THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407160511
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF HOOTEN
SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
You say your fingers want to do the walking, but they're tired of the beaten path? Take heart - there's a new phone book in town.
The pages are still yellow, but the cover is fire-engine red. It even comes with illustrations.
No, Bell Atlantic Corp. hasn't redesigned its directory, but it does have some new competition. It's called The Community PhoneBook, and it recently made its debut in Hampton Roads.
The Virginia Beach version - 190,000 copies - arrived in May, and 73,000 Chesapeake editions were delivered to businesses and residences in the city last week.
What distinguishes The Community PhoneBook from Bell Atlantic's two-volume set is its billing as a ``local'' directory. By limiting coverage to a single city, The Community PhoneBook combines both white and yellow pages into one book.
``In that we both publish phone directories, yes, we are competition. But we view ourselves as serving a different marketing niche,'' said Eileen Rappoport, marketing director for DataNational, the directory's publisher based in Chantilly. ``We recognize that consumers like to shop close to home.''
Customers who use The Community PhoneBook, Rappoport said, won't have to go through ``needless'' listings outside their area.
``When you want a pizza,'' she said, ``you're going to call somebody local.''
DataNational stresses that its phone book is more compact than Bell Atlantic's ``big and bulky'' directory.
``It's user-friendly,'' said Brien Johnson, regional sales manager at DataNational's Virginia Beach office.
The Community PhoneBook, Johnson said, is an alternative for advertisers who either can't afford or don't want to pay for Bell Atlantic's larger coverage area. DataNational offers complete coverage of Virginia Beach for about 75 percent less than Bell Atlantic, and about 85 percent less in Chesapeake, according to 1993 rates obtained from the Yellow Pages Publishers Association.
DataNational's rates also offer savings of about 45 percent in the Chesapeake book compared to GTE Corp., which publishes a directory that covers Chesapeake and southern Virginia Beach.
For example, DataNational charges $3,980 for a half-page ad in its Virginia Beach edition and $1,980 in its Chesapeake book. By comparison, Bell Atlantic charged $16,392 for a half-page ad in its 1993 South Hampton Roads directory, and GTE charged $3,757 for a half-page ad in its 1993 Chesapeake/Southern Virginia Beach directory.
Yet The Community PhoneBook can't beat Bell Atlantic's overall distribution in South Hampton Roads: about 620,000 copies in 1993. GTE distributed more than 71,000 copies of its local directory in 1993.
Bell Atlantic spokesman Paul T. Miller Jr. said it's too soon to tell whether Bell has lost any revenue in Hampton Roads to DataNational.
``Competition in the yellow pages business is nothing new at all,'' Miller said. ``People don't realize that our company is facing competition on every front. The days of the monopoly phone company are long gone.''
Both Bell Atlantic and GTE will unveil their 1994-1995 versions in August.
This is not the first time Bell Atlantic has faced a yellow pages adversary. In 1989, Donnelley Directory, a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet, published a competing phone book in Hampton Roads and Richmond. Yet less than eight months after their debut, the company canceled both editions.
There are also several specialty phone directories throughout the area. The Richmond-based Black Pages of America has put out a directory of black-owned businesses in Hampton Roads since 1988.
DataNational puts out 54 directories in Maryland and Virginia. It buys its residential listings from Bell Atlantic and creates its own yellow pages.
Every business in the phone book's coverage area, Johnson said, is entitled to a free listing in both the white and yellow pages. Businesses outside city boundaries can buy a listing for $50.
``In the Chesapeake book, over 50 percent of the advertising is from Virginia Beach businesses,'' Johnson said. ``Businesses in Virginia Beach want to penetrate the Chesapeake market more than vice versa.''
DataNational hasn't ruled out further expansion in South Hampton Roads, but its next stop is the Peninsula, with Hampton and Newport News editions scheduled for November.
``We chose Virginia Beach because it's the largest city in the state of Virginia,'' Johnson said. ``We chose Chesapeake because it's the fastest-growing city in the state.''
To fill unsold space in their yellow pages, DataNational solicited artwork from schoolchildren in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. The drawings - with the theme ``my favorite thing'' - are featured throughout both editions.
Additional features in The Community PhoneBook include:
Four-color maps with street guides.
A calendar of annual local events, including a page of ``kids only'' activities.
Volunteer opportunities.
Separate listings for schools and libraries.
A directory of local and national elected officials.
Toll-free numbers.
The Virginia Beach edition also includes extensions for the ``Beach-Line,'' which provides prerecorded messages about city services.
``You can't get that information with our competition,'' Rappoport said.
Though the Virginia Beach edition has been out only since May, advertisers say they're already reaping the benefits.
Kenny Reitz, manager of Kings Grant Texaco, placed two coupons and a half-page ad in The Community PhoneBook.
``We've probably redeemed over 100 coupons since the book came out,'' Reitz said. ``We've definitely seen some new customers.''
Paul Kunschman, president of A-1 Plumbing and Heating, said the local emphasis of The Community PhoneBook prompted him to buy a full-page ad and a coupon.
``Most people have a sense that if they can find a company close to where they live, it might equal a savings or faster service,'' he said.
Kunschman described the response to A-1's coupon in The Community PhoneBook as ``moderate,'' yet said it has been better-received than his coupon in Bell Atlantic's directory.
``There is a deep resentment amongst (advertisers) who deal with Bell Atlantic,'' Kunschman said. ``They have ridden their monopoly into the ground through constant price increases all through the recession years.'' ILLUSTRATION: At a glance
The Community Phone Book
Beginning with Virginia Beach, Chantilly-based DataNational
brought its slimmed-down version of the telephone directory to South
Hampton Roads in May. Each book available in Chesapeake this month
and, in November, planned for Newport News and Hampton focuses on
its own city's white- and yellow-pages listings.
For advertisers who can't afford or don't want the broad coverage
that Bell Atlantic's phone books offer, ad costs run about 75
percent less for the Beach edition, about 85 percent less for
Chesapeake.
How can I get one? In Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, you already
should have one; DataNational says it has distributed the books to
all residences and businesses in the two cities. If you didn't get
one, you can call DataNational it's listed in the Bell Atlantic
phone book.
[Color Photo] CHARLIE MEADS
We chose Virginia Beach because it's the largest city in the state,
says Brien Johnson, DataNational's regional sales manager, shown in
his Virginia Beach office. We chose Chesapeake because it's the
fastest-growing.
by CNB