Archive for May, 2009

Adam Clayton Powell III author of “Reinventing the Local News,” was the keynote speaker this morning at the Kelsey Conference in Washington DC.  He claims to be a recovering journalist involved in a 10 step program.  During his speech he talked about how the local news needs to reinvent itself by looking to morph into other areas.  He used one example of Cox Communications and their experiment with AutoTrader.com now a $750 million dollar business.  This is example was something he called a Microlocal play.  Microlocal?  He defines this as a small community, but not necessarily geographically based.  Mircrolocal opportunities can occur in a geo target, but can also occur  within a vertical, or a group of people.  One example of a group of people given was the military.  This is a very large group but considered a microlocal target.

His point was that as media companies move deeper into this digital age they need to be aware of microlocal opportunities are around them and be prepared to act even if it doesn’t fit their current model or platform.  John Kelsey commented that many media companies are resisting this change because their management teams were successful with a different plan, the plan they seem to be holding onto.  You can draw another parallel between media companies and print yellow page companies in this area.  While not all print yellow page companies are slow to move many are!  Some companies such as AdVentures publishing are embracing new cross platform sales opportunities and are working hard to provide their customers the very best advertising opportunities.  The large publishers like AT&T (AT&T The Real Yellow Pages/Yellowpages.com, Idearc (Verizon Yellow Pages/Smartpages.com), RH Donnelly (Dex Yellow Pages/Dexknows.com) are very much selling cross platform and have been for almost two years now.  Time will tell if the smaller publishers will see the trend and begin to sell in this new media ecosystem.  Here are some of the pieces to the new ecosystem:

• Print
• Broadcast
• Internet Ads (SEM)
• SEO
• Online Directory
• Video
• Mobile
• Social Networks

I am interested to see what this market will look like in the next 2 years.  I think the economy has thrown jet fuel on the fire and we will see the elimination of a lot of companies who do not figure out how to offer their advertisers a full suite of products.  The yellow page and broadcast companies have an advantage with feet on the street, only time will tell if they will use those relationships, or if new players will step in and fulfill that need for the local advertiser.

The answer is everyone with a pulse.  Mobile phones are referred to in the industry as the Third Screen.  The TV and the Computer being 1st and 2nd respectively.  A lot of focus is being put on advertising on the Third Screen, why?  It is harder to advertise on because it is a pull versus a push form of advertising.   Shouldn’t email marketing be easier because you can practically send it to everyone? Actually, advertisers love the mobile phone because it is push, in essence they are advertising to people who want their advertising!  Sounds like a fantastic opportunity to advertisers to advertise to only those who want their advertising.  This is a fairly new technology but many companies are cropping up to offer large companies like Pepsi, Arby’s, and Jiffy Lube the opportunity to opt in cell phone users.  Once the cell phone users opt in, then the company is free to market to the mobile phone.  These companies will send out marketing messages in the form of mobile discounts andwill easily be able to accurately measure the results.  With this type of marketing, the companies can quickly find out what works and what doesn’t work and then run similar promotions via other media.

The Third Screen is also fast becoming  viable method of viewing broadcast content.  Companies like News Over Wireless are offering television content, news, sports, etc. directly to the mobile phone.  This is one more area for advertisers to reach the fastest growing segment in the advertising industry.  However, this advertising is not permission based, it is the same as broadcast on TV, it is interuptive. My guess is most users won’t care about a few commercials just as they didn’t care when TV first started running commercials.  The newness of the technology affords some leeway to the advertisers.  Also, it is more difficult to surf while the commercials are on, most cell phone users will watch the commercials.  It is a more captive audience then the person watching TV or listening to radio. 

Will the broadcast companies partner with companies like Yellow Assistance to provide local search and mobile advertising platforms to their current and new advertisers?  Time will tell who forms these partner relationships and who will try to internally build the technology.  One thing is clear, it really isn’t a question of should they, it is more a question of when will they do it.

Yesterday we listened to several great forums where major players in the broadcast media industry discussed the future of advertising and how broadcasters will play in the game of rounding up advertising dollars.

There is a parallel between the radio broadcast group and the publishing industry.  Both industries are facing declines in advertising revenue, both industries are trying to figure out how to position themselves for the future.  The message is consistent.  In order to play in the future you need to sell multiple pieces of the advertising pie.  In other words you need to be selling more than your core product.  Advertisers today are looking for cross promotional platforms.  Mike Bloxham a very colorful speaker said that if broadcasters are not offering cross platform opportunities then the advertisers will begin to try to figure these out and do it themselves or look for someone who can do it for them.  Cross platform simply means advertising across multiple platforms like broadcast, online (directory, SEM/SEO, website, social networks) and mobile applications. 

Yellow Assistance works with Independent Yellow Pages Publishers and offers them a platform that allows them to quickly offer an online presence that helps their clients by providing them a directory with the latest tools such as text to mobile, driving directions, video, coupons and much more.  This platform is a key piece of an effective SEO strategy for the advertiser.  Our focus has been on the Yellow Pages Industry, but this Kelsey/BIAfn conference in DC has pointed out that or platform is perfect for other industries trying to provide a full suite of advertising services to their clients.  Radio, Newspaper and television all need to offer these products and whether they use our YAP3 platform or internally develop their own internally, it is a necessity. 

Companies today offer advertising need to be agents of change and offer their clients a full suite of advertising tools.  It is not enough to just build a TV/radio commercial, or place an ad in a phone book, it has to go much further.  The good news is, it is not difficult to do, there are many good companies that a publisher or broadcaster can partner with to provide these services.  Pick a partner that will help to protect or improve your margins.

Both industries, Print Yellow Pages, and Broadcasters have an advantage in that they have feet on the street, they have relationships with the local advertisers.  The question remains, will they leverage those relationships and offer a full suite of advertising products.�
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