Sensis sees sense in digital shift

Sensis CEO calls for change as digital drives the company’s future.

Bruce Akhurst, (pictured) Sensis CEO, said the organisation is shifting from print to digital with a host of online offerings to advertisers. “Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated,” he said Akhurst at the Sensis strategy update briefing last week. He claimed that Sensis has now reinvented itself as a digital-led business.

After more than a century as a print directories business, Sensis is now Australia’s largest locally owned online advertising business. “This year we are a very different Yellow Pages,” he said, while announcing a dozen new digital services including a 360-degree search program to make marketing easy.

Akhurst identified a trend by customers to reduce the size of print ads driving an 18 per cent fall in revenues for the Yellow Pages print directories in the first half results in February. Despite the economic downturn from 2008 to 2010, online advertising grew by 30 per cent.

Sensis has re-defined its business from one of selling advertising listings to that of providing leads for its SME customers through a larger network presence. “Yellow Pages has evolved from a print to a cross platform lead generator for SMEs online,” said Akhurst.

This year the number of Australians with smartphones is going to grow to over 50 per cent. He claimed that in order to maximise SME’s returns on ad spend Sensis will help them navigate and increase their presence online, including search engine marketing and optimisation, web design and maintenance. “The explosion of technology and advertising channels, and the popularity of digital devices, has created a complex digital world that small businesses must be part of to ensure they are found by customers looking for their services.”

Akhurst noted the Yellow Pages print directory is still generating most of Sensis’ revenues and would remain a key part of the business but the shift to digital will continue.