September 2009 Archives

I get calls every week from lawyers saying theyre not getting calls anymore from yellow page advertising. Having done quite well in the past, they're afraid to discontinue the advertising. They want to know what's going on and what to do.

Apparently, lawyers are not the only ones. In his article "Quit wasting money on Yellow Page advertising" by Peter Fernandez, D.C., a yellow page, print advertising and practice management consultant for chiropractors, Dr. Fernandez answers the question, "Why has advertising in the Yellow Pages changed from one of the best ways to advertise to one of the worst in just a few years?" (See 1, below)

This article will attempt to explain where all the calls went. I believe lawyers began advertising in the Yellow Pages much earlier than on TV because of the cost; most lawyers were reluctant to become pioneers of TV advertising; and lawyers were pursued by yellow page salespeople, but not by TV salespeople. Since 1976 through the mid-1980s, the Yellow Pages and classified newspaper ads were virtually the only place a potential client could find a lawyer advertising. Consequently, lawyers advertising in the Yellow Pages did not have much competition and had very good results.

Many more lawyers flocked to the Yellow Pages which then became very crowded. In the last few years, and after a few pioneers, many of the lawyers advertising in the Yellow Pages discovered what every other business has long known, that TV is by far both the most effective and cost-effective media. According to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, from January 2004 through September 2004 lawyers have spent $287.3 million on TV compared with only $71.3 million on print media, $11.4 million on radio and $4.1 million on Internet advertising. According to research done by the Television Bureau of Advertising, the public's perception of television gets the votes for Most Authoritative and Most Exciting. Both influential and persuasive, TV wins over other media, in both categories, by a wide margin among Adults 18+. TV scores 81.8% in the Most Influential category, with newspapers a distant second at 8.5%. TV scores 66.8% Most Persuasive with newspapers, again a distant second at 14.2%.

Just as buying something wholesale or in large quantities, your cost per person reached from advertising is reduced when you buy media that reaches more people. Broadcast TV reaches many times more people than a county-wide yellow page book and therefore costs much less per person reached. In the New York DMA (broadcast TV market), there are 29 counties reached by TV. If there was only one yellow page book in each county, you would have to advertise in 29 yellow page books to reach the same geographic area as TV. Unfortunately, there are several yellow page books in each county. Smaller community yellow page books produce even less of a return on investment because they reach even fewer people. Many lawyers have found out that for the cost of a full-page advertisement in just two county-wide yellow page books, you can advertise on TV with a respectable budget and reach the population of an entire DMA.

Today, due to the large number of lawyers advertising on TV, potential clients are being diverted away from yellow page books. Additionally, in the field of personal injury, the problem is compounded. Seriously injured people are usually in bed in a hospital or at home watching TV. Lawyers advertising on TV reach potential accident clients long before they can even

get to yellow page books.

When lawyers first began advertising, there was only one yellow page book. Now there are commonly three, four or even five county-wide yellow page books and several village, community or neighborhood yellow page books as well. Some advertisers have even lost their position in the Yellow Pages because they signed a contract with another yellow page book not realizing it was a different book and they couldn't afford two books. Because a consumer will typically keep one yellow page book and throw out the others, the question an advertiser faces is which yellow page book to advertise in or to advertise in all of them. Will your advertisement be in a yellow page book that's thrown in the garbage? I keep only one book and it stays in the closet, rarely used. Today, I use the Internet instead of a yellow page book.

While there was once only one Yellow Page book in town receiving 100% of yellow page advertising revenue, they are now losing a large share of that revenue to several competing yellow page books, but their operating costs remain fixed. All of the yellow page book companies must print and distribute the same number of books. Unless all advertisers advertise in all three yellow page books, the publishing companies have to increase advertising fees thereby increasing the cost of reaching a yellow page consumer. In an effort to increase revenue, yellow page books have even begun creating new real estate to sell including advertising on the covers, spine, tabbed pages and even Post-it Notes style ads. These high visibility advertisements also divert yellow page consumers from regular full-page advertisements.

Simply stated, there was once only one yellow page book in town; it was cheaper to advertise in the book; there were fewer lawyers advertising in the book; there were few lawyers advertising on TV; the Internet was not what it is today; and there were far more people using the Yellow Pages than there are today.

So what's a lawyer to do with yellow page advertising? If you're one of the three or four largest advertisers in your market with an advertising budget large enough for a substantial TV advertising campaign including billboards and radio, you may want to consider advertising in all of the yellow page books. If you're not one of the largest advertisers in your market, my suggestion is to discontinue advertising in yellow page books and to spend your money on TV. If you have a 1-800 vanity telephone number available and extra money in the budget, you should also advertise on billboards and radio.

