What was new and novel has turned into a pile of clutter. We skim through countless emails and articles every day. Mechanically move from one to the next.
Printed marketing brochures offer a break from this digital monotony.
Well designed and appealing print collateral still has the power to make a tangible impression. In fact, the delightful experience of a creative brochure drives people to digital channels to search for more information.
Here are some of the ways in which brands make use of brochure as a part of their marketing mix.
Creative ways to make use of brochures in marketing
1. Information brochures to respond to inquiries by warm prospects
Acquiring qualified leads is one the biggest challenge for marketing teams. But once you get the prospect’s attention and they express interest in your offerings, they need to be taken through the buying process.
Let’s take example from the education sector.
Once the prospective student responds to marketing campaigns and her interest is sparked, institutes use admission brochure to hammer home the selling points with facts. The information brochure is designed to convince the student to take positive action in the sales process, i.e. apply for admission.
Admission brochure designed by OH! Design Studio for Times Bennett University.
Corporate brochures are also used for a similar purpose. When used strategically, corporate brochure can serve as an excellent tool for corporate storytelling.
Corporate Brochure Design That Pulls Investors Through A Journey
2. Teaser brochures sent as direct mail to cold leads
Unlike warm prospects, cold leads are the ones which have not yet shown any interest in the offerings. To get them interested in your product or service, businesses often send brochure as direct mail.
A leading property developer in Mumbai, Nirmal Lifestyle sent 3D invitation mailers to the leads in order to campaign the upper floors of a high-rise residential tower. Our brochure designers came up with the concept ‘A walk in the clouds’ for this interactive direct mailer.
3. Conversation starters at point of purchase
Also known as point-of-sale brochures, you must have seen these kinds of brochures while standing in bank queue or near the cash counter of fashion stores. These are kept at eye catching positions with strong pick-up appeal. Their primary purpose is to get the potential customer interested in the offerings by giving limited details to pique their interest.
Flash Orthodontics used this type of brochure to get the patients at orthodontists’ clinics interested in their clear aligner (braces) product, while they wait for their appointment with the doctor. OH! Design Studio designed these with the objective to make patients want to know more about the product- as a conversation starter with their orthodontist.
4. Leave-Behind brochures to stay top of mind with prospects
OH! Design Studio excels in real estate brochure design for high-end under construction properties. They are meant to be left with the prospective buyers or investors with the ultimate purpose of subtly reinforcing the brand by keeping it “top of mind”. A physical copy of leave-behind brochures serve as reminders to the attractive offering & establishing a lasting impression.
Here’s collection of real estate brochures designed by OH! Design Studio.
5. Product Catalogue as sales support tool
Catalogues continue to serve as an important marketing tool for retailers.
One may argue that e-commerce websites can easily serve as a sales tool to put your brand in the customers’ hands. But the way a print catalogue can explain the brand story and highlight products in context, that’s not achievable from e-commerce stores.
SPACES is a premium brand of textile firm Welspun India. OH! Design Studio designed the product brochure for SPACES portraying their new range Rangana – an elective festive & gifting range to revive beautiful art forms of India. The product brochure was designed to showcase the range of bed covers with designs inspired by these art forms.
The product brochure is divided into sections, where each section showcases the collection inspired by a particular textile art form like Patola, Paithini, Madhubani, etc. We used each section dividing page as a canvas to convey to the buyer’s gaze the source of inspiration of bed cover designs.
6. Media Kit to get press publicity
Media Kit is a type of brochure which contains information about the business or its product/ service. They are used to catch the attention of journalists and make them want to write an article or conduct an interview. Media kits are presented in the physical as well as digital format.
Here’s a sample of pages from the media kit of Architectural Digest India which we designed at OH! Design Studio .
7. Give-Away brochures at exhibition
Exhibiting at a trade show is an effective way to market your company and brand.
Brochures used as a give-away at exhibitions are designed to showcase the company and present the offerings to supplement the expertise of the booth staff, helping them to educate, answer questions and persuade.
We designed this give-away brochure for a real estate developer:
8. Coffee Table Books to showcase brand
Coffee table books solve many purposes, one of them being a tool to pique the curiosity of the business prospect. You can consider them as special type of brochures to showcase a brand by weaving the product with the story of people or environment.
Taj Hotels published a coffee table book on Goa- ‘Sossegado’ for their guests in other properties. The book gave readers carefully selected recommendations about the place to highlight the peaceful aspect of the city. It highlighted the culinary experience offered at their hotel in Goa.
Coffee table book ‘Sossegado’ designed by OH! Design Studio.
You might also be interested in: How to create a coffee table book?
Conclusion- Do brochures work?
Well designed and appealing print collateral still has the power to stand out from the clutter. Play with different shapes, sizes, printing effects, finishing touch and other fine details to make it look simply awesome! The impact is longer lasting than the marketing content buried deep in the prospects’ inbox or social feed. And this creates an experience which loops the prospect back to the digital channels. Benefits of brochures in marketing is limited to your creativity and imagination.
For more information contact:
OH! Design Studio
letstalk@ohdesignstudio.com
+919820854943
About OH! Design Studio
OH! Design Studio is a Mumbai-based branding & design agency.
Founded in 2006, OH! Design Studio is an integrated creative and digital agency with a passion for launching, rebranding and accelerating brands. Our goal is to create lasting and meaningful relationships between our client’s brand and their audience through distinct brand experiences.
At OH!, we believe that design has the power to change behavior. We excel in designing the visual language brands need to tell their story.
For more information, please visit ohdesignstudio.com and follow OH! Design Studio on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
By Supriya Sachdeva, Digital Communication Strategist at OH! Design Studio, Mumbai.
OH! Design Studio is a branding and strategic design agency in Mumbai, India. To connect with OH! Design Studio, just drop us a line, we’ll get in touch with you.
Connect with me at @SachdevaSupriya !