GAMA 24

MARKETING ADVISOR

Your logo here

A great marketing campaign is never out of fashion

ISSUE TWENTY FOUR

• The best-dressed corporate brochure • Type that’s more than an accessory • Outerwear for paper

GRAPHIC ADVISOR

Your logo here

A great marketing campaign is never out of fashion

ISSUE TWENTY FOUR

• The best-dressed corporate brochure • Type that’s more than an accessory • Outerwear for paper

It's easy to see how today's corporate brochure has evolved from expensive and showy to useful and integrated.

The Corporate Brochure Modern Make-Over

Start with a strategy.

Be conversational.

the conversation by directing the reader to

To update your corporate brochure, start

Inside the brochure, headlines and

social media, like Twitter, Facebook or your

with a strategy. What is the purpose? Who

subheadings should give even the casual

corporate blog.

is your target audience? If you’re introducing

reader enough substance to understand

a prospect to your company, a corporate

your broad message and pique interest in

brochure saves time that you might

the content that follows. Most marketers

corporate brochures because of the cost

otherwise spend reciting your corporate

write corporate brochures to inform and

involved, but a well-designed, professionally

history and mission. It is an ideal forum to

instruct—much like a technical manual or

printed brochure can be worth a great

give readers a taste of the full spectrum of

report. But wouldn’t it be more enjoyable

deal more than its cost. The real expense

your capabilities. Perhaps most importantly,

to read the latest bestseller? Lead with your

comes from printing the first copy. You

a corporate brochure lends credibility to your

very best information, and let your story

can order thousands of additional copies

organization. Anyone can print business

unfold in a clear, natural, conversational

for comparatively little money. Get them

cards and letterhead with a minimal

way. You can’t tell your readers everything

in the hands of your employees, vendors,

investment, but a corporate brochure sends

about your company in one brochure.

distributors, customers and

the message that you are a “real” company

Selectively use factual information to make

prospects and see

with a past, present and future.

your piece both interesting and believable.

where the power of

Companies tend to limit distribution of

Critics say corporate brochures are glossy, brag-and-boast budget suckers that virtually no one reads. Under the old rules of corporate brochure design, that was often true. Today, however, the corporate brochure has evolved from a stand-alone, one-way promotional piece into an integrated, interactive conversation starter.

photos ©iStockphoto.com

an effective corporate Engage the reader right away.

Include a call to action.

If you don’t engage the reader right off the

You have drawn your customers in. You’ve

bat, your brochure—and your investment

informed them about your company

in design and printing—is going straight

and your products. Now what? There’s

into the trash bin. The cover is your first

only one correct ending. Include a call to

opportunity to capture the reader’s interest.

action. While selling is not the primary

Think beyond a picture of your product line

purpose of a corporate brochure, why

and a corporate logo. Grab attention with

miss the opportunity? Give the reader an

an exciting photo or bold graphic, a splash

exclusive invitation, a free special report

of unexpected color and a customized font.

or a perforated card to request more

Choose a unique size or shape of paper, a

information about your specific products

substantial paper stock and a special finish.

and services. Prominently display your

brochure takes you.

A well-dressed brochure doesn’t have to be a budget sucker.

address, phone number, general e-mail address and Web site on the back cover to make contacting you easy. Continue

4

What creators of these documents often neglect is a respect for type, and the understanding that good typography equals good communication. Gutenberg had it easy: he had only one font to choose from. Today, we have thousands upon thousands of typefaces. It’s an embarrassment of riches, and we’ve all seen embarrassing design.

the classic fonts for specific purposes.

Venetian book printer, Aldus Manutius invented italic type not because he

Type Is Like Clothing

wanted to stress everything, but

Type often obeys the law of engineering,

because it was the best way to fit all of

“form follows function.” That is, a typeface

a book’s text in a “pocket edition.”

Closer to home, Highway Gothic, the official font of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration—it’s the typeface used on highway signage—spawned the creation of Interstate, which typographers modified to use at smaller sizes, and perhaps in colors other than white on green.

needs to be aesthetically pleasing. The basis of good typographic design is balancing the

The British newspaper The Times

“logistic” requirements of the document with

commissioned the creation of Times

what is pleasing and attractive.

Roman after font designer Stanley

It’s like clothing. What we wear should

,

typographers designed almost all of

designed it to do. At the same time, that form

The Right Type Treatment will Have You Dressed for Success ,

If we look at the history of typography,

should be appropriate to what the typesetter

You Know the Type In this age of

The History of Type

be appropriate to the weather as well as the

and other “system” fonts, it’s easy to take

Morison had criticized the paper for its poor typography.

context (formal versus casual), but also be

type for granted. We’ve all seen documents that use more fonts per square inch than legibility, let

attractive—or at the very least inconspicuous.

And just as with clothing, some fonts look

alone aesthetics, can handle, resulting in a garish “font-o-rama.”

Bell Gothic

dated and scream “1970s!”—the typographic

AT&T designed a popular sans serif

equivalent of a plaid leisure suit.

face, Bell Gothic, in 1938 for its

Typefaces, like anything else, go in and

telephone directories. Its goal? Legibility

out of fashion. While it’s tempting to think

and economy of page space, two vital

that no one really pays close attention to

elements of a good phone book.

fonts, there is often an unconscious visceral reaction to type, not unlike the unconscious reactions that we have to color combinations,

Frutiger

or, indeed, clothing. Understanding how font

Charles de Gaulle International Airport

choice affects the perception and reception

developed Frutiger, another popular

of a document is one of the crucial elements

sans serif for airport signage. The goal

to good design, and you should not treat it

was for travelers to quickly and easily

lightly. Every font tells a story—is it the story

read it from a distance.

Some typefaces outlive the technology for which typographers created them. People who have never even seen a typewriter often use Courier, designed for IBM typewriters.

It still evokes a “home made” feel, even though few homes actually have typewriters.

Caslon Some typefaces catch on and become The Beatles of typefaces. Caslon, a classic face if ever there was one, first appeared in 1734 and was an immediate hit. The founding fathers of the United States even used it for the Declaration of Independence. (Imagine how ineffective that document would have been if it had been set in Comic Sans.) It’s said that playwright George Bernard Shaw insisted that all his plays be set in Caslon.

photos ©iStockphoto.com

you and your client want to tell? Or do you want people to say, “Your mother dresses you funny”?

6

When you look through paper samples, one of the first things you probably notice is whether the sample is coated or uncoated. Coated papers feel smooth to the touch because they have a coating of clay and other substances. This coating causes the paper to reflect light more and absorb ink less than uncoated papers.

Coated Papers

Many different types of coated papers exist.

an e x tra layer of pi z a z z

The next step is a dull, suede or velvet

Gloss coated papers can be somewhat

To make them, the paper mill starts with

coat. Like matte coatings, dull coatings

less white than dull coated papers because

an uncoated piece of paper and applies

are good for text readability because

the heat required to polish the paper also

different types of coatings to give the paper

they are not as reflective as a gloss coat.

can add a slightly brownish cast. Coated

different qualities. We call the uncoated

Glossy coatings actually have the same

papers often include shades of white

stock the base sheet. We refer to the

amount of clay as a dull coat, but the mill

named with terms, such as balanced, warm

thinnest type of coating as a film or wash

smooths and polishes the sheets using a

and cold to indicate the hue. Cream and

coat, which acts as a sealer to prevent

process called calendaring. They run the

other off-white tones are available, but

ink absorption. The next step is a matte

paper between rollers, which compress

because we so often use coated stock for

coating. A matte coat has more clay than a

and smooth the paper. Glossy coatings are

showing off vibrant four-color printing, the

wash coat and is good for projects with a

great for color photographs, but the same

paper itself is rarely brightly colored.

lot of text. However, if your project involves

shiny qualities that make photos look great

As you can see, there are many

large areas of heavy, dark ink coverage,

can make text harder to read because of

different kinds of coated paper stocks,

matte coat papers can sometimes appear

the glare.

and each is suited to different tasks. It can

somewhat mottled.

be overwhelming to tackle these choices alone. Contact us early in the planning stage of your next printing project, and we’ll help you choose the best paper and

photos ŠiStockphoto.com

coating for your needs.

