Hull Colour Pages
Encyclopedia
Hull Colour Pages and Hull White Pages are the Classified and Residential telephone directories provided specifically for the Kingston Communications
service area. Hull Colour Pages became the UK's first classified telephone directory
when it was first published in 1954 to celebrate Kingston Communications' 50th anniversary as Hull's Telephone Company. The Golden Pages, as the first Hull Colour Pages was called, carried advertising from a wide range of customers including taxi
s, sail
makers, driving school
s, painters and decorators and office machinery suppliers
amongst others.
By 1992 the Hull Yellow Pages had become so popular with both telephone subscribers and advertisers that it was necessary to split the directory into two separate books, Business and Residential. Hull Colour Pages continued to grow and in 1998 produced the UK's first full colour Business Directory, changing the Directory's name from Hull Yellow Pages to Hull Colour Pages in the process.
announced that they were directly entering the Hull Classified Directory marketplace for the first-time, thereby creating the classic David & Goliath scenario where Yell, as the national Goliath, took on Hull Colour Pages' regional David.
To counter Yell's move into the Hull and East Riding
advertising market place, Hull Colour Pages launched the 'Proud to be a Part of Local Life' brand initiative, emphasising the central role in local life Hull Colour Pages has played since 1954.
Despite particularly high levels of advertising spend Yell were not able to gain more than a toe hold in the Hull market place as Hull Colour Pages not only retained customers and revenue but in a positive response to the national threat posed by Yell, introduced new sales strategies that were successful in maintaining and growing the customer base and advertising revenues.
The success of this sales strategy was recognised in 2005 when the Hull Colour Pages sales team was declared 'Sales Team of the Year' at the Data Publishers Association (DPA) Awards and the Hull Colour Pages was highly commended in the Directory of the Year section.
when it launched in 2007. Making the most of Hull City
's promotion to the Premier League Hull Colour Pages are sponsoring KCFM's Away Game commentaries during the 2008-09 season.
given free to its advertisers, listing menus from local restaurant
s and takeaways
, brand search allowing consumers to search for brand stockists through Hull Colour Pages Online and full colour advertising in the Residential Telephone Directory - Hull White Pages.
Kingston Communications
KCOM Group , formerly known as Kingston Communications, is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters is in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, where subsidiary business unit KC serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telephony services...
service area. Hull Colour Pages became the UK's first classified telephone directory
Telephone directory
A telephone directory is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory...
when it was first published in 1954 to celebrate Kingston Communications' 50th anniversary as Hull's Telephone Company. The Golden Pages, as the first Hull Colour Pages was called, carried advertising from a wide range of customers including taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s, sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
makers, driving school
Driving school
Driving school may refer to:* A school that teaches driving training and road safety; see driver's education* Driving School, a 1997 docusoap which was broadcast on BBC One...
s, painters and decorators and office machinery suppliers
Office supplies
Office supplies is the generic term that refers to all supplies regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, from private citizens to governments, who work with the collection, refinement, and output of information .The term includes small, expendable, daily use items such as...
amongst others.
By 1992 the Hull Yellow Pages had become so popular with both telephone subscribers and advertisers that it was necessary to split the directory into two separate books, Business and Residential. Hull Colour Pages continued to grow and in 1998 produced the UK's first full colour Business Directory, changing the Directory's name from Hull Yellow Pages to Hull Colour Pages in the process.
Online directory
In 1999 Hull Colour Pages launched its Online Directory which, whilst not the UK's first online directory, set the scene for further innovation when, in 2004, Hull Colour Pages launched the UK's first online directory advertising proofing system, enabling its advertisers to review and either accept or amend their advertisements via a web interface. In the same year Hull Colour Pages introduced the recycling programme Re:fresh, an initiative operated in partnership with local schools encouraging recycling of old directories.Competition
Contemporaneously with this in July 2004 YellYell Group
Yell Group plc is a multinational directories company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. As well as the United Kingdom, it has operations in the United States, Spain and some countries in Latin America...
announced that they were directly entering the Hull Classified Directory marketplace for the first-time, thereby creating the classic David & Goliath scenario where Yell, as the national Goliath, took on Hull Colour Pages' regional David.
