Research from Oftel shows that since the opening up of the directory enquiries market to competition, new entrants to the market have taken the lead over BT, which has been shunted into third place.
The Number, whose 118 118 ads were created by WCRS, achieved awareness among a whopping 59% of consumers, according to a poll conducted by Mori and ICM for the telecoms regulator. Of those questioned, 10% said they had used the new service.
Conduit was in second place, with 39% of adults saying they were aware of the 11 88 88 service and 4% claiming to have used it. The ad campaign for 11 88 88 campaign, created by Partners BDDH, was the biggest of all the new services, with a total marketing budget of 拢40m.
BT's new directory enquiries service, 118 500 scored only 10% of recognition among consumers, with just 1% had called the new number.
The 118 118 campaign is currently the subject of a legal battle. Lawyers acting for David Bedford, the Seventies athlete who claims the 118 118 runners are modelled on his image, has called on the ITC to ban the ads.
However, a different piece of research by BMRB found consumers overall were confused by the choice of new services. The study, on behalf of online utilities comparison website uSwitch.com, found 76% of users preferred the old BT 192 service.
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