• by Shankar Gupta , June 14, 2006

Pay-per-call and free 411 company Jingle Networks is planning an ad campaign to get the word out about their free, ad-supported directory assistance service, which allows advertisers to place audio pay-per-call spots on users' cell phones as they search for similar businesses.

The ad campaign, set to break in October, will focus largely on radio and outdoor placements in the top 20 metro markets; it's aimed at expanding awareness of Jingle's product, 1-800-Free-411. "We get more calls from cell phones then from land lines, so we're going to target our media to outdoor callers--radio during travel time as well as outdoor along roads," said Jingle Networks President and CEO George Garrick.

He added that the consumer market for free directory assistance is quite strong, as it is one of the few spaces where customers are still paying for information about merchants. "People don't like to pay for 411, and it's really the only channel where the consumer is still paying to connect to the advertiser," he said. "Eighteen million people a day are calling directory assistance, and people hate to pay. The caller is on the phone; they're in a mindset of not browsing but buying--and all they have to do is press a key to connect to the advertiser."