1 http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcj/1997/feb/feb1997fernandez.htm

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., publishes articles on Lawyer Advertising at http://www.Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com and manages http://www.HURT911.org Mr. Franckel is an advertising consultant and previously worked with Illustra Films Worldwide, a television production company, producing TV commercials for Diet Coke, Bayer Aspirin, Fuji Film and others.

A majority of US consumers are likely to maintain or increase current spending levels - especially on basics - in the next 30 days, while young professionals and the affluent will up their spending in a broader number of discretionary categories, according to results from the newly introduced American Express Spending and Saving Tracker (pdf) study.

The survey, which asked consumers to compare spending priorities now vs. a year ago, revealed that 60% of overall respondents are willing to spend the same or more in the next 30 days (compared with the past 30 days), while 40% plan to spend less. However, the general population is increasingly willing to spend more on essentials such as groceries and car maintenance, while young professionals and the affluent also put a high priority on non-essentials such as travel and dining out.

Young Professionals, Affluents Open Wallets Wider

Young professionals are most optimistic about the current state of the economy and most likely to increase spending during the next 30 days, with 24% indicating they will do so, writes Retailer Daily.

Those who plan to spend more intend to increase spending on clothing (65%), dining out (54%) and travel (53%).Similarly, 14% of the affluent plan to increase spending during the next 30 days, compared with 10% of the general population, Amex said. The affluent who expect to spend more say their increased spending will be on travel (56%), dining out (47%) and clothing (43%).

General Population Focuses Mostly on Needs

Among the general population, about one-half of consumers who expect to spend more said they are putting priority on groceries and clothes (49% each).Additional findings:

• Of the general population, 42% named car maintenance as a high priority this year, compared with 5% last year.
• Interestingly, one luxury expense, salon hairstyling and grooming (as opposed to a more basic haircut), was a high priority for 46% of the general population this year, compared with 18% last year.

• Among the general population, the greatest number of consumers said their top priority expenses one year ago were vacations (25%) and dining out (24%). Today, only 7% named vacations as a high priority and dining was named as a high priority for only 8%.
• Pet care, sports activities and home cleaning are also areas consumers said they are putting less spending priority on this year:

• Health and home expenses - such as buying organic food and home maintenance - are on the rise even as consumers trade down or out on other items.

Young Professionals Make Large Purchases

Young professionals are most willing to make large purchases of more than $500, with 38% saying they plan a large purchase in the next 30 days, compared with 24% of the affluent and 15% of the general population.

Young professionals also plan to spend more on large purchases ($2,460) than the affluent ($2,170), the study revealed.

Holidays Won't Come Early

Consumers also appear to be showing restraint when it comes to early holiday shopping. When asked what discount level would motivate them to begin their holiday shopping at retail stores in the next 30 days, the overwhelming majority (69%) say they would not be motivated by a department store discount. Of that group, 44% feel it is too early to start holiday shopping, including 52% of affluent and 48% of young professionals.

From Spenders to Savers

Mirroring the fact that US personal savings rates have moved from negative territory to 4% in July, the survey found that consumers' intend to strengthen their household balance sheet. When asked what they would do with $500 of found money, one-third of consumers said they would pay off their regular monthly bills. One-in-four said they would apply it to pay off credit card debt or save it (26% each).

When comparing responses of the affluent with the young professionals:

• 33% of young professionals would put found money toward their credit card debt, compared with 26% of the affluent.
• More young professionals than affluents would use the money to go on a shopping spree (16% vs. 6%).

Among the 40% of respondents who said they would spend less in the next 30 days, the top three reasons were "trying to save money," "reducing debt," and that they "have the money but feel now is not the time to spend."

Empathy Breeds Frugality

When asked what has been the most significant impact of the economic downturn, the overwhelming majority of the general population (74%) cited "seeing family and friends affected by the recession." More people cited this reason than "losing their job" (30%), "losses in the stock market" (54%), and "losses in retirement or 401K savings" (56%), said Amex.

Other consumer spending and expectations indices mirror the findings from Amex's spending tracker. September results from the RBC CASH Index reveal that consumers remain cautious about spending and pessimistic about employment. The majority (63%) have themselves, or have had someone in their inner circle, affected by job loss.