8

MARKETING ADVISOR

MAILING INFO HERE

Printer Name Phasellus porttitor elit In hac habitasse platea Donec tempor nonummy

QR CODE FPO Need a QR code?

Call Great Reach Communications at 978-332-5555

About Us

About This Issue

One or two small paragraphs about

Programs used: InDesign CS Illustrator CS Photoshop CS

you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

Paper used: What paper did you use to print this issue?

Ink used: What kind of ink did you use to print this issue?

Coating used: What kind of coating did you use to print this issue?

Computers used: iMac G5 Press used: What kind of press did you use to print this issue?

Bindery used: What kind of bindery did you use to print this issue?

GRAPHIC ADVISOR

MAILING INFO HERE

Printer Name Phasellus porttitor elit In hac habitasse platea Donec tempor nonummy

QR CODE FPO Need a QR code?

Call Great Reach Communications at 978-332-5555

About Us

About This Issue

One or two small paragraphs about

Programs used: InDesign CS Illustrator CS Photoshop CS

you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

Paper used: What paper did you use to print this issue?

Ink used: What kind of ink did you use to print this issue?

Coating used: What kind of coating did you use to print this issue?

Computers used: iMac G5 Press used: What kind of press did you use to print this issue?

Bindery used: What kind of bindery did you use to print this issue?

There are three steps to data mining:

1

Finding the right data is easier than you think.

3

Know what data Ask questions is available. about that data.

In order to produce a successful 1:1 printing campaign, all you have to have is a great database, right? Not quite.

Producing a successful 1:1 print campaign starts with having a great database, but even once you have the data, you have to figure out what to do with it.

Often, that means data mining.

A new look

2

Data mining. The very phrase strikes fear into the hearts of marketers. The ability to connect the dots to reveal buying habits and other customer behaviors is something many people see as complex, expensive and within the purvey of only the largest companies. In reality, data mining is well within the grasp of any sized marketer.

Look for useful relationships.

The first step is simply to understand the field

Make the Most of What You Have

headings in your database. What data are

Every business has a database program so

you capturing? Most databases have basic

make the most of yours. Even basic software,

information, like name, address and purchase

like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access

history. Are you also capturing information

provides some data mining capabilities. Or

such as age, gender and home ownership?

you might want to purchase add-on data

If so, this tells you the types of queries you

mining modules or third-party software. If

can run.

you have customer information in multiple

Running queries sounds complicated, but

databases, you might also want to combine

it simply means asking questions of the data.

them into a single, comprehensive database

If you are a retailer, you might ask, “Which

for use in marketing. Even if you don’t, you

customers purchased hardwood flooring last

can often extract useful information from

month?” If you know that these customers

even one or two databases.

are also likely to purchase area rugs and floor

Don’t overlook outsourcing. There are

conditioning products, this gives you a

plenty of companies that specialize in this

great start.

process. Many will use the moniker “business intelligence” or ETL (extract, transform, load)

Look at Everything

companies. Costs can be very reasonable, as

The great thing about data mining is that

little as $100 or more per sort.

sorting is free. Run every sort you can think

So get curious. Take a few hours to run a

of. Is there a relationship between hardwood

variety of sorts just to see what you can find.

flooring and gender? How about income?

That curiosity could make a big difference to

Look at everything. You might find

the bottom line.

that data you once thought irrelevant, such as the date of purchase, has more

photos ©iStockphoto.com

relevance than you think.

12