INTELLIGENT PRINT DISTRIBUTION

AIM
To get potential attender to pick up your print and act on it.


AIDA
Attention > Interest > Desire > Action


HARD FACTS

The Rubbish Bin
All print ends up in the rubbish bin. Which one?

  • Your office (not distributed)
  • Display site (in the way, seen as competition, out of date)
  • Potential attender’s home/office
Print distribution is low status
The lowest rung on the marketing ladder yet for many the main/only form of publicity:
  • Not sexy (boring – put it off until tomorrow)
  • Not planned – left until the last minute, when print has arrived
  • Minimal distribution budget compared with design and printing
  • Left to non-marketing staff
  • The same care that is taken with display ad bookings (specific publication, right section, best position on page, particular day, appropriate copy for readership, is easy to read, important information stands out, etc) should be applied to print display.
Think about it
How can you maximise the effectiveness of each costly piece of print. You need to consider:
  • What type of print?
  • How should it be displayed?
  • What format – size/paper quality?
  • How much print will be needed?
  • Where should it be displayed?
  • When should display start and end?
Types of Print
Print produced by arts organisations falls into four broad categories:
  1. Seasonal brochures, produced by venues
  2. Fliers promoting individual events
  3. Festival brochures
  4. Response vehicles, e.g. leaflets to promote mailing lists, subscription schemes, participatory arts organisations etc
Seasonal Brochures
  • Produced by building based theatre companies, receiving houses, concert halls and arts centres
  • They contain 3-4 months worth of events
  • A strong house style is usually sufficient to attract the interest of those who know the venue.
  • For others such as newcomers, tourists or those who live outside the immediate area, more information may be required (eg town, nature of programming policy etc). Stand in your customers shoes – remember that you are trying to attract new audiences!
Fliers
  • Usually produced by touring companies and given to receiving venues to distribute.
  • In order to have any effect these must contain local venue details.
  • By their very nature, flyers face the most competition for space with other fliers.
  • Unless a potential attender has an exceptionally strong loyalty to the company or performer, there is no reason why they should pick up the print.
  • A small print tour schedule on the back is inadequate.A one-sided flier is often picked up, read and replaced (often upside down or obscuring other print)
  • A booking form on the back is a good idea – it makes the print seem ‘useful’.
  • Fliers act as important reminders of events, even to those who don’t pick them up.
Festival brochures
  • Generally very similar to seasonal brochures, but special attention may be needed to highlight the range or scope of the events which make up the festival.
  • Sometimes these fail due to perceived elitism or distance of the event.
  • Response vehicles
  • These tend to concentrate on the design to the detriment of the message.
  • Generally pick up is low when left in racks. Adding an incentive (two for one or a small discount) will help.
Display of Print
How any leaflet is displayed dramatically affects the pick up rate. Traditionally print was left on tables and window ledges, but became very untidy very quickly. Also asking to leave leaflets on a counter / worktop has proved to be extremely unreliable, with many being chucked in the bin before you have even left the premises.
Over the last five years Audiences Yorkshire have invested heavily in purpose built, high quality display units sited in over 90% of the sites we service. By allocating unit space to a specific campaign or customer we can guarantee your print is displayed where you want it.
Leaflet Display Units 1
Our plastic units take up little space, can be wall mounted or free standing. Print is staggered in them, so that only the top half/third of the print is visible.
Leaflet Display Units 2
Our large wooden floor standing units offer the same high standard of display as a plastic unit but on a much larger scale.

Size and quality of print
The size of printed leaflets is often dictated by the space provided in the racks.
  • The most common sizes are DL (or 1/3 A4) and A5 ; single sheets or larger sheets folded down or stapled like a magazine.
  • A4 leaflets cannot easily be placed and regarded as ‘space hoggers’ by many outlets. They may well end up mixed with a pile of magazines. They are not picked up regularly, because they are too big to fit into a handbag or pocket without folding.
  • Heavy/thick season brochures can fare very well, but are restricted by the depth of the display unit. Sometimes only small quantities, ten – twenty brochures, may be left at any one time resulting in more frequent visits to keep them toped up.
  • Non-standard sizes may seem clever on the design board but they invariably either fall out of the racks or get mutilated in the attempt to place them.
  • Single sheet fliers are often produced on low grade lightweight paper. The inevitable result is ‘leaflet droop’, which looks unsightly and obscures the message. Folded leaflets generally fare better, as folds provide strength to the leaflet but bottom folds can also cause ‘droop’. Single sheet leaflets should be a minimum of 100gm/cm².
Appropriate amounts of print
  • The thickness of folded brochures may limit the quantities which can be left in a display unit.
  • Thicker folded brochures may easily disappear fast, leaving none on display
  • Thin print often has to be left in large quantities just to ensure that it will stand up.
  • If only a small quantity is left in a display unit they often stay, looking rather bedraggled, for a long time. People are reluctant to pick up leaflets in short supply.
  • Large quantities of print left in intimidating piles can often sit untouched for long periods. Expensive-looking, magazine-type brochures may put off potential attenders. Perhaps the brochure is not free? The addition of a flash I e.g. FREE BROCHURE can improve results.
Where to display print
  • Don’t spread your print too thinly – be realistic about who are the potential attenders.
  • Position your audience: where do they work, live, eat, drink, buy their books, records, clothes, food, stay on holiday, visit on day trips, have an evening out? This helps you be more targeted in your print distribution/display.
  • Don’t assume that your target audience thinks / acts / lives like you – or that all people within a target audience sector think / act / live the same way. (Not all hotel visitors stay at central hotels. Not all poetry lovers visit Central Libraries. Not all university students drink at the Union Bar).
  • Period of print display.
  • Print that is out of date is not only dead wood, it reflects the carelessness of the organisation.
  • A monthly calendar that is not displayed until 30th/31st of the previous month is too late and by mid month will seem like it is out of date to the potential attender.
  • General rule: the bigger the event, the longer the display period.
  • But beware of display fatigue – if it comes out too early to be relevant it will no longer be noticeable in the run-up month to the event.

IN A NUTSHELL
  • Print that is on display has to intrigue potential attenders sufficiently to make them want to pick it up and act on it.
  • Leaflets designed to serve several purposes (e.g. poster, brochure and mail shot) often fail. It might be better to concentrate on producing smaller amounts for separate purposes. Something which may interest a subscriber at the breakfast table may fail to attract new customers in a library, cafe or information centre.
  • Distribution of print to public places is important but it is only part of the marketing package. Badly designed print can deter custom by making an event seem uninteresting, tacky or elitist.
  • Remember that you only have about half a second to attract an uncommitted customer with your print, often in competition with fifty or more other events. So make it good!
  • Take the time to think about your print distribution