Recently I came across an excellent example of a company brochure developed by Alison Halupka, General Manager of Grant Sheds. Grant Sheds is a family owned business operating from Monash in South Australia. They manufacture and install a wide range of sheds and garages. It is a multi-million dollar business that has been operating for 50 years. Their clients are primarily farmers. Furthermore, through smart service and marketing Grant Sheds continues to earn a price premium in an increasingly commodities market. Their company brochure is one link in that chain.



I see a lot of company brochures and most of them end up in my recycle bin before I even open the front page. The Grant Sheds brochure got my attention. I read it in its entirety and by the time I was finished reading it I was thinking about who might find this information useful. To put it in plain English it got me to bite - and I'm not even in the market for a shed!

You can view a PDF version of the brochure by clicking this link.

Lesson: Stick to the Basics

There are some basic principles that need to be followed whenever you're developing a marketing communication tool. The Grant Sheds brochure addresses each of these principles.

The principles are:

1. Have a clear purpose for the tool.

How is it going to be used and what outcome do you want for your business?

2. Understand what life is like for your target audience.

Under what circumstances will they be reading the material? (e.g. time, location, special conditions)

How do you need to accommodate those circumstances?

3. Help people buy.

What do they need to learn to move to the next stage in their buying process?

4. Make it 'real'.

What evidence can you provide? How do you make your benefits more 'real life'?

5. Keep it simple.

What's the easiest way to get your point across?

6. Have a look and feel that supports your brand values.

What first impression do you want the communication tool to create about your business? What image is appropriate?

How Grant Sheds has Applied These Principles

The Grant Sheds company brochure has been developed for use in a variety of situations. For example it is distributed at trade shows and attached to quotations given to potential clients. Alison has ensured the content of the brochure is generic enough to accommodate diverse applications.

Most of the inquiries to Grant Sheds are inbound, that is, prospects already know they want to buy a shed (either now or in the future) and proactively make contact. With this in mind the Grant Sheds brochure focuses on 2 key messages; "We have the shed you want", "this is why you should buy from us". Hence the brochure aims to deliver the prospect to the next step of their buying process, that is, to get a quote.

Most of Grant Sheds' clients are farmers. Farmers work hard and are time poor. They don't want to spend time reading if they don't have to. Also anything that makes life easier is going to at least capture their attention. The smart use of photos and simple, plain English text makes the brochure a useful reference and easily 'consumed'. Alison and her team also know that their clients value personal relationships, honesty and integrity, quality and reliability. These core values are communicated through their warranty, "7 Great Reasons to Buy" and testimonials.

Finally Alison has capped off great content with professional design and production.

I hope the example of the Grant Sheds company brochure provides some inspiration. The overall lesson is that to produce effective marketing tools you don't need to try and outsmart your audience or competitors. Some well-considered core messages will prove more valuable to your audience and increase your return on investment.

http://www.eyeswideopen.com.au/