Yellow Pages Environmental Forum

You’ve seen them — bloggers who by virtue of the fact that they have a keyboard, an Internet connection, and half a brain can start spewing all kinds of inaccuracies across hyperspace. Among those I have seen:

• Yellow Pages kills trees — Not true — see article on how paper is made (click here)
• No one uses them — Not true, unless you consider nearly 14 BILLION look-ups last year to be “no one:
• the Industry makes up the usage numbers — Not true unless you believe that all the research organizations that do research for a range of media have some compelling reason to ONLY bake the number for Yellow Pages
• I don’t want one, I don’t use, I am offended you deliver one to my doorstep, — me, me, me. Please people, get a life. It’s just a phone book. It takes them longer to write their rants and complaints than it does to just recycle what they don’t want.

And so on and on. Usually I find the vast majority of these people are well intentioned but totally uninformed. Usually when presented with the facts, they will at least take the time to reconsider their position.

But now it’s getting personal. Case in point — this captain of commerce ignored all the facts presented and still ran this charming write-up: click here, but don’t do so on an empty stomach. He even went as far as to suggest everyone send me books they don’t want. Well, if they want to waste the postage and be even less eco-friendly, fine, I will gladly recycle any that show up. But you should note that the writer also closed his blog to further comments — hence, you now see the ugly side of the Internet, and it’s personal. Of course the other thing to note is the writer is hiding behind his site — you don’t know anything about who this, they don’t even have a formal mailing address, and it appears they are some local search engine marketing group (so of course there is no agenda there).

I hope all of you that read this have this key takeaway — these efforts are not going to go away, this industry in under siege, you livelihood will soon be under attack –> it’s time to start pushing back. All of us. Now. Because it’s starting to get personal….

A recent statement from ReachLocal, the newest wanna-be provider of local search advertising to small businesses in the local search space, caught my eye (source) and I noticed it has also appeared on several other websites:

A recent study by comScore shows 60 percent of consumers have stopped using Yellow Pages print directories as their primary source of searching for local goods and services.

Really? Where did they come up with that study, because if it was real, believe me, it would have been all over the media wires. I checked with comScore, with the industry associations, with several publisher contacts and the common response: it is a complete fabrication (aka lie) and there is NO comScore data that backs up this claim.  Instead it may be a statistic drawn from an industry presentation which if you twist it five ways from Sunday could conceivably give you something like that.

But even if ReachLocal retracts these comments, the damage has been done because once you start propagating garbage like this across the Internet, everyone assumes its accurate just because they see it online. On top of that, at a time when the Yellow Page industry is trying to extend the high level of trust it enjoys from its print products and sales forces to now be offering multiple products across a range of platforms (the Internet being one of them), no one needs to have dumb things like this – it reflects badly on everyone.

When you see stuff like this, let me suggest the following:

• First off, be a little skeptical, don’t assume information is true and accurate just because it is online.

• Pay attention to the sources and presentation of this “information” to better gauge its overall quality

• Try to determine who’s responsible for the site. If they will not reveal that information, I’m usually even more skeptical. Often the “About This Site” type links provide clues about the point of view, purpose, or bias of the site.

• Look for an indication of how current the material is. My favorite example has been the PaperlessPetition group which has been soliciting opt-out requests for years and as far as we can determine, has never once contact a publisher.

• If you know the information you are looking at isn’t correct, contact your senior leadership and/or legal group to find out what steps can be taken. This industry has built its reputation over a 125 year history. Let’s not give it up without a fight when stuff like this happens.

And let’s hope that ReachLocal corrects these erroneous comments with as much vigor as they promoted the inaccurate info to begin with.

In today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required), was an interesting story that Pepsi has moved to reducing the amount of plastic it uses in its non-soda drink bottles.  For example, the new half-liter (16.9 oz.) bottle will actually contain 20% less plastics than the one it is replacing.  The thickness of the bottle will be reduced from 23.5 grams to 18.6 grams.  The drinks affected are some of the Lipton ice teas, Tropicana juice, flavored Aquafina FlavorSpalsh and Aquafina Alive.