Another private consumer index, the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index, also gives an optimistic view of consumer spending trends. The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index rose 23% in August 2009, climbing from 2.39% to 2.94%. This is the highest mark the Index, which attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending, has hit since reaching 3.07% in October 2007.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased from 47.4 in July 2009 to 54.1 in August 2009, driven in large part by the performance of the Expectations Index, which measures consumer expectations for the next six months. The Expectations Index rose from 63.4 in July to 73.5 in August, with more consumers taking a positive view of short-term business conditions and employment prospects.

However, some recent data released by the federal government is less rosy in its outlook on consumer spending. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. consumers showed little change in their personal spending or earning habits, although personal saving dropped 5.6%, indicating possible increased willingness to spend.

Recent consumer credit and borrowing figures indicate that consumers are having a harder time obtaining lines of credit to finance purchases. Total US consumer, revolving and non-revolving credit rates fell dramatically in July 2009, while consumer borrowing fell about 20% in June 2009.

About the index: The American Express Spending & Saving Tracker research was completed online among a random sample of consumers aged 18 and older. The research sample of 2,032 adults surveyed the general U.S. population, as well as two sub-groups--the affluent and young professionals. Interviewing was conducted by Echo Research between August 28- 30, 2009. Affluent respondents are defined as having a minimum annual household income of $100K. Young professional respondents are defined as those less than 30 years old with a college degree and a minimum annual household income of $50K.

Today kicks-off open season for advertising awards at 800response!  We're excited to announce the fifth annual Bull's-Eye Ad Awards, and look forward to celebrating the best use of Custom 800 numbers (A.K.A our powerful vanity 800 numbers) in advertising once again!

If you use a toll-free vanity 800 number in your (or your clients') advertising campaigns, we invite you to submit your best work into the Bull's-Eye Ad Awards. Agency partners may submit on behalf of their clients who use Custom 800 numbers (from 800response) in their advertising campaigns!

Here you'll find all the details needed to submit your entry forms and media files online, download the Entry Kit with entry information, and find the form and instructions to enter the contest via snail mail.

This will prove to be the easiest and most fun advertising contest you've ever entered. Good luck to you as the Bull's-Eye Ad Awards season kicks off!

If you have any questions while entering the Bull's-Eye Ad Awards, call Jeanne Landau at 1-800-317-8060 or send an email to jlandau@800response.com.

Entering Online:

Fill out an entry form and submit your entry form and media files online. Categories include:

	Radio
	Television
	Outdoor
	Print / Direct Mail
	Alternative Materials (promo items, etc.)

Entering via Snail Mail:

There is always the option to enter the contest using the Snail Mail Entry Form in the Entry Kit. Just be sure to mail hard copies and discs of all ads you submit for judging. Forms and files must be sent to:

Jeanne Landau
800response
200 Church Street
Burlington, VT 05402

If you have any questions while entering the Bull's-Eye Ad Awards, call Jeanne Landau at 1-800-317-8060 or send an email to jlandau@800response.com.

Check out the past Bull's-Eye finalists from 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008!

Information for Advertising Agencies

As you're about to wind down 2009, and start plans for 2010, think about this...

As an agency, when you're working to win an account or strengthen your relationship with an existing client, what counts most is your ability to offer effective, meaningful solutions to marketing challenges.

Well, toll-free vanity 800 numbers can help you secure new clients, strengthen bonds with your existing clients, and improve the overall effectiveness of the advertising campaigns you recommend and execute. As a result, your clients will sell more goods and services and they'll come back to you to continue developing new campaigns.

If it's proof you're looking for - that vanity 800 numbers really do bring in more calls, more leads, and more sales - take a look at some of the testimonials we've received from businesses who've used vanity numbers to promote their services.  And, the best part...not only do vanity numbers bring in more calls, they will also set your clients apart from their competition.

Think about it...
John Joe's Roofing - call 1-829-282-9283...

Or your client's ad...

Superhuman Roofing - call 1-800-ROOF-PRO.

Bam!  800-ROOF-PRO will stand out every time and get the call!

Toyota plans marketing blitz to reverse U.S. slide

By Bernie Woodall and Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp is preparing a $1 billion marketing campaign to boost flagging U.S. sales, expanding hybrid models under the Prius name and allowing its dealers more room to keep pricing competitive.

The moves by Toyota reflect some of the first big changes in the way the top global automaker is running its business in its largest single market since Akio Toyoda took over as president in June.

Toyota dealers at a meeting with Toyota executives in Las Vegas this week were told that the automaker would adjust pricing on new Toyota models by widening dealer margins to give sales representatives more leeway to close deals with car shoppers.

The changes were described by dealers who attended the briefing and confirmed by Toyota spokesman Irv Miller. About 1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers attended the meeting.

The $1 billion Toyota has budgeted for fourth-quarter marketing is about 30 percent to 40 percent higher than the automaker would typically spend in the quarter and will include funding for stepped-up advertising and incentives, Miller said.

In addition, Toyota told dealers the company would offer lower-rate lease deals because of higher resale values and would refrain from raising prices on the next vehicle to launch in the U.S. market, the 4Runner SUV, people who attended the meeting said.

Dealers said the steps show Toyota's new management led by Toyoda -- the grandson of the company's founder -- is serious about reversing a recent slide in car sales that hit it harder than more nimble rivals led by Hyundai Motor Co.

"The message is that Toyota is going on offense," said Pete DeLongchamps, a vice-president at Houston-based dealer group Group 1 Automotive who attended the meeting.

Group 1, one of the largest U.S. dealership groups, counts on Toyota and Lexus for 35 percent of its overall sales.

"We're feeling pretty good about our 35-percent position right now," he said.

By widening that dealer profit margin, Toyota is giving its dealers a better return on new car sales and making it easier for them to offer car shoppers a higher price on a used-car trade-in, dealers who attended the meeting said. The changes to the vehicle pricing will vary model-by-model, dealers said.

The plan comes as Toyota struggles with its worst downturn since it was founded in 1937. Toyota's decline in sales of 29 percent in the United States through August has been in line with the slide in overall U.S. auto sales.

PUTTING THE PRIUS ON CENTER-STAGE

In a move intended to take advantage of its market-leading position in hybrids, Toyota also will add one or two variants to its Prius line-up, Miller said. He declined to provide a timetable.

Toyota executives in Frankfurt this week said the company planned to sell 500,000 to 600,000 hybrid vehicles globally in 2009.

The Prius has dominated the hybrid market since it went on sale in the U.S. market in 2000. The new version, the third generation of the aerodynamic hatchback, accounted for almost 60 percent of all U.S. hybrid sales this year despite new offerings from Ford Motor Co and Honda Motor Co.

"They are getting back to the basics for Toyota, which is making fuel-efficient cars at an economical price," said Jim Ziegler, a dealer consultant based Atlanta.

"They are also drawing a line in the sand with the Prius because right now Ford Fusion and Honda Insight are making a run at the hybrid market."

The dealer discount -- or profit margin -- is the difference between a vehicle's retail sticker price and its wholesale cost offered to dealerships.

By widening dealer margins, Toyota is taking advantage of its relatively stronger financial position.

Rival General Motors Co, which rolled out its own more aggressive ad campaign this week, has asked its dealers to accept lower margins.

One model singled out for attention at the Toyota dealer meeting this week was the 4Runner sport utility vehicle, dealers said.

A redesigned version of the 4Runner is to make its debut next week in Texas. The vehicle has been the automaker's worst-performer in terms of sales this year.

Sales of the 2009 4Runner, which has a starting sticker price of $28,640, are down 63 percent from a year earlier amid a collapse in demand for truck-based SUVs across the industry.

Toyota told dealers it would keep pricing on the new version of the SUV unchanged, holding the line against price increases that often follow redesigns.

That move could be costly in the short run. The 4Runner is manufactured by Toyota at its Tahara plant in Japan and exported to the U.S. market. The yen has been strengthening against the dollar since early April.

Many of the details from the Toyota meeting were reported first by the Wall Street Journal.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall and Kevin Krolicki; editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Andre Grenon and Carol Bishopric)

By NAT WORDEN

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said U.S. advertising markets are "much better than they were four months ago."

Separately, Mr. Murdoch said The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp., will start charging users for accessing the paper on mobile devices such as Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry smart phones and Apple Inc.'s iPhone. He said newspaper subscribers would pay $1 a week for mobile access, while others would pay $2 a week.

Rupert Murdoch

He also said the company is mulling plans to charge online subscriptions for Hulu, the video Web site that News Corp. launched with big media partners including NBC Universal. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric Co. and 20% by Vivendi SA.

Mr. Murdoch said ad spending is nowhere near where it was in 2007, noting that revenue from News Corp.'s local broadcast stations are down 20% from last year. But he said the results have been "getting better every month and getting better every week."

"I'm not an economist, but my guess is that the consensus is about right, and [the economy is] going to get a nice bump, and then it will settle back to a fairly slow recovery," Mr. Murdoch said at a media conference Tuesday sponsored by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Mr. Murdoch said News Corp. would likely hold on to its cash flow now. He added that he was pleased the company didn't listen to Wall Street analysts and hedge-fund managers who encouraged the company to take on debt and buy back shares when the economy was booming.

