Speaking Sensis

To watch sport on television is a sacred Australian past time. The relationship between sport and television is symbiotic, forged the moment Ron Clarke lit the cauldron of the 1956 Olympic Games at Melbourne’s very own MCG. Mainstream professional television had only been launched weeks before and sport has been the cornerstone of content ever since.

But a new player in the sport broadcasting arena stands to break this marriage that is quickly nearing its emerald anniversary.

While argument rages about whether pay TV should be able to bid for sports traditionally reserved for free-to-air audiences (a decision is due at the end of the year) the internet is emerging as the elephant in the room. The internet has grown from the broadcasting of live scores to parallel broadcasting of sporting events. Telstra currently holds the AFL mobile and internet rights. While no live broadcast is available, you can watch full replays and highlights soon after the game has finished.
While this may not seem to be much of a threat yet, it will only take a cashed up internet giant to decide it wants to host major sporting events. It wouldn’t take much for a cashed up internet giant, perhaps Google, to waltz into International Olympic Committee HQ in Switzerland and claim the worldwide rights to televise the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Sound crazy? Not when Google has signalled its desire to head down a sports broadcasting path. In January this year it announced it was going compete against other media organisations with their broadcast of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 for the next two years. Google will provide live and exclusive coverage through its YouTube website to all 60 matches this year’s competition. And it’s tipped to provide mobile coverage as well. A check of the site shows that before the event has begun, nearly 10,000 subscribers are set to fly once the tournament begins.
For Google, it’s all about advertising. Through its relationship with users Google knows what they watch, what they share, what they buy and where they live. 
This provides advertisers with more targeting opportunities than TV broadcasting and the more targeted the advertising, the more likely that ads will be looked at and clicked. And it’s that small click that drives the revenue. The IPL deal suggests that Google is taking YouTube from a video site that houses people’s videos to a broadcast medium not too different from television.
So with the next Olympics TV rights expected to exceed $2 billion, what is to stop Google stumping up the worldwide dollars. It has the internet distribution so it will still be free to watch and it is increasing its mobile phone reach. By 2016, who knows what else they might own. But who wants to watch the Olympic Games on a PC or mobile screen I hear you say? Well Google might have already thought that one through. Only this week it has been rumoured to be releasing a set top box that can tap into TV content and internet content and bring it together in your lounge room on your TV.

This all proves that content is king and while we argue over whether AFL games should be on Pay TV or FTA, traditional broadcasters should be paying more attention to the multi-coloured elephant in the room.

A glittering array of digerati gathered last week to celebrate the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) Awards. In what was a great achievement for the Yellow Pages mobile team, the Yellow Pages® iPhone app was nominated as a finalist in the Best Mobile Product or Service Award. Known affectionately as “The Amys” by the industry, the AIMIA Awards showcase work undertaken by Australia’s Interactive Media and Digital Content sectors across a broad range of categories and winning an Amy is a great accolade for any business.

Being a finalist allowed members of the Yellow Pages® team to strut the red carpet so there was no holding back on the fashion – especially with industry paparazzi on the loose.

Fashions on the field (L to R): Bruce Lund, Sally Davies, Julian Wong, Evan Ravensdale, James Simonetta, Alex Johnston and Michelle Sherwood.

But not even the comic styling of event host Mikey Robbins could settle our nerves as we watched and waited for our category to be announced. The Yellow Pages® app is an amazing product and we knew we were in with a real chance. And while the award went to 3 Mobile for its content portal, our team has a lot about which to be proud.  With more than 300,000 downloads since its launch in August last year, the iPhone app has been phenomenally successful. It has already connected more than a quarter of a million people with businesses, and boosted Yellow Pages® Mobile usage by more than 50%.

In fact, it took just two years for overall mobile usage to reach levels that online accomplished in five. That’s no mean feat and the team should be roundly congratulated for their hard work.

Undaunted, the team will be releasing more features and more useful functions in the coming months and we’re pretty sure that we’ll be front and centre at The Amys next year.

In business it is important to look forward, but it is also important to stop sometimes and look back.