We bring this to the attention of Yellow Pages publishers because we mentioned in a recent post (A Bag is More Than a Bag) that Discovery Packaging was open to working with publishers on a reduced thickness delivery bag.  Sounds like a real opportunity to be an innovative market leader and more environmental oriented.

Kudos to the Yellow Pages Group (YPG) which today announced the launch of a pilot project an “EcoFinder” directory section to promote businesses that provide environmentally-preferable products or services or that have leading environmental operational practices. Here is link to company press release.

During the month of May, residents of Laval, Saint-Eustache, Sainte-Thérèse, and Terrebonne, will receive the enhanced Yellow Pages with this new section. The introduction of this new section follow a recent YPG survey which revealed that 93% of Quebec residents thought the creation of a section like this was a good idea and 88% confirmed that they would like both a print and online version.

Who says that print Yellow Pages can’t be the preferred source for environmental oriented shopping information?? With it’s wide distribution in the community, you would have to believe that other publishers will also jump on this trend which further supports the value of Yellow Pages in these environmentally sensitive times…

Ad Age reports that according to a study by Burst Media, while consumers have a high recall of “green advertising,” they really aren’t believing those messages at the same rate. Burst surveyed about 6,000 people age 18 and over about their perception of environmental marketing. While almost three-quarters recall seeing some green ads, more than 20% don’t ever believe them and two-thirds only believe them “sometimes.”

The only group that seems to believe these messages is the core group of 5% of people who identify themselves as “completely green” consumers. In that group better than 40% say advertisers are doing a good job at providing information on green claims.

I noted one interesting comparison on the motives for going green — casual green consumers most often cited “good for the environment” (62%) as their top reason, while the more dedicated eco-oriented said it was “to live a better quality of life” (48%).

On my YP Talk newsletter, I received the following email the other day from a “Dominic”:

Ken:  In the condo complex where I live, I estimate that 30% of the print directories delivered end up in the collective trash bins on the day of delivery. I see it with my own eyes when I dump my directory. I understand your vested interest in print YPA, but I fail to see where your bullish position about print directories has merit. They are dying.

Dying???  Here is my response back:

Dominc:

Thank you for your comments.  Couple of points:

How many people in your complex??  Let’s say 2,000.  And you say 30% of directories end up in recycling??  How exactly did you come up with the 30% number??  Could those be older books, books from last year that people are replacing and recycling??  That still leaves 70% (by your count) of books still being used regularly.

My “bullish” position on print comes from some very real facts:

1.    Many print publishers use tracking numbers in the ads.  That phone number only appears in that that ad, in that book, and in no other forms of advertising.  Hence the only way that an advertiser can receive a call on that number is from an ad in the book.  The overwhelming majority of publishers I have talked to big and small indicate that those call volumes are UP in the past year.  So if “no one” is using the book, how can that be?

2.    The printing presses for phone books are full.  There is virtually no excess capacity anywhere.  Publishers are not dumb people who just want an excuse to print more than they need, so again, someone must be using these books are the publishers wouldn’t be printing them.

3.    The formal research the industry has conducts annually just showed the print usage as flat from the prior year.  This research is conducted by a viable, highly respected research group who does research for a number of media industries, so it is not plausible, as some have suggested, that they are cooking the result just to give the industry the numbers they want.

4.    Print gives you something the Internet doesn’t – a sense of a company’s size and worthiness based on the size and information in their print ad with others in that heading.  When a Google type search brings me back a zillion plus hits, you still need to cull through all the results to find what your looking for, and even then there is no way to differentiate between possible suppliers

Are there more options out there for consumers to find information – heck, yes.  But that old print book still is the most mobile product available, requires no special connections or technology, and is available in every home and business – it people would just take a minute to keep it.  They might discover as billions did last year that it is a pretty poerfull, but low tech informaiton source..

