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Who's Who
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 12, 2005
For Additional Information Contact:
Mike Baber – 901-312-7665
BABER TO CEASE PUBLICATION OF
THE WHO’S WHO DIRECTORY
BABER Incorporated, Memphis’ oldest direct marketing company, has announced it will cease publication of its Who’s Who In Memphis Business Directory as of December 31, 2004. Who’s Who in Memphis Business began publishing in 1962 and rapidly became the premier business information directory for businesses all over the Mid-South.
According to Mike Baber, President of BABER, Inc., “With the rapid growth of information over the internet and the difficulties associated with compiling an accurate and reliable directory, BABER has decided to concentrate its efforts on more profitable aspects of its Printing, Mailing and Fulfillment business.
Baber cites the internet as one of the major factors in his decision. “People use the internet to obtain the information they need about a company and perceive that they don’t need the Who’s Who Directory as much. Whether this perception is accurate or not, I think it affected sales of the Who’s Who.”
Baber also cites voice mail as one of the main obstacles to getting out a good book year after year. “People are busier than ever and taking time to return a call to Who’s Who to update a listing was not a priority. Twenty years ago, people considered it an honor to be in Who’s Who and we would get calls regularly to make sure that listings in the upcoming book were accurate. Today, it’s different.”
Baber also cites difficulties with other compiled information such as business lists from national compilers. “Mainly, it’s the depth of information. It’s easy to find out the name of the company and its address and even the name of the CEO or other top person at the company. What people need is the name of the Human Resource Director or the Marketing Manager. All compilers, not just Who’s Who, are having problems getting good, solid information.”
“Actually, Who’s Who represents only a fraction of our overall business and the amount of time it was taking us to publish the book every year was disproportionate to the revenue. Since we do have other options for our clients to help them market successfully, we finally decided to shut down Who’s Who and offer those other products. That way, we’re not letting our customers down. We had a great run with Who’s Who...43 years.”
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