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Directional
Media Strategies 2008 • The Multiplatform Opportunity
Sept.
15 - 17, 2008 • Hyatt Regency Atlanta • Atlanta
Georgia
Tuesday,
Sept. 16, 2008
8:30 am – 8:45 am
What We’ve Learned: Perspectives
Charles Laughlin, Senior VP and Program Director, The Kelsey Group
Moderator: John Kelsey, Cofounder and Chairman, The Kelsey Group
8:45 am – 9:15 am
The Customer’s Perspective
Increasingly, advertisers are empowered to demand performance and accountability from the media they buy. How is the directional media industry responding to the growing power of users and advertisers? Is the medium performing? Is it doing enough to prove value? We’ve assembled a diverse panel of advertisers to address these questions.
Chad Pinne , Director, YP Research & Analysis, ServiceMaster
Kerry Kielb, Sr. Marketing Manager, Rollins Orkin
Eric Schlanger, VP, Local Marketing, Avis Budget Group
Michael Strait, SVP, Telmetrics
Moderators: Neal Polachek, CEO, The Kelsey Group and Steve Marshall, Director of Research and Consulting, The Kelsey Group
9:15 am – 10:00 am
Keynote Speaker:
Joakim Richter, CEO, 3L Systems Group
Moderator: Charles Laughlin, SVP and Program Director, The Kelsey Group
10:00 am – 10:45 am
The Financial View: What’s the Future of Yellow Pages?
The news has been filled with reports of directory publishers’ shrinking stocks, nixed plans for dividend payments in lieu of debt repayment and lowered revenue guidance. This session will bring together investors and analysts covering the directory industry to explain how it reached this point and what the future may hold.
Bottom-Line Questions: What are the core reasons for the major publisher stock declines? How do investors view longer-term prospects for a Yellow Pages recovery? To what degree does the decline in shares reflect the fundamentals of the Yellow Pages business?
Sami Kassab, Analyst, Exane BNP Paribas
Moderator: Charles Laughlin, SVP and Program Director, The Kelsey Group
10:45 am – 11:15 am
Refreshment Break
11:15 am – 12:00 pm
Keynote Speaker: Marc Tellier, President and CEO, Yellow Pages Group (Canada)
Marc Tellier runs the highly regarded Yellow Pages Group, Canada’s largest directory
publisher. He will offer his take on the events of the past year and how the directory industry can adapt and prosper in the future.
Moderator: John Kelsey, Cofounder and Chairman, The Kelsey Group
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch in Exhibit Hall
Breakout Sessions I
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Session A: Building Online Vertical Experiences
Increasingly, highly focused vertical search properties are building a complete consumer experience that horizontal online directories and search engines cannot replicate. To what degree is the emerging category a threat or an opportunity for directory publishers?
Bottom-Line Questions: Which categories are critical for publishers to defend through building, buying or partnering with vertical search sites? What is the best way for directory publishers to compete with emerging vertical search sites? What assets are needed to effectively build an online vertical search experience?
Tom Bates, VP & GM, Kudzu, Cox Enterprises
Wendy Borow-Johnson, President, Boomj
John Busby, VP Product, Marchex
Joel Toledano, CEO, Krillion
Moderator: Peter Krasilovsky, Program Director, The Kelsey Group
Session B: Reconstructing Print Yellow Pages
With the value of the print product under increasing scrutiny, publishers are becoming more aggressive in experimenting with new formats and content to improve the print product’s value and utility and to reach new users and advertisers. This panel will examine some of the best recent print product innovations and explore the near-term future of print product development.
Bottom-Line Questions: What kinds of print product innovations hold the most promise to reverse or at least stabilize the negative revenue trend? How can publishers manage the risk of over-innovation and avoid destroying the core product in an effort to save it?
Mike Brugman, VP, Marketing, Local Insight Media
Jessica Pruss, Sr. Director of Marketing, Local Insight Media
Jo Lynne Whiting, Sensis
Moderator: Bobbi Loy-Luster, VP and Senior Analyst, The Kelsey Group
3:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Transition Break
Breakout Sessions II
3:15 pm – 4:00 pm
Session A: Selling in a Down Economy
In past economic downturns, Yellow Pages has actually gained market share against other media. This panel will examine how publishers can adapt to the current downturn.
Bottom-Line Questions: Are call tracking and other ROI-based data making it easier to maintain and grow the pool of Yellow Pages advertisers? Can the industry do more to sell its value to SMBs? Is the current soft economy an opportunity for the medium to gain share? How does the ability to offer performance-based advertising change the equation for this downturn?
Mike Boyce, SVP, General Manager Sales, RH Donnelley
Kathy Geiger-Schwab, Chief Strategy Officer, Local Insight Media
Paul Plant, Head of Commercial Development, Yell Group
Moderator: Michael Taylor, Senior Analyst, The Kelsey Group
Session B: Free DA – Pass or Play?
Everything old is new again. A case in point is the recent reemergence of free directory assistance services with a decidedly advertiser-centric revenue model. This session will deconstruct the free DA business model, and similar product approaches,
while also looking at the broader implications for the directory industry.
Bottom-Line Questions: Can this new variation create another dependable revenue stream for directory publishers? Should directory publishers be in this business?
Craig Hagopian, President & CEO, V-Enable
Scott Kliger, CEO, Jingle
Moderator: Matt Booth, SVP and Program Director, The Kelsey Group
4:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Transition Break
Breakout Sessions III
4:15 pm - 5:00 pm
Session A: The Shift to Strategic Pricing
Many publishers have been working to merge their pricing structures (print, online, voice and so on) into a single rate program, with some linkage to proof of performance through call monitoring. This panel will explain the complex issues surrounding this strategic shift in how publishers view pricing programs, and it will also examine how these models are being conveyed to SMBs.
Bottom-Line Questions: Is a single rate approach right for all SMBs or just a segment of the market? Could this approach strengthen print by shifting the sales message away from the declining value of print to the growing value of multi-channel?
Tobias Dengel, SVP, Business Development, Web.com
Scott Finholm,
VP, GM- Local, Marchex
Karen Payne, VP, Strategic Marketing, Local Insight Media
Moderator: Michael Taylor, Senior Analyst, The Kelsey Group
Session B: Dealing
With the Opt-Out Movement
Publishers are beginning to proactively offer opt-out as an option for consumers who don’t want to receive a print directory in order to stave off more draconian restrictions. In Norway and the United Kingdom, opt-out has been actively promoted, yet only about 5 percent of the population has actually opted out of home delivery.
Bottom-Line Questions: What is Yellow Pages’ real impact on the environment? How should publishers respond to this movement? What are the prospects for mandated opt-out or opt-in programs around the world?
Ken Clark, Publisher, YP Talk
Amy Healy, Director, Public Policy, Yellow Pages Association
Peter Rand, Operations Director, Link Direct
John Rafferty, COO, Canpages
Moderator: Bobbi Loy-Luster, VP and Senior Analyst, The Kelsey Group
5:05 pm - 5:30 pm
Executive Interview: Sonia Survanshi McFarland, Head of Business Development, YELP
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Reception
Additional Speakers To Be Announced
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
To
register by phone, call (609) 921-7200 x10.
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