Phone Directories Company, Inc. sales manager Amanda Leckie has noticed something different with the latest editions of Calgary’s most innovative phone directory.

In the process of compiling its 2005 edition, Leckie says customers are now calling her to find out when the new directory is coming out – a sure sign that you have arrived on the business scene.

“Consumer response this year has been stronger than it has ever been in terms of the positive feedback we have received,” says Leckie of the Phone Directories Company (PDC) book, now selling its 2005 edition.

“We’re just so excited about the way the Calgary directory is taking off,” says Leckie. “Sales are up, usage is up, everything is up. The response has been phenomenal.”



This excellent response from the reading and advertising public has prompted the Calgary PDC book to expand to a press run of 350,000 copies for 2005 – its biggest run since the book came out.

“That’s entirely because the response has been there,” says Leckie.

The Calgary directory has caught on in a big way with users and advertisers, because it offers something for everybody.



For the book’s users, the added attractions of the PDC directory – things like the menu guide, the easy-to-read three-column format, city maps, community listings, and postal codes in the white pages – have been an enormous hit with the public, says Leckie. Its smaller, more convenient size has also been a hit with users: many Calgarians have taken to carrying the directory in their car while looking for businesses.

And advertisers – who are always trying to get the biggest bang for their buck – are delighted with the directory’s offer of full process colour at no extra charge, and the savings of 40 to 60 per cent less than the competing book.

While PDC is relatively new to the Alberta marketplace, PDC is not a here-today, gone-tomorrow company. PDC has been producing innovative, quality phone directories across North America for nearly 35 years.

Phone Directories Company was founded in 1970 by Marc Bingham, of Utah, who saw a need for a phone directory that serviced market areas, not utility lines. Traditional phone companies tend to carve up populations according to telephone-exchange boundaries, with no regard for consumer spending patterns.

PDC has changed all that.

PDC now operates in about 130 communities throughout the western states, and from coast to coast in Canada. In all cases, the book is distinguished by acclaimed book design – like the striking artwork on the cover of the Calgary book – and user-friendly content. (Along with the Calgary directory, PDC also produces books for Fort McMurray, the Peace Country, and Alberta’s Rocky Mountain communities.)

Phone Directories Company Inc. is well known for its high degree of innovation in what had been a fairly mundane industry. Continuing with the tradition, the Calgary edition will soon be available in two new formats – CD and online.

The Calgary phone directory is trying out a test run of 25,000 CDs, free for the asking. All you have to do is phone the company at 403.258.3343, and they’ll send one out to you.

And soon, either late May or early June, the entire directory will be online, and accessible at www.myphonedirectory.com As Leckie points out, PDC is not out to supplant the existing phone directory.

Rather, Phone Directories Company is here to supply an additional choice for both customers and users.

“What we always suggest to our customers is that they split their advertising budgets accordingly. The reality is that both books are being used, and you need to be in both books.”

Customer service is paramount at PDC.

For potential customers, PDC will come out to your business for a face-to-face meeting.

“We take a consultative approach, and sit down with them to see what they’ve done every year, what works for them and what is going to be a good fit for them next year. There are no automatic renewals.”

In many Calgary homes, the two competing products sit side-by-side near a phone.

A testament to the quality of the company’s product can be found in the fact that Phone Directories Company has been named publisher of the year four times by the Association of Directories Publishers, which is voted on by PDC’s peers.

The Phone Directories Company is also heavily involved in the local community. Case in point, as part of its Dare to be Different! campaign, PDC is taking over the Stuff a Backpack for Kids program that had been handled by the Calgary Police Commission over the past four years.

Anyone interested in donating backpacks stuffed with school supplies for students Grade 5 to 12 can contact PDC sales support administrator Rose Grund.

“It’s an awesome program that really fits in with our Dare to be Different! campaign,” says Grund. “We like to make a big impact with everything we do, and making sure local kids have all the essential tools for school is a great initiative to support.

“The police association just didn’t have time to do it anymore so we were more than happy to step in.”

The Phone Directories Company is about a lot more than just listing phone numbers.

In its short existence, the Calgary directory has become an indispensable guide to life in the city.

The company’s slogan – A Better Phone Book – is simple, but it says it all.

Leckie can be reached by calling 403.258.3343, or by visiting www.phonedir.com.