Syndicated research reveals Paradise Yellow Pages delivers value to Oahu businesses - 28 March 2007
It’s just the beginning for Hawaiian entrepreneur and the company he launched.Oahu native David Akina has big plans for Paradise Yellow Pages. Yellow Book USA recently acquired the company, but Akina will stay on and run the company from his Aiea office with Hawaiian consumers and businesses in mind.
Akina, an Oahu resident who knows the nuances of the islands and its businesses, launched Paradise Yellow Pages with a local flavor in 2000 with the Oahu directory--providing cheaper advertising rates than the incumbent telecom directory, Hawaiian Telcom Yellow Pages. Because of the success of the Paradise’s Oahu directory, Akina moved on to Maui, Kauai and the Big Island to launch directories there.
In just six short years, Paradise Yellow Pages’ Oahu directory alone has a 29.5% usage share as compared to Hawaiian Telcom’s Oahu-Honolulu directory of 42.3%, which is based on results for the 12-months ending December 2006 that was recently reported by Knowledge Networks/SRI (KN/SRI), the survey research firm hired by the yellow pages industry to conduct an unbiased market share and usage study.* Capturing nearly 30% of the usage share in just six years is a remarkable feat considering Akina went up against a 100+ year monopoly on the island.
“An excellent start,” says Akina. “We are so pleased that our Hawaiian-grown directory is competing so well. Because I live here, I know what consumers want and what businesses need. As local businesses continue see the competitive rates we offer, more will be able to advertise, translating into more buying information and greater usage.”
Using the results from the study, and applying it to the rates from both publishers, it becomes remarkably clear that Oahu advertisers receive low-cost rates when advertising with a half-page color ad in the Paradise Yellow Pages as compared to the same size ad in the Hawaiian Telcom directory.
 | The Paradise Yellow Pages | Hawaiian Telcom Oahu-Honolulu Directory |
| Unit of Advertising—Half Page Color | $1,666** | $3,284** |
| Usage Share | 29.5% | 42.3% |
| Total Assumed Leads | 1000 | 1000 |
| Leads per Publisher | 295 | 423 |
| Cost per Lead | $5.65 | $7.76 |
The cost per lead for a half-page color ad in the Hawaiian Telcom Oahu-Honolulu directory is $2.11 or 37% more than for Paradise Yellow Pages.
Akina joined forces with Yellow Book USA, the nation’s oldest and largest independent publisher of yellow pages in the United States, to tap into the resources that a larger and more established company could provide his home-grown directories. The odds are favorable—Akina plans to develop next-edition directories with the best practices of both companies: “Low advertising rates, user-friendly features and a boat load of buying information,” says Akina.
Oahu businesses will also have the option to advertise on Yellowbook.com, the company’s Internet yellow pages site that provides local buying information, and is promoted through Yellow Book’s national advertising campaign.
The yellow pages industry has been around for more than 120 years and is a growing industry today with US annual revenues totaling $16 billion 2005. The predicted growth for the industry in the next year is another $1.7 billion according to research from Connecticut-based Simba Information Inc.
*January – December 2006 Yellow Pages Market Reporter study conducted by Knowledge Networks/SRI.
**YPA Rates & Data, March 2007.
