Case Study for Agency
03-1015013-730

Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages
R. R. Donnelley and other competitors had created awareness for their
yellow pages, challenging the market share and growth of Bell
Atlantic's directory.

The creative strategy was driven by the need to convince the target
audience that the Bell Atlantic book is the only genuine Yellow Pages
Directory and the only truly reliable Directory because, as we
discovered, 9 out of 10 people use it.

The agency also recommended that James Earl Jones, the actor, be used
as spokesperson. In research, consumers deemed Mr. Jones
"genuine...reliable...authoritative...yet friendly."

The principal medium was television, but there was prominent use of
radio, out of home, newspaper and sales collateral.

The approach, supported by strong market promotions, quickly boosted
awareness, usage and revenue.

Awareness tracking, the client's key accountability measure, has
recently shown unaided awareness gains of 33 % among advertisers,
helping to drive revenue, and a 21 % increase among consumers thus
driving directory usage.

Awareness and Positive Association of James Earl Jones with Bell
Atlantic Director has reached 96%.

The competitive threat disappeared. Competitors dramatically scaled
back plans after unsuccessfully penetrating the market.

Sales goals have been achieve since the second year of the campaign,
begun in 1990 and continuing today.