Are brochures worth it?

I've done quite a bit of searching for the past few days trying to find some discussion - any discussion - about the value of brochures. Basically, all I've been able to find is agreement that they must be good - and there are many able companies waiting to help you create one.

I'm sure that it's not just that there is a lucrative market for creating brochures. Writing development can near $20K after it's all said and done - more if it's a real high profile piece. Printing around $10k. Then add in translations and additional printing and your're really talking about significant budget.

So say that on the low end, you spend $20k on brochure development and printing - single language. Doesn't sound too bad, right? There's a fuzzy return on that investment. But everyone needs a brochure, right? At least a good one.

But what if you are a large company with hundreds of products. Where do you draw the line?

I've been asking myself this question a lot lately. It's not just because I happen to not put a lot of stock into brochures themselves. It's how they are being used.

I hear, anecdotally, that the bulk of the brochures used at the company I work for go to trade shows. When I think about how many hours were spent getting just the right outline and just the right language on these things, it makes my head spin. Because I know what happens - as soon as the trade show is over, the participants pick through the trinkets and trash, trash everything else--including my $20k brochure.

The other way I'm told they are used, is that sales reps like to use them as a foil for discussions with customers. Fair enough. But is there a better way?

Recently my husband had occasion to buy a new car. We headed to Carmax one weekend to check things out. I found their use of technology amazing, from the gps system or whatever it was on the cars that allowed you to know exactly where they were in the lot by clicking on that info on their handy computer kiosks, to the online "brochure" or "sales experience" that our sales rep took us through. At the click of his mouse, every detail we needed to know, every point they wanted him to make, was outlined online. As a corporate brand manager, I appreciated the consistency of the experience. As a customer, I felt like I was getting all the info I needed, and if I wanted more, I could ask. It was, for me, the best of both worlds.

Now did I crave, you might ask, something tangible to take home with me to peruse at my liesure? Honestly, I didn't. I knew I could go online and get all the info I needed. But let's say for argument's sake, that I did. Would I need a unique brochure for each type of vehicle they sold? Probably not.

Which gets me back to my problem at work. We create hundreds of brochures every year. I don't think hundreds are being read. Somehow I've got to find a way to quantify that experience and work on ways to create a more consistent and favorable customer experience that doesn't rely on paper and ink.