Yellow Pages

THE MARKET
In today' s marketplace we are swamped with choice.
There are more products and services than ever
before. There are countless brands, countless
places to get them and numerous ways to find, to
compare and to wind up thoroughly confused.
New technology has also broadened the market
for inform ation . For instance, internet search
engines allow you to search for anything, anywhere
in the world. Where once printed directories owned
the informati o n marketp lace - today on line,
telephony and printed media are all competing.
Muhanunad Ali once said: "Wisdom is knowing
when you can't be wise." It would not be wise to
sort through all of today's information clutter and
that is why the Yellow Pages® directory exists. It is
there to help you find things quickly by bringing
together buyers and sellers. T he Yellow Page:@
brand is made up of directory, online and voice
products to reflect th e different information
channels people use. Now you can find the smallest country towns. climate of small business and repmts on projections
the products and services In side th e Yellow PageSID for the fmthcoming quarter. In 2000, the Yellow
yo u are look ing for directory there are over 2,500 Pages® Small Business Index was expanded to
wherever you are, classified headin gs . include medium businesses, and in 2003 was re-
whenever you want. This translates to branded as the Sensis TM Business Index - Small and
more than 57,500 Medium Enterprises. Today, the Sensis TM Business
ACHIEVEMENTS individual pages Index is accepted as a leading - and truly
of ad verti sin g independent - barometer of business opinions for
which, when printed, the SME sector of the Australian economy.
beco me 21 billi on Simil arl y, the Yell ow Pages:!!) Business ideas
pages, bound and Grants program is one of a number of Sens is
delivered as over 15 million initiatives designed to support Australia' s small
directories2 - that's one directory to and medium enterprises. It is an annual award
almost every home and business in Australia. program supporting new bu siness ideas at the
The Yellow Pages® brand is popular. Research concept, product development a nd business
shows that 73% of consumers surveyed between development stages.
the ages of 18 and 64 in Australian metropolitan Another service Sens is initiated is the
directory markets used BookMuncher® Directory Recycling Program to
th e Yellow PageSID ensure the responsible environmental management
directory in the month of old directories. The program enables residents
preceding the research.3 and businesses to recycle their old White Pages®
Furthermore, the and Yellow Pages®directories through established
yellowpages.com.au site council kerbside and commercial paper recycling
i s Australia 's mo s t collections. In 2002, a record 66 per cent of old
visited online busin ess directories were recycled through the program into
directory4 with over 1.4 e nv ironm e ntall y friendly prod ucts suc h as
million unique u se rs cardboard packaging, kitty litter and housin g
visiting the site each insulation .6
month. 5
Sensis decided to HISTORY
create the Yellow Pages® The world's first telephone directory was published
Small Business Index- a in Connecticut in 1878, only two years after Mr Bell
quarterly s ur vey that made the first telephone call. As telephone usage
measures the c urrent began to grow and spread, naturally so did the

