CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (May 5, 2003) - McLeodUSA Incorporated (Nasdaq: MCLD) and Yellow Book USA today announced that they are substantially strengthening their cooperative marketing program. McLeodUSA's new corporate branding will now be included in the top advertising position of 30 million Yellow Book phone directory covers. All Yellow Book directory covers in states where McLeodUSA offers telephone services will include McLeodUSA's new blue, black and gold branding, and McLeodUSA new Preferred Advantage messaging will appear in key headings inside Yellow Book directories and on Yellow Book USA's website, yellowbook.com. The McLeodUSA new brand will adorn the familiar Yellow Book bright yellow cover, which includes an area map and promotions for sports teams, universities, cultural institutions, and other area attractions. The enhanced agreement takes effect beginning with books publishing in May of 2003.
The announcement supports the strategic direction McLeodUSA is taking via its new Preferred Advantagesm simplified product offerings and its strong focus on providing world-class customer service. McLeodUSA's Preferred Advantagesm products will be featured throughout Yellow Book directories published in the McLeodUSA footprint in classifications such as "Telephone Companies", "Telephone Service - Long Distance" and "Internet Products and Services." In addition, McLeodUSA will be a featured advertiser on the home page of Yellow Book USA's highly successful website, yellowbook.com. The site will carry a prominent link to McLeodUSA's own website, www.mcleodusa.com. Yellow Book will also bring its marketing expertise to bear on a number of database initiatives to identify prospective McLeodUSA customers.
This represents the initial phase of a substantially strengthened joint marketing campaign that builds on the agreement previously entered into by the two companies in April of 2002. This revised marketing agreement is focused on using each company's core competencies to aggressively compete with incumbent telephone companies. McLeodUSA, one of the nation's largest independent, competitive telecommunications service providers, and Yellow Book USA, an independent yellow pages publisher, both compete directly with the former Bell Operating Companies and the companies believe this strengthened alliance will enhance both company's growth opportunities.
"McLeodUSA continues to be focused on providing our customers with the best service and profitably growing revenue," said Chris A. Davis, Chairman and CEO of McLeodUSA. "We believe that the extension of our new brand campaign to the Yellow Book directories, which already bear our name, will provide our customers and prospects with a clear understanding of McLeodUSA's products and services offerings while making it simpler for them to purchase from us. We are dedicated to providing the best customer experience in the telecommunications industry and our next step with Yellow Book will be focused on simplifying our customers' ability to purchase directory services offerings while also purchasing telecommunications services. Yellow Book USA is on a parallel track with their customers and we have been quite impressed with their creative marketing initiatives that support our mutual goals."
"The Yellow Book brand has been strengthened considerably by our expanded presence into 41 states, as well as a national advertising campaign -- 'Yellow Book, Not the Other Book' -- that has significantly increased consumer awareness," said Joe Walsh, CEO of Yellow Book USA. "And we are thrilled to be working with a company like McLeodUSA that has re-dedicated itself to providing a high quality alternative to the telephone company incumbents."
"At Yellow Book, we are investing mightily to design user-friendly directories; by making our listings the most comprehensive, by giving consumers more buying choices through added content, and by adding user-friendly features such as Restaurant Menu ads and Coupons. These investments will drive more usage to our books, giving added value to the McLeodUSA program," concluded Walsh.
About McLeodUSA:
McLeodUSA provides integrated communications services, including local services, in 25 Midwest, Southwest, Northwest and Rocky Mountain states. The Company is a facilities-based telecommunications provider with, as of March 31, 2003, 38 ATM switches, 46 voice switches, 567 collocations, 433 DSLAMs and 3,720 employees. As of April 16, 2002, Forstmann Little & Co. became a 58% shareholder in the Company. Visit the Company's Web site at www.mcleodusa.com.
About Yellow Book USA:
Established in 1930, Yellow Book USA is the oldest independent yellow pages publisher in the nation. In recent years, Yellow Book USA has made a number of strategic partnerships and acquisitions and entered scores of new markets. McLeodUSA's former telephone directory publishing unit became part of Yellow Book USA in April 2002. Yellow Book now publishes directories in 41 states and the District of Columbia, more states than any other U.S. yellow pages publisher. Visit the company's website at www.yellowbook.com.
Some of the statements in this press release include statements about our future expectations. Statements that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" for the purpose of the safe harbor provided by Section 21E of the Exchange Act and Section 27A of the Securities Act. Such statements may include projections of financial and operational results and goals, including revenue, EBITDA, profitability, savings and cash. These forward-looking statements are subject to known as well as unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Our expectations are based on various factors and assumptions and reflect only our predictions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statement include technological, regulatory, public policy or other developments in our industry, availability and adequacy of capital resources, current and future economic conditions, the existence of strategic alliances, our ability to generate cash, our ability to implement process and network improvements, our ability to attract and retain customers, our ability to migrate traffic to appropriate platforms and changes in the competitive climate in which we operate. These and other risks are described in more detail in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Form 10-K/A both filed with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise.