Cash for survey panel

YP Publishers Should Tap Into Co-op Cash, Panel Tells ADM - Brief Article

The yellow pages industry should strive to obtain a larger share of the co-op funds that corporations make available to support their local retail outlets, according to panelists at the Association of Directory Marketing conference, held Sept. 14-17 in Scottsdale, AZ.

Companies make $42 billion available in co-op funds each year, though yellow pages reaps only $258 million in annual co-op sales, about 2% of the industry's revenues, said SBC Smart Yellow Pages national sales director Tanc Agius, the panel's moderator. "There's lots and lots of dough around, but we haven't done a very good job in the yellow pages industry to take it," he said.

Deb Kuhns, executive director of the National Association for Promotional & Advertising Allowances, concurred. She shared data that showed 54% of dealers used co-op funds for advertising in 2002, and that group used 78% of the funds available. However, yellow pages received only 4% of the co-op funds used. In addition, only 18% of published co-op programs list yellow pages as a medium eligible to receive the funds. "Manufacturers' opinions are that yellow pages is good as a directional medium or for infrequent purchases," she said.

Manufacturers are also confused when buying yellow pages ads because of the number of books and publishers, many of which have different ad specifications. "They need to hear more about how effective programs can help support their brands," Kuhns said.

In a recent survey conducted by the Advertising Checking Bureau, members of the ACB reported that they planned to use only 18% percent of their co-op funds for yellow pages spending in 2003, down from 25% in 2002 and 26% in 2001, according to Eric Olson, regional sales director of the ACB. Of the $245 million allocated for co-op programs in 2002, yellow pages received only $1.7 million. The industry received less than $3 million of the $250 million spent in 2001, he said.