Marketing Communications

180 CHAPTER 5 OBJECTIVES

Figure 5.10 Impact of the campaign on Yellow Pages staff

Source : Yellow internal staff survey.

available to the public. The response from advertiser cus-

tomers was unanimously positive.

Business performance

Given significant industry commentary and speculation

surrounding Yellow Pages’ business performance, it is

important to note that across the 2009 calendar year,

Yellow Pages far outperformed the rest of the advertising

media industry. Bruce Cotterill, CEO, Yellow Pages Group,

stated in August 2010:

During the later half of the Yellow® chocolate campaign

there was a considerable amount of negative PR about the

financial stability of the Yellow business. To be clear, these

issues relate to YPG Finance Limited, and are a result of the

high purchase price paid for the business ($2.24B) and an

overall softening in the economy. The core Yellow operating

business continues to perform strongly and is very profit-

able, with profit in excess of $150M in the financial year

ending June 2010.

As a consequence of the recession, the traditional media

market declined by 14%, with print media hardest hit, falling

17%. Across the same period, Yellow Pages’ print revenues

declined by just 8%. Online, the market grew by 11%,

but Yellow Pages’ online growth was over 38%. These suc-

cesses led to Yellow Pages increasing its share of the New

Zealand media market from 11% in 2008 to 12.2% in 2009.

During the period January–June 2010, it was 1.6% ahead of

forecast sales.

Wrapping up

The Yellow Chocolate campaign engaged over 60% of New

Zealanders in the Yellow Pages brand, and perceptions of

that large majority are measurably and significantly better

as a result of being exposed to the campaign. Importantly,

the campaign improved on the successes of the earlier Yellow

Treehouse campaign, engaging many more New Zealanders,

and making those people feel even better about the Yellow

Pages brand. This was achieved with a budget 17% lower

than the Treehouse. Yellow Pages remains the number one

place where New Zealanders look for a business, and the

top, most effective advertising medium in the minds of

small and medium-size businesses. As a result, Yellow

Pages continues to significantly outperform the advertising

media category.

QUESTIONS

1. Describe and assess Yellow Pages’ problem identifica-
   tion. Did it make the right analysis, come to the right
   conclusion and identify the right target groups?


2. At which stage in the product life cycle was the Yellow Pages
   brand in 2009? Which communications objectives are
   relevant at that stage? Which objective did Yellow Pages
   choose with its chocolate campaign? Was that consistent
   with the product life-cycle stage of Yellow Pages?


3. Imagine you were responsible for relaunching Yellow Pages
   in your country. Which of the nine communication goals
   would you include in your marketing communications plan?


4. Which consumer choice situation is applicable to Yellow
   Pages? What is the influence of this situation on the
   communication objectives for Yellow Pages?


5. Was the Yellow Pages campaign successful? Why or
   why not?


6. What could be creative ideas for a new campaign?
   Think of ideas that can bring in a local touch (in your
   home country).

Sources : Guy Geerts, Darwin BBDO, ColensoBBDO, Yellow Effie award case New Zealand, 2010.

M05_PELS3221_05_SE_C05.indd 180M05_PELS3221_05_SE_C05.indd 180 6/5/13 3:01 PM6/5/13 3:01 PM