White Pages refreshes brand and relaunches platform to push digital relevance
Sensis-owned directory service, The White Pages, has embarked on its first brand refresh in almost two decades as the business battles to remain relevant in the age of Google.
The reinvention of the White Pages brand comes on the back of the business moving to a cloud platform and completely overhauling its systems and interface, which allows listings to be updated within 10 minutes.
White Pages executive general manager, Stephen Palmer, said that the directory company was the last commercially viable business of its type in the world and parent Sensis still saw an important role for it serving hundreds of thousands of small businesses that had no online presence whatsoever.
The upgrade is the largest in the 136-year history of the company.
“We were one of the first directories created in the world. We were the first directory to digitise, and we are still the only White Pages in the world to remain a significant commercial concern,” Palmer said.
“We’ve had no international role models so we’ve had to build this new platform in a unique environment from the ground up.”
The new branding has been devised to work in a digital environment, whereas the previous brand was designed to stand out on the cover of a phone book.
“Now the first point of contact is more likely to be via a digital device,” Palmer said.
“Designed in a mobile-first environment the new brand reflects the simplicity and efficiency of The White Pages.”
Palmer said that more than 200,000 small businesses still relied in the White Pages as their only online presence and the directory remains a key part of the marketing mix for most businesses.
“Our purpose has not changed since 1880 – we exist to connect people quickly and easily; it’s just how we do it that’s changed dramatically,” he said.
I cannot see the value in having a white pages listing in 2016? Or is it for tiny weeney small businesses that do not have a website, like say a market stall? But even then? Nope, I do not understand where the value is? How is the White Pages making money and what value does it offer to it’s clients.
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