Those that have spent any time recently in and around the Yellow Pages industry are more than aware of the rash of new bloggers ranting away that the print Yellow Pages are a real problem for them — THEY get too many of them, THEY never use them,, etc. etc. etc..

While I suspect this is really the efforts of just 3 or 4 malcontents with way too much time on their hands, it was refreshing to read the following post:

• “…Today, almost everyone can get into eco friendly and patriotic action with recycled paper….. To get started in this business, all you need is a phone and the yellow pages….” (link to full post)
  

Really?? Those big old clunky print Yellow Pages that are delivered to every home and business, require no special electrical or broadband connections, and where you can find whatever you need in less than a minute.

So next time you encounter one of those ranting bloggers who are loosing it online, tell them they are not being rational, or patriotic. Print books provide a valuable service to EVERYONE, not just the Internet elitists.

While many of the bloggers and other phone book haters don’t want to believe it, the Yellow Page industry has once again stepped up its efforts to be even more environmentally friendly.

Even though the industry uses no virgin trees to make its paper (earlier post here), water soluble inks, and glues that allow the entire book to be recycled, now the Yellow Pages Association (YPA), in concert with the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP), announced formal Joint Environmental Guidelines for the directory publishing industry.

Already the guidelines have been adopted by most  major publishers representing some 90+ percent of the industry output.  The Guidelines focus on source reduction of directories (white and yellow), enhanced recycling programs and environmentally sensitive manufacturing practices.

So DO NOT believe the many bogus blog posts you read that the industry is responsible for cluttering landfills (directories are only about .3% of the total waste stream), that we are wasting precious resources (publishers use on average about 40% recycled content in their paper), or that they will not allow people to opt out of their products.  It just ain’t true.

But those so vehemently insist THEY don’t want a book — how are you going to find that local computer repair store when your PC is busted????  Maybe you should keep at least one of those print “dinosaurs” around just in case.

Your kidding?  Those books that appear magically at people’s door steps that so many Techno-snobs claim they never use??  Here’s just a few recent examples:

From the Red Bluff Daily News, in  Red Bluff,CA:  “The Tehama County Green Pages, located under “recycling” in the AT&T Yellow Pages, provides the answers for most recycling questions. The Green Pages offer tips on how to dispose of items such as appliances, used books, clothing, computers and electronics, fluorescent bulbs, furniture, construction and demolition materials, old records, tapes and CDs, Styrofoam and household chemicals. It also shows residents what to put in their recycling bins.

From a blogger in New York City:  how to recycle cardboard — “Step 6: Check with your county’s department of public works to find out about local curbside recycling programs and community drop-off centers, or look under ‘Recycling’ in the Yellow Pages.”

 A Raleigh, NC blogger:  “Wow, talking about getting off the subject, I wish there were more places to take cans and such near by. I looked in the Yellow Pages and there are a lot of compaines. …”

 Yellow Page publishers — you have a valuable resource which is in every home in your area, and it has tons of valuable information.  Please let people know about it!!!!!!!!!!!

Zero.  None.  Zilch. Zip.

While the popular myth is that this industry is responsible for the neutering of forests, the reality is the Yellow Pages industry doesn’t knock down any virgin trees for its paper!!! Let me repeat that – they don’t need to cut any trees for their paper supply.

Currently, on average, most publishers are using about 40% recycled material (from the newspapers and magazines you are recycling curbside), and the other 60% comes from wood chips and waste products of the lumber industry. If you take a round tree and make square or rectangular lumber from it, you get plenty of chips and other waste. Those by-products make up the other 60% of the raw material needed. Note that these waste products created in lumber milling would normally end up in landfills. Not only that, as wood chips decompose, they emit methane, a greenhouse gas closely associated with global warming. Paper manufacturing thus puts these chips to good use. Many paper providers will also use 5% or less of recycled directories in their paper creation.

So despite what you may be reading, hearing, believing — Yellow Pages are not clogging up our landfills.