WRITTEN ON June 25th, 2009 BY peter AND STORED IN directory distribution

Tags: directory distribution

Think the directory distribution is heading the way of the dodo? Think again. As an organic grocery in America is very clearly demonstrating, talk of the demise of directories may just have been exaggerated.

Four years ago, the Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco was struggling to gain a foothold in the city’s Mission district. Hugely popular with customers seeking fresh, local produce and fairtrade coffee, the worker-owned cooperative was nevertheless failing to expand beyond its relatively trendy crowd. Sales had dipped significantly year on year.

It decided therefore to try something different, placing a 20%-off coupon offer in the local directory, the AT&T Yellow Pages, that was redeemable for anything in the store on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The idea proved an instant hit, as the recession has bitten the coupons’ popularity has truly spiralled within the last six months.

Page 31 of the directory is increasingly difficult to find as the coupon has become the stuff of local legend. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, they have “taken on the allure of one of Willie Wonka’s golden tickets”.

The offer has brought a huge upsurge in business for the grocery, forcing it to increase its workforce by more than 43 per cent, from 185 to 265, and to consider adding to its 63 parking spaces and nine checkout stands. ‘Coupon day’ is well-known in the area, and there’s usually a queue at opening time.

This case study is a fantastic example of how, even in our internet-dominated era, there is still a time and a place for more traditional communications, particularly when that gives people the chance to save some money.

AT&T distributes more than 672,000 copies of the book each year and also has racks in many stores, where people pick up about 2,000 copies a month.

Bob Mueller, of AT&T Real Yellow Pages in Saint Louis, said: “There is a misconception that people don’t use the directory any more. It is doing exactly what it is supposed to, it is driving business to a local customer, and that is great.”

Matthew Tilley, director of marketing for Inmar, a North Carolina company that processes coupons, said that the recession had led to a 17% year-on-year rise in demand for coupons in the first three months of this year.

Directories don’t just gather dust on a windowsill. Used cleverly, they can effectively save your business.