Brochures Posters Flyers and Car Wraps.

Does old school still work?

A brochure, Poster, Flyer and Car Wraps are considered Old School techniques, but that does not reduce the value of these tools and touch points in any way. In Fact I personally think in many ways it strengthens them. Facebook ads, Google Adwords and Joint Venture partnerships are amazing tools and have their place in any campaign, but there is nothing like physical, branded touch points. Creating an offline marketing campaign gives the viewer a sense of security. It gives them a sense that you care about your business in a non spam kind of way. Its crazy to think only a few years ago people were slapping “NO JUNK MAIL” stickers all over their mail boxes to try and control the deluge. Times change constantly and there is no better time to consider having a physical brochure or flyer to hand out to your clients and customers. With the right product and the right campaign a physical touch point can go a long way to getting a conversion or sale over the line. It shows many things, mostly I think it shows you care enough in your products and/or services to invest the money into promoting it. It gives such a sense of security and confidence in the product of service its self. Whilst this doesn’t mean everyone should use brochures, flyers, posters and car wraps to promote their business. It should always be considered as a possible arm to your marketing campaign.

When we put a campaign together these are the first questions we ask ourselves.

• Who are the perfect customers
• What do they want
• How would they most like receive the information we have to deliver

Once we go through this process, its always satisfying to know when a brochure, poster flyer or car wrap will be a part of the campaign. The art of brochure design will always be a constant in our industry. We love the textural element of designing a physical touch point, what ever style it is. The best thing about designing from a physical stand point is we can create a digital version that can be emailed, downloaded from your site, or stored on a USB and handed out.

When should I use a brochure, poster, flyer or car wrap

There is a special something that happens when you are handed a physical piece of branding. There is that sense that the business is real, that they care about what they are doing and that business is healthy. So how do you know when to use these marketing touch points?

Brochure Design

A brochure is a mini magazine, it should only be used to highlight and promote your services and products. A brochure should give enticing details about what you have and what you do and should be designed to make customers want to know more. It is a teaser for your products and services. The information should always be high level and positioned to engage your audience. A goal of a brochure should be to invoke a Call To Action. Brochures are generally an A4 sheet of paper folder two or three ways and should be printed on double sides. They should always be heavily branded with a clear point and purpose. The beauty of a brochure is you can deliver multiple messages on a light weight form.

Flyers

A flyer is a single cut DL or A5 size single sheet that is printed. The point of a flyer is to hit hard. One single message, no more. A flyer is designed to give a single message with a strong Call To Action. They are designed to have all the information in a single glance and be left knowing exactly what to do.

Posters

Posters are like a bigger version of a flyer. They should only contain a single message with a single call to action. Because of their size we see, far to often, people cramming them with lots of messages. This is a major mistake. Its important to always go back to the essential questions, how will people consume this? A poster, in many ways will be seen for less time than a flyer, so its crucial that it is very clear with its message and even clearer with its Call To Action. People see posters at a glance like a flyer except they can’t fold it and put it in their pocket like a flyer. They will only see it as they pass it on the bus or train or as they are driving or walking. One message! One Call to Action.

Car Wraps

A car wrap is a fantastic and affordable way to advertise and promote your business or a campaign. They are mobile, they are always working 24/7 and if designed well, can bring solid awareness to your brand or campaign. We have seen a massive increase in car wraps in the last 10 years. They are cost effective and last a long time. They can be anything from a small boot style or the bottom run of the door to the entire car, boot, bonnet, sides and roof. Choosing how much you cover should always come down to the campaign mission and style of the business. They are perfect for a campaign designed to bring awareness and presence to a community. Just take the Australian Police Branding campaign started a few years ago to brightly cover with a full car wrap. The campaign mission was to bring strength, awareness and a constant presence to the community. By making the cars so bold and apparent they are able to create interest and a talking point, and build the apparent increase in numbers.

Bus Wraps

We also design bus wraps. Working with the bus companies themselves we can extend your marketing campaign to buses. There are so many benefits to doing this. A very cost effective marketing campaign touch point for bringing awareness to a local business or local campaign. We have seen huge success from this very strategy. Again I can’t stress how important it is to sit down and run through all the questions when starting your marketing campaign. Try not to be tempted to just start throwing money away on touch points you don’t need just because you like the sound or idea of them. If the campaign warrants them, then use them otherwise don’t do it. There will always be more campaigns where they may need to be used. Marketing a business should not be an emotional drive. It should be focused on the customer first, what information do they need and how do they like to consume it. Marketing is great fun so enjoy each step and remember ROI (return on investment) is the most important factor in a campaign. If you don’t see returns, it wasn’t a successful campaign.