Today is Herb Gordon’s last day as a consultant to the Association of Directory Marketing, Inc., although he will continue to edit ADM Flash. Flash, the newsletter of the ADM, is sent to more than 1,500 people, and its stories, factoids and tidbits provide direction to those of us in the Yellow Pages industry. Herb is a prolific reader and using both offline and online sources, ADM Flash will advise you that “Yellow Pages Group launched a new local guide for living green and recycling” (press release), that Verizon ranked first in ad spending at $2.2 billion in the U.S. in 2008 (AdAge) and that “SmartPhone rises fast from gadget to necessity” (NY Times). It is one of those pleasant reads that is valuable, interesting and fun.

I called Herb to wish him well. In my view, Herb has had a very positive impact on the industry. He has been a constant in the middle of continuing change, and he has helped guide the industry with a steady hand. (Some of the other leaders with similar credentials include Jim Logan, Elmer Smith and Marilyn Neal … although there are many more.) Not surprisingly, Herb is positive about Yellow Pages. “As a member of all three industry boards — ADM, ADP and YPA — I am convinced the industry has the top management to weather the economic storm and be stronger for it.”

Before joining the ADM as president and CEO in 1991, he was the president of the Yellow Pages division of Ketchum (where he had worked since 1965) and had also been president of a division that encompassed direct marketing, sales promotion and a medical unit. “This experience prepared me well for my responsibilities at ADM. I came with an appreciation of quality research and marketing, the importance of good communications and a sensitivity to responding quickly to clients.” Herb is quick to give credit where it is due. “Any manager knows that he is only as good as the people on his staff. I’ve been blessed in that regard and particularly that Nancy Augustine has worked with me in three different assignments over 30 years. She is one of the most effective executives I’ve ever known.”

In response to a question about what stands out during his career, Herb said “the resounding success of Yellow Pages’ call measurement programs, such as Marketing the Medium and Measurement and Accountability Partnership. Return on Investment is the backbone of these initiatives.” Because the industry “can readily prove it delivers customers with positive ROI,” Herb believes that “the Yellow Pages industry is very well positioned for the future. It has good Internet products. While print references have dipped, the effect is moderate compared to other traditional media. The print product still delivers cost-effective leads for advertisers. There is a strong local and national sales force. Publishers, CMRs and suppliers are willing to invest. I’m very optimistic about the future.”

JitterGram for Local Merchants: ‘Show the Phone!’

A lot of small businesses are tinkering with mobile media, especially adding Twitter. We heard recently from sales consultant Mel Taylor that Naked Pizza in New Orleans, which is backed by netpreneur Mark Cuban, is getting 15 percent of its walk-ins via Twitter. (read more…)

Can Coupons Revive Yellow Pages?

Here is an interesting item from the local CBS station in San Francisco. Apparently a 20 percent off coupon in a San Francisco Yellow Pages directory (the item doesn’t say which one) for the Rainbow Grocery in the Mission District is so popular that it has made the local book a hot commodity, at least for bargain organic grocery shoppers. (read more…)

Publishers Moving Into Social Media With New Brands

According to an article this week on Forbes.com, AT&T will launch a Yelp meets Yellow Pages site later this year. The new site will carry a new brand that does not invoke Yellow Pages, but something that appeals to the non-Yellow Pages crowd, namely people under 30 who rarely or never use the phone book or an IYP. The article cites AT&T’s David Yoo in explaining how the site will perform in a different manner from Yellow Pages, while leveraging YP content: (read more…)

TV and SMS: A Conversation With SinglePoint

Today I had the opportunity to catch up with SinglePoint Marketing Director Philippe Poutonnet. SinglePoint powers all the text-in response campaigns for Bravo (”Top Chef,” “Project Runway,” etc.), MTV, Viacom and other top networks. This usually involves “American Idol”-style voting for a variety of programming.Users who text in are typically given a response that SinglePoint has begun to utilize for targeted opt-in ad delivery. The response could include a link to a mobile site, a mobile video, click to call or a coupon. (read more…)

3GS to Cause Another Bump in Mobile Web Traffic

Apple’s much awaited iPhone 3GS has shipped and will be available in stores tomorrow. Some pre-orders have already been fulfilled, and the iPhone 3.0 software upgrade was released yesterday (compatible with previous version iPhones). Needless to say, the news media and blogosphere have been abuzz over the second coming of the iPhone 3G. (read more…)

