Yell throws its weight behind Mother’s ‘People’ campaign

Yell has underlined its commitment to its “People behind the numbers” campaign following claims by The Number 118 118 that it is helping to promote rival services (MW July 11).

Yell is launching a new wave of activity featuring real-life advertisers next week, ending speculation that the future of the Mother-created campaign was under threat.

The outdoor business-to-business campaign for Yellow Pages breaks on July 30 and new executions include a carpenter in Basingstoke and a tyre fitter from Peterborough.

The campaign aims to build on Proximity London’s below-the-line activity for Yell which the directories publisher says has led to a 300% increase in leads generated.

Yell scrapped its character-led ads (MW March 15) after appointing Mother to handle its £20m advertising business.

But The Number claimed this month that the “People behind the numbers” was “the best campaign we never did”.

The market-leading directory enquiries provider says calls increased 3-5% since Yell launched the campaign. It claims that people do not realise the campaign is advertising Yell’s 118 247 service and says it has done a “generic job” of promoting 118 services.

But Yell says it has seen a “very significant increase” in calls to 118 247 since the campaign’s launch.