The information marketplace has changed dramatically over the last ten years.  Today there are far more choices for communication than just the standard telephone.  Increasingly mobile phones, fax machines, e-mail and web sites play greater roles in people’s lives, whether at home, in the office or out and about. In this fast moving and increasingly mobile market, there is a growing need for the efficient and comprehensive provision of contact information. Among the vast array of information sources available, ranging from the number only service of Directory Assistance and the convenience of the Call Connect™ service, to our personal address books and memory banks, one source of information that has consistently provided comprehensive contact information is the White Pages™ directory.
	The White Pages directory is the prime source of contact information in Australia, with an average 59% of adults in Australia referring to the White Pages directory in any seven day period1. The White Pages directory on the Internet is consistently among the top five most visited Australian web sites, and receives over 625,000 searches every week2. The White Pages directory on CD, a convenient medium for all 55 directories, has been available to purchase from retail outlets since early 1998 and is especially popular in the small business and home office segments. The White Pages directory is considered the most complete source of contact details for business and private purposes by 71% of Australian adults, while 89% agree that it is easy to use, and 84% find the White Pages directory the best place to look when you need to contact someone3.
	The White Pages brand was born in 1958.  The Melbourne and Sydney telephone directories had become so thick that they had to be split into two distinct directories: an alphabetical directory, the White Pages directory, and a classified directory, the Pink Pages (later to become the Yellow Pages7 directory). For many years White Pages directory products were managed by National Directory Services, an internal business unit of Telstra Corporation Limited, also responsible for printing and distribution of both White Pages and Yellow Pages directories.  In July 1997 Telstra outsourced these business operations to Pacific Access Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Telstra, giving it full responsibility for the day to day management of both White Pages directory products and Yellow Pages directory products (it had been managing the sales, marketing and compilation of the latter since 1991).
	The White Pages brand sits across a product range which comprises the printed White Pages directory, the White Pages directory on the Internet and the White Pages directory on CD.  These products are constantly evolving in order to reflect changing communication methods. The printed directory is delivered to almost every home and business each year and is an alphabetical listing of nearly every business, government and private residence with a telephone connection.  There is a total of 55 directories, 48 of which are co-bound with Yellow Pages directories, containing over 8 million listings. In the printed directory, every telephone connection is entitled to a free entry of name, address and telephone number, with additional information such as fax, email or a web address incurring a charge. Businesses are encouraged to differentiate their listing through a bold, superbold or red enhancement, and may take out a full or half page to include their logo, branch addresses and any other contact information. Complete contact information is achievable through the White Pages directory and is actively encouraged through all White Pages directory communications, both to the business market and the residential market. The White Pages directory on the Internet site first became operational in September 1995.  As well as including all national contact information published in the printed directories, the site includes international times and dialling codes, and even weather details for your contact destination!  A mapping service is currently being rolled out to business and residential listings, providing a secondary benefit to users of the service.  Listing details are updated daily, giving the site currency of information equal to that of directory assistance. The White Pages directory on CD contains all 55 directories and allows the user to search by business or residential listing across single or multiple directories.  Search options provide flexibility, and there is also the facility to create a per-sonal address book or business database, and to print out address labels.
	In the past the White Pages directory has been perceived as being just “a phone book” and little significance was placed on the value of the brand.  Recent innovations in product development, especially in regard to electronic commerce, are instrumental in moving the brand to being positioned in the marketplace as the ultimate and complete source of con-tact information. The White Pages directory is no longer just a listing of telephone numbers and addresses.  To support this new positioning, innovations in the design and content within the information section at the front of the directory, a comprehensive listing of emergency numbers on the inside front cover and the opportunity for web site listings on the back cover of stand alone White Pages directories have greatly improved the us-ability and usefulness of the books.  The packaging - the front cover - is also undergoing a metamorphosis  with a new design that brings together telecommunications with people in the context of business as well as at home.
	Communications directed to both the user and the customer of the telephone directory had never before marketed White Pages as a brand. Recognising its potential value, 1998 saw a very different approach to its promotions and advertising activity. The first step towards promoting White Pages as a contemporary, comprehensive and relevant information tool began in April 1998, with a campaign targeting the residential listing market with an invitation to take up the differ-ent listing options available.  The television campaign, launched initially into the Brisbane residential market, was supported by a two-tiered direct marketing campaign targeted to both households and businesses. The creative strategy used a contemporary romantic setting in which a woman, woken in the early hours of the morning, discovers a message scrawled in lipstick on her bathroom mirror from a man called Sam.  The message contains all Sam’s contact information - his telephone number, mobile number, email and fax address, demonstrating the range of listings available through the White Pages directory. At the same time the television commercial was aired, a direct mail piece with reference to “Sam” and details of some of the listing options and costs, was delivered to households, and a postcard was also sent to select businesses. This campaign was extended to other metropolitan markets and the results have been very positive.  A number of email and internet listings were taken up as a result of the campaign, thereby reinforcing the reputation of the White Pages brand as the primary and most trusted source of contact information.
	The White Pages brand is one of the few brands that touches almost every Australian.  The printed directory has been deliv-ered to our doorsteps every year for as long as we can remember. The Inter-net is today’s medium, and the White Pages directory on the Internet has the added benefit of currency. The White Pages directory on CD is meeting the needs of many small and medium sized businesses.  White Pages is a brand that is empowering, accessible, contemporary and relevant; it provides people with the means to make or maintain contact with other people in a format suited to their needs. 1 Pacific Access Consumer Monitor, DBM Consultants, January-June, 1998. 2  Pacific Access Pty. Ltd. Server Logs, week ending 24 October 1998. 3 Pacific Access Consumer Monitor, DBM Consultants, September Quarter, 1998. Pacific Access has responsibility for White PagesTM and Yellow Pages7 directories and related products for Telstra Corporation Limited. 7 and TM Registered trade mark and trade mark of Telstra Corporation Limited.

THE WHITE PAGES™  DIRECTORY
		The first Australian telephone directory was issued in Melbourne in June, 1880.  It listed the names of the 23 Edison-Bell telephone subscribers, and the location of their phone lines.
		A different theme for the 58 covers of the White Pages directory is decided each year, and these range from sport, lifestyle, people and places, reflecting the locality of the book.
		Nearly two thirds of Australians refer to the White Pages directory in any one week.
		White Pages on the Internet receives on average 625,000 searches every week, and is consistently among the top five most visited Australian web sites.