Tegan Dullard, group manager of Yellow Pages Print at Sensis, told ProPrint that the Telstra division was now printing more directories, even as internet and mobile alternatives grow.
“The success of our Yellow Pages ‘Living Local’ directory, which as a product we’ve localised even further over the last 12 months, has led us to introduce new titles in Adelaide and Perth.
“The success of our Yellow Pages ‘In The Car’ directory, which we first introduced to the Sydney and Melbourne markets in 2007, now has us publishing titles in 24 markets around the country,” she said.
“Outside of these additional titles and print runs, our volumes remain fairly stable as usage of our print products remains strong,” she added.
Sensis was one of Telstra’s best-performing divisions over the past financial year, recording a 3.5% rise in earnings before interest and tax to $1.1bn. The Yellow and White Pages were the big earners, contributing $1.68bn toward the division’s $2.25bn revenues.
Dullard said the directories market is thriving in Australia despite intense competition for the advertising dollar of small businesses.
“While Australia also enjoys very high levels of broadband penetration, people continue to use print directories in large numbers for their reliability, familiarity, convenience and rich and comprehensive content,” she said.
The increasing production of directories has been good news for PMP, which is part-way through a 10-year contract to print most of Sensis’ directories.
Steve Maidens, general manager of Publishing & Directories at PMP, said: “It’s been positive for PMP as it has allowed us to produce new products for Sensis at our heatset plants to complement the core White and Yellow Pages products produced at our Chullora directory printing facility.”
Even as Sensis branches further into mobile technologies such as the iPad, Maiden is confident that print still has potential to offer advertisers new ways to reach their audience.
“We see the use of Post-it notes, inserts, tip-ons and tab dividers, among other initiatives, as a method of providing directory advertisers with alternatives previously only available through magazines,” he said.
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