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directories. In some cities, what began as a humble of them on the spot. This national dial-up directory Two recentconunercials include 'Skip ' and 'Dog' .
sheet of paper soon required two comprehensive service currently provides approximately 112,000 ' Skip' shows a man who has hired a skip for his re-
volumes. refeiTals each week. 13Watch this space as the Yellow decorating rubbish and who later discovers that
The directory that became the Yellow Page:@ Pages® Connect service is developed further to hi s neighbours are making full use of it. After
directory officially began in 1924, except that back offer even more information options over the phone. consulting the Yellow Pages® directmy, late one
then it was actually pink. And all 40 pages were night he puts an end to thi s freeloading by
neatly contained within the standard telephone in stalling a high-powered security floodlight
book. The first fully classified directories were Find pawnbrokers at system.
launched in 1935 in Sydney and Melbourne. But it yellowpages.com.au In 'Dog' , we see a man and his dog taking their
wasn't until 1975 that the colour of the directory daily walk m·ound the suburbs. As pmt of this
was changed from pink to yellow, primarily because everyday ritual our canine friend has made a habit
of a worldwide shortage of pink paper. Yellow was PROMOTION of defecating on one of his nei ghbour's pristine
also the colour recognised internationally fo r The Yellow Pages® brand is one of Australia's most lawns. After many clean-ups the lawn owner spots
classified telephone directories. 7 loved and memorable brands. Research has shown the perpetrator and consults the Yellow Page@
The Yellow Page®OnLine site- the first online that the Yellow Pages® brand is considered reliable, directory to find an appropriate deterrent- a remote
Yellow Pages® directory- was launched in 1994. tru stworthy and k no w ledgeable. 14 Due to the activated sprinkler system.
New applications for the directory product did not inherent natme of information giving, the Yellow The follow-up campaign to 'Not Happy, Jan'
cease there and the voice directory service, 'Hello Pages® brand risks being seen as dull and boring, explores the ridiculous lengths people go to when
Ye ll ow', was launched in 1993 and it was renamed dry and factual. The role of advertising is to trying to remind themselves to do things. It includes
as the Yellow Pages:!D Direct service in 1997. This counter-balance this by using humour to build the a woman leaving herself a number of phone
product was enhanced and relaunched at the end brand personality and engage the audience. Each messages to remind herself to pl ace her ad in the
of 2000 as the Yellow Pages:!!) Connect service. ad has helped to make the brand more likeable and Yellow Pages® directory. Another commercial
more human. The characters in the ads are not features an overly confident businessman, who
THE PRODUCT pe1fect and this enables us to relate to them and in walks through a door and a Yellow Pages® directory
The pace of life is getting faster and faster and as a sense, laugh at ourselves . fall s onto his head as a reminder to book his
we become more time poor, new tec hnology Many Australians fondly recall consistently advertising.
channels are attempting to provide us with more humorous and creatively outstanding Yellow
efficient ways of communicating and obtaining
information. For example, over l 0 million people,
aged 14 years and over, own or use a mobile phone. 8
In addition, over 82 per cent9 of all Australian
businesses and 61 per cent 10 of all Australian
househo lds are connected to the Internet.
Despite all this change, people want to retain a
sense of stability, they seek direction fro m trusted,
familiar brands. In this context, the Yellow Page®
directory remains Australia' s most trustworthy and
reliable business directory. 11 In addition, the Yellow
Pages® delivery channels have adapted to suit
changed conditions.
The metropolitan directory sti ll represents the Pages® ads. Over the years, the Yellow Page:@ BRAND VALUES
foundation of the Yellow Pages® brand. The Yellow brand has won many prestigious Australian and The overwhelming fondness that users feel for the
Pages® brand also extends to Yellow Page:@ International creative awards. These include 8 Yellow Pages® brand is reflected in the array of
regional directorie s w hich cover the non - awards at the Cannes International Advertising attributes that they readily associate with the brand.
metropolitan areas of A ustralia, actin g as an Fes tiv al, an achievement unprecedented in Consumers see it as helpful, genuine, and down-
information source and buying guide for regional Australian adve1tising history. The Yellow Page® to-emth .15 For millions of Australians, the vm·ious
areas throughout Australia. Sensis also produces brand has also been a dominant outdoor advertiser Yellow Pages® products m·e the first place they
localised Yellow Pages® directories for 22 selected in the past few years. Executions promoting the look when they need anything. In short, it' s a brand
markets in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne with headings in the Yellow Pages® directmy and Yellow they rely on and trust. 16
an extra two local directories in Adelaide and Pe1th Pages® OnLine service have illustrated innovative I f,.,ol«l) p,"fo, A<•~" I\ ) ~~~ """"' lo.. ><•l""'••t:.>l.o) t,v 11-< ,,.,...,_ , <.1 -'"~" ""'"""'' "t.o:'~J W 11>< Y<l'""
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being launched in 2004. The Yellow Pages® local use of the medium with campaigns recognised at ,c,.Ju,ot<l h)
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normal directories making them easier to handle. shows . • l• l) :o(>lo 11 " "'""'l ont l>t l <ll,,.. 1'-<:<. .
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They contain li stings of local businesses, street It all began with the Goggomobile ad promoting ~ I ~ M ,~ ,..Jo. 1<<l I') 1~~ " ~" """'" · '~ """"'"'' . o>J \1J""' '""''"f'l~ ,, .. .....,,.,, f><J'''"""'' :00! '·' ' "I"' !(;(> 1 l l {',,., >t.od) " Tlw \ tiL.."'
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maps and information pages relevant to their local the directory. Its popularity with consumers was . .... ( \1 R, , ,...,.<J <r..J.•"""-..-J"...>.•..,.,l o< l'<l~r.(",'1"'"' ""' '-'" ' ' ' •.l

community. overwhelming, with "G-0 -G-G-0" becoming part

As consumers and adve1tisers are increasingly of everyday language. For many years the directory
using the Internet, there is an oppoltlmity to direct ads were the face of the Yellow Pages® brand.
THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT
users toward the Yellow Pages:!DOnLine site. There Favomites include: Danny ripping up the Yellow
YELLOW PAGES DIRECTORIES
are already over 1.4 million unique users who visit Pages® directory while packing to move; the man
the yellowpages.com.au site each month. 12 The site in his dinner suit standing under a leaking sprinkler; 0 The Yellow Pages® directmy used to
enables consumers to locate and profile businesses and the man who uses the Yellow Pages® directmy bePink.17
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. to stop his broken-down ute rolling backwards 0 More thm1 1.4 million unique users visit
Finally, the Yellow Pages:!D Connect service down the hill. the yellowpages .com.au site each
places the entire Yellow Pages® directory database Perhaps the most famo us Yellow Pages® ad was month. 18
a sing le phone call away. The Ye ll ow Page:@ "Not Happy, Jan", the commercial was so popular 0 The Yellow Pages:!!) OnLine site was
Connect service is the only ' live' service featuring that the phrase became pmt of the vernacular. The establi shed in 1994 making Sensis the
the Yellow Pages® directory listings, with access campaign ' s effectiveness was recognised in the first business directories publisher in
to 1.8 million businesses Australia-wide and with Advertising Federation of Australia's Effectiveness the world to have an Intemet site for
the ability to directly connect customers with most Awards in 2003 where it was a finalist. business listings.

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