"If we had followed their advice, we'd be billions [of dollars] more in debt now," he said. "We're feeling very safe now."

Some words from an advertising industry expert, published in a recent AdvertisingAge article...

"This current economy has stimulated a new marketing consciousness," said Laurence Boschetto, president-CEO, DraftFCB. "Clients are saying they want accountability for every dollar they spend, and they want cause and effect. Clients will continue to rally behind ideas that build business, and we as an industry have to accept that things will never revert back to the pre-recession mind-set that wasn't totally focused on accountability."

Call tracking reports, available with toll-free vanity 800 numbers, will help you monitor and measure your (or your clients') ad campaign effectiveness, and even let you narrow in on the exact media outlets and buys that are most effective at generating leads from campaigns. Use the call tracking details to demonstrate cause and effect, and boost confidence in the campaigns you execute.

This critical information will steer you in the right direction to fine-tuning campaigns to make sure you're getting the best return on investment (ROI) for every dollar spent on advertising.

To track advertising effectiveness, and report on accountability of advertising campaigns, read our recent blog post on Cost-per-Lead.

Sept 13, 2009

-By Janet Stilson

"...The average American TV consumption remains at an all-time high (141 hours per month) compared to the same time frame last year.

As of 2Q09 the 290 million people in the U.S. with TVs spend on average 141 hours: 3 minutes each month tuning into television."

Other Key Facts and Trends

• As Americans continue to watch more TV each year there are also more TVs in each home than people - in 2009 the average U.S. home had only 2.5 people vs 2.86 television sets. 54% of Americans have three or more TV sets in the home.
  

"53% of survey respondents said they are shifting advertising investment from brand-building initiatives to promotional marketing..."

An article in MarketingDaily reviews the outcomes of a recent study, conducted by the ANA and MMA.

Companies have stepped up their emphasis and focus on marketing accountability practices, according to a new survey by the Association of National Advertisers and Synovate's Marketing Management Analytics.

The 2009 ANA/MMA Marketing Accountability Survey, conducted by New York-based 'mktg', surveyed 95 senior-level marketers in June 2009. According to the results, marketers are being forced to do more with less in this economy: 75% of respondents reported a decrease in their marketing budget in 2009, while 67% of respondents said marketers were expected to drive more sales with the same or a lower budget.

As a result, marketing accountability programs have taken on much greater significance. Creating closer, more collaborative partnerships between the marketing and finance functions has been on the rise. This has resulted in an increase in cross-functional marketing accountability teams, with 32% of respondents saying their teams included representation from marketing, finance and research. This is up from 22% in 2008. Meanwhile, 38% agreed that marketing and finance share common metrics (up from 27%), while 205 agreed that strategy is developed jointly (up from 9%).

Virtually all the firms that took part in the survey (92%) said they are taking steps to improve marketing effectiveness without spending more in 2009. To do so, they are employing significant tactical changes, including shifting investments from traditional to digital media (70%), shifting advertising investment from brand-building initiatives to promotional marketing (53%) and shifting into lower-cost media -- i.e., local vs. national TV spots, 15-second vs. 30-second, etc. (38%).

Looking ahead, the 2010 marketing outlook is one of cautious optimism. While 33% said their marketing budget would remain the same next year, 36% said they expect it to increase, with 12% saying it would go up by more than 10%. Fourteen percent said their marketing outlay would decrease by more than 10% in 2010.--Tanya Irwin

We often speak with advertisers, as well as Account Executives and Managers at advertising agencies, who wonder what the benefits are of using a branding, vanity 800 number in their advertising campaigns.

The answers are pretty simple, and are backed by consumer research which shows that these unique phone numbers are easier to remember, people know they're toll-free which makes them feel better about placing a call to a reputable business, and they are key tools to creating a branding campaign that reaches and touches all aspects of a company's advertising and marketing strategy for years to come.

So, if you ever ask yourself "Why should I use a vanity 800 number in my advertising campaigns?" this is why:
1.  They increase response rates to your ads and work to build lasting awareness.

2.  It's a fact - companies that incorporate a vanity 800 number in their ad campaigns see an average increase in response of 30%.

3.  Words are much easier for people to remember than numbers, as proven in numerous research studies.

4.  An unforgettable vanity number saves consumers the trouble of looking that number up in the phone book (and from possibly calling a competitor instead they notice in there instead).

5.  Consumers like to dial a toll-free number - they feel they're reaching a more established and reputable business.

If you want to know more, just visit these research studies and case studies for real business case scenarios of how using vanity 800 numbers have improved many business' advertising response rates, ROI, and overall bottom lines.