Silver Pages for Senior Citizens
Senior citizens as a group have tremendous buying power, a fact that businesses have been slow to grasp. That $60-billion market is now the target of St. Louis-based Southwestern Bell Media’s Silver Pages, a phone directory aimed at the over-60 group.
The Silver Pages, introduced earlier this year in the Midwest, will be published in Los Angeles by October, Southwestern Bell Media announced last week. Paving the way for the program is a TV commercial featuring comedian Bob Hope that is being aired in Southern California, and a team of advertising account executives is starting to contact local businesses about listing in the new phone book. Meanwhile, participating government agencies, including the Los Angeles County Department of Community and Senior Citizens Services and the Department of Aging, are gathering material for the directories’ information and referral portions, Southwestern Bell Media said.
The Silver Pages will be printed in five geographical editions and will carry more than 750 retail and service categories. Any business that agrees to provide discounts to senior citizens will receive a free listing in the directory and can buy space for larger “display” ads.
The directories will also include a section on government services for seniors, and a third “magazine” section will include color glossies and short articles. None of that fine print, either--all listings will be printed in larger type than that in a regular phone book.
The directory will be free to all senior citizens. To be eligible for the advertised discounts, seniors must show a “Silver Savers Passport” identification card that will be issued along with the directory. Applications will be taken later this year at shopping malls, senior citizens centers and other sites around the Southland that will be announced later, according to the publisher.
Southwestern Bell Media is the publishing arm of Southwestern Bell Corp., a regional phone company that was spun off last year from AT&T.; Advertisers interested in contacting Southwestern Bell Media can call its toll-free number--(800) 443-6200.
