TM Advertising Lands SuperPages Account

TM Advertising was named agency of record for Verizon’s SuperPages directory site. The agency is tasked with creating an identity for the offering both in online and offline media.

The budget for the planned campaign was not disclosed, but published sources place the spend between $12 and $18 million. Verizon would not comment on any part of the campaign, saying only it is in the early stages of planning.

According to James Hering, TM Advertising SVP and director of interactive marketing, plans for the SuperPages campaign include both a consumer and business-to-business component. The B-to-B campaign will aim to raise awareness among advertisers and agencies of the benefits of advertising on SuperPages.com, while the consumer campaign’s goal will be to drive traffic and gain users, according to Hering.

“If an advertiser is looking to extend search marketing activities and go local, SuperPages is a fantastic opportunity,” Hering said. The campaign will tout the site’s ability to geo-target its audience, emphasize a high visitor conversion rate, and an online/offline mix, he added.

The consumer campaign will highlight the enhanced functionality SuperPages is adding to its directory listings, including eBay and Shopping.com listings. The target audience will be both experienced Internet users who may not think of SuperPages.com when they need to find something, and traditional yellow pages users who are unaware of the online offering, according to Hering.

TM Advertising is part of the McCann WorldGroup Network, within Interpublic Group. TM has worked with Verizon in the past, first with GTE before it was acquired, then with Verizon on a DSL rollout campaign.