SuperpagesDirect’s DM Card Pack

The extension of Yellow Pages’ reach via other media is well under way. We’ve seen versions of Yellow Pages advertising on the Web, CD-ROMs, billboards and interactive TV. And we’ve heard Yellow Pages advertising on various phone services as well. (read more…)

Geodelic: Drilling Deeper on Mobile Local Content

Today I had the chance to talk to Geodelic founder Rahul Sonnad, former Microsoft engineer and founder of thePlatform (acquired by Comcast in 2006). Geodelic, founded in 2008 with funding from Clearstone and Shasta Ventures, is working on a somewhat novel approach to location-based mobile apps. Instead of just locating the nearest gas station or coffee shop, it goes deeper to provide info on what different locations are all about. (read more…)

AdMob: 40% of iPhone Users Access Mobile Web More Than Wired Web

AdMob today released the latest in its string of data points of consumer mobile usage. Like many of the past data the firm has released, these are supportive of the opportunity to advertise on iPhones (mobile Web sites and apps).Most notably, the data reveal that 40 percent of iPhone and iPod Touch users access the Internet more frequently from these devices than from their home computers. This is a pretty significant figure. (read more…)

MapQuest Launches iPhone App

MapQuest today announced the availability of its MapQuest 4 Mobile iPhone app. Its previous moves into the iPhone were limited to an iPhone optimized site, otherwise known as a Web app. MapQuest 4 Mobile is a native app, which can be downloaded in the App Store and has much more functionality. (read more…)

The extension of Yellow Pages’ reach via other media is well under way. We’ve seen versions of Yellow Pages advertising on the Web, CD-ROMs, billboards and interactive TV. And we’ve heard Yellow Pages advertising on various phone services as well.

Direct mail is good too. Last week, my “affluent” home received a SuperpagesDirect Card Pack in the mail. The cards extend Superpages SuperGuarantee — although none of the cards in the deck actually carried the shield (they weren’t services).

Included in the decks is a card for EveryCarListed.com, an auto site recently acquired by Idearc Media. The cards are also viewable online by clicking on Superpages.com’s “coupons and deals” link from listings. All in all, an effective offering.

More Evidence of Online Video Effectiveness

We’ve heard a few (admittedly anecdotal) claims of SMB video’s effectiveness in raising clickthrough rates and engagement levels from those that have begun to offer it. The numbers we’ve heard from the likes of eLocalListing, Weblocal.ca and Brownbook are that listings with video are seeing anywhere between 2x and 12x CTRs over listings that don’t have video. (read more…)

Targeting Wi-Fi Users: A Conversation With JiWire

Today I had the chance to talk with David Staas, newly appointed SVP of marketing at JiWire. The Panorama Capital-backed company has a network of 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots through which it reaches 15 million monthly uniques. It serves targeted ads based on location and audience. (read more…)

AOL Acquires Armstrong’s Patch, Plus Going.com (Updated)

AOL reaffirmed its strong interest in local today, announcing that it is purchasing Patch.com, a 25-person hyperlocal service invested in by new CEO Tim Armstrong when he was still at Google, and Going.com, an events-driven social network and self-serve ticketing platform aimed at 20-somethings. (read more…)

Bid4Spots’ Reverse Auctions Add Cable Systems

Bid4Spots, which has successfully played David vs. Google’s Goliath in working with radio stations to reverse auction off unsold airtime, is extending its service to local cable TV. The auctioneer will work with advertisers to let cable operators bid to place ads on networks. Cable systems generally have two minutes of inventory an hour. (read more…)

Diller: Local Still in Its Infancy; Citysearch Is ‘Just 20% There’

IAC Chair Barry Diller, in an interview with paidContent, noted that organizing local information remains a series of “impossible tasks.”  Diller also said he envisions that all the directory businesses are moving online, and he sees a landgrab ahead. “Citysearch and ServiceMagic are so important to us, because nobody has really colonized it yet completely,” he says. (read more…)

Potts: Yelp Squeezing Newspapers Like Craigslist Eating Classifieds

Local media consultant Mark Potts writes in his blog that “Yelp is doing the kind of fundamental damage to newspapers’ traditional local entertainment listing and reviewing role that Craigslist did to classifieds.” For Potts, that means more bad news for newspapers. (read more…)

The Psychology of Smartphones

We often take a look at smartphone penetration in economic and technological terms — i.e., what will smartphone capability do for the growth of the mobile Web audience and for mobile local search?The New York Times today examines smartphones from a psychological perspective. (read more…)

