Tech Talk
The Promise of the Future is Just That
02/04/2010 - If you spend any time monitoring the Internet for news relative to the Yellow Pages industry as I do, I'm sure you have seen comments like this one from a recent MediaPost blog by Rob Griffen that bemoans the continuing existence of print Yellow Pages:
"…in relation to my question "When was the last time you picked up that giant yellow book you use as a door stop?" OK, so I provoked the responses. It seems many keep on using printed local directories, but total use is still declining. I'm more convinced of that than ever.I'm not surprised that the writer as well as many others in urban settings will encounter this situation. They are interesting comments and I can indeed see his point, especially if you are renting a 900 square foot apartment in NYC and your entire life is linked to some new hi-tech cell phone that you would be lost without. But here's the counter point -- I can only suggest people like this get out of their little bubble and go visit the rest of the world.
I found myself thinking back to that topic because for the past two or three weeks every time I leave or enter my apartment building, I pass a mountain of unclaimed yellow books in my foyer. Out of all the residents in my building, one lone duck opened up the wrapping and actually took one. A single used book with the rest just sitting there getting dirty and taking up space. So in addition to being a daily eyesore, it's a stark reminder to me how much less we rely on the Yellow Pages and other printed directories…".
Case in point -- last week I attended a local business expo in Joplin, MO, during which the public was given free access on the last day of the event. At the publisher's booth I was in, there were providing copies of all their local print books, CD's with the book info on it, and those little tacky give-aways with the IYP website predominantly displayed all over them. I watched as all through the day as local residents made a point of visiting the booth not just for a free pen or that little give-away, but instead to pick up additional copies of the printed book. We were giving away books as fast as we could unwrap them from the shipping packaging. The comments all went like this:
- I love having one of these books in my car. It's so convenient
- We like to visit Branson, could we have a copy of that book too.
- My sister lives in Springfield, can I get one of those
- Our company does business in several states, can I take a full set.
And on and on. Two women in particular were very memorable. The first one indicated she marked her calendar as soon as this event was announced because they really needed these books for their small business. I didn't have the heart to tell her that if she called the company's 800 number they would gladly send her all of the books she wanted, at no charge (try doing that with your local newspaper).
The second one was a 20-something professionally dressed sales person who was clearly not happy that her boss had told her to swing by the booth to pickup some books for adjoining counties. In conversation I asked her where she came up with her sales leads. She quickly responded the printed phone book. Yet she was dismayed that anyone would want or use these antiquated items with all of the technology available. She didn't see the irony of how she was using the print books because they were easier and quicker than having to Google everything.
In the original article I noted, the author goes into a long dissertation about how mobile phones are the coming hot thing we should all be focused on.
One particular access point is mobile. According to comScore, over 35 million users accessed local content via mobile devices in September 2009 with 23 million of the users accessing through a mobile browser, 14 million through a downloaded application, and 9 million using SMS functionality. Out of this, local apps are the fastest growing area (+110% from September 2008 to 2009).
To give some additional perspective, here's a breakdown of growth in mobile-based local access:
While mobile still has a long way to go in terms of sheer volume, the aforementioned is promising, because if Web-based search has taught us anything, we know that search is a key access point for consumers to find content.
Once again, I understand his point. I too walk around with one of these slick new phones on my hip. They are fun to play with. But the other side of equation is that there are still many parts of this country where you can't even get a consistent cell signal (despite what the dueling coverage maps of AT&T and Verizon would have you believe). Not everyone is walking around with a 4G iPhone texting away, or cruising the Net at broadband speed accessing Facebook and consulting YouTube for their every need. I'm sure people like Mr. Griffin consider these tech slackers to be some kind of backwoods cretins. But there is no denying that there are still many, many people out their opening a print Yellow Pages book when they are ready for that local buying decision.
Yes, you can expect hi-tech tools to become more and more mainstream and make our life "easier" (if you can figure out how to program and use these things). The future in inevitable. But for the future to happen, who is going to go visit all of these small and midsized businesses to help them understand how they should marketing in this coming digital world we keep hearing about?? We know Google isn't going create a sales organization of 5,000 people to descend like locus on every small community. That's not their business. Instead it will be those local print Yellow Pages publishers who will offer a range of platforms -- print, mobile, and online, that those businesses will have their customers find them on. And I'm willing to bet you that those print products continue to have strong usage for many years to come.
The promise of the future is just that – a future promise.