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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Should Verizon’s phone
books go on a diet?
THE new, nearly 7-pound Verizon Hawaii phone book has got people talking. Lifting and grunting and talking -- about the sheer size and heft of the book.
Think newborn baby. Think somewhere between a small bag of rice and a Hummer H2.
The new book, which combines the white and yellow pages, is nearly a full inch thicker than last year's separate white and yellow pages stacked atop one another.
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"My first thought was, 'Gosh, how is this going to work for our residents?'" said Carolyn Morrison, marketing director at Pohai Nani Good Samaritan Retirement Community.
Residents are refusing the book. "It's just too heavy for them," she said. "They've even asked the receptionist to tear it in half so they can just have the white pages."
"We've even offered to have (the books) taken up to them and they're refusing them. They say, 'How do we carry these around, even in our room,'" said Morrison.
What was the phone company thinking?
It is what we were thinking that drove the decision, said Verizon's media relations manager, Ann Nishida.
"The company did market research and surveys ... This is what folks wanted. It was more convenient to have the information all in one book," Nishida said.
Nishida said she had not heard of complaints. The voluminous volumes are still being delivered to Verizon customers, so not everyone has had a chance to weigh in on the books yet.
Verizon's research findings were no surprise to David Akina, president and chief executive officer of Paradise Media Group LLC, publisher of the competing Paradise Pages. "I knew that four-and-a-half years ago when I started this business," he said.
Paradise Media has always combined its yellow and white pages since its inception in 2001 and its most recent phone book weighs a little more than 5 pounds. Akina and partner Terry Hepler are former ad sales executives at Verizon predecessor GTE Hawaiian Telephone.
The Paradise Pages approach did not sway Verizon's decision to combine its volumes, and the all-in-one format is an industry trend, Nishida said.
Customers also wanted bigger print, which translates to more pages.
Nishida was unsure whether survey-respondents realized the phone books would weigh as much as good-sized ham.
The Paradise Pages measure just shy of 2-and-five-eighths inches thick.
This year's Verizon volume is 3-and-three-eighths inches thick.
Hotels are among the largest recipients of phone books, often found in nightstand drawers. The upscale Halekulani presents its directories in binders, which are now too small for the new, larger books.
"We have actually purchased new covers to accommodate the new phone books, so until we get the new covers we're using the existing phone books," said Joyce Matsumoto, director of public relations.
The local big books are still a fur piece from counterparts in larger cities.
Atlanta has a population of 4.2 million, including former Honolulu morning radio man Brock Whaley, now a producer with Cox Radio Inc.
In his home, one will find the Greater Gwinnett County directory with 1,878 pages, for starters. There is also a newly combined BellSouth yellow pages, which is three inches thick with 1,738 pages, and two sets of white pages, one for government and business listings at 873 pages, and an 857-page tome for residential listings.
The Verizon Hawaii residential and business listings are spread through 874 pages, while there are 743 white Paradise Pages. Each ends with the phone number for K. Zylla, followed by miscellaneous pages for notes, promotional and public service messages and coupons.
Verizon's yellow pages measure 2 inches thick, compared to 1-and-a-half for the Paradise Pages.
Taking a tip from public libraries that dedicate a sturdy podium to the weighty Oxford English Dictionary, Nishida suggests leaving the phone book on a table as an alternative to hoisting.
"We'd like you to leave it out so you can see the beautiful artwork on the cover," she said.
Rather than let their fingers do the walking through regular old phone books, many people now use the weightless Internet to look up phone numbers.
The Paradise Pages directory is available on CD-ROM and can be downloaded at theparadisepages.com. Verizon offers online listings at www.superpages.com.
Visiting Verizon executive Eric Rabe, vice president for media relations, found the phone book flap amusing.
"The computer and the desk together might be lighter than the new book," he joked.
In issuing its new directory, Verizon also brought back its recycling contest.
Old directories, no matter the publisher, can be turned in to participating schools for recycling. Cash prizes will be awarded based on the amount of books collected. Interested schools can contact 546-7335 for details on the contest, which ends Oct. 31.