ComScore Reports Mobile Local Audience Growth

ComScore reported today that the number of people who access local content on the mobile device is 32.5 million, an increase of 51 percent over a year ago. This isn’t surprising: It’s in line with the premise made continually on this blog that smartphone penetration and the resulting growth of the mobile Web will result in local search volume increases. (read more…)

A Bigger, Better Mobile Web Comes Into Focus

Apple’s app count continues to rise. The company mentioned yesterday as part of the new iPhone announcement, that it now has more than 50,000 apps in the App Store. As we’ve mentioned, it’s the apps (in addition to device features) that will drive sales in the increasingly competitive mobile device market. (read more…)

Swanson, Retif, Jules to Headline DMS ’09

Three CEOs who together represent almost 30 percent of global directional media revenues will give featured presentations at The Kelsey Group’s Directional Media Strategies, Sept. 22-24, in Orlando, Florida. (read more…)

Palm Pre: What Will It Mean for Users (and Developers)?

Many Palm Pre reviews are out before the device’s public release tomorrow (competing with “iPhone 3.0″ announcement Monday). They include, most notably, The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and The New York Times’ David Pogue. The verdict is that the Pre has lots of attractive features that make it a suitable competitor to the iPhone. Mossberg goes as far as saying it’s the “strongest rival to the iPhone to date.” (read more…)

Some Doctors Muzzling Patient Reviews

Ratings and reviews of service professionals are increasingly sought when consumers are ready to make a choice. But doctors and hospitals remain a last frontier in review-dom. And that’s the way it will remain, if some elements in the medical community have their way. (read more…)

More on App Development: A Conversation With Verve Wireless

Following the report released today on the decisions that mobile app developers face, I had the chance to talk to Verve Wireless CMO Greg Hallinan. Verve works with top local media publishers (McClatchy, Media General, Freedom and Media Span) to power their mobile apps and help them with their mobile strategies. (read more…)
New TKG Mobile Report: To App or Not to App?

A new TKG report published today looks at some of the strategies behind mobile product development. Specifically, it tries to tackle the first question many companies run into: Which mobile platform offers the greatest opportunities? In our conversations with companies extending their brands to the mobile space, this has been the subject of a lot of airtime. (read more…)

L.A. Times Revises Neighborhood Maps Based on Reader Input

The Los Angeles Times‘ ambitious Mapping LA project, which classifies 30,000 city blocks by neighborhood and soft launched in February, has made 100 changes based on 1,500 comments from readers. (read more…)

TurnHere Extends SMB Video via Affiliate Program

Leading SMB video production house TurnHere announced an affiliate program today, which will allow Web site publishers and local search sites to offer video to their advertisers. This essentially lowers the barriers to resell TurnHere’s customized video production. (read more…)

John Malone Wants to See the Money

In a June 2 article in The Wall Street Journal, summarizing interviews at the recent ‘D’ Conference in Carlsbad, CA, cable and media mogul John Malone talked to Walt Mossberg about monetization and pricing models in the new era of TV. (Oh, by the way, the word is now “video” — only older folks say “TV” anymore). (read more…)

Cobalt: Car Buyers 3X More Likely to Click Through on Mobile Than Web

In the wake of GM’s bankruptcy, auto dealers are being pitched mobile applications and other technology that would steer likely customers their way. Cars.com reports success with its mobile app, and now Cobalt, a major provider of tech and marketing solutions for dealers, is out with an app as well. (read more…)

Google’s Local Business Center Gets a Facelift

Google announced today (though it leaked out yesterday) that it will integrate more analytics features in its Local Business Center. The LBC, for those unfamiliar, is the place where businesses can go to “claim” their listings and correct or update any information about them. The benefit to businesses doing this is that this information will make them more findable: These are the business data that end up in Google maps. (read more…)

AgendiZe: Local ‘Save & Share’ Functionality Increases Leads

Local search technology provider AgendiZe has released new data that indicate the utility of “save & share” functionality for online local listings. This was done in the context of “time-shifted leads” — listings info that users will save and use later. (read more…)

YPG Launches ‘Answers’ Using Praized Platform

Yellow Pages Group Canada, the leading YP in Canada, is going deep into social networking via the launch of answers.yellowpages.ca, a new Yelp-like service that relies on the wisdom of the community to ask questions, and provide recommendations and information about local services. All the information is portable to Facebook or Twitter, and can be embedded in user blogs. (read more…)

RHD Follows Idearc Into Chapter 11

Today R.H. Donnelley made an announcement that is unlikely to be much of a surprise. The company said it has “filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in order to consummate a balance sheet restructuring.” (read more…)

