Longtime U.S. independent publisher White Directory (owned by Hearst Corp.) has launched a complete rebranding, dropping the old “Talking Phone Book” in favor of “LocalEdge.” The company says it plans to phase in the new brand over the next 12 months.

In our view, the rebranding is way overdue. “Talking Phone Book” is a brand that harks back to the days when audiotex was a popular value added feature. Those days are long gone, so the brand was a bit old school to say the least.