Publication to be rebranded as LGBT visitor’s guide, relocation resource and community directory in magazine-style format
The publishing industry is changing, according to Dallas Voice Publisher Leo Cusimano.
To keep up with those changes, Cusimano announced this week the Dallas Voice Yellow Pages will become Out North Texas.
Rather than a yellow pages directory, the revamped publication will be an LGBT visitor’s guide, a relocation resource and community directory in magazine format.
At one time, a recent phone book with up-to-date yellow pages was the easiest way to find a number or locate a business.
“Out North Texas is our evolution of old school yellow pages into a new magazine-centric package of information that includes resources for the city and a directory of gay-centric businesses,” said Terry Thompson, president of Voice Publishing.
Today, yellow page directories from the phone company are more likely to go directly from the front door to the recycling bin.
Bob Witeck, a national LGBT marketing guru who is president of Washington-D.C.-based Witeck Communications, expressed enthusiasm about the change in format.
“Yellow pages can be a relic and often overlooked,” Witeck said. “Why not figure out better ways to extend their life and make them attractive to readers and marketers?”
He said advertisers prefer magazines because they are often more visual, more compact and tend to have a longer stay in most homes.
While yellow pages may be outdated, magazine readership remains high among all age groups.
“So we’re rebranding and redesigning,” Cusimano said.
He said Dallas Voice has moved from traditional tabloid newspaper toward a more magazine format as well.
Rather than several news stories beginning on Page 1, the cover features one large news or feature photo. And instead of the ragged newsprint the paper used for years, the publication is trimmed and stapled now.
Despite the format change for Out North Texas, Cusimano is not discounting the value of the information found in yellow pages.
“Loyalty runs high in the LGBT community,” he said. “People want companies that market directly to them. So we’re taking an integrated approach.”
The magazine will feature articles highlighting top destinations in North Texas, as well as information about gayborhoods and a dining guide.
The integrated approach he described also includes a variety of media.
“There will be a mobile and online component,” Cusimano said. “We’ll reach the consumer where they’re at.”
This won’t be the first change in the publication since it began 22 years ago as the Lambda Pages. That directory included only business and organization listings and display ads.
Dallas Voice Yellow Pages added articles about North Texas and its LGBT community. But it was still a yellow-page book and Cusimano said that meant it wasn’t as visitor friendly. Few people looked at it as a relocation guide.
In addition to the regular Dallas Voice distribution network, Cusimano said he hoped convention hotels would stock Out North Texas — not just for LGBT conferences, but for any meeting since a percentage of attendees are inevitably LGBT. And he hopes relocation companies will keep copies for LGBT clients moving to the area.
Thompson said organizations that would like to be included in the magazine should call him. Listings are free and nonprofit organizations receive a 20 percent discount on display ads.
He said the organizational directory is meant to be comprehensive and include all organizations serving the LGBT community, with more categories than in the print listings that appear periodically in the newspaper.
To download a marketing kit, go to OutNTX.com. For more info, call 214-754-8710 or email advertising@dallasvoice.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 12, 2013.