Looks Matter but Content is
the King
- Pradeep Ullal
I have come across several
clients saying a brochure copy isn't important because "nobody reads
brochures''. Maybe nobody reads them because most of them are uninteresting
and devoid of meaningful content. I think it's getting worse because top
managers these days are choosing not to get involved in brochure production,
or they limit their involvement to a cursory review at a very late stage to
see if the design is appealing to them.
In my opinion, if we worked a
little harder at producing brochures which narrate a product's or service's
story vividly, we would probably find they really help in accelerating the
selling process. I can guarantee that your customers would appreciate the
extra effort. Here are a few suggestions to make your brochures more
effective
Think visually from the beginning
The clients I respect the most are the ones who really know their subject
and can't resist depicting them visually. You see them spring to their feet
immediately after a meeting starts and begin drawing pictures on a flip
chart or white board. It's really important for them to make you "see" the
technological advantages in the same way they see it. Such people instantly
set me thinking of creative possibilities. Despite all this, how many times
don't visuals seem like an afterthought to a brochure production team? How
often do we settle for certain pictures because there isn't time to take new
ones? Or budget money to create three-dimensional or diaphanous
illustrations?
An even bigger problem, I think,
is when the content experts don't give the brochure designers any
suggestions for visuals, leaving them to come up with a layout on their own.
The project is doomed to be mediocre because graphics designers have little
idea about what makes a product or service special. And they surely can't
compare it to alternative products or technologies, or visually demonstrate
your product's advantages.
Find out what your customers need to know.
This is a radical concept to be sure, but since customers are going to have
the task of getting something meaningful out of your brochure, shouldn't you
at least think about the things they might want to know? Put yourself in
their shoes. Question every boastful headline, every dull photo or chart.
Does it say anything relevant? More importantly, does it help them
understand why your product or service will solve their problem?
I have found myself knee-deep in
many brochure projects where we didn't even understand what the customer's
need was, and how to solve it. Ask your content experts to start the
orientation with an explanation of the basic problem that the customer is
trying to solve. Everything else will fall into place if you understand
that.
Why should the customer pick
you?
Sales people joke about the `Trust me' proposition, but it isn't funny in
brochure production. You should include as many reasons as to why the
customer should choose your product or service. Pack this information in the
available space: cost-benefit analyses, detailed feature-benefit summaries,
tables comparing your product to competitive products, test results, case
histories and even testimonials.
Is the design consistent with your overall positioning?
I recently recommended a client a two-colour approach for a brochure series
when they had a long history of producing glamorous, four-coloured
brochures. In this case, however, they were competing with small, regional
companies that if these companies had a brochure at all, it probably wasn't
in colour. One of the main reasons my client's market share in this business
was shamefully low was that customers perceived them as being too expensive.
Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot with expensive literature that
confirms this perception.
On the other hand, I've also worked with small companies that were trying to
compete with very large ones. Their problem was just the opposite. They
looked too small to be trusted with a big order. So you need to help these
small companies look just as big as the big boys if they're going to have
any chance of making it big time.
In today's hi-tech,
computer-assisted world, young brochure designers often confuse special
effects with actual ideas. They feel that a brochure is a failure if it
doesn't have some jazzy designs to perk up the lame copy. And clients are
partly to blame, too. They look at a layout and say, ``I am not too sure, it
just doesn't do anything for me.'' Maybe that is because the brochure isn't
supposed to do anything for them. It is supposed to help customers decide if
your product or service is right for their situation. Anything in the
brochure that doesn't contribute to that objective should be deleted.
It is time we stopped cranking
out brochures in haste, paying more attention to how they look than what
they say. Please understand, I am not saying that looks are not important.
But sloppy, cluttered layouts and cheap production values will communicate
things about your company and its products that you never intended. If there
is content to assist customers in making their buying decisions, your
brochure will deliver on its promise as a selling tool. And all the extra
effort will pay you generous dividends