To counter Yell's move into the Hull and East Riding
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
advertising market place, Hull Colour Pages launched the 'Proud to be a Part of Local Life' brand initiative, emphasising the central role in local life Hull Colour Pages has played since 1954.
Despite particularly high levels of advertising spend Yell were not able to gain more than a toe hold in the Hull market place as Hull Colour Pages not only retained customers and revenue but in a positive response to the national threat posed by Yell, introduced new sales strategies that were successful in maintaining and growing the customer base and advertising revenues.
The success of this sales strategy was recognised in 2005 when the Hull Colour Pages sales team was declared 'Sales Team of the Year' at the Data Publishers Association (DPA) Awards and the Hull Colour Pages was highly commended in the Directory of the Year section.
Sponsorship
Hull Colour Pages was a founder sponsor of the Hull Comedy FestivalHull Comedy Festival
The Hull Comedy Festival is an annual event that takes place in Kingston upon Hull, England.-Background:It was established in 2006, when a local businessman John Gilbert received funding from Hull Business Improvement District to develop a sustainable event that would benefit the evening...
when it launched in 2007. Making the most of Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
's promotion to the Premier League Hull Colour Pages are sponsoring KCFM's Away Game commentaries during the 2008-09 season.
Local promotions
In the same year Hull Colour Pages was the first UK Directory to provide each home and business across Hull and the East Riding with a unique personalised copy of the Directory, using inkjet numbering techniques to give each directory an individual number which allow directory users to participate in local promotions, competitions and loyalty schemes.Showroom sites
For 2008 Hull Colour Pages has also introduced Showroom Sites a three-page entry-level websiteWebsite
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
given free to its advertisers, listing menus from local restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s and takeaways
Take-out
Take-out or takeout , carry-out , take-away , parcel , or tapau , is food purchased at a...
, brand search allowing consumers to search for brand stockists through Hull Colour Pages Online and full colour advertising in the Residential Telephone Directory - Hull White Pages.
Awards
These developments combined with the continued high performance on advertising sales has resulted in Hull Colour Pages being recognised by the UK trade-body for Directories, The DPA (Data Publishers Association) with short-listings in 5 categories for the DPA AWards in October 2008.Personnel
The Hull Colour Pages leadership team comprises- General Manager: Nick Thompson
- Sales Manager: Rachel Mellors
- Studio Manager: Mike Clarke
- Production Manager: Tina Field
- Customer Service Mgr: Monika Thomas
- Marketing Executive: Kathryn Lynn
- HR Consultant: Debbie Turner
See also
- KCOM Group
- List of Yellow Pages
- Electronic Yellow PagesElectronic Yellow PagesElectronic Yellow Pages are online versions of traditional printed business directories produced by telephone companies around the world. Typical functionalities of online yellow pages include the alphabetical listings of businesses and search functionality of the business database by name,...
- Loren M. BerryLoren M. BerryLoren Murphy Berry was born in Wabash, Indiana, the son of Charles D. and Elizebeth Berry. He was a pioneer in the Yellow Pages business telephone directory industry.- Early life :...
- Inventor of the Yellow Pages concept - White pages - Residential (non commercial) counterpart of the Yellow Pages
- Blue pagesBlue pagesBlue pages was a telephone directory listing of government agencies and other official entities, along with specific offices, departments, or bureaus located wherein. They are now defunct and no longer supported by the federal government...
- Government related counterpart - YellowikisYellowikisYellowikis is a MediaWiki website collecting basic information about businesses. This information includes basic contact details such as company name, address, websites, and telephone numbers, as well as internal Yellowiki wikilinks to competitors. Yellowikis was launched in January 2005...