Mr. Muhamed Muneer

As a novice marketing professional you might have had some experience in making brochures and in all probability you must have spent a fortune on a mediocre brochure with disappointing results. As a small division of a big company or as a small firm, your employer may not have that much marketing muscle to play around. Moreover, when you can do a lot with a lot less, marketing professionals and firms should utilise their meagre marketing funds for some additional marketing programmes.

So, next time when you suddenly end up with the responsibility for a marketing brochure, but not the lavish budget it seems to require, do not panic. You can handle the whole process painlessly and within budget, even if it is only your second attempt at handling the task, by following these six survival guidelines:

1. Define objectives for the marketing brochure. Before talking with designers or ad agencies (Please do not call those big ones such as HTA or Lintas), develop a specific set of communication objectives for the brochure or collateral piece. Who is the intended audience? How will the piece be used? By salespeople or actual users? In what way?

2. Be your own ad agency. You can save money developing creative ideas yourself that will portray your product or service as unique. Work with independent design firms or creative shops to execute an idea created independently. Using freelance copywriters will get you excellent copy for collateral materials without paying the mark up of an advertising agency.

Your local advertising club is a good source of independent designers and copywriters. Many of them have strong agency backgrounds, and the quality of their work is just as good as that from a big agency, but without the big overhead. For example, a local   printing press used a number of independent designers to produce a stunning brochure last year for their new services. Why, even some big ad agencies today seek the   assistance of creative shops for some of their work.

If you must use an agency to get a creative push, use it for a discrete objective, such as developing a theme or slogan for a single product. Then use independents to pull the project together.

3. Use an up-to-date designer. A firm with computerized production tools can also save you money. Find out what equipment it has (Apple Macintosh hardware is a good sign), exactly what its charges will be, and exactly what steps will be involved. It is a good idea to get several price quotations to compare before choosing a firm.

4. Communicate budget expectations. A good designer can work wonders, even within strict budget guidelines. If you are honest about the money you have to spend and what you wish to accomplish, your freelance partners will work with you. Remember, their job is to make you look good.

A two-colour brochure developed for an Internet service provider illustrates a creative way to save money. The independent designer used grey ink for the typeface and various shades and screens of maroon and grey, producing a subtle, attractive piece that did not look like anyone had cut corners. Most people who saw the piece did not even realise that it was only two-colour.

In another example, a cellular service provider wanted to portray a highly professional image to their target audience. Working with a design firm, they developed a highly stylised graphic instead of using a photograph, saving production money while still achieving their image objective.

5. Manage the project yourself. A competent designer will be happy to shepherd your project through the printing process - and charge a mark-up for doing so.

You can save up to 20 per cent or more, however, by getting your own printing quotations and overseeing the printing yourself. That means you will probably want to   be present at the printing press to examine the proofs before the final brochure print run.

Make sure you know the schedule and that you or a colleague can be present at the critical times. In many cases, it may be worth it to have the designer supervise the printing process while you and your staff work on other projects.

Planning ahead also helps to save printing charges. So-called rush jobs cost more than those the printer can schedule well in advance.

6. Use your own resources. Brochure inserts such as price sheets and cover letters often can be produced in house by scanning logos and creative material into a computer. A good-quality laser printer (even colour printers are so cheap now) can produce fantastic results.

One technique people often use is to print a "mask" sheet with the company logo that can serve many purposes. Printing the mask in large quantities saves money. You can add copy, prices, etc with a laser printer or good-quality copier. Having material in-house allows you to respond quickly to changing market conditions.

Cost-effective and attractive marketing brochures are well within reach. Adequate planning, freelance partners, clear communications, and taking advantage of in-house resources cut costs without sacrificing quality.

(By arrangement with Innovative Media)

Feedback and queries may be e-mailed to him directly at muneermuhamed@hotmail.com