InfoGroup CEO Bill Fairfield expects low-single-digit organic growth for his company in 2010, according to an earnings call transcript.
“I don’t see the marketing spend in either small business or large business roaring back, but we do see signs of it increasing modestly,” Fairfield said, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “We think people feel like they’ve hit bottom.”
An uptick for infoGroup would mean a rise from the $499.9 million it recorded during fiscal 2009, down from $588.7 million in 2008. The company took a $6.8 million net loss during its most recent fiscal year, compared with net income of $4.8 million a year ago.
Fairfield attributed his optimism to infoGroup’s recent reorganization, which was designed in part to cut down on individual business units competing for the same clients with what he termed “largely the same products”.
He also noted that some units would be so focused on selling one specific set of capabilities to a given client that they would neglect to highlight the firm’s other offerings.
“I think a lot is going to come from our penetration of existing accounts,” Fairfield said, adding that within the small business area the company was capturing perhaps 3% of its potential.
What isn’t going to do as well, comparatively? The company’s market research operations, according to Fairfield. “Market Research was impacted the most by the marketing spend,” he said, according to Seeking Alpha. “I think it’s been demonstrated over the last year that it is the most discretionary of the elements in marketing spend.”
Fairfield added that there are indications companies are starting to spend more money there, but that spending on market research was “still probably the one that’s going to be somewhat the most depressed”.
Not surprisingly, Fairfield anticipated growth in the company’s digital offerings, as well as its data business. The growth in data, he said, would be the result of “a return to more campaigns and more extensive campaigns by our clients”. Fairfield added the revenue reductions in this area infoGroup had experienced were the result of existing clients doing less business with his firm, as opposed to abandoning it completely.
What about the potential sale of the company? The company has acknowledged exploring strategic alternatives, but Fairfield offered no updates, either in terms of potential activities or timeframe for announcements.
The Thursday Morning Quarterback’s Take: Fairfield avoided a question about infoGroup/Sales Genie commercials, which in recent years had run during the Super Bowl. Asked whether the company’s seasonal revenue would see a boost from Super Bowl ads, Fairfield responded “I didn’t see it. I don’t think anybody is going to get a boost.” His response, of course, neatly sidestepped the issue of the company’s Super Bowl ads – spots which were largely panned by various media mavens as being unprofessional. InfoGroup did not run a commercial during this year’s game.
