(Traverse City, Michigan) — Douglas Knorr, president of Knorr Marketing (www.knorrmarketing.com) was a featured speaker during the Mid-Year 2008 Convention of the Association of Directory Publishers held October 23 – 26 at the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas. “I invited Doug to speak to our attendees so that they would better understand the all-to-common disconnect between many advertising agencies and the yellow page industry’s continuing strong value story,” said Larry Angove, President and CEO of the Association of Directory Publishers.

Knorr’s presentation, titled, “Overcoming Misperceptions with Proof” emphasized the industry imperative to furnish more detailed research to substantiate the highly measurable ROI proposition for print and Internet yellow pages advertising.

“Doug made it clear that our industry needs to do a better job of proving the value of directional media,” said Angove.

Knorr shared with attendees several frequently heard comments he encounters while servicing his client base, including: 1) the relationship between, and relative effectiveness, of white pages listings vs. yellow pages display advertisements, 2) the perception that print directories and their disposal contribute significantly to the solid waste stream, and 3) the difficulty of accessing research data for the yellow pages industry.

In a closing parody of the “Mission Impossible” TV show of the sixties and seventies, Knorr said, “Increasing media options and changing consumer lifestyles are yielding fragmentation with every medium and no one medium enjoys dominance. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prove to marketers and retailers alike that the cost per lead provided by yellow pages directory advertising is competitive with, or stronger than, other media.”

The Association of Directory Publishers (www.adp.org) is the international trade association founded in 1898 to promote the establishment and maintenance of the highest standard of quality and service in directory publishing. ADP members publish over 2,700 titles annually, printing and distributing some 250,000,000 copies each year, and support thousands of employees and hundreds of suppliers across the country and around the world.

Douglas Knorr, known as a “retail marketing activist” is president of Knorr Marketing (www.knorrmarketing.com), a full-service marketing and advertising agency specializing in the home furnishings industry. The agency provides strategic planning, creative production, public relations, sales promotions, website development and media buying services. Headquartered in the resort community of Traverse City, Michigan, the firm serves clients throughout the United States.