YP.com Follows Move Away From Yellow Pages Name

YP.com’s shareholders overwhelmingly approved the decision to adopt the LiveDeal name. According to the recent press release, “YP Corp.’s interest in a name change is a reflection of the company’s continuing commitment to building a first-of-its-kind hyper-local, Web 2.0 marketing solution for businesses and consumers.” 

YP.com’s decision is based on an attempt to broaden the company’s appeal to local advertisers and to position itself for growth in other new media categories, perhaps through further acquisitions. While directory remains a core business, YP.com joins a host of other companies that appear to be applying some distance from the Yellow Pages brand in order to grow their portfolio of online offerings and not “limit” themselves with the idea that Yellow Pages translates to print and IYP only. Similar brand changes include Idearc Media, Local Insight Media, Sensis in Australia and Yellow Pages Group in New Zealand. The latter two companies changed their brand to the broader term “Yellow” to indicate they are more than just directories. 

The idea of whether the term Yellow Pages is indeed a limiting descriptor of the new direction of the industry is a complicated subject, and one that will be examined in more detail at the upcoming DDC conference in September. Industry marketing leaders will help explore how the iconic Yellow Pages brand is being kept fresh and how its appeal is being broadened to reflect its expanding portfolio and its desire to reach new audiences. 

Given the trend of recent brand name changes, we expect more companies to explore similar approaches.