Initial Thoughts on Google Wave

The blogosphere and tech media have been abuzz over the past 24 hours about Google’s new communication platform, Wave. It’s essentially a new way to communicate online that Australian creators Lars and Jens Rasmussen (brought us Google Maps) position as e-mail and IM if they were invented today. (read more…)

D7: The HuffPo’s and WaPo’s Different Takes on Local News

Two very different takes on local news were in evidence at The WSJ’s D7 conference in Carlsbad, California, today, as Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post and Katharine Weymouth of The Washington Post were interviewed by former Post reporter Kara Swisher about their respective directions. (read more…)

Microsoft Brings us (Another) Search Engine

Microsoft made the expected announcement at the Wall Street Journal’s “D” conference today that it will launch a new search brand next week called Bing. Labeled as a “Decision Engine” (Jargon alert), it has a dizzying array of new features aimed at redefining the way we search and improving the current state of the art (read: Google). (read more…)

Telmetrics: URLs in PYP Ads Increase Overall Leads

Today Telmetrics released data showing that combining a URL displayed within a print Yellow Pages ad increased the overall leads driven by print Yellow Pages by 78 percent. On average, the company reports, URL visits represented 44 percent of leads while calls generated 56 percent of leads. The data highlight the new extended offering Telmetrics now provides to traditional media players in which it incorporates URL tracking with its standard call measurement solutions. (read more…)

D7: Twitter Considers Premium Services for SMBs and Pros

Conjuring up Twitter’s business model takes a lot of imagination. But founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s D conference in Carlsbad, California, said the name of the game will be “enhanced capabilities” aimed at small- business and professional users — something supported by a WSJ poll showing that 24 percent of Twitter users would pay for it. (read more…)

CBS Adds Mobile to Outdoor Advertising

Last week at the Winning Media Strategies conference, Sam Matheny, GM of CBS-owned News Over Wireless, discussed how mobile calls to action are a natural extension to lots of traditional media, including out of home. This is particularly true with digital out of home outlets such as coffee shops or public transit, where there is a captive audience and a higher degree of demographic targeting possible. (read more…)

Observations on OpenTable’s IPO

OpenTable, the elite restaurant reservation service linked to hundreds of local media and organizational Web sites such as Citysearch and Superpages.com, defied naysayers last Thursday with a successful IPO that ended its first day at $28.71, 44 percent above its $20 opening price. (read more…)

‘Brand Affinity’ Localizes Online Endorsements by Athletes

Aggregating promotions so local businesses can logistically compete with national players has been a challenge. EPrize has done it for high-priced prizes such as cars. Now Brand Affinity Technologies is making it possible for local businesses to acquire paid endorsements by major athletes. (read more…)

Today Telmetrics released data showing that combining a URL displayed within a print Yellow Pages ad increased the overall leads driven by print Yellow Pages by 78 percent. On average, the company reports, URL visits represented 44 percent of leads while calls generated 56 percent of leads. The data highlight the new extended offering Telmetrics now provides to traditional media players in which it incorporates URL tracking with its standard call measurement solutions.

The data were collected from November 2008 to April 2009 among 1,200 unique advertisers in a variety of headings and market sizes in both the U.S. and Canada. Telmetrics President Bill Dinan told me that the percentage of calls vs. clicks was pretty consistent in both large and small markets, but there were some differences by headings. Service categories, for instance, were much more likely to have a higher percentage of phone calls than clicks. Meanwhile, auto headings such as tires and car dealers had many more clicks. One can assume that car purchases and larger ticket items are likely to require a higher spend and more research, hence, more leads via clicks than calls.

Another interesting data point is that unique URLs had a higher conversion rate than domains that essentially are landing pages from a publisher’s Web site — for instance, iyppublisher.com/joespizza. Dinan said that in interviews, consumers seemed a bit suspicious of the latter mentioned URL and typically preferred the simplified direct domain. Just as the phone numbers are unique for the call tracking program, the URLs are unique to the URL tracking program and all URLs resolve back to the advertisers main phone line or Web site. The incremental cost for adding URL tracking, Dinan said, is nominal and the biggest cost factor is acquiring the URL.

Perhaps what’s most interesting about these data is that they give some real insight into how consumers are using and combining local media to make shopping decisions. Telmetrics data confirm the variety of data in the marketplace, including data from The Kelsey Group’s User View research, that show that many consumers still use traditional media as a starting point and that print and online media are complementary.

