Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Sensis Is Dead
Apologies to WH Auden. Sensis announced yet another 800 jobs gone in Australia as they continue their evolution into digital marketing. Ummm It’s 2014. Don’t you think you’ve left it a little late Sensis?
In case you don’t know Sensis is the company that was responsible for the paper directories. In my digital marketing post last week, I pointed out that 25 years ago they were the starting point of your marketing. Like the newspapers though they did not make the moves early enough to transition away from paper to digital and now they are dead or at the very least seriously unwell. Back in the early naughties they had ample opportunity to become the champion of small business online marketing, but why cannibalise your existing profitable business by giving your clients something better that may be less profitable? Well long term survival of course.
I know some readers of this blog would say I stick the boot into Yellow Pages every opportunity I get. They are very astute. Certainly over the last 10 years Sensis have been charging prices that the rest of us in the digital marketing space find obscene. Not because we are adverse to high cost / high value services but because we cringe at high cost / low value services. Take for instance a client of ours that is a manufacturer of a building product. Until recent times Sensis was charging them $60,000 / year for a half page in a paper directory. Of course there were “value adds” like the Yellow Pages car version. What’s the click through on that? Where is the measurement?
Look At Me Sensis
Then there were a bunch of us in the SEO business that pointed out that they didn’t even rank for one of their key positioning statements. Why am I sticking the boot in yet again? Because they confuse the market place and charge way to much for what they offer. I heard one of the spokespeople yesterday explain how they are transitioning into a digital marketing company. I thought they were doing that years ago? The “transitioning” it seems now means more outsourcing to India & the Philippines. So expect more telemarketing from those regions.
Sold Completely Within 3 years
Like the newspapers Yellow Pages does not have a long term offline future. Unlike the newspapers though they have nothing to contribute online. SO they are up against an army of smaller players in the digital marketing space that can deliver a higher value service for a much lower cost. My prediction is that they will be broken up and sold off within three years. I for one will miss the Yellow Pages.. well come winter anyway.
Jim’s been here for a while, you know who he is.
