Superstorm Sandy DroveYellow
Pages Usage
By: Amy
Rybczynski – Posted Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Back in
August I blogged about how our testing program for a waterproofing client gave
us a clear view of the effectiveness of print Yellow Pages after Hurricane
Irene and Tropical Storm Lee hit the East Coast and mid-Atlantic region late in
the summer of 2011. Calls to the advertiser’s tracked lines went through the roof in the months that followed the storms, registering in 220% more calls in September 2011 than in the previous September, despite the fact that we were tracking 25% less lines. Call counts stayed higher than usual for the months that followed, gradually coming back to average levels early in 2012. Undoubtedly there was a lot of residual cleanup to do after the storms passed through, lasting months after the initial impact, and our call data reflects that. And while we don’t have any proof of this, it’s not a stretch to assume that some of the later callers were among those that had suffered losses and recovered, then decided to take preventative action on their newly restored properties.
In late
October 2012, many of the same areas were hit with another major storm, this
time Superstorm Sandy. I was interested to see how our testing would look
this time around, given that the worst damage was once again within our
client’s main market area. At first glance, the results weren't nearly as
obvious as they were after Irene, but the damage this time around was
concentrated more in New York , New
Jersey , and Maryland ,
rather than being widespread across the advertiser’s entire market area.
However, when
I dug down into regional data, it was apparent that the storm had an impact on
call volumes to the advertiser’s test lines in the most affected areas.
The rise began in late October, even before the storm hit, which could indicate
that the advance warning of the storm provided by weather experts may have led
to preventative maintenance calls. In fact, looking at data across all
markets, calls started to rise on October 25th, four days before the storm hit,
and remained high through November 8th.
In looking at
individual regions, we can see that calls increased dramatically. In Maryland , there were
twice as many calls per active test line in October than in September.
The rate remained nearly steady for November as well. Calls for each
month were just about double normal levels. New Jersey saw a similar jump, with double
the calls and over 40% more calls per test line. Interestingly, New York didn't see a
rise until November, at which point they saw a 47% jump in calls and a 77% jump
in calls per test line. The delay may be attributable to numerous power
outages in the area and that it took a while for a lot of people to return to
their homes. Based on what we saw in the aftermath of Irene, we can
certainly assume that this jump in activity may continue well into December and
beyond, as well.
The phone
lines used in these tests were unique to print Yellow Pages directories, so we
know that these calls were all the direct result of a print Yellow Pages
reference. While we’re all well aware that our society is becoming
increasingly reliant on technology, this call data shows that the print Yellow
Pages are still very much in use, particularly when life events (or major
superstorms) strike.
Amy
Rybczynski, Marketing Research Analyst
The above
article appears today in the Latest News section on www.adp.org.
Each week, ADP members will receive various emails containing new material
which has been posted on our new and improved web site, including both regular
features and special events and reports, such as webinars, research releases,
white papers from industry experts, etc. Our goal is to make www.adp.org the
hub for the exchange of information and opinion from members and the wider
industry audience.
We invite you
to visit www.adp.org daily and browse fresh
news and points of view which have been shared with the entire ADP
family.