• by Larry Dobrow , August 7, 2003

In 2002, more money was spent on directory advertising than on cable television, magazines or the Internet. Nearly 600 million directories are in print in the U.S. - there's reach for you - and, at a time when companies large and small are rabid about evaluating ROI, the efficacy of directory ads is easily measured. So how come the Yellow Pages don't get more respect as an advertising powerhouse?

The perception of the directory advertising as a "mature" and even outdated medium in today's Internet era is no small source of frustration to the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association (YPIMA), a 15-year-old trade group representing publishers, marketers and suppliers of Yellow Pages directories in more than 20 countries. To this end, the organization is turning up the volume on efforts to herald the benefits of the Yellow Pages medium.

"We're the best-kept secret in media in a lot of ways," says Joel Raphael, director of the YPIMA's Yellow Pages Research Institute. "People go to the Yellow Pages when they're ready to buy. It may not be a flashy, sexy medium, but many businesses have been built using a Yellow Pages media program." It's also one that consumers tend to reach for in a pinch: "If your sink is overflowing, you're not going to turn on the computer. You're going to go right to the Yellow Pages," says YPIMA director of media development Barbara Bender.

According to Simba Information's Yellow Pages & Directory Report, the directory business grew to $14.6 billion in 2002. Not surprisingly, local advertising trumped national ads by a wide margin ($12.3 billion to $2.3 billion). In 2003, the trade journal anticipates 2.6% growth on the local level and 0.7% growth nationally.

YPIMA execs are attempting to address the relative paucity of national advertisers in the Yellow Pages. On one hand, they're quick to come up with a scenario under which large national advertisers might use the Yellow Pages to bolster their brands: "What better place can there be to advertise Crest than under 'dentist'?," Bender asks. "How about Tylenol under 'physician'?" But even during the heady economic times of the late 1990s, big-name national advertisers chose to allot their branding dollars elsewhere, meaning that the Yellow Pages are unlikely to receive much consideration now that purse strings have been pulled taut.

As a complementary medium, however, the Yellow Pages are stronger than ever. When asked which other venues are likely to poach advertisers away from directories, Raphael responds, "We don't really think of ourselves in competition with anybody. We work well in conjunction with radio and out-of-home and pretty much everything else." To illustrate this, he points to research that consumers who frequently use the Internet are likely to be heavy directory users, and vice versa ("people searching for information - it makes sense when you think about it"). And while some users may prefer letting their mouse do the clicking to letting their fingers do the walking, the Yellow Pages have a strong online presence - witness Bell South's web-based replica of the traditional directory format at www.realpageslive.com.

While YPIMA isn't exactly eager to note the shortcomings of directory advertising ("you don't think about the Yellow Pages when you're in your car," Bender offers), the group happily notes a few of the areas where nobody within the media food chain doubts the supremacy of directory advertising. The mindset among small- and medium-sized businesses remains that Yellow Pages advertising is a necessity rather than an option. No medium does a better job of reaching newcomers to a given geographical area (when somebody hooks up a phone line, a directory is delivered to his or her door within seven days). And directories have been a 24/7/365 presence since their inception. "In a way, Yellow Pages were the first search engine," Bender quips.

As for ROI, the YPIMA claims that directory advertisers realize $14 in sales for every dollar spent on Yellow Pages advertising - which, if true, is a ratio that few mediums can match. Similarly, there is little ambiguity in the measurement of directory advertising. "You hear so many people in the agency world talk about how they want to measure ROI because clients are asking for it," Raphael explains. "With the Yellow Pages, you can put a unique number in your ad, which means you can track exactly how many people found you that way."

In the future, the directory-ad industry will likely expand its online presence even further - Raphael notes that the YPIMA represents electronic directory publishers as well as print ones - as well as develop services for cell phone users. The YPIMA will also press onward in its efforts to convince national advertisers of the branding potential it believes is inherent in every directory. "The medium is still rich with potential," Raphael says.