Recent Consumer Survey Validates Impact of The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company in Lincoln

After just one year in the market, The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company has garnered nearly one-third usage among the Lincoln population as the directory used most often, according to a recent survey conducted by W.F. Lewis Associates, Inc., a Dayton, Ohio marketing research firm.

Lincoln, NE (PRWEB) September 12, 2005 -- After just one year in the market, The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company has garnered nearly one-third usage among the Lincoln population as the directory used most often, according to a recent survey conducted by W.F. Lewis Associates, Inc., a Dayton, Ohio marketing research firm¹. This demonstrates the strong impact the new directory is already having on the Lincoln community. After entering the market as the fourth directory available, the research shows that The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company has a strong hold on the No. 2 position overall.

"Consumer possession and usage are the key value drivers in the Yellow Pages industry, and we are very pleased to report such high numbers after only one year with a book on the street," said Laurie Schaal, District Manager for The Berry Company's local Lincoln sales office. "We asked consumers all over Lincoln what they wanted in a directory, and that's exactly what we are providing – a more helpful resource to local area residents in managing their daily lives."

Berry's decision to publish an independent directory in Lincoln came shortly after Alltel ended its 8-year contract with The Berry Company to publish and sell yellow pages advertising. Long-term relationships with advertisers and developing a shopping guide that is significantly less expensive for them to advertise their business in were critical components of Berry's decision to stay and compete in the market.

Summing up the success of The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company, Group Vice-President, John Snyder, said, "We have a high-quality product and a professionally trained local sales force. Our directory is filled with the right information people asked for most, making it a reliable source for consumers and an attractive medium for advertisers to bring in business. This, combined with leveraging our 96 years of expertise as a telephone company-affiliated yellow pages publisher, has enabled us to secure a positive position in Lincoln."

Added to this, The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company's online solution, LincolnYellowPages.com, has experienced an over 40% increase in traffic over the past several months. Searches from the site have spiked to over 30,000 in the month of July – an almost 10,000 search difference in a two-month time frame compared to just over 21,000 in May. This upward trend demonstrates that Lincoln residents are finding LincolnYellowPages.com to be a useful and convenient supplement to the print product.

About The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company
The Real Yellow Pages® by The Berry Company is a comprehensive print directory distributed to Lincoln and its surrounding communities. The print directory contains local content that includes business' Internet, e-mail, and phone listings. It features consumer-friendly informational pages such as community attractions and sports information.

The Berry Company also created LincolnYellowPages.com -- the first online directory of its kind in the market. The local portal has online White and Yellow Pages, local news, weather, maps and directions, local sports, and more. The Berry Company's local sales office is located at 300 N. 44th, Suite 210, in Lincoln, Nebraska. For more information, please visit www.LincolnYellowPages.com.

About The Berry Company
The Berry Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of BellSouth Corp., is a leader and innovator in the Yellow Pages industry. Founded in 1910, the company is responsible for over 800 directory titles nationwide, serving more than 100 U.S. telephone companies to publish and sell both online and print Yellow Pages advertising. In addition, The Berry Company has grown several distinct lines of business including Berry Network, Inc., a national Yellow Pages and Interactive Media placement agency, and Berry Sales & Marketing Solutions, a consulting group that services domestic and international directory companies.

With its headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, The Berry Company has over 2,000 employees across 41 office locations nationwide. For more information, please visit www.theberrycompany.com.

¹Marketing research telephone survey conducted in August 2005 by W.F. Lewis Associates Inc., a Dayton, Ohio marketing research firm, in cooperation with Dr. Patricia F. Kennedy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.

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