Business News
AT&T Advertising & Publishing Announces New Research Strategy for 2008 and Beyond
Monday 28. January 2008 - AT&T Will Measure Usage for 275 Markets With M/A/R/C Research
AT&T Advertising & Publishing, the nation’s largest Yellow Pages publisher in terms of revenue, has adopted a new research strategy to enhance and increase the information provided to advertisers about the usage and value of its advertising products.
Beginning in January 2008, AT&T has retained M/A/R/C Research to measure usage in 275 directory areas, which represent more than 75 percent of advertisers’ investment dollars for AT&T Advertising & Publishing. These markets will be supported by three types of quantifiable research: call-tracking studies, proprietary print and Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) studies and industry-standard “syndicated” methodology of which markets will be pre-announced and have same-day release from M/A/R/C research. The research will measure a rolling 12-month usage average, in addition to other key metrics that give a complete picture of how consumers are using AT&T Real Yellow Pages in their buying decisions.
As the new research strategy is implemented, 2008 will be a transition year. Results of 58 AT&T markets studied will be available as part of the 2007 Knowledge Network/SRI Syndicated Usage Study. Thirty of those markets will be studied again in the 2008 Knowledge Network/SRI Syndicated Usage Study. At the same time, AT&T will begin measuring usage with M/A/R/C Research.
“Broad-based, objective measurement of directory usage is an important part of our strategy to offer proof of the value of our advertising products and to help businesses make smart ad-buying decisions,” said Ken Ray, chief marketing officer for AT&T Advertising & Publishing. “This third-party research supplements other efforts, including our expanded investment in call-tracking and measurement for businesses using our ad products, as well as our recent purchase of Ingenio, a leader in the pay-per-call capabilities. AT&T is committed to being a leader in the industry and will continue to participate in industry-sponsored testing and initiatives.”
The M/A/R/C Research methodology exceeds standards set by the Advertising Research Foundation for Yellow Pages measurement, including a probability sample design, 12 months of interviews, book-to-phone verification of directory used within the past 30 days and a larger sample size, which provides greater precision in the results. Results from the M/A/R/C studies will be available in early 2009 and will include usage share, possession, preference and reach metrics.
M/A/R/C is a national marketing research firm with headquarters in Irving, Texas. Established in 1965, M/A/R/C has Yellow Pages experience with both AT&T and other directory publishers on a variety of projects including usage, scoping, demand studies, ad-tracking programs and customer satisfaction. M/A/R/C Research has been conducting research periodically for major publishers since the mid-1980s.
AT&T Advertising & Publishing is the largest directory company in the world in terms of revenue, and it publishes more than 1,250 directories in 22 states. AT&T Real Yellow Pages directories are referenced about 4 billion times annually and used, on average, more than three times as often as books published by the next closest competitor in AT&T-served markets. The company also offers online advertising options through YELLOWPAGES.COM, a leading Internet Yellow Pages and local search company. The YELLOWPAGES.COM Network received more than 1.5 billion searches for local information in 2007.
Together, AT&T Advertising & Publishing and YELLOWPAGES.COM offer a full suite of advertising solutions to businesses, including print and online Yellow Pages advertising, Web design and e-Commerce capabilities, and search-engine marketing packages. AT&T also is the only company to provide targeted advertising through an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) platform, now available in select markets as part of AT&T U-verse(SM) TV service.