Looks matter, but content is king

M. Muhamed

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

(The author is Chief Consultant, Innovative Media, a knowledge management company. Feedback can be e-mailed to bleditor@thehindu.co.in.).