.
To clarify the clarificating of the clarifications….my previous comments were about the advertising. In terms of the product, which is a different subject entirely, like any mass medium, it lives and dies by it’s ability to deliver the right level of response (right numbers of the right people), at the right price, with the right intention. In the ad, they’re implying that they can deliver on a cost per response metric. Personally, I’m a cost per acquisition kind of gal when that is the goal. Does YP do either? I would imagine it depends (right people, right price, right intention…).
No doubt for many, the price is too high (because there is too much wastage etc) and for others (depending on their target market and offer), the price will be right.
For the record I don’t own a copy of the YP either. I also don’t listen to Alan Jones, watch Australia’s Funniest Home Videos or listen to new music on Myspace.
Sarrah, So’s you know Roy Morgan looks at use of directories vs demographics as part of their media consumption survey if you want to look it up. If you’re targeting 30’s and under though, you’re almost certainly right that it would be a waste of time.
Five will get you one that Rachael has forgetten more about media (traditional and digital) than Mal has ever learned.
whenever we talk about yellow pages on our blog (frankmedia.com.au/blog) there is usually an impassioned response from some YP cohort.
All said and done there has to be a more user and environmentally friendly option. As twitter gains pace its worth considering twibs…twitter’s business directory. Embryonic at the moment with approx 12,000 listings.
By the way if you no longer wish to receive YP then call 1800 810 211 or emai bookdelivery@sensis.com.au