How many phone books does one person need? If you were to ask Philip Cantwell his answer would be zero, which is why on April 2nd of this year Philip launched the non-profit website YellowPagesGoesGreen.org. The site offers a free service that enables the visitor to opt-out of receiving printed copies of the Yellow Pages.
Apparently there are a lot of
people that like Philip, don’t think they need a phone book. Just last week YellowPagesGoesGreen was receiving as many as 10,000 signups a day and has cataloged a total of more than 87,000 registrations as of this writing. That’s not too shabby a number when you consider that the advertising spend for this web site is exactly equal to the number of phone books that Philip owns: zero.
When I spoke with Philip he told me “We don’t want to eliminate the phone books, we just want to give people the option to have them or not have them. We want to stop the throwing away of phone books.” Philip’s mission is to eliminate the “incredible waste” that these extra books account for. According to YellowPagesGoesGreen over 500 Million phone books (nearly two for every U.S. citizen) are produced each year. Their statistics go on to show that if that number were cut in half (one book per citizen) the annual resource savings would equal:
- 10 million trees
- 800 million tons of paper
- 3.6 million barrels of oil
- 1.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity
Oddly enough, the genesis for Philip’s campaign began in the locker room following an away game of the William Jewell College basketball team. Wanting to order the team a pizza, the coach asked if anyone had phone book. Philip recalled “We all had our textbooks, but who in the world is going to bring a phone book to a game? I just took out my phone, looked up and dialed a number for pizza and handed it to the coach.” The incident stuck with Philip and when he got home he found that he and his roommates owned a total of seven phone books, none of which had ever been used. “I think some people reach for a phone book out of habit, not because they need it anymore.”
Unable to find a way to opt-out of receiving phone books, Philip set out to build one himself. Today YellowPagesGoesGreen sends a letter to every phone book publisher in the nation twice a month requesting that they not send books to the individuals that have opted in to his organization’s database. Philip reports that reactions have been mixed. “We see it as a service to them, helping them most efficiently apply their resources, but there has been some industry pushback. Some distributors get really upset, saying that they will not honor this and that we have no authority, while others really appreciate what we are doing.”
It is true that YellowPagesGoesGreen has no real authority (yet) but they are having an effect. Many distributors are now looking forward to receiving constant updates from the organization (what smart marketer wouldn’t want to honor this list?). Additionally, Philip is working with several state organizations (including Illinois Senator Dick Durban’s staff) to initiate legislation similar to the National Do Not Call Registry.
“We are moving forward, it is really spreading like wildfire. We don’t do any paid advertising, we blog and we’re promoted by concerned individuals and people who are tired of getting the book.”
Beyond the obvious service that YellowPagesGoesGreen is bringing to the environment, this is a compelling story from a marketing standpoint because at the most basic level Philip:
- Has identified an unmet market need: the basis for a compelling consumer proposition.
- Has a simple, single-minded business purpose: the cornerstone of a great brand.
- Has 100% organic growth: The result of a message that can be evangelized.
Philip is able to generate success because he has been able to properly position this campaign in the context of the consumer, of what they are buying - the desire to receive fewer phone books.
If you would like to opt out of receiving phone books go to YellowPagesGoesGreen.org. Philip and the environment will thank you.
(4) CommentsI have no objection in principle to what you are doing. However, I’ve yet to find an online telephone directory that is as easy to use as a printed directory. If you can point me to one or more user-friendly online directories, I will try them. If they work well, I’ll subscribe to your service.
BTW: If it makes any difference, I would not be using an online directory from a cell phone or similar portable device, but only from my land lines at home.
@ John Hunter, you make a good point. Many online directories are not nearly as useful as the good old Yellow Pages. Philip Cantwell did make the point to me that his goal is not to eliminate the Yellow Pages, it is merely to let individuals that do not want to receive the book, the option not to. It is silly that we are generating nearly 500 million books a year for a nation of just over 300 million people.
Yes, it is absolutely amazing isn’t it. It is a tragedy that we are constantly inundated with so much junk mail from so many sources that
we can’t opt out of or stop. At least with phone books we can pinpoint where the source is and we should be able to reduce that waste. My hat
is off to Phillip - he is doing our environment a great service.
I just took out my phone, looked up and dialed a number for pizza and handed it to the coach.” The incident stuck with Philip and when he got home he found that he and his roommates owned a total of seven phone books, none of which had ever been used.rolex watches
Tags: green business, green consumers, leadership profile