Carol Johnson, the former Dex (then US West Direct) sales executive who led the high-profile turnaround of the Sensis sales culture, has announced she is leaving the Australian directory publisher at the end of May to return to the United States. Her replacement has not yet been named.

Johnson first joined Sensis as chief operating officer back in 2007, following a stint leading a turnaround effort at Singapore Yellow Pages.

Johnson is given a large share of the credit for helping Sensis invigorate its sales culture and the performance of its core print Yellow and White Pages products. Johnson’s approach combined a hard-nosed emphasis on execution with softer motivational elements. Key components of the program included a major increase in call measurement, the elimination of discounting, promotion of usage, focus on distribution, and instilling a belief in the core product throughout the organization.

Here is how the press release announcing Johnson’s departure described her legacy:

Implementation of her Sales Effectiveness and Usage programs resulted in world leading results with Sensis achieving 7.2 percent total revenue growth in FY08 versus 4.2 percent the previous year.  Significantly, print revenue growth was 5.4 percent.

In addition, Sensis’ first half year report ending December 08 reports another world leading revenue growth achievement of 5.9 percent (including all major campaigns) representing 1pp improvement over the same time the previous year.

As Johnson and fellow American ex-pat JoLynne Whiting make their way back to the States following their tenure at Sensis, two big questions remain. Will the systems and sales culture they helped put in place carry forward? And will the improvements they helped achieve be lasting? Until these questions are answered, it is certainly fair at least to say that Johnson helped make a positive difference in the financial performance of Sensis during her tenure.

Update 5/28/09: We just learned that Johnson is being replaced as COO by Gerry Sutton, who was general manager of information technology.

The Canadian start-up MyVirtualPaper.com has finalized a deal with the Mexican directory publisher Seccion Amarilla to create SEO-ready Web pages using a small-business advertiser’s existing business papers (think menus, fliers, brochures and catalogs). One of the MVP product’s key selling points is that it takes much of the complexity out of the interaction with the small-businesses owner by reducing the conversation to, “Give me your brochure and we will create an SEO-ready Web page out of it.” Seccion Amarilla also will use MVP to do online conversions for the publisher’s 40 U.S. Spanish language print directories.

Seccion Amarilla follows Yellow Pages Group in Canada, which has been trialing the MVP solution since last year, and rolled it out across Canada this month.

Seccion Amarilla Marketing Director Sergio Dominguez told The Kelsey Group today that the MVP solution is part of a broader rollout of new online products this year, including online video. He said the ability to easily Web-enable small businesses was a key appeal of MVP, given the relative lack of online development of Mexico’s small-business community.

“That was one of the most interesting benefits,” Dominguez told us. He estimates that somewhere between 5 percent to 10 percent of Mexican small businesses have an online presence, which suggests tremendous upside for Seccion Amarilla if it can position a solution to small businesses that simplifies creating an online presence.

The recent battle between Burger King and its franchisees on the reallocation of local media dollars to its national brand advertising indicates a wider battle between franchisees and their corporate owners.

MediaPost writer Dave Morgan points out:

“We’re in a severe recession. Everyone is being asked to do more with less, and it’s natural to expect business partners to fight for control over scarce resources. National brands want to grab industry market share and see their ads on national television. Local store owners want foot traffic, sales and their ads on local radio and in local newspapers. Unfortunately, there’s not enough money to do both at the moment.”

With local media markets already bracing for a smaller auto dealer network, the shift of local franchisee spending to national brand advertising could pull another significant block of ad spending from the likes of directories, newspapers and local TV and cable stations. With many local media outlets struggling to make revenue goals, the loss of franchisee spending couldn’t come at a worse time.

Right or wrong, many more national brands want more accountability, and to them consolidation of media spend control gives them more accountability. Morgan goes on to say, “Whether or not local control over media and promotion produces the best results is ultimately less important to many companies today than the ability to actually measure those results. In these times, CFOs are exercising more control, and that means more centralization.”

What this means to local media is that they need to focus more on measurability, value and ultimately ROI to be able to show the increased value of what they deliver on a local basis. In the directory space, national advertiser services must be enhanced to capture the shift from local to national so they do not lose this spending. The relationship between Yellow Pages publishers and their CMRs (certified marketing representatives) in the U.S. is critical in order to manage the local to national shift with their franchisee base.

While the local to national shift has been occurring over the past several years, local media need to be proactive about how to manage or market to national brands to show how they can best maximize spending.