The Wright Asphalt brochure project was a fun challenge for us, since it dealt with an industry we had not previously worked with. The design utilized images of asphalt in various ways to bring out the essence of the product and highlighted the beauty of the open road. The completed piece was a 9” x 12”, 4-page plus cover brochure.

Corporate brochures are important as sales tools and positioning pieces. However, if the brochure is not strategically planned out and professionally designed, your new brochure may end up in your potential customer’s trash can.

Consider the following points, when you decide to redesign an existing brochure or create a new one.

• Does your brochure communicate the message intended and stand up against the competition?
• Does your brochure connect emotionally with your prospective customers?
• Is your design professional?
• Does the design use high quality imagery?
• Does your brochure connect personally with your target audience?
• Is your brochure easy to read and follow?
• Is the brochure in language the customer will understand and relate to?
• Are the benefits of the product or service listed up front?
• Does the brochure convey a strong message?
• Is the customer asked to complete a specific action such as calling the office or visiting the website?

When it’s time to produce a new brochure, it should be for a definite purpose and the appropriate investment should be made. Cutting corners may end up with an unimpressive piece.

Check Marion’s latest brochure creations.

Learn more about Marion’s brochure design processes at www.marion.com.

At the root of your corporate image and corporate identity is your logo, your single symbol to the world of what your company stands for. It is the foundation and the icon for your company. When your customers see your logo, they are reminded of all their experiences with your company; what they have seen, read, heard and felt about your company. It is critical then that your logo reflects the nature and spirit of your company in a positive way, and if you don’t clearly identify who your company is, you might get an identity that you don’t necessarily want.

Recently, The Marion Group designed a campaign for Venture Cotton Cooperative. We began with their logo design. In order to determine their corporate identity, we first looked at their business plan. We needed to find out who their target audience was – who they were speaking to – and what they wanted to portray as a company. What did they want their customers to know about them? Where did they want to go, as a company, in the future? These were things that needed to be identified before the “digital paintbrush” touched the canvas.

Finding Who Your Target Audience Is

We determined that their target audience was the independent cotton farmer. Contrary to the stereotype that the cotton farmer is simple and uneducated about concepts of “finance” and “world markets” and “cooperatives,”  they are, in fact, hard workers and very intelligent, especially regarding the interests of their business and the world markets for their industry. They have to be. This business is their livelihood!

We also looked at their competitors. In this case, pretty much all of their competitors, for the most part, had the same look, used the same colors and had a generic feel almost as if no thought was put into it. It seemed that they were targeting the stereotyped farmer.

Implementing Your New Brand Identity

So, for Venture Cotton Cooperative, we introduced new colors, styles and concepts for their logo design. We supplied them with various options to choose from that were unique and different and expressed what their company was about.

Once they chose the logo, we then added to their brand identity with their brochure design and trade show display. In this way, their brand identity and message is consistently showcased throughout their marketing materials.

So, how can my brand identity be showcased? View our Graphic Design Portfolio.

For more information on how The Marion Group can help your company find and develop its brand identity, give us a call at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.

The positioning brochure Marion designed for Champion Technologies is an example of a completely custom, high-end piece. 

Champion Brochure Cover Design

Goals

The goal for this brochure was to create a positioning piece that would put Champion Technologies in the same playing field as other larger upstream chemical companies such as Baker Hughes, Nalco… etc. Although Champion Technologies is the world’s largest privately owned upstream chemical company, many in the industry have been unaware of Champion’s presence or have been under the impression that the company was not competitive with large, publicly traded firms.

Champion’s challenge was to position the Champion brand as one of the “Big Players” within the industry and to have their technical capabilities and global experiences stand out from their better known competitors.

Strategy/Tactics

The strategies used to accomplish the objectives were to:

• Determine an overall structure and layout for the text and images, showcasing an overview of company capabilities
• Illustrate each page layout by hand to create unique imagery and diagrams of processes
• Select images that capture Champion’s brand and capabilities
• Lead a custom photography session with hired models and selected props for additional original imagery that would enhance Champion’s new positioning within the industry
• Showcase Champion’s high level of sophistication, technical know-how and global reach to again enhance their positioning, by utilizing high-end printing and binding techniques including:
  • Spot dull varnish
  • UV coating throughout
  • Custom die cut pocket

Results

The end result showcased a full-color, 8-page brochure that encompassed the company image and qualities of leadership and innovation.

Once the brochure was delivered to its intended audience, the awareness of those unfamiliar with Champion Technologies rose significantly. This was determined by an increase in the unaided recognition rating measured from a pre- and post-brochure survey. This positioning brochure has proven to have played a part in the new recognition and awareness of the Champion brand and capabilities.

Additionally, through the use of the selected photography and illustrations, the piece successfully conveyed that Champion is a worldwide player, a technology pioneer, a proactive leader and a people- and service-oriented company in the upstream chemical industry.

The Champion brochure received the Communicator Awards Gold Award of Excellence.

To see other examples of recent brochure designs, check out Marion’s portfolio.