The Value of Virtual Photos

As designers, we really appreciate the communicative power of art in a marketing piece. An image relates the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY, as well as mood, personality and intent in a fraction of a second. Because of their power, choosing the right image is vital to a successful project. Using poor quality, off-message or cliche images can derail the effectiveness of a brochure, powerpoint presentation etc before your prospect reads the first sentence.

We've created a few mock presentation templates as examples.

Example 1

Fortunately, we don't see much use of clip art in business materials anymore. It is tolerable in community newsletters but in business-level materials, it tends to send the message, "I put this together over my lunch hour". If your business offers customized solutions, then using clip art waters down the credibility of this aspect of your business as well.

Example 2

Stock photos are much better. They carry more warmth and maturity. They too, however can come across as dry and half hearted. We have spent hours searching databases of stock photo suppliers looking for the right one. If we had a nickel for every time we saw a photo of two business people shaking hands, we could wipe out the national debt.

The way to communicate just what you want has always been custom photography. Hiring a professional photographer, professional actors, proper sets, lighting and props of course can be prohibitively expensive and very time consuming. The solution in certain circumstances, is virtual photos. 

Virtual photos can be tailored to your corporate colours and personality. In the first photo of the above example. The "dots" on the map can be coloured and placed to accurately relay your company network. The second image includes a 3D version of the company logo. This gives the sense of complete ownership of your message. Your company presents as large, professional and well branded. Sure it costs more than stock photos but far less than custom photography yet carries the same weight.

The next time you produce a marketing piece, consider the value of virtual photos and take your designs to the next level.

10 Tips for Designing Effective Brochures/Flyers

The following ten tips will help to ensure that your marketing piece is effective, memorable and even enjoyable

1) Create the Right Kind of Piece

Have a clear sense of the objective the project. It will affect every aspect of the design and message. Is the piece… 

• Product? 
• Catalogue? 
• Corporate Image?  
• Spec sheet? 
• Part of a flexible package? 


2) Include a Headline and/or Intriguing Position Statement

Brochures/flyers etc that have only a product name and logo are wasting the valuable first impression! Express your key benefit in few words... this is a cover, not an ad. 


3) Place Your "POW" Statement
 within the First Sentence
Most people won't read the whole piece at first glance. But they should get your main message within the first sentence, although it should also appear throughout your overall message. 


4) Distribute Your Main Message Throughout the Piece

Your customers need to be reminded of your main point, as they are reading the supporting details. It is a good idea to reprise your main message in the final statements. The phrase, "First tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them" is touted mainly in public speaking circles, but it works here because it operates in conjunction with the way people consume and remember information... which leads us to tip number five.


5) Use Language and Style for the Main Body of Readers

We've probably all taken workshops on "personality types" or "learning styles". Although they vary in their finer points, they agree that people respond to different stimuli. Some respond better to emotional appeals, some to mental pictures, some to hard facts and figures and so on. Speak your audience's language... and unless you are sure that your readers are of one type, then use them all in your piece. 

6) Use Subheadings
/Captions
People scan before they read. Make this easier by including kickers, subheadings etc. Readers should get your overall message simply by reading these. Although you can make  mere navigational subheadings like "Our Commitment" or "Our Guarantee", you'll get more people engaged if you create fresh, intriguing and benefit-oriented statements, like, "We Will Lower Your Costs by up to 15%" or "You Will Never Need Another Widget Again". Captions are also among the first things people read. Repeat your main points by strategically paly


7) Write the Piece Well

Don't grab your customers' attention just to bore them. Employ the right tone, pacing, words etc. That should go without saying. If what you have written sound like a mission statement, scrap it and start fresh, using plain, concise language.


8) Inject Your Corporate Flavour
Your company's Unique Selling Position isn't just, "the highest quality roasted coffee in Australia", it contains (or should contain) nuances of personality. Apple, Ford, Google, all have a personality that is evident in all of their marketing, your brochure/flyer should be peppered with your unique flavour.


9) Proclaim Benefits but Back Them up with Features

A benefits approach to your copy is primary, but needs context. Feature statements provide the credibility for your benefit statements. Instead of saying, "Our motors allow your production floor to run 24/7" try "Our D-series motors are the only motors that use titanium bushings so they can run continuously without overheating, which keeps you running as as efficient as possible" 


10) Be Sure to Have a Call-to-Action

Don't just say "Call Us"... tell your readers what they will get next. A special offer, immediate delivery, a free sample are just a few options. Also, lead to your website so that your media becomes synergistic. Your website should respond in kind by asking those viewers to request a print information kit.

Look for our next, "10 tips to good marketing material design" blog. 

Better yet, email us and we will let you know when it is posted.

Are You Sure You Want Chocolate?

I remember as a child, craving for a chocolate ice-cream cone. I could see it in my mind, smell it...even taste it and I was convinced that nothing could satisfy that crave other than the chocolate ice-cream cone I would usually get when my parents took our family out on the weekend. This time however, we didn’t go to the regular ice cream shop... I was upset... really upset because my mind was so focused on that particular ice cream cone from that particular ice cream shop. I was ready to pop a fuse! It wasn’t until I read the first few of the 31 flavours on the big pink menu board did I realize that I didn’t really want what I had thought I did. I was now being presented with crazy new flavours I didn't know existed, such as RootBeer Crunch and Bubblegum. Chocolate was passe. That same tendency can affect us all at any age... and in any endeavour and in any industry.

When I started a small advertising agency several years ago, I was very enthusiastic and as a “hands on” kind of guy, wanted to do everything myself, including my own accounting. I studied the basics and poured over the Quick Books application manual and then went to town. I did okay, certainly better than those fellows as Enron, but after my tax accountant poured over my records several months later, I realized that I should have left things to the professionals. She was able to point out much better and simpler ways of doing what I was doing. C'mon... who chases a $.25 discrepancy for 3 hours!?

I'm sure many of you have had similar situations in business wherein you've been asked for a particular product or service by a customer that is "sure" they know what they want. Often times the request can be very clear and descriptive. A few well placed questions can determine whether he/she has simply come under the same “Baskin and Robbins effect”. The client may simply not know the full gamut of solutions to his/her problem. Maybe what they really want is RootBeer Crunch.

Just as you and I would not be properly served if we were to say to our doctor, “I have  an acute distention of the cerebral cortex” and he immediately prepares us for brain surgery, wouldn’t we feel much more appreciative if our doctor ran a few tests and then informed us we simply have a tension headache?

Let's be good doctors. Let’s evaluate each client request and offer the solution that is best for the client, not necessarily what the client first asks for.

And when they call to thank you for the wonderful service, offer to take them for a chocolate ice cream cone.

Blessings

How is Your Website Doing?

Studies have shown that up to 78 percent of internet users search for products online. If this percentage includes your typical industrial buyer then is your web site providing all the information they need?

We all know how buyers can be fickle. Under the weight of time and other pressures, they are driven to find what they want when they want it and often act viscerally to their need. A supplier's window of opportunity can be rather small.

Are your most common products visible online? Do you include images/photos/renderings? Do you provide the specifications and inventory information that they require? Do you have an online ordering portal?

If so great. You may be getting the orders in place of your competition. If not perhaps a closer look at your website is needed.