However, at the risk of prematurely ending my Yellow Pages career, I stand by my earlier statement.

"Nobody advertises in the Yellow Pages."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allow me to explain.

It's really quite simple.

Yellow Pages directories are NOT an ADVERTISING medium; they are a REFERENCE medium. Because they provide information instead of advertising, the Yellow Pages ASSIST rather than ASSAULT consumers.

We interrupt this program. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I'll put it another way.

Advertisements are interruptions.

They interrupt our TV shows, radio listening, highway scenery, newspaper and magazine articles and on and on. We're constantly assaulted by messages in which we have no particular interest. Occasionally we'll find a TV ad that is amusing, but even those become annoying before long.



= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Take this test:

In contrast, no one is ever interrupted when they are using the Yellow Pages. This is because someone using the Yellow Pages is specifically seeking the very information the directory contains.

Seth Godin's excellent book, "Permission Marketing", doesn't specifically address Yellow Pages, but the Yellow Pages meet many of the "non-disruptive" marketing characteristics he discusses.

You would not consider someone using an encyclopedia to be interrupted by its content. That's because the reader is seeking that information.

"But what about all those ads in the Yellow Pages?" you ask. "Doesn't that go against your claim that nobody advertises?"

More about "Permission Marketing"

"Ad" does NOT mean "Advertisement"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You want to know a little secret? . . .

I wouldn't want this getting around, so keep it under your hat.

The most misunderstood word throughout the Yellow Pages industry is that "ad" is short for "advertisement". Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Yellow Pages lingo, "ad" is an acronym for "Assistant for Decision making" , because it does just that. It Assists the Decision making of shoppers who research before buying. As the primary comprehensive resource covering the local business community, shoppers naturally turn to the Yellow Pages before buying.

Stop advertising and start informing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Businesses that place "Assistants for Decision making" ("ads") in the Yellow Pages are providing valuable information to shoppers. These shoppers in turn reward those businesses. Shoppers give extra consideration to the businesses based upon how thoroughly the information satisfies their needs.

If you (or someone you know) are considering placing your business's message in the Yellow Pages, please understand that you are NOT advertising. You are informing shoppers who are actively seeking information so that they can make intelligent decisions.

It's the old saying, "the more you give, the more you get".

. . .and that ain't advertising.

Answer to Brain Teaser
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think that it's safe to say that last week's brain teaser was a little on the easy side.

For your recollection, here it is again...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On January 1, two of our EVPs decided to meet to discuss strategy. Steve Boucher represented the East Coast, and Wes Rice represented the West Coast. They agreed to meet somewhere in the middle of the country, but since neither could remember the names of the interior states, they decided to head toward each other until they met.

Steve left New York on his moped that averages 20 miles per hour. Wes headed east from Oregon in a red, white and blue AMC Gremlin that averages 40 miles per hour. They left at the same time, and for purposes of this example, they headed directly toward each other in a straight line. The distance between the starting points was exactly 2,800 miles.

When they finally met, who was closer to the west coast, Wes or Steve?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some folks put WAY too much thought into this one. When they met, they were both the same distance from the coast.

There seemed to be concern that Wes' back was closer to the west coast, but that's getting a little too nit-picky.

I might add that they were only 80 miles from the west coast, because the Gremlin overheated after the second hour.

Our WINNER is Michael Olnick in San Diego, California!

This Week's Brain Teaser
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I based this week's puzzler on a recent competition we held in TransWestern's Internet Global Command Center.

The great Chubby Checker tournament.

We recently held a checker tournament between departments at corporate headquarters to see which group was mentally superior.

I can't tell you which departments played against each other, because then you would be able to figure this out by counting employees. Let's just say that in a battle of wits, one team arrived unarmed.

The teams didn't have the same number of players so to make things fair, we had players compete against members of their own departments as well as the opposing side.

Our tournament rules required every player to complete exactly one game of checkers against every other player.

After everyone was finished, we had played a total of 120 checkers games. Although we didn't crown an individual champion, one department thoroughly trounced the slackers and half-wits in the other department.

How many players competed in total?


Check here for the answer

About the Author
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dick Larkin is the Vice President - Internet of TransWestern Publishing, a national publisher of telephone directories. He oversees the Internet marketing of 230,000 businesses.

A prolific writer and speaker, Dick publishes a popular weekly newsletter and frequently addresses industry and trade organizations on business and marketing technology. Along with a CPA, Dick has a business degree from the University of Notre Dame.

He is currently writing a book on Yellow Pages advertising.

Contact Dick to entertain, inform and enlighten your group.

More about Dick Larkin here