Business Word

Online Vs. Hard-Copy Marketing Material
Both Have a Place

by Peter Zvalo

The World Wide Web, the panacea of the so-called information age, was supposed to transform the way we shop, are entertained, and get informed. If the web was supposed to be so great, why are we still reading so much information on paper?

Recent visits to a few car dealerships confirmed what I had already suspected: the proliferation of the Internet has not extinguished the desire to hold a tangible, paper brochure. At one of the dealerships, I asked the salesperson whether I could have brochures for some of their new models, only to be told that they were out of stock. At another dealer, a couple of brochures were handed to me somewhat reluctantly: "Not many brochures left, and we’re only giving them out to respond to serious inquiries." Surprised by this response, I asked whether many people still requested brochures, considering the breadth and depth of car information available on the Internet: "You bet," the salesperson responded, "everyone who walks in here wants a brochure." In my own case, I had already visited the web sites of the car manufacturers that interested me. What I found on the web was nothing short of impressive. So why did I bother asking for brochures that contain basically the same information?

A Matter of Intent

Hard-copy brochures and corporate web sites co-exist because they are intended to fulfill distinct, non-competing objectives.

Corporate brochures provide companies with an opportunity to put their best foot forward in a compact and portable format. They are front-line marketing tools that can be handed out at conventions, trade shows, and showrooms. For the potential customer, perusing a brochure is the first step in narrowing down an array of options in order to answer the driving question: who provides the product or service that can best meet my needs? The depth of information provided in a corporate brochure should be limited — it should provide the reader with enough information to spark his or her interest, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming. The most effective brochures direct the potential customer to sources of more detailed information, for example, a telephone number or a web site.

The goals of a corporate web site can be more complex. While most sites are chiefly marketing tools, they are rarely the first medium through which the potential customer becomes acquainted with a product or service. The potential customer must make a conscious decision to access a web site, and in order to do this, he or she must somehow be made aware of the existence and address of the site itself (such as through a brochure). Effective corporate web sites are not merely online versions of brochures; rather, they are the company’s showroom. A customer can visit many sites in the time that it would take to visit only one or two physical retail outlets. Car manufacturers, for example, go to great lengths to simulate the physical experience of visiting a dealership. Videos of the manufacturer’s products, virtual test drives, the ability to "build" a dream vehicle with the desired options, and automated calculations of financing and lease options contribute to the simulation.

To Have and to Hold

If a car manufacturer provides so much useful information over the Internet, why did I still need a brochure? Perhaps, in this age of virtual reality and impermanence, I still appreciate the enduring, tactile aspect of paper. Web sites come and go — paper is permanent. Twenty years from now, I will enjoy looking at that old brochure and remembering the excitement of making my dream-car purchase. And chances are, the brochure will be my only tangible reminder of my old car.

While hard-copy and electronic media jostle for supremacy, it is likely that both forms of communication will co-exist for some time. Software companies have greatly reduced or even eliminated hard-copy user manuals that accompany their products. User manuals still exist — the only difference is that they are distributed as an Adobe PDF file (or similar format), stored on CD-ROM. In my experience, however, most people usually print the document for ease of reference in the future.

All of this is good news for paper manufacturers and commercial printers. Of course, technology companies will continue to introduce new media that are supposed to eliminate the need for paper, such as portable electronic "tablets" that can store large volumes of information and display it on a thin screen. In the meantime, I’ll just wait for my print job to finish.

Peter Zvalo is a Contributing Editor for Writer’s Block.