(Irvine, CA) March 31, 2008 -- Based on BrandWeek reporter, Mike Beirne's March 30 article about the forthcoming AT&T Real Yellow Pages advertisement, the new campaign is being called deceptive and misleading, says ScanMyPhotos.com, a retail and Ecommerce business, based in Irvine, CA.
Even though it represents the new tagline for AT&T Real Yellow Page’s® advertisements, you will not always "find what you need," says a former advocate for yellow page directory advertising.
According to Brandweek Magazine, the new AT&T Real Yellow Pages advertisement calls all other phone book brands "posers" and expounds through the theme of an upcoming promotion that only their directory delivers ["Your World, Delivered"].
"This is a weighty, arrogant claim made by AT&T Real Yellow Pages that is going to be broadcast in all the major U.S. markets. It is also somewhat misleading and deceptive too," explains Mitch Goldstone, president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com. For nearly two decades, Goldstone’s company had been loyal AT&T [Pacbell, SBC] phone book customers in several books. They were even featured in a corporate testimonial and in a widely distributed newsletter to all other advertisers in the PacBell [now AT&T] yellow pages throughout California.
"Over the years we had royal treatment and even were provided with concert tickets (using their corporate seats) and enjoyed access to their entire corporate sky box lounge for several Anaheim Angles baseball games for our staff and family members. We were steadfast in our commitment to the phone book directories, loyal supporters and absolute advocates for this marketing tool, until they forgot to run our contracted advertisement last summer," said Goldstone. The ensuing months of ineffectual handling of the matter led ScanMyPhotos.com to reevaluate its commitment to traditional yellow page advertising and study alternatives. [B to B: Marketing News & Strategies]
Goldstone's company had invested about $400,000 in phone directory advertisements since 1990.
When the AT&T Real Yellow Pages simply forgot to run the local advertisement for ScanMyPhotos.com they dropped the ball. It took more than a month to get a quasi-letter of apology and the ineffective remedy intensified the strain in their otherwise solid relationship. "It was a partnership gone bad. On one hand, AT&T lists testimonials from advertisers achieving thirty-times in sales for each dollar invested in display ads, but when the ad doesn't run, they falter," said Goldstone who as a nationally known consumer advocate [ex. EPICCUSA.com, WayTooHigh.com, Operation Photo] decided to broadcast and share his experience to other entrepreneurs and business owners through a website called "YellowPage the Dinosaur" [Blog.YellowDinosaur.net]
The new AT&T Real Yellow Page advertisements explain : "It's all on its way in the new AT&T's Real Yellow Pages delivering now" and "Stop hunting. Start finding."
"Well, you better bring along enough provisions on the hunt," cautions Goldstone, because it’s not "all on its way in the new AT&T Real Yellow Pages;" they did not deliver and you will not find his ad. It simply was not published, even though Goldstone, who meticulously preplans every yellow page display ad months in advance had a signed contract and longtime relationship with AT&T Real Yellow Pages.
According to Brandweek, Ken Ray, AT&T Advertising and Publishing's chief marketing officer explained that "consumers get frustrated when they go though what they define as the spin cycle and they have to start looking for something again... That's why we're trying to push that there is nothing more up to date and we've got more information than any other book."
"While Mr. Ray is concerned about yellow page users getting 'frustrated' when they cannot find a listing, the marketing executive should equally be occupied with what happens when their contracted advertisers can’t find their advertisements either," explained Goldstone.
Since the ScanMyPhotos.com advertisement was not published in the Orange County, California central edition, Goldstone has been studying the industry and alternatives. His broad-based comments about how the antiquated print yellow page directories are becoming a dinosaur, along with his experience and in-depth profile of an industry in transition is regularly updated at Blog.YellowDinosaur.net
Recent Media Coverage and Blog Postings About the Yellow Pages' Demise
Want to know more about the authors of YellowPage the Dinosaur? Visit ScanMyPhotos.com and click here and read their daily blog: Tales from the World of Photo Scanning
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