One year ago, the Sensis® Business Index recorded the lowest level of confidence among Australia’s small and medium businesses since the survey began in 1993.  Confidence at height of the downturn fell to 12 per cent net balance in the first quarter to 2009.  This quarter, one year on, we measured confidence at 49 per cent.

And you can see from the chart it has been a pretty volatile couple of years in the business world.  And while confidence has improved, it suffered in the past quarter – such is the complexity of economic recovery. 

When global economies headed downhill, governments went into action with stimulus packages to keep things ticking over. The prescription that governments and central banks followed worked to a large extent.

While I could make a comment here about roof insulation, it is probably best to just say that the Australian economy made it through without a recession, technical or otherwise. Let’s just leave it at that…

The interesting thing is that the prescription for the GFC was pretty well known, but what was not well-known was what to do “next”.  As an economy we are now at this “next” stage and Australia’s small and medium businesses are saying that they are still facing problems of economic downturn, such as falling sales and lower demand.

But at the same time they are having to concurrently deal with the “problems” of growth, such as trying to find staff for their businesses and trying to get finance to grow their businesses.

Managing the recovery is as complex, if not more so, than managing the downturn. But it is still important to look back to where we were a year ago and what we have achieved since then.

And after you look back, it is also important to remember to start looking forward again. I’d be keen to hear about what you see on the horizon…

When I hear that a company has a digital strategy, I say – “so what; I want to know the details of the plan and when it will deliver something that makes a difference to people”. 

It is reassuring to know that right now at Sensis people are busy delivering the digital strategy to make a positive difference to advertisers and the people who use our products and services.  Of course there are some big plans, and exciting projects as part of this, but at the grassroots its also about continuing things such as improving the way we do the basics – like improving the online user experience.  This is something we work on continually using consumer feedback and historical site data.

A few of the latest improvements for Yellow Pages® and White Pages® online sites, set to go live in March include:

• the removal of the radio buttons used to select a business type search or business name search. Instead, yellowpages.com.au will automatically determine, based on the search term, whether the user was looking for a type of business, or a specific business, and handle the search accordingly. For example, a user searching for bunnings is obviously looking for a specific business. On the other hand, a user searching for used cars is clearly looking for a type of business. We’re making this change because we know that users don’t always notice the radio buttons, and consequently accidentally run the wrong type of search, leading to poor results;
• Auto-suggest functionality is being enhanced, with business names now also being suggested;
• Update of the business profile page for Yellow Pages® advertisers. We have updated the look and feel and added new video and photo tabs for advertisers who choose this type of ad. Plus, now when you print business profile pages you will get a cleaner and simpler result; and
• Extension of “my list” tool on White Pages® online from business search to residential.  My lists allows users to “select” advertisers contact details and create personalised lists which can be shared via email with others. 

There is more coming soon in the development pipeline including work on widgets, linking with facebook and twitter, plug-ins, brand name search, geocoding and more.  Stay tuned.

Sensis’ China team this week returned to work after the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) holiday and we discovered some amazing statistics about the sheer size of mobile use in what is the world’s most populous nation.

As it is China that we are talking about, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, the numbers are always big. And while I have become accustomed to all of the millions and billions, the mobile use statistics from the week long holiday this year (February 14 to February 28) were just astounding. And here they are:

• a total of 23 billion SMS messages were sent – an average of 30.8 wireless messages sent per person based on the 747 million mobile phone users in China and a 10 per cent increase on the same period last year;
• 13 billion SMS messages were sent on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day alone; and
• a total of 1.33 billion MMS were sent during the seven-day holiday, with a 40 per cent increase on the same period last year – wow!

For those of you who have never experienced it, Spring Festival in China is a bit like Christmas in Australia, but, of course, with a lot more people and instead of cricket we have fireworks – lots of fireworks! So much so that 7480 fires were said to be caused by fireworks during the festival.

Only a comparatively small number of people remain in Beijing during the festival as many of the capital’s residents travel to their home towns to spend time with family. As such Beijing seems to become empty with shops closed and streets free of traffic. While there is still activity, it was only the endless fireworks that reminded me that the city was still inhabited. It is an amazing transition to the typical hustle and bustle of this massive city.

Before I sign off, I have one more impressive statistic to help you put into perspective the sheer size of this country in terms of population and geography. The movement of people around China has been incredible with around 210 million passengers estimated to be travelling during a 40-day festival rush period that begins on January 30. This is said to be the largest migration of people in the world.

If you have any interesting digital China observations, feel free to add them here.

You may have heard of TrueLocal. In their words, they are an online business directory. As such, they compete directly with Yellow Pages® for the advertising dollar of local businesses.

So it’s not surprising to see them attack the value of the Yellow Pages® Book, which is used by millions of Australian buyers and sellers, in order to hopefully pick up some extra business for themselves.

For a business that has been in the market for a number of years now and has had limited success (Roy Morgan shows truelocal.com.au had an average of 249,000 users a month in the year Oct 08 – Sep 09, compared to 2.5 million a month for yellowpages.com.au),  it’s not surprising to see TrueLocal go on the offensive. They did it in June 2009 with a dedicated website and direct marketing campaign, they’re doing it now and we expect they’ll do it again.

But what is surprising, is that for a business whose parent is News Ltd, and synonymous with print publications, they make claims such as:

Gone are the days when these delivered directories were the only way to find a plumber, accountant or doctor. Some people still use them, absolutely. And they’re important for those who don’t have internet access. But [Clover] Moore is right in saying that today most Australians find businesses online – in fact 91.4 per cent do, according to a survey done by TrueLocal in conjunction with Coredata last year.

If you’ve looked at one of News Ltd’s 108 free, weekly, advertiser funded local newspapers recently, you might have noticed the classified ad section – where people might look for a plumber, accountant or doctor – is brought to you by TrueLocal.

And these 108 local newspapers are distributed to Australian homes each week– with no known way for people to be able to opt-out.

But what’s even more surprising, is that in the Victorian regional centres of Ballarat, Geelong and Colac, News Ltd and TrueLocal believe print directories are a valuable resource for the local community. So much so that they produce their own and deliver them to homes and businesses.

It seems TrueLocal will tell people anything to get one up on Yellow Pages® and further their own interests.

At Yellow Pages®, we use independent and credible research to demonstrate the value we deliver. You could say this is talking to our strengths or letting our results speak for themselves, rather than focusing on what our competitors are doing.

But sometimes you’ve just got to call a spade a spade and make sure the truth does get in the way of what some might consider a good story.

Yellow Pages® facts

Usage – the Yellow Pages® network (Book, Online and Mobile directories) is searched 13 million times by 4.5 million Australians each week. This includes 8.5 million searches in Yellow Pages® Books ⁱ.  We also give people the choice to request not to receive a book by calling us on 1800 008 292.

Carbon neutral –Yellow Pages® and White Pages® print and online directories have been certified carbon neutral through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly™ program. The carbon emissions created through the production of our directory products will be offset through Greenhouse Friendly™ accredited providers and projects in Australia.

Recycling – 96% of directories were recycled (75%) and re-used (21%) last yearⁱⁱ.

ⁱ Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, 14 years and above, last 7 day average, July 2008–June 2009.

ⁱⁱ DBM Consulting, Sensis 2008/2009 Recycling Measurement Program, June 2009].

With the 16th Annual AIMIA Awards fast approaching, voting has opened for the all new People’s Choice Award.  The People’s Choice category is exactly that – it’s your turn to vote for the finalist you feel deserves to be a winner of their respective category!

The finalist with the most votes wins and the exciting news is, of course, that our very own Yellow Pages® iPhone app is in the running. Get in quick to cast your vote on the digital industry’s brightest creations of the past year. Click on a link to look at the entry and cast a vote for your favourite. There is only one vote per person so make it count! Voting closes at 10.00 AEDT Friday 26 February.

To cast your vote go to:  http://www.aimia.com.au/awards/peoples-choice/

As announced on 3 February, Yellow Pages® is a finalist in the Best Mobile Service or Product Category. I will be frocking up to attend the ‘The Amys’ on Friday 5 March to find out who in the industry will be awarded for their exceptional work (and of course have my fingers crossed for Yellow Pages®). I look forward to seeing many of you there and I will bring you all the news, gossip and pics in the coming weeks.

 To learn more about the AIMIA awards click here http://www.aimia.com.au/isp/icms.isp?page=6636

Today, Sensis announced a solid first half year result for the 2009/2010 financial year, with EBITDA up 4.8% to $488m on a flat revenue of $974m.

According to Sensis CEO, Bruce Akhurst: “This is a strong result in a challenging market. As we advised previously, we experienced subdued sales conditions in our directories business but were able to outperform the local market and deliver solid market share growth in both print and online.”

“At the same time, the fundamentals of our business – the support we receive from the buyers and sellers who rely on our services – remain very strong. This is a great pointer to the future”.

Sensis delivered 3.5% YoY growth in the potential reach of Yellow Pages® advertisingⁱ by syndicating our advertisers’ content across a wide range of channels and brands. We also saw excellent growth in MediaSmart’s online display network reachⁱⁱ, high double digit growth in mobile usage and an average of over 4 billion page views per month in Chinaⁱⁱⁱ.

At the same time, customer satisfaction results remained high among both buyers and sellers.

Adding to Sensis’ strong business fundamentals was an ongoing investment in our underlying systems together with a wide range of successful new initiatives aimed at making our products simpler and more informative for buyers and more effective for advertisers.

Financial highlights
(Adjusted for Trading Post transfer, Universal Publishers sale and currency movements)
• Adjusted EBITDA up 4.8% to $488 million – strong performance in difficult market conditions
• Flat adjusted revenue down 0.1% to $974 million
• Adjusted expenses pre D&A down 4.5% to $487 million
• EBIT up 14.5% to $445 million

Market highlights
• Yellow Pages® & White Pages® print share of print media up from 19.6% to 21.3%^iv
• Australian online market share grew from 15.4% to more than 17%^v
• Global (China and Australia) online usage up to 4.3 billion page views per month^vi
• Total mobile usage up 76% to 2.5 million visits^vii
• Maintained strong customer satisfaction results - Yellow Pages® Online and White Pages® Online user satisfaction up 10 percentage points (pp) and 16pp since February 2008 and maintained scores of above 8.0 for Yellow Pages® and White Pages® advertiser satisfaction with our consultants

Operational highlights
• New White Pages® Mobile site delivered 600,000 monthly visits in only its sixth month^x
• White Pages® and Yellow Pages® iPhone apps delivered 475,000 visits to Yellow Pages® and White Pages® Mobile in December^xi
• Yellow Pages® in the Car directory sold into 15 new markets after success in Melbourne and Sydney
• Yellow Pages® and White Pages® print and online directories certified carbon neutral with carbon emission to be offset through Greenhouse Friendly^TM accredited providers

ⁱRoy Morgan Single Source Australia; average monthly unique users, 12 months to September 2009 vs 2008. Includes all services through which Yellow ⁱⁱPages® advertiser ontent can be searched for. Includes Yellow Pages® print, mobile and online, Whereis.com, 1234 and third party sites including Google Maps (not yet able to measure Bing Maps)
ⁱⁱⁱRoy Morgan Single Source Australia; average monthly unique users of all listed MediaSmart sites, 12 months to September 2009 vs 2008
^ivAustralian data from Omniture Site Catalyst: average monthly visits; Soufun data from Soufun; Sequel data from iResearch. All data relates to average monthly page views, September quarter 2009
^vSensis data and CEASA Main Media Report, Jan – June 2009 and previous. Compares like sales cycles, FY09 vs FY08. YPWP revenue backdated 6 months to allow for six month revenue recognition delay.
^viSensis data and IAB Online Advertising Expenditure Report, September quarter 2009
ⁱAustralian data from Omniture Site Catalyst: average monthly visits; Soufun data from Soufun; Sequel data from iResearch. All data relates to average monthly page views, September quarter 2009
^viiOmniture, SiteCatalyst; Average monthly visits December quarter 2009 vs 2008
^viii2Degrees Research, Yellow Pages® Online User Satisfaction Survey, November 2009. 2Degrees Research, whitepages.com.au User Satisfaction Survey, September 2009
^ixYellow Pages® KPI Report. Average monthly positive score out of 100 for each attribute over the six months to December, 2009 vs 2008. White Pages® KPI Report. Average monthly positive score out of 100 for each attribute over the six months to December, 2009 vs 2008
^xOmniture Site Catalyst, December 2009
^xiOmniture Site Catalyst, monthly unique visits, December 2009

On a stunning Melbourne February morning, I had the pleasure of attending a photoshoot at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.  Sensis brought together 17 men and women from Victoria’s emergency services who served during the Black Saturday fires for the cover shot for this year’s Melbourne Residential White Pages®. The cover of the Melbourne White Pages®, due out in May, will feature members of Ambulance Victoria, Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Victoria Police, State Emergency Services, Department of Sustainability and Environment, and Country Fire Authority.

Some of these heroes came off holidays to attend the photo shoot and others came from outside of Melbourne and directly from 14 hour work shifts. Coordinating the photo shoot itself was quite a feat. The event attracted interest of Herald Sun and Channel Nine, who grabbed the opportunity to photograph, take footage and talk to our cover heroes on the eve of the one year anniversary of the tragic Black Saturday fires. When you bring together the cream of the crop of emergency services in Victoria, it is a pretty special event. 

The group included Vicky Dunelly who served in King Lake for the Ambulance Service and was awarded a service medal at the Australia Day Awards and has also been named Volunteer of the Year. Another courageous character attending the shoot was Pat Leddin from the Kilmore Unit of the SES who lost his home while he was out fighting fires. With our covers theme for White Pages® and Yellow Pages® directories this year being Courageous Australians, it was fitting for us to recognise the great courage of the people who served during the Black Saturday fires and it’s hard to think of a better example of courage than the work of emergency services people during the Black Saturday fires.

Distribution of the first regional Yellow Pages® and White Pages® to feature courageous Australians on the covers begins this weekend in Tamworth, Dubbo, Bathurst, Albury and Launceston. The extraordinary Australians to be honoured this year include people aged from five to 78 years of age, with amazing stories from people who risked their own safety to help others, overcome personal hardships, and in many cases shown bravery that inspired others in the community, and even saved lives. All of the cover hero announcements will be published on http://www.whitepagescommunity.com.au/ White Pages® community site in line with book distribution throughout the year.

Today is an exciting day for me. Actually, it is an exciting day for Sensis. Today we announce that our Yellow Pages® and White Pages® print and online directories are certified carbon neutral through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly™ program.

We have achieved this by offsetting the carbon emissions of our directories through Greenhouse Friendly™ accredited providers and projects in Australia. I am working for the first major directories company in the world to have its print and online directories certified carbon neutral, which makes me feel pretty good. Our carbon neutrality announcement wasn’t referring to our businesses operational carbon footprint (fleet, facilities and flights) – we’re taking responsibility for the full ‘cradle to grave’ impacts of the print and online directories. That’s the production, use, disposal and distribution of the directories. We’re talking around 175,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

We know how many tonnes we’re taking responsibility for because we”ve commissioned environmental professional services company URS Australia to undertake a full life cycle assessment on the directories. In addition to offsetting the carbon emissions through Greenhouse Friendly™ accredited providers and projects in Australia, we are also announcing our target to reduce our operational carbon emissions by five per cent year-on-year. This means we’re working with people across the entire Sensis business to embed an understanding of what sustainability is and how they can reduce emissions in their areas of the business.

It’s great to be working for a company that is committed to taking a leadership role in corporate sustainability. Read more about this exciting news here: http://about.sensis.com.au/Sustainability/Environment/Our-Commitment-